All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Rays, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Bogaerts provides big blow: In his first at-bat, Xander Bogaerts grounded out to strand a runner at second. In his second trip, in the third, he fanned. He managed a single to lead off the fifth, but his big push came in the sixth when, with two runners on, Bogaerts unloaded on a pitch from Rays reliever Shawn Armstrong, driving the ball over everything in left. In a rare bit of on-field emotion, Bogaerts spiked the bat in the dirt as an exclamation point. It was his second homer in the last five games and turned what had been a one-run game into a far more comfortable four-run cushion. "It felt real good, man,'' said Bogaerts. "I'm not even gonna lie. It felt real good off the bat and I kinda knew it. When there's guys on base, I'm just trying to hopefully get the ball to the outfield. He missed his location and I put a good swing on it.''
Wacha adjusts after rough first few innings: To say the night didn't begin well for Michael Wacha is a massive understatement. His very first pitch was hit into the Monster Seats by Yandy Diaz. He gave up a two-run homer in the second, and another run in the third. But after that, something clicked. Wacha made some mechanical adjustments, which served to both improve his fastball command and make his breaking pitches more effective. It certainly worked. After loading the bases in the top of the third, Wacha went on to retire 12 of the last 14 batters he faced and gave the Sox six strong innings, marred by two mistakes which resulted in three runs. Since coming off the IL, Wacha is 3-0 with a 1.93 in three starts.
Bullpen pressed into duty: When the Red Sox took a five-run lead in the seventh inning, the game had all the markings of a night in which Cora could rest his best high-leverage relievers, and stay away from Garrett Whitlock. But a four-run eighth off Ryan Brasier changed all of that. First, Cora went to Matt Barnes, who got them through the inning without further incident. Then, he called on Whitlock, who retired the Rays in order for his sixth save. As if often the case with Brasier, poor fastball command proved to to be the culprit. It's worth wondering how long the Sox can continue to go to him when they're ahead, given his bloated 6.47 ERA, and for that matter, if it isn't time to instead to take a look at one of the relievers from Worcester in his place.
TURNING POINT
In the third inning, Wacha found himself already trailing and the game was threatening to get away from him. He allowed a leadoff double, then hit consecutive hitters, giving the Rays runners at every base with no out. He allowed a run on a sacrifice fly to left, but then got a huge 4-6-3 double play to get out of the mess. Wacha didn't allow another run from that point forward and the Rays didn't score again until the eighth.
TWO UP
Alex Verdugo: He had a walk, a double and triple and scored a run and is batting .361 over his last nine games.
Kevin Plawecki: Plawecki knocked in two runs from the eighth spot in the order and managed to lift his average above .200 for the first time all season.
TWO DOWN
Christian Arroyo: Arroyo doubled and scored the Red Sox' first run in the second, but when was 0-for-4 the rest of the way, including three strikeouts in a rare off-night for him at the plate.
Jarren Duran: He did manage a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, but also struck out three times and threw to the wrong base in the eighth, allowing the batter/runner to move into scoring position.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"It was a very veteran outing. Not really his best stuff and not his best outing, but one of his best because of how he did it.'' Alex Cora on Michael Waca.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
* The win was the Red Sox' 25th come-from-behind victory of the season.
* The Sox are 26-13 when their starting pitchers go at least six innings.
* The Red Sox bashed out 15 or more hits for the second straight game and ninth time this season.
* Alex Cora earned his 345th career win as Red Sox manager, moving into a ninth-place tie with Eddie Kasko on the all-time list.
* Kevin Plawecki had three more hits and has eight hits in his last five games.
* Alex Verdugo had his fifth multi-hit game in his last nine games.
UP NEXT: The middle game of the series takes place at 4:10 p.m. Saturday, with LHP Rich Hill (5-5, 4.68) vs. LHP Jeffrey Springs (6-3, 2.48) as the pitching matchup.