Surviving a few rocky moments in the late innings, the Red Sox stretched their winning streak to three games with a 3-1 victory over the Miami Marlins in the first game in which full capacity was allowed at Fenway Park since the end of 2019.
Hunter Renfroe, Bobby Dalbec and Kevin Plawecki provided run-scoring hits for the Sox.
In relief of starter Nathan Eovaldi, the Sox got 3.2 innings of relief from five different relievers, allowing just one run. The Marlins stranded 12 runners throughout the game.
WHO: Red Sox (31-20) vs.Miami Marlins (24-27)
WHEN: 4:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-2, 4.39) vs. LHP Trevor Rogers (6-2, 1.79)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
MARLINS
Sierra RF
Marte CF
Aguilar 1B
Cooper DH
Dickerson LF
Beri 3B
Diaz 2B
Leon C
Devers SS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Renfroe RF
Dalbec 1B
Plawecki C
Arroyo 2B
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
B8: Huge insurance run as Renfroe goes oppo with a single that snakes through to right and scores Devers (double) from second.
T8: For the second straight inning, the Red Sox get a strikeout with baserunners at both second and third. Hirokazu Sawamura gets Jose Devers to chase a splitter for the
T7: Adam Ottavino, after walking the first hitter he faced, comes back with consecutive strikeouts to leave the bases loaded and preserve the lead.
T7: Taylor is the victim of pure bad luck, with a couple of balls that were barely hit hard.
T6: Nice job by Taylor, who gets a dribbler, strikeout and a flyout and strands a couple to close out the sixth.
T6: PItch count catches up to Eovaldi (101, one off his season high) and he's lifted with one out and one on in the sixth. A very strong start, with just four hits allowed and one walk to go with seven strikeouts. Josh Taylor on.
B4: Kevin Plawecki pokes a single to right field, enough to score Renfroe from second base. Just the third RBI of the season for the backup catcher, but a huge one that doubles the Red Sox' lead.
T4: Sloppy throw from Rafael Devers, who makes a throw in the dirt and misses a chance to cut down the lead runner at second.
T4: Lots of drawn-out at-bats for the Marlins, including a number that have taken seven and eight pitches. That's driven Eovaldi's pitch count to the point where he's going to be up near 80 after just four innings.
B2: Bang-bang play at the plate as Christian Arroyo singles to left, Hunter Renfroe rounds third. Corey Dickerson's throw to the plate is off-line, but Sandy Leon reached up the line and applies the tag a split-second before Renfroe tags the plate.
B2: Bobby Dalbec, who's been far more successful against lefthanded pitching this season, comes through with a hard-hit single to left off Trevor Rogers, producing the first run of the afternoon.
T2: Whatever Eovaldi is doing, it seems to be working -- strikes out the side in the second and has now fanned five straight Marlins.
T2: For the last few starts, Nathan Eovaldi has been fluctuating the timing of his delivery -- including a slight pause in the middle -- to throw off hitters' timing.
B1: A couple of hard-hit balls off Trevor Rogers in the first inning, but nothing to show for it as both are hit right at Miami defenders -- a lineout to second and another to center field.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox are 6-2 in their last eight games and 14-8 in their last 22...They are unbeaten in their last four series (3-0-1) and 5-1-1 in their last seven...With a record of 31-20 (.608), the Sox are tied with the Dodgers and Giants for MLB’s third-best record, trailing the Padres (33-19, .635) and Rays (32-20, .615)....Friday's rain-shortened game was the first Sox game of six innings or fewer the Red Sox beat the Orioles in Baltimore 8-1 on Aug. 17, 2016 and the first at Fenway Park since a 4-1 win on July 31, 2012 vs. DET, when the game was called with two outs in the bottom of the sixth....The Red Sox are 15-13 at Fenway Park, but 15-10 at home since getting swept by Baltimore to begin the season...The Red Sox lead the majors in runs (264), doubles (110), extra-base hits (182), slugging percentage(.446), and OPS (.767) while ranking second in batting average (.259)....The Red Sox are out-homering opponents, 68-38 (plus-30), the largest difference in MLB... They rank fourth in the AL in HR hit (68) and have hit multiple homers n 10 of their last 13 games...They are 17-2 (.895) when hitting two or more homers...The Red Sox are 6-2 vs. NL teams this season and 269-182 (.596) all-time against the NL, the highest Interleague winning percentage in the majors...The Sox have won their last eight home games against the Marlins and 7-0-0 in their last seven series vs. MIA at Fenway Park, going 16-4 in games in that time....Red Sox starters have thrown innings five or more innings 43 times, tied with the Dodgers for second-most in the majors behind the A’s (44)...Sox starters have thrown five or more innings in 28 of their last 30 games....Starling Marte is 3-for-4 with a homer lifetime against Nathan Eovladi while Corey Dickerson is 0-for-9....Eovaldi is tied for third in the AL in lowest percentage of batted balls that have been barreled this season (4.9%, 8 of 164) ...Eovaldi has thrown at least five innings in nine of his 10 starts this season, including six or more in his last four...Christian Arroyo is hitless in his last 10 at-bats while Bobby Dalbec is 0-for-11.
NOTES:
* Interim manager Will Venable, filling in for the day as Alex Cora attends his daughter's high school graduation in Puerto Rico, said he'll try to keep things routine today. "We're just preparing like normal,'' he said. "We'll have some meetings here to make sure we're all on the same page and dialed in before we get out there.'' This will be the first full game Venable has managed at the professional level. He managed an inning in Minneapolis earlier this season when Cora was ejected.
* Venable said he will rely on quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and game coordinator Jason Varitek in the dugout for input. "Everyone will be pretty much doing the same thing.'' said Venable. "Nothing out of the ordinary.''
* Red Sox CEO/President Sam Kennedy said the Red Sox are expecting a paid crowd of 24,000 or so fans today as Massachusetts lifts all COVID restrictions for large public gatherings. "But with the weather that's going on out there today, I would imagine we would have a significant decrease in terms of our turnstile count,'' he said. "Maybe we'll have 16-17,000 or so in the building. As much as we'd love to have a full house, it's kind of nice to have a bit of a dry run here, with the restrictions being relaxed. So it will probably be for the best today and (Sunday) and then be ready for June 8 (the start of the next homestand).'' The Red Sox did not make their season-ticket holders buy their tickets for April and May games, anticipating that those would not be full-capacity games.
* Kennedy said some fans has expressed some reluctance to go to Fenway initially as crowds return. "I've heard responses all over the map,'' he said. "People have very different feelings about emerging from the experience that we've had over the last 15 months and we need to be mindful and respectful of that.''