Wilyer Abreu homers twice as Red Sox rally late to beat Cubs and avoid series sweep

The Red Sox offense was quiet through the first two games of the series, and that trend continued until the seventh inning.

Wilyer Abreu hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, swinging the momentum back in the Red Sox’ favor. Two innings later, Abreu would add on another homer, a solo blast, his 20th of the season, to put a bow on top, leading the Red Sox to a 6-1 win on getaway day.

“It was very exciting,” Abreu told NESN’s Jahmai Webster via interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez following the game. “A very emotional moment when you’re behind the whole game and you come through for your team and you put the team ahead with that home run.”

Alex Bregman also got involved in the home run barrage, belting a pinch-hit, three-run blast in the eighth inning, giving Boston a five-run lead at the time. Initially, Bregman was slated to have Sunday off but instead was called up to pinch-hit for Masataka Yoshida. Old friend Drew Pomeranz left a 0-1 curveball over the heart of the plate, and Bregman’s eyes lit up, crushing the ball 402 feet into the left field stands.

“We talked about it before the game; he said 'I feel good, (head trainer Brandon Henry) feels like I could play today, so I’ll be ready in the second part of the game, and it just played into our advantage,” Alex Cora told reporters in Chicago. “Lefty on the mound, Masa coming up, we were thinking of putting him in to play defense and moving everybody back to their normal positions, and the kid did what he usually does.”

Abreu’s two homers and Bregman’s three-run shot helped ignite the Sox’ offense, which had scored just one run all series up until the seventh inning Sunday afternoon. Abreu now leads the Sox with 20 homers on the season, and he continues to make a case to remain in the outfield long-term with the trade deadline looming on the horizon.

“Willy is a good player, a good defender, and a good hitter; when he’s locked in, the at-bats go longer,” Cora said. “He saw the ball pretty well today, and he put in two good swings.”

Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet improved to 11-4, but the road to get there wasn’t exactly easy. The hard-throwing lefty surrendered just one run across six innings, allowing eight hits and walking two in the outing. Crochet struck out five batters and threw 100 pitches, 64 for strikes, before turning it over to the bullpen.

Boston fell behind 1-0 in the second inning, when Cubs star center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong led off with a double and stayed at second on Dansby Swanson’s infield single. Crochet caught Crow-Armstrong trying to steal third and later scored on an Ian Happ single into right field.

Crochet would settle into his outing, looking nasty, including escaping a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning when he was able to get Carson Kelly to ground into a force-out. He also pitched around a leadoff double in the sixth inning off the bat of Crow-Armstrong.

“When you need a stopper, he's a stopper," Bregman said of Crochet following the game. "When you need somebody to keep it going, he keeps it going. When you need someone to set the tone and be the ace of the staff, that’s what he’s done. He's delivered time and time again all year long and we feel very confident every time he takes the hill that we have a really good chance to win.”

Yoshida played left field for the first time in almost two seasons and collided with Jarren Duran on a ball that the center fielder really had no business trying to make a play on. Neither player was injured on the play. Cora penciled Yoshida into left field because Roman Anthony was feeling “under the weather” and utilized him as the designated hitter. Despite not feeling well, the rookie had two hits and a walk from the DH spot.

Yoshida was able to dust off his glove and start in left field for the first time since Oct. 1, 2023. 

“It’s been a while, so I'm looking forward to it,” Yoshida said through a translator before the game. “One thing I have to be careful about is the wind, right, for sure, and all the conditions and all the vines [ivy on the outfield walls]. … My goal was to get back out there in the outfield when I got the surgery. It’s been a long process but to be able to go back out there and play the outfield, it’s really important for me. I was missing it a lot.”

Carlos Narváez had been struggling entering Sunday’s game but roped a missile double in the eighth that went 111.2 mph off his bat. It was the hardest ball he had ever hit in his career.

Boston was able to salvage the series finale and will now hit the road and head to Philadelphia for a three-game series against the Phillies beginning on Monday night. 

The Red Sox will send Walker Buehler (6-6, 6.12 ERA) to the mound, where he will start opposite Phillies ace Zack Wheeler (9-3, 2.36 ERA). The Phillies also signed 40-year-old veteran reliever David Robertson. According to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, the Red Sox and Tigers made a pitch to land Robertson.