All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Marlins, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Arroyo makes his bid: The Red Sox continue to audition potential solutions for the leadoff spot. Kiké Hernandez has been demoted to the lower third of the order and Danny Santana has been unable to capitalize on a handful of chances. On Monday night, Christian Arroyo staked his claim with two hits, two RBI, two runs scored and a walk. It was a pretty complete offensive performance from the infielder, who has battled health and underperformance throughout his career and been slowed by a couple of nagging injuries earlier this season. Arroyo seems to bring an energy to the spot. His opposite-field, ground-rule double in the third led directly to the second Boston run and an inning later, he singled home two while advancing on an error and later scoring himself. It's uncertain whether Arroyo can play himself into the leadoff hitter especially when he hasn't yet demonstrated he can be in the lineup on a daily basis. But coupled with his fine defensive play of late, he may, at the very least, be putting himself into the conversation.
Pivetta gets the quick hook: It used to happen only occasionally, but these days, it's barely worth noting: managers barely think twice when lifting a starting pitcher an out or so away from qualifying for the win. With openers, shorter leashes on starters and deep bullpens, it's become fairly standard practice. It happened to Pivetta on Monday. The Sox were leading 5-2 in the fifth and Pivetta needed to just get through the fifth to be in position to pick up win No. 8 for the season. But when he issued a two-out walk to Garrett Cooper, giving the Marlins two baserunners, Alex Cora decided not to wait any longer, hooking Pivetta and going to rookie Garrett Whitlock. Whitlock got the job done, retiring Adam Duvall on an infield pop-up to end the threat. But it was enough to cost Pivetta a chance to be in line for the win. Pivetta, who can be an emotional sort on the mound, insisted he was more frustrated at his own inability to get through the inning rather than his manager's decision to not allow him to do so. "We won the game and at the end of the day, I think that's what really matters,'' said Pivetta. "It's not about personal stats, it's not about personal things. It's about competing and putting the team in the best possible position to win. AC had a tough decision to make and he made the right decision. (The bullpen) was lights out.''
TURNING POINT
The Marlins seemed insistent on handing this one to the Red Sox, especially with the quality of their play in the fourth inning. After consecutive one-out singles from Kevin Plawecki and Hernandez, Zach Pop uncorked a wild pitch moving each runner up a base. Pop then fanned Bobby Dalbec and seemed on the verge of escaping the mess, but on a single to right by Arroyo, a throw home to the plate was late and catcher Jorge Alfaro tried to catch Arroyo taking too big a turn off first. The throw rolled into right field, and Arroyo went to second. Then, on a single to right, Duval wildly overthrew home, allowing a run to score and handing Alex Verdugo to advance to second. Of the three runs, two were unearned and the Sox were off and on their way.
TWO UP
Xander Bogaerts: It may not have been as dramatic as Sunday night in New York, but Bogaerts had two hits and scored the first run of the game by hustling home on a pitch that got away from catcher Jorge Alfaro.
Alex Verdugo: Verdugo also contributed two hits, and made sure to take an extra base on an overthrow from the outfield in the three-run fourth inning.
TWO DOWN
Bobby Dalbec: It was a rough night at the plate for the big first baseman, who was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts while stranding four baserunners.
Kevin Plawecki: The Marlins made it a point to run on Plawecki and did so with ease, racking up three stolen bases. Plawecki has thrown out just two runners in 18 attempts this season.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I feel like today was a huge win. It would have been easy to give this one away, but we didn't. We stayed mentally strong and I'm proud of that.'' -- Adam Ottavino.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Sox are now a season-high 14 games over .500
* Hirokazu Sawamura has stranded 10 of 12 inherited runners this season.
* Alex Verdugo has an extra base hit in each of his last three games.
* Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to five games.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox begin a three-game series with the Houston Astros at 7:10 with LHP Martin Perez (4-2, 3.09) vs. LHP Framber Valdez (1-0. 1.64)