All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Phillies, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Santana makes his presence felt: Added to the roster earlier in the day from Triple-A Worcester, Danny Santana immediately contributed to his new team. Hitting leadoff and playing first base, Santana made a few nice stretches at first to help out on some close plays and also caught a wicked line drive to double-up Rhys Hoskins in the fourth inning. But his biggest impact came in the fifth inning when he led off with a long home run to right field in his third at-bat of the night. Santana, like Marwin Gonzalez and Kike Hernandez, is a versatile player, capable of playing almost anywhere in the infield and outfield. And like Gonzalez, he's a switch-hitter, presenting some potentially favorable matchups off the bench for Alex Cora. But he also offers but power (he hit 28 homers in 2019 for Texas) and speed on the bases. He can hit leadoff, as he did in his debut, and also somewhat lower in the order, where his ability to hit from either side of the plate provides some left-right balance.
Sox beat up another quality starter: Right from the beginning of the season, the Red Sox seemed to get geared up when facing an opponents' ace. They've already won games started by Tampa Bay's Tyler Glasnow, the White Sox' Lucas Giolito and the Mets' Jacob deGrom. So it wasn't particularly surprising that they also fared well against the Phillies' top starter, Aaron Nola. The Sox scored five runs on seven hits over five innings from Nola. To jump on a front-of-the-rotation starter in the opener of a series has to be deflating for an opponent and the Sox have already done that to set the tone for the series. "You want to face the best,'' said Christian Vazquez. "You can prove yourself when you face the best. It's fun to face those guys because you know that they have great stuff.''
TURNING POINT
On Thursday against the Blue Jays, the Sox were sloppy in the middle innings and handed the Jays three unearned runs. On Friday, it was the Phillies' turn to be gift-givers to the Red Sox. In the fifth inning, with the Sox leading 3-2 and two runners on base, Xander Bogaerts hit a sharp single to left. Alex Verdugo scored easily from second as Andrew McCutchen threw toward home. Third baseman Alec Bohm cut the throw off and appeared to have J.D. Martinez caught rounding second. But Bohm's throw to second baseman Jean Segura's glove and rolled into center field as Segura, strangely, remained on the ground. Instead of being thrown out at second, Martinez reversed field and scored while Bogaerts -- leapfrogging over Segura in the middle of the basepath between second and third -- went all the way to third on what was ruled a single. The Sox led 5-2 and never looked back.
TWO UP
Christian Vazquez: The catcher is getting hot at the plate. After belting his first homer in six weeks on Wednesday, he contributed two doubles Friday, including one that cleared the bases in the ninth inning.
Rafael Devers: He had a run-scoring double to help get things going in the first inning and later added a rocket to right for a two-run homer as he reclaimed the team RBI lead with 37.
ONE DOWN
Marwin Gonzalez: Gonzalez has fallen into a major slump at the plate. He came into the game hitless in 11 at-bats and proceeded to go 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. He's now 4-for-36.
QUOTE OF NOTE:
"Solid again. That's a tough lineup to maneuver through with all those righties. For him to go six put us in a good spot.'' Alex Cora on Martin Perez.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Red Sox struck out a season-high 17 times and still scored 11 runs.
* Xander Bogaerts picked his 250th career double.
* The Red Sox improved to 23-12 at Citizens Bank Park.
* Darwinzon Hernandez has not allowed a run in 8.2 innings over nine appearances on the road this season.
* After scoring all eight runs with two outs Thursday night, nine of the 11 were scored with two outs Friday.
UP NEXT
The two teams meet again Saturday at 7:15 p.m. with RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.50) vs. RHP Spencer Howard (0-0, 8.31)