All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 10-6 win over the Rockies, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Bradley's homer one to remember: This season, in particular, homers have come at such a dizzying pace that they've lost all context. When games routinely feature multi-homer games from players, or a team hits three -- as the Sox did Tuesday night -- then they cease being special. But every once in a while, a particular homer stands out. In this one, that was the homer hit by Jackie Bradley Jr. in the second inning. Facing Rico Garcia, who was making his major league debut, Bradley completely hammered a pitch and drove it into the third deck in right field. It was measured at a staggering 478 feet, a mammoth shot, even allowing for the thin air in Denver. It was the longest homer of Bradley's career, the third-longest homer hit at Coors Field this season and the longest homer hit by a Red Sox player this season. In fact, it was the longest homer hit by a member of the Red Sox since Statcast began measuring homers beginning with the 2015 season.
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1166519364583116803
Porcello does his job: The pitching line -- five innings pitched, two runs allowed -- may not wow anyone, and given the workload the bullpen has faced of late, it would have been nice for him to go an inning or two deeper, but Rick Porcello accomplished what he needed to Tuesday night. Porcello, who earned his 12th win of the season, got an early lead with solo runs scored in the first and second innings and armed with that support, worked at a quick tempo while consistently throwing first-pitch strikes and getting ahead of hitters. He encountered a spot of trouble in the fifth inning when the Rockies scratched out two runs, ending his night. But at a time when the Sox are without Chris Sale for the remainder of the year and still waiting for David Price to come off the IL, they need their veteran starters to set the tone and pick up wins.
Devers continues to slump: Until very recently, it appeared that opponents couldn't get Rafael Devers out, no matter what they did. Devers would bunch together extra-base hits night after night and piled up gaudy statistics, made all the more impressive by the fact that he's still just 22 years old. Devers leads the league in hits and doubles and is in the top three in virtually every significant category. But lately, it's turned on Devers. He was hitless for the fourth straight game on Tuesday and has yet to collect a hit since the road trip began. He's now 0-for-14 and, as he did for a period earlier this season, has abandoned his plate discipline. When Devers slumps, it's because he's expanding the strike zone on a regular basis. At times, he can get away with that because he has such great plate coverage and hit the ball at his shoe tops or his shoulders. But pitchers can exploit that aggressiveness, too, staying off the edges of the strike zone, producing either swing-and-misses or weak contact on the part of Devers. One positive: he did work in two walks, suggesting that perhaps the necessary plate patience is slowly returning.
SECOND GUESS
Maybe there's a good reason Chris Owings is on the major league roster now. I'm just not seeing it. Owings, who has gotten a few starts since being promoted from Pawtucket earlier this month, was used again a pinch-hit spot, batting for Porcello in the top of the sixth with a runner on first. On the first two pitches, he squared to bunt, which Porcello himself could have done. And the Sox were leading 6-2 at the time. Then, he swung away and hit into a double play. He's now 1-for-16 with the Sox.
ONE UP
Christian Vazquez: Nearly every game, the Red Sox catcher either sets or extends a personal high for himself at the plate. On Tuesday, he belted a two-run homer to left, giving him a career-high 19 homers this season, which in turn, is nearly twice as many as he had hit in his major league career (10) before this season.
ONE DOWN
Josh Smith: Leading 10-2, the Red Sox just wanted Smith to throw the ball over the plate and get the final six outs. But along the way, Smith was tagged for two two-run homers -- in each in both the eighth and ninth -- requiring the Sox to go their bullpen in the final inning to close the game out.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I felt good. I saw a good pitch that I felt like I could handle and I put a good swing on it. I guess everything kind of lined up โ the trajectory, the speed off the bat. It was a good swing.'' Jackie Bradley Jr. on his home run, measured at 478 feet.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
- The homer by Bradley was his fifth in his last 10 games.
- The Sox are 5-1 in their last six road games.
- In Porcello's last 10 starts, the Red Sox are 7-3.
- The win was the first on the road for Porcello since July.