Two days ago, the Red Sox were embarrassed by the Rays, 16-1, in the series opener with the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Boston quickly put that game behind them and took the next two games against their division rival.
After Alex Bregman went 5-for-5 on Tuesday night, pacing the Red Sox offense to a 7-4 win, David Hamilton was the hero on Wednesday night.
Hamilton entered the game just 1-for-21 (.048) and put the Sox on top 1-0 after lining a 3-2 fastball just inside the right-field foul pole to lead off the third inning. The line drive homer was all the offense Boston would need and would not have been a home run in any other ballpark, according to Statcast.
David Hamilton gives the Sox a 1-0 with his first homer of the year! pic.twitter.com/h0mJqlXhL3
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 16, 2025
The win on Wednesday was the first 1-0 win for the Red Sox since April 3, 2024, when they visited Oakland.
With Bregman away from the team due to the birth of his second child, Alex Cora started Romy Gonzalez at third base, with Hamilton getting the nod at second base, giving Kristian Campbell the night off.
The Sox rookie snapped his 17-game on-base streak on Tuesday night.
Boston had opportunities to score additional runs, loading the bases after Trevor Story walked, Gonzalez doubled, and Triston Casas walked. Carlos Narváez popped up the first pitch he saw from Zack Littell, and Hamilton grounded back to the mound in the next at-bat.
Jarren Duran had put himself in scoring position in the first inning, recording a double on a fly ball to right field that José Caballero misplayed. Boston squandered the opportunity when Duran attempted to steal third with Rafael Devers at the plate.
Devers played in his 1,000th career regular-season game with the Red Sox. He walked and singled in the win. The Sox’ designated hitter is the 31st player in franchise history to reach the mark, but only the 12th to do so before turning 29 years old, the team announced.
BULLPEN WAS FANTASTIC
Sean Newcomb made his fourth start of the season and lasted 4 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just four hits and two walks while striking out four batters.
After taking Newcomb out of the game, Cora turned the ball over to his bullpen, where Greg Weissert was lights out. The right-hander came into the game with traffic on the base paths and two outs. He struck out slugger Yandy Díaz, swinging to keep the Sox up 1-0 in the fifth. Weissert followed that up with two more strikeouts, getting Junior Caminero swinging and Christopher Morel looking, en route to a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
The 30-year-old reliever has been outstanding over his first nine games this season, recording a 2.08 ERA with 11 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP. He has been one of Cora’s trusted relievers early on this year.
“He keeps the ball in the ballpark,” Cora said. “When he throws strikes, he’s nasty.”
Filthy outing from Greg Weissert. Just what the Red Sox needed out of him. pic.twitter.com/0yswPRJtWE
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) April 17, 2025
Garrett Whitlock was excellent; he retired six of the seven batters he faced for a scoreless seventh and eighth inning. He allowed one single and struck out four (three swinging).
Whitlock threw 24 pitches, 21 of them for strikes, working around just one hit, a single, in his appearance.
Justin Slaten filled in for closer Aroldis Chapman, earning his second save of the season.
Cora praised his bullpen's work coming off the embarrassing blowout loss on Monday night.
“For how disappointed we were on Monday, right, Michael Fulmer went out there and gave us what we needed,” Cora said following the game. “(Josh Winckowski) did the same thing, and then ‘Weiss’ and (Brennan Bernardino), and helped us to set up the next two days.
“And that’s what it takes, you know, in games like that. Somebody has to take a bullet, right, and try to give us as many pitches as possible and save the bullpen. Weissert was fresh, Whit was amazing, he was fresh too, Slaten too.
“And that’s the tough part about this business. Everybody sees the usage and not taking the starter out early and all that, but you have to manage the series. We have to manage the series. You cannot just manage one game, because if you try to manage one game pedal to the metal, you’re not going to survive. We’re not going to survive.”
Newcomb has allowed seven earned runs over 17 1/3 frames and lowered his ERA to 3.63 following his outing on Wednesday night.
“Sean did an outstanding job,” Cora said. “Using his fastballs around the zone helps him. … We talk about the cutter a lot, but he kept them off-balance and gave us more than enough.”
SERIES RECAP
The Rays pummeled Tanner Houck in the series opener, smacking the righty all over the ballpark. The 2024 All-Star gave up 12 runs, 11 earned, on 10 hits (two homers) while walking one and striking out one. Houck saw his ERA balloon to an eye-popping 9.16 ERA.
Houck has one decent outing this season, which came in his last outing against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park. The righty is still having an issue missing bats; he only induced four swings-and-misses in that start.
Boston’s defense also let down Houck, with Bregman committing an error. Duran allowed a runner to score all the way from first base. The Sox have committed a league-high 20 errors to begin the young season.
The only positive from that game came off the bat of Campbell, who belted a solo homer.
Bregman went 5-for-5 on Tuesday night with two homers and four RBI, in the Red Sox' 7-4 win. He set a new career high for hits in a game; his previous high was four hits, which he achieved 10 times over his career.
Cora had been adamant that Duran focus on hitting the ball to the opposite field, and his leadoff man did just that, smacking his first homer of the season over the left field wall.
Walker Buehler went five frames, allowing two runs off three hits while walking three and striking out three. The righty threw 89 pitches, 53 for strikes, with his fastball topping out at 95.7 mph.
Zack Kelly went 2 2/3 innings and almost went the distance in relief of Buehler.
The road trip started rocky with the Sox dropping the first two games to the lowly White Sox; they salvaged the series by taking the finale on Sunday. Monday's game against the Rays was a low point, with Houck struggling, poor defense, and an overmatched offense against the Rays' pitching.
Cora was pleased to see his team fight over the last two games and finish the series 3-3.
“Yeah. I mean, we won this series,” the manager said. “We haven’t played great for a while, but we have back-to-back clean games, and if we do that, we’re gonna have a chance.”
BACK TO FENWAY
It looks as if Boston will turn to Hunter Dobbins to make his second start of the year when the Red Sox come home to begin a four-game series with the White Sox on Friday.
Cora told reporters that “there’s a chance” Dobbins will be promoted and make the spot start.
“We’ll talk about it. We don’t know yet,” said Cora to reporters before the game. “Let’s see how it goes tonight. And then, obviously, with the off day (Thursday), we have a chance to reset. But we’ll make a decision probably tomorrow.”
Dobbins made his big league debut on April 6 in the nightcap of the doubleheader against the Cardinals. He went five innings, allowing two runs, and earned the win in the Sox’ 18-7 win on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Brayan Bello made another rehab start, this time on the road with the Portland Sea Dogs in Hartford, Conn., against the Yard Goats. Bello went 4 1/3 innings where he gave up four runs on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. Bello threw 51 of 71 pitches for strikes. He is expected to make his season debut with the Red Sox at some point next week.
Liam Hendriks also pitched in that game, taking over in the sixth inning and recording a scoreless frame.e allowed just one walk and struck out a batter in his single inning of work. Due to inflammation in his right elbow, Hendriks has been on the injured list since Opening Day.