Red Sox blank Mets behind Eduardo Rivera, bullpen; pull within half-game of last Wild Card

The Red Sox continue to play their best baseball of the season.

Boston blanked the Mets, 4-0, on Saturday afternoon for its eighth straight victory, continuing a remarkable turnaround that has the club firmly back in the American League Wild Card race.

With Ranger Suarez on the injured list, the Red Sox handed the ball to left-hander Eduardo Rivera for his first major league start. The 23-year-old delivered, allowing just one hit over 3 2/3 scoreless innings. The lone hit came on the final pitch of his outing.

In seven major league innings, Rivera has yet to allow a run while striking out six.

“He was awesome,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Wasn’t scared, attacked the zone, fastball had life, it was good, he landed breaking balls. He was excellent, everything you could ask for out of him.”

The offense came from Andruw Monasterio and Masataka Yoshida.

Monasterio broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, crushing his fifth home run of the season, 378 feet to left field, after Boston had managed just three hits against Mets starter Freddy Peralta. He later added a leadoff triple in the sixth.

Yoshida provided the insurance in the eighth, pulling a two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole to double Boston’s lead.

The bullpen took care of the rest.

Rivera’s outing ended after a two-out single by Jorge Polanco in the fourth, prompting Tracy to turn to Greg Weissert, Jovani Morán, Justin Slaten and Danny Coulombe. The quartet combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings to complete the shutout.

The biggest moment came in the seventh, when Morán and Slaten allowed the Mets to load the bases with two outs before Slaten froze A.J. Ewing on a called third strike to end the threat. 

“Two big swings were enough today, with our bullpen,” Tracy said.

Peralta was outstanding despite taking the loss. The right-hander struck out the side in the first inning and finished with six strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits and two earned runs while walking five.

Boston missed several opportunities to break the game open, stranding the bases loaded in both the second and fifth innings. The fifth-inning rally ended when Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez successfully challenged a called ball, turning it into a strikeout of Caleb Durbin on one of the closest pitches imaginable.

The Red Sox finished with six hits, including two apiece from Durbin and Monasterio, but went just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners.

Monasterio also joined rare company, becoming just the fourth player in franchise history to record a home run, triple and sacrifice bunt in the same game, joining Rich Gedman (1985), Carl Yastrzemski (1978) and Gary Geiger (1959).

Durbin continued his recent surge by reaching base three times. He has now hit safely in 27 of his last 38 games dating back to May 28.

Coulombe closed out the final two innings, which Tracy called “huge” because it allowed All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman to get a day off before the All-Star break.

Boston designated Coulombe for assignment just minutes after he recorded the final six outs in the Red Sox’s 4-0 victory over the Mets. The 36-year-old left-hander threw two scoreless innings, allowing no hits while walking three and throwing a season-high 37 pitches to finish off the shutout.

The Red Sox improved to 45-48, their closest mark to .500 since April 18 and just a half-game behind the final American League Wild Card spot. Boston has won eight straight games, the longest active streak in the majors, and is 8-0 on its current road trip, its best road-trip start since 1977.

The Red Sox will try to complete a perfect 9-0 road trip Sunday afternoon before heading into the All-Star break. Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.14 ERA) is scheduled to face rookie left-hander Zach Thornton (0-1, 4.35 ERA).