All you need to know about the Red Sox' 3-2 win over the Twins, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Starting pitching starts them up: For the eighth straight time, the Red Sox got at least five innings from their starting pitcher. It's probably not a coincidence that all eight of those games have resulted in wins. Nathan Eovaldi wasn't as efficient or aggressive as he was in his first two outings, needing 82 pitches to get through five. But he limited mistakes, avoided big innings and got himself out of trouble when he needed it most. This is precisely the kind of consistency that the Red Sox were so obviously lacking a year ago, and the turnaround on the mound is undeniably the biggest factor in the team's turnaround through the first 11 games.
Sox go for kill early: Before the game, Alex Cora noted that the seven-inning game would increase his sense of urgency when it came to strategy and he didn't take long to prove his point. In the top of the second, with runners at second and third and one run in, Cora had No. 9 hitter Kevin Plawecki put down a sacrifice bunt. The move seemed to catch the Twins off-guard -- no one was playing in -- and Kenta Maeda fired wildly into left field in a futile attempt to cut down the lead baserunner, resulting in a run. When the Sox got a run-scoring single from Christian Arroyo for another unearned run, the move paid off in a big way.
Invoking Benintendi: The Sox barely escaped with a win when, in the bottom of the seventh and the potential tying run on second, Alex Verdugo raced in to make a sliding catch of a sinking liner by Luiz Arraez, inviting comparison's to the game-saving play made by Andrew Benintendi in Game 4 of the 2018 ALCS in Houston. Verdugo had been shifted over from center to left the inning previous when Cora had Enrique Hernandez pinch-hit for Franchy Cordero and moved Verdugo over from center to left, where Cordero had been playing. The move looked brilliant in hindsight, as it's highly unlikely that Cordero would have been able to make the same play. That's what happens when a team is hot and everything seems to be going their way.
TURNING POINT
In the fourth inning, with the Sox leading 3-2, the Twins had a baserunner at third and two out when J.T. Riddle hit a hard grounder between first and second. Marwin Gonzalez, getting his second start at first base, ranged far to his right and made a backhanded stop of the ball before giving Eovaldi a perfect feed at first for the third out, saving a run.
TWO UP
Christian Arroyo: Arroyo had another big day at the plate, following up Tuesday's two-hit effort with two more on Wednesday afternoon, including his fifth double of the season.
Darwinzon Hernandez: The Sox are using him in more high leverage spots and he retired the Twins in order in the sixth on three straight fly balls.
ONE DOWN
J.D. Martinez: Inexplicably, Martinez has suddenly gone cold after his torrid stretch last week, going hitless in the series opener before going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and five baserunners left on base.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"It wasn't a perfect game for us. ... We'll take it, of course, but we need to keep working and keep getting better.'' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Alex Cora became the 19th manager in club history to win his 200th game and got there faster (335 games) than all but four others.
- Rafael Devers' four-game homer streak came to an end.
- Franchy Cordero has had exactly one at-bat against a lefthanded pitcher through the first two weeks of the season.
- The Sox stranded a dozen baserunners and were just 3-for-18 with RISP