Amid a torrential downpour, Alex Verdugo smacked a three-run homer in the fifth inning, snapping a 2-2 tie and giving the Red Sox a rain-shorted 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins in a game called by rain in the middle of the sixth inning.
The Sox had erased a 2-0 lead when J.D. Martinez belted a two-run double to left in the third.
Martin Perez gave the Sox five innings, allowing two runs, before Adam Ottavino took over for the sixth. Unable to grip the ball properly, Ottavino walked the bases loaded on 13 pitches at one stretch, but fanned Jorge Alfaro to end the threat.
Following a delay of just over 90 minutes, the game was then called.
WHO: Red Sox (30-20) vs. Miami Marlins (24-26)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Martin Perez (2-2, 3.55). vs. RHP Cody Poteet (2-0, 1.06)
TV/RADIO: NESN: WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
MARLINS
Berti 3B
Marte CF
Aguilar 1B
Cooper RF
Dickerson LF
Alfaro C
Diaz 2B
Leon DH
Devers 6
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Santana 1B
Vazquez C
Gonzalez 2B
Renfroe RF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T6: Adam Ottavino can't grip the baseball and he's not happy to be out there in this slop. He's thrown 12 balls in the span of 13 pitches while walking the bases loaded.
B5: Alex Verdugo jumps all over a curveball down and in and drives it just over the visitors bullpen for a three-run shot. Huge, given that the game is two outs shy of becoming official, with hard rain falling.
T5: Danny Santana has shown himself to be well above-average at first base. He backhanded a tough hop off the lip of the grass and stayed with it nicely.
T4: Veteran instincts shown by Marwin Gonzalez, who, realizing that a catcher (Alfaro) is running, took his time with his throw to first on the double play.
B3: J.D. Martinez golfs a changeup down and drills it high off the Wall in left-center, scoring two and tying the game.
B3: Hunter Renfroe, who had gone up the middle and to right field to break out of an early season slump, seems to be back more recently to pulling the ball. Bangs a double off The Wall there with out in the third.
B2: Red Sox squander a scoring chance as Christian Vazquez goes down swinging with a runner at second.
T2: Some indecision between Perez and Red Sox middle infielders when it came to covering the bag, so Perez has to wait to make his throw to second for the forceout. Took too long to unfold, so no shot at the double play.
T2: Martin Perez with cutter over the plate and Jorge Alfaro goes inside-out with a two-run shot into the home bullpen.
WHAT' S UP: The Red Sox are 5-2 in their last seven games and 13-8 in their last 21...They are unbeaten in their last 4 series (3-0-1) and 5-1-1 in their last seven... At 30-20 (.600), the Sox are tied with the Giants for MLB’s 4th-best record, 1.5 games behind the Padres....This is the 28th time the Red Sox have won at least 30 of their first 50 games...They reached the postseason in each of the last five instances (2007, ‘08, ‘13, ‘16, ‘18)....Using the 10-team playoff format from 2012-2019, 31 of the 38 teams (81.6%) who won at least 30 of their first 50 games went on to make the postseason...The Sox are 14-13 at Fenway Park, good for the sixth-best home record...They are 14-10 at home since getting swept by the Orioles to begin the season. At 16-7 (.696), the Sox own the majors’ 2nd-best record on the road with only Tampa Bay (19-7) better....They are 6-1-0 in series away from Fenway Park...: The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (107), extra-base hits 178), slugging percentage (.445), and OPS (.767), and are tied for the lead in runs (259).. They're second in batting average (.260). The Sox are an MLB-best 27-3 (.900) when scoring four or more runs and 16-0 when scoring seven or more runs....The Sox are out-homering opponents, 67-37 (+30), the largest difference in MLB... They rank fourth in the AL in HR hit (67). The Sox have hit multiple homers in 10 of their last 12 games...They are 17-2 (.895) when hitting two or more homers...The Red Sox are 5-2 vs. NL teams this season. All-time, they're 268-182 (.596) all time against the NL, the highest Interleague winning percentage in the majors. The Sox are 28-13 all time against the Marlins, including 13-3 in the last 16 meetings and 6-1 in the last seven...The Sox have won their last seven home games against the Marlins...They are 7-0-0 in their last 7 series vs. Miami at Fenway Park, going 15-4 in games in that time....Xander Bogaerts (second), J.D. Martinez (fourth), and Rafael Devers (fifth) each rank in the Top Five in the AL in OPS...They each have an OPS above .950; the rest of the AL combined has three such players...Red Sox starters have thrown five or more innings 42 times, tied with the Dodgers for second-most in the majors behind the A’s (43)...Sox starters have thrown five or more innings in 27 of their last 29 games. Sox starters have thrown six or more innings in 10 of their last 17 games, after doing so in only eight of their first 33....The Red Sox are 8-2 in their last 10 games against left-handed starting pitchers...In those 10 games, lefty starters are 1-7 with a 9.21 ERA and .328 opponent AVG vs. the Sox...Adam Duvall is 2-for-3 lifetime against Martin Perez while Corey Dickerson is 3-for-8.. Perez leads Red Sox starters with a 3.55 ERA and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight of his nine starts this season, including each of his last six...Perez received eight runs of support in each of his last 2 starts (12.0 RS/9.0 IP) after receiving just nine runs total over his first seven starts, one or no runs in five of those even....Perez has a 2.22 ERA in five starts.... HE leads the majors with 29 strikeouts on called strikes this season...Xander Bogaerts is slugging .633 with 10 homers in his last 32 games....Rafael Devers has five homers in his last 10 games and seven in his last 16.
NOTES:
* The Sox are tonight welcoming back former catcher Sandy Leon, now a member of the Marlins, to Fenway. "He was huge for us,'' recalled Alex Cora. "He was amazing. He was really good -- not only on the field, but off the field, in the clubhouse. He prepares. He takes pride in what's important for a catcher -- which is the pitching staff. He could go 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, but if he we threw a shutout, he was happy. But if he went 4-for-4 and we struggled on the mound, he would take it personally. I'm very proud of him and he's making a difference for the Marlins. The fact that he's still in the big leagues is awesome.''
* Cora projects that a group of players -- Bobby Dalbec, Danny Santana, Marwin Gonzalez -- will "somehow, someway, play two out of every three games in every series. It feels that way. I'm not promising playing time here, but we've got to take care of guys physically. We have to protect guys. We'll mix-and-match. They're going to get at-bats. But we're not going to play guys 10 games in a row.''
* The Red Sox finally announced that Colten Brewer was added to the roster, replacing the spot made vacant by the demotion of Franchy Cordero. Brewer was optioned to Worcester earlier this month and appeared in four games in Worcester, allowing four runs in four innings of relief.