Some games, you just sense, will not be easy. It often has little to do with the quality of the opponent, and more about other variables: rest, travel, how the previous few games went.
Monday was one of those games for the Red Sox.
Never mind that they were back at Fenway, hosting a young Miami Marlins team, who decided to throw a starter who was making his major league debut.
What mattered was the Red Sox were coming off an emotionally draining weekend series in New York, which itself followed a rough series in Houston that saw the Sox drop the first three games while their offense wandered away. The Sox acquitted themselves well in the Bronx, sweeping their rivals and leaving them wondering where things went wrong.
Moreover, the Sox emptied everything Sunday night to pull out an extra-inning thriller. The series finale required five relievers, each contributing an inning of relief, and not one but two huge at-bats from Xander Bogaerts from the eighth inning on.
But there was a price for this. The Sox returned to Boston well after 3 a.m. and, even with a late reporting time to the ballpark for the already-odd 5:10 p.m. starting time, got little rest. Those circumstances, and the demands on the bullpen, left the Sox not only short on sleep but also low on relief options.
Things grew more precarious when Nick Pivetta required 45 pitches to get the first six outs. No, this one would not be easy or routine. This would require a little bit from a lot.
Notably, the Red Sox pulled one out. The conga line from the bullpen started in the fifth, and the baton was handed off every few hitters. Five relievers combined to get the final 16 outs, as Alex Cora and pitching coach Dave Bush pieced together the attack plan seemingly one hitter at a time.
"We came from a tough series,'' said Cora after the Sox finished off the Marlins 5-3, "a tough game (Sunday). I'm a big believer that, sometimes when you come off that series, sometimes you have letdowns. To win (this) game meant a lot. They grinded, they made pitches. We pushed them hard.''
Even before the parade of relievers began, Xander Bogaerts injected the ballpark with some energy in the bottom of the first inning. On third base following a single and follow-up single to right from Rafael Devers, Bogaerts spied an opportunity when rookie Zach Thompson bounced a pitch in the dirt. When the ball rebounded 10 feet in front of the plate, Thompson came in for it as catcher Jorge Alfaro went out to retrieve it.
That left home plate unattended, so off Bogaerts went, sliding in head first with the first run. If the dugout was languid because of the combination of heat and the late travel, that shot it full of electricity.
From there, the Sox stitched it together. Mindful that Pivetta has been pushed to the limit last time out with an 111-pitch marathon in Houston, Cora delivered a quick hook in the fifth. First came Garrett Whitlock, required to get the final out of the fifth.
Next came, in order: Darwinzon Hernandez Hirokazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor and finally, Adam Ottavino, pitching for the third straight day. The first four relievers turned in scoreless appearances and it appeared Ottavino was headed that way in the ninth, with one on and two out.
But a combination of some well-placed hits, including one against the shift, produced a run before Ottavino finally secured the final out.
"We probably got to bed at like, three-something,'' said Ottavino. "But nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We have to come out and win a game. Today, a lot of people contributed to that. I feel like today was a huge win. It would have been easy to just give this one away, but we didn't. We stayed mentally strong and I'm proud of that.''
Ottavino said there was an "all hands on deck'' mentality in the bullpen, knowing that at any moment, it could be someone else's turn to contribute.
"Everybody was ready,'' he said. "Everybody knows to be ready for everything. We're all there trying to pick each other up. There was a lot of guys who came in with guys on base today and picked their teammates up. We all look forward to doing that. I don't think anybody cares about the glory or whatever. We just want to do it as a team and support each other.
"Today, we knew it was going to be a grind, so, just try to stay locked in the whole way.''
Because sometimes, that's what's required.
