All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Blue Jays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight
HEADLINES
Eovaldi delivers: Starter Nathan Eovaldi might not have earned the win, but he gave the Red Sox exactly what they needed Monday night. Following a rocky stretch in which the Sox gave up no fewer than five runs in six straight games -- and 25 in the previous two -- the Sox needed someone to serve as stopper and that's what Eovaldi did. It helped that he had command of multiple pitches -- cutter, splitter, and slider to go with his fastball -- providing him multiple options to attack a Toronto lineup that had bashed the Sox in the last few days. In the early going, he expanded the zone and got Toronto hitters to expand the strike zone. Then, as the game wore on, Eovaldi shifted his approach and began attacking the zone aggressively. That plan put the Jays on the defensive, resulting in either swings and misses or weak contact. Eovaldi was lifted after 81 pitches and 6.2 innings, but seemed to be ready go deeper if need be.
Devers wins it: Maybe it was the sight of Toronto closer Rafael Dolis, whom the Sox had beaten Friday in a walk-off win, and last month, gotten to in their final at-bat in Dunedin, when J.D. Martinez homered off him. But the Sox quickly got two baserunners off the hard-throwing Dolis, and after Xander Bogaerts flied to left for the first out, that brought Devers to the plate. Only 10 days ago, Devers seemed to be flummoxed by fastballs, and as manager Alex Cora noted, his swing mechanics on fastballs were completely messed up. But Devers has been working on his approach and seemed poised to jump on one from Dolis. Sure enough, he drove a fastball high off the left-center wall, easily plating Alex Verdugo with the game-winning run as, for the second time in four games, the home dugout emptied to mob a teammate who had produced a walk-off hit. If teams want to keep challenging Devers with fastball, they had better take note of the adjustments he's made of late.
Forever and Devers pic.twitter.com/VICnFreLjS
β Red Sox (@RedSox) June 15, 2021
TURNING POINT
Even though the Red Sox' bullpen eventually gave up the lead in the top of the ninth, Josh Taylor got the Sox to the ninth with a clutch performance. He inherited a baserunner at third after Eovaldi was lifted and fanned Rowdy Tellez to strand Guerrero, representing the tying run. Then, in the eighth, Taylor got more lefties in the Toronto order, getting a groundout and then two swinging strikeouts. Taylor has worked his way back from a rough April into becoming one of Cora's most trusted high-leverage weapons in the late innings.
TWO UP
Marwin Gonzalez: Gonzalez came into the game hitless in his previous 15 at-bats, but collected two hits with singles in both the third and fifth innings.
Alex Verdugo: The picture of consistency for most of the season, Verdugo went two-for-four and kick-started the winning rally in the ninth when he beat out an infield single.
ONE DOWN
Kike Hernandez: Now that he's back in the leadoff spot, Hernandez is once again scuffling at the plate. He was 0-for-4 in this one, and for the series, just 1-for-16.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"The run differential in this series is going to be negative whatever, but we earned the split. They didn't gain ground on us, we didn't lose ground to them.'' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Red Sox improved to 17-8 against A.L. East opponents this season.
* This is the 10th season the Red Sox have had two walk-off wins against Toronto in the same year.
* The only other game-winner that produced a walk-off win for Rafael Devers also came against Toronto (on April 11, 2019).
* Josh Taylor last allowed a run on April 24.
* The blown save with the third of the season for Matt Barnes.
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