All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Mets, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Sox tough with two outs: For much of the season, the Red Sox have been one of the better teams in the game with two outs, leading MLB in that category with 317 runs. That skill was on display again Tuesday night as three of the team's six runs came after two were out. In the fourth inning, back-to-back doubles by Bobby Dalbec and Christian Vazquez produced their first run. Then, in the sixth, after Dalbec and Vazquez made the first two outs of the inning, the Sox took advantage of some wildness on the part of the Mets' bullpen and used a hit batsman and two walks to load the bases for Xander Bogaerts, who drove a single into right.
ERod struggles again: Eduardo Rodriguez is not exactly peaking at the right time. For the second time in his last three starts and third time in his last six, Rodriguez failed to get through the fifth inning. Rodriguez cruised through the first three innings, allowing just one while fanning five, But in the fourth, he seemed to suddenly lose the strike zone, walking three hitters in the span of four at-bats and paying dearly for his loss of control as Michael Conforto singled to left. Rodriguez didn't have an explanation for his rather sudden lack of control, but the inconsistent outing was one of many that have marred his season, helping to explain his 4.97 ERA.
Sox again lean on the bullpen: With Rodriguez getting only one out in the fifth inning, that left a lot of work for the teams' relievers. They worked in tag-team style, with five different relievers contributing to the final 4.2 innings. Of the five, only Garrett Richards -- who gave up a rocket of homer to Pete Alonso on an 0-and-2 pitch -- allowed any runs, That's been part of a recent pattern over the last week and a walk, beginning with the team's trip to Chicago and Seattle: over the last 10 games, the bullpen has given up just six earned runs over the last 44.1 innings of work, which translates to a 1.22 ERA in that span.
TURNING POINT
In the third inning, Xander Bogaerts came to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs, but hit into a 5-2-3 double play that wiped out any chances the Sox had of turning that into a big inning. But three innings later, Bogaerts came up with another golden opportunity -- bases loaded again, but this time with two outs -- and didn't miss, slicing a single through the shifted infield into right field, scoring two runs. That turned a 4-2 Red Sox lead into a 6-2 cushion.
TWO UP
Kike Hernandez: He reached base three times, belted a solo homer and also threw a baserunner out at the plate for the Red Sox' 41st outfield assist this season.
Bobby Dalbec: The team's hottest hitter continued to rake, with a booming double off the CF wall in the fourth and a single left in the second.
TWO DOWN
J.D. Martinez: It was a rough night at the plate for Martinez who failed to get the ball out of the infield in four plate appearances -- two strikeouts, a groundout and a pop-up.
Alex Verdugo: The outfield was hitting .350 since Aug. 1 coming into the game, but was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"You have to be very patient, you have to be very disciplined against (Marcus) Stroman. (Our hitting coaches) were saying all day, you can't chase him around the zone, because if you do that, you're going to be in trouble.'' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Red Sox have homered in 25 of their last 27 games.
* Hansel Robles is unscored upon in his last nine outings.
* INF Jose Iglesias extended his hitting streak to eight straight games.
* Kike Hernandez recorded his seventh outfield assist of the season.
* Christian Vazquez is hitting .307 over his last 27 games, dating back to Aug. 15
UP NEXT
The Sox and Mets conclude their two-game series Wednesday night at 7:10 with LHP Chris Sale (4-0, 2.40) vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (7-10, 4,.27)