Red Sox rally past Giants to complete sweep, finish dominant homestand

It looked early like the Red Sox might have a long afternoon ahead of them.

Jake Bennett was hit hard in his return from a nine-day break, the Giants jumped out to a three-run lead by the second inning, and Boston was staring at the possibility of letting a very winnable series finale slip away.

Instead, the Red Sox did what they’ve done so often during their second-half surge, they punched back.

Boston erased the early deficit with five unanswered runs, Bennett settled in to retire 18 of the final 21 hitters he faced and the Red Sox survived an ugly defensive sequence late to beat the Giants, 5-4, Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.

The win completed a three-game sweep and capped an impressive 5-1 homestand for the Red Sox, who improved to 71-59 and an MLB-best 25-11 since the All-Star break.

Considering where they were a week ago, it was quite the response. Boston returned home after going 2-5 through Toronto and Pittsburgh, a road trip that temporarily cooled one of baseball’s hottest teams. Six games later, the Red Sox are back to 12 games over .500 and rolling again.

Nick Sogard was once again right in the middle of it. After hitting his first major league homer Wednesday and delivering the game-tying double in Saturday’s ninth-inning comeback, Sogard started Boston’s rally Sunday with another home run.

San Francisco had taken a 3-0 lead when Jonah Cox homered to begin the second. Sogard answered in the bottom half, turning around a pitch from rookie Matt Wilkinson and sending it out to right to get Boston on the board.

Sogard wasn’t finished; he ripped a 104-mph double off the Green Monster to begin the fourth, sparking the three-run rally that ultimately put Boston ahead for good. He finished 2-for-4 and continues to give Chad Tracy little reason to take him out of the lineup.

The switch-hitter has provided production from both sides of the plate and has suddenly become an important part of an offense that described itself as “relentless” after Saturday’s comeback.

Jahmai Jones tripled to deep center in the third and scored on Ceddanne Rafaela’s single to pull Boston within 3-2. Jones continues to crush left-handed pitching in a limited role, hitting .520 (13-for-25) with two homers, four doubles, a triple and a 1.586 OPS since joining the Red Sox.

Wilkinson was making just his second big league start and lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out two. The big left-hander allowed runs in the second, third and fourth innings as Boston steadily chipped away at San Francisco’s early lead.

Giants manager Tony Vitello planned to ride Wilkinson for as long as he remained effective, but the Red Sox eventually forced his hand in the fourth inning. 

Sogard opened with his double, and after Wilkinson nearly escaped the inning, Connor Wong sent a towering fly ball toward the Green Monster. Victor Bericoto appeared to make the catch against the wall, but the ball had glanced off the Monster before settling into his glove. Replay overturned the initial call, awarding Wong a game-tying RBI double.

Tracy immediately went to his bench after San Francisco went to its bullpen and brought in right-hander JT Brubaker. Mickey Gasper pinch-hit for Jones and jumped on the first pitch he saw, ripping a double down the line to give Boston its first lead.

Rafaela followed with his third hit of the afternoon, an RBI single that made it 5-3.

Boston had flipped a three-run deficit into a two-run lead and that comeback gave Bennett enough room to finish what became an encouraging return to the rotation. The rookie left-hander hadn’t pitched since Aug. 14 as the Red Sox gave him additional rest to manage a workload that has already surpassed his previous professional career high. 

Bennett showed some rust early on in the game, after he allowed four consecutive Giants to reach with one out in the first, with Bryce Eldridge and Bericoto producing RBI singles. Cox then led off the second with a homer to make it 3-0.

It was just the second career homer for Cox; his first came back on June 5 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 

It could have been considerably worse but Eli White saved a run with a leaping catch near the left-field wall before Rafaela made a diving grab on Andrew Knizner’s sinking liner to finally get Bennett out of the first.

From there, Bennett looked much more like the pitcher who emerged as one of Boston’s most dependable starters earlier this summer.

He retired 18 of the final 21 hitters he faced and worked seven innings for the first time since July 8. Bennett allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits, walked one and struck out six while needing only 84 pitches. He became the seventh Red Sox pitcher all-time to win at least right of their first 15 career games. 

The Giants went down in 10 pitches or fewer in every inning from the second through the sixth.

The only run Bennett allowed after the second came on one of Boston’s ugliest defensive sequences of the season.

Christian Koss hit a grounder to short in the seventh, but Andruw Monasterio’s one-hop throw skipped away from Willson Contreras and into foul territory. Koss kept running, and when Wilyer Abreu attempted to throw him out at third, his throw sailed out of play.

Koss was awarded home on the second error, turning what should have been a routine groundout into a Little League home run and cutting Boston’s lead to 5-4.

Tyron Guerrero worked a scoreless eighth, getting some help from an inning-ending double play, before Aroldis Chapman retired the Giants in order in the ninth for his 29th save.

The Red Sox also found a way to score five runs despite getting nothing from the heart of their order. Abreu, Contreras and Caleb Durbin each went 0-for-4, but the rest of the lineup picked them up.

Rafaela had three hits, while Sogard, Jones and Wong combined for six more.

Rafaela provided a brief scare in the first inning when his wrist bent awkwardly as he made a spectacular diving catch. Asked on the NBC broadcast afterward if he had hurt it on the play, Rafaela said he was fine.

His performance backed that up. Rafaela went 3-for-4, recording his team-leading 10th game with at least three hits this season.

Boston recorded 11 hits and it was the 44th time this season they’ve have 10 or more hits in a game. 

Sogard continues to make the case to remain an everyday player despite Trevor Story and Isiah Kiner-Falefa inching closer to a return from the injured list. Both Story and Kiner-Falefa will remain with the WooSox this week. In the win on Sunday, Sogard extended his hitting streak to sox games and he has multiple hits in five of those games. He’s also reached base multiple times in a career-high six consecutive games. 

Roman Anthony will also remain with the WooSox for at least the beginning of the week. Worcester is off on Monday and will begin a six-game series on Tuesday at Polar Park against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. 

It sounds like Tracy plans to use Jarren Duran as his left fielder while Anthony spends time as the club’s designated hitter. The Sox’ interim skipper hinted that Anthony would play the field but with Jones and White on the roster, Anthony can focus on just hitting once he returns from the injured list. 

Rafael Devers’ return to Fenway, meanwhile, ended quietly. After homering Friday, the former Red Sox star finished the series 1-for-10 with two walks and three strikeouts. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Sunday.

Devers and the Giants leave town having been swept and extended their losing streak to four games. San Francisco is 3-11 in their last 14 games, and are 11-23 in their last 31, dating back to July 17. With the loss on Sunday afternoon, the Giants are a season-high 26 games under .500. 

The Red Sox leave having quickly erased much of the frustration from their previous road trip.

Boston improved to 34-32 at Fenway and has gone 25-11 since the All-Star break. The club has also sold out 16 consecutive games at Fenway dating back to July 22.

It was also the Sox’ 32nd come-from-behind win of the season, and they have come from behind to win in three straight games. Their 32 comeback wins are tied for the second most in the American League with the Royals, Rays, and Yankees. They trail the White Sox for the league lead with 33 come-from-behind victories. 

The Red Sox will fly to Miami for a three-game series beginning Monday, with Ranger Suarez (5-3, 3.41 ERA) facing Sandy Alcantara (13-8, 3.46 ERA) in the opener at 6:40 p.m.