All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Rangers, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Sale shines again: The Red Sox continue to be cautious with Chris Sale as he comes back from Tommy John surgery. In his return to the mound last weekend, he was limited to 89 pitches and five innings, and Friday night, he was pulled after five and just 71 pitches. But that was partly because the Sox scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth and had a long inning. With a healthy five-run lead at the time, Alex Cora didn't want Sale going back out after sitting for so long. But while Sale was there, he was again impressive, allowing five hits and one walk but no runs in his outing. At times, he seemed to be toying with the Rangers hitters. In the fourth inning, Sale's fastball was almost alarmingly average, ranging from 89-91 mph. But when Texas stitched a couple of hits together, he reached back from some extra velocity, throwing his fastball 94-95 mph. He's getting most of his swings and misses now on his fastball and not his slider, which he conceded is still a work in progress. Cora says the Sox have to treat this like it's April for Sale, the beginning of the season, but there's little doubt that the lefty can provide more -- and more innings -- as he continues to build up after such a long layoff.
Offense shows signs of life: In three losses to the Yankees earlier in the week, the Red Sox managed just five runs in the sweep, and only three extra-base hits -- all of them solo homers, But the lineup looked far more alive Friday, Most obviously, they weren't chasing pitches out of the strike zone as they had in New York; in fact, they struck out just five times and worked three walks. Also impressive was the fact that hitters were obviously using the whole field and not trying to pull everything. In the first two innings alone, three at-bats from righthanded hitters -- two by Kike Hernandez and one from Christian Vazquez -- resulted in the Sox going to right field, and doing so with authority. It worked the other way, too, with lefty hitters like Kyle Schwarber and Alex Verdugo peppering the wall in left. That sort of approach was enormously successful for the Sox in the first half of the season before the team seemed to drift away from that focus in recent weeks. And better control of the strike zone was evidence that the message being preached in recent weeks -- don't expand the zone; keep the line moving -- may finally be settling in.
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox were already up 3-0 after a solo homer from Xander Bogaerts. With Sale on the mound, that had to feel pretty secure, But given the way the bullpen has performed of late, some additional offense was welcome. That came soon after the belt into the Monster Seats by Bogaerts. A walk to Kyle Schwarber and a double by J.D. Martinez brought Alex Verdugo to the plate, and with two out, Verdugo smashed a double off The Wall in left, scoring both baserunners. The Sox have been exceptional with two outs this season, leading the majors in runs scored in such situations and this was one more example of that.
TWO UP
Xander Bogaerts: Bogaerts had two hits -- a run-scoring single in the first and solo homer in the fifth. He's got four homers and 13 RBI in his last nine games.
Kyle Schwarber: The big trade acquisition has yet to make an appearance in the field, but reached base four times.
ONE DOWN
Rafael Devers: The third baseman seems to be in a fog at the plate of late. He was hitless in four at-bats, though he at least made contact to put the ball in play each time.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"There's more in the tank. I think he's going to keep getting better.'' Alex Cora on Chris Sale.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Red Sox improved to 62-11 (.849) when scoring four or more runs, the best winning percentage in baseball.
* Xander Bogaerts reached the 20 home run plateau for the fourth time in his career,
* Kike Hernandez has reached base safely in 11 straight games,
* Hirokau Sawamura pitched a scoreless eighth and is unscored upon in eight of his last nine appearances,
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Rangers continue their series Saturday at 7:10 p.m. with LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-6, 4.97) vs. RHP Jordan Lyles (5-10, 5.55).