Red Sox pinch-hit magic staves off Diamondbacks sweep

In four games since their forced exile from the Roman (Anthony) Empire, the Boston Red Sox haven’t been the same.

They flew to Arizona to face a sub-.500 Diamondbacks team, but spent nearly the entire weekend struggling and lost the first two games.

Sunday looked lost, too, until the offense finally found its spark in pinch-hit fashion late in the game. The Red Sox staved off a sweep with a 7-4 come-from-behind win, the 600th victory of Alex Cora’s managerial career.

“Like I always said, it takes a lot of people to win games at this level, and to win 600 games as a group, since that first swing Mookie (Betts) took in Tropicana Field, all the way to the last pitch by (Aroldis Chapman today), it takes a lot of effort,” Cora told reporters.

Brayan Bello made it through six innings, but his frames were not without difficulties. Within the first four innings, the Diamondbacks took two leads because of wild pitches. For the third game in a row, Arizona scored first, within the first two innings. Bello yielded three earned runs on four hits, walked one and only struck out two.

While the Red Sox failed to capitalize on their early opportunities, Diamondback Corbin Carroll created one for himself. Having led off the bottom of the fourth with a single, he advanced to second on Jake McCarthy’s groundout, then stole third and scored the go-ahead run on Bello’s second wild pitch.

Ryne Nelson became the fourth opposing starter in a row to hold the Boston bats to one run over six innings. He gave up three hits and walked three, and beginning in the second, the Red Sox put the leadoff man on three innings in a row; a lone run in the fourth was all they had to show for it. Three of the four double plays ground into in the first three and a half innings belonged to Boston batters.

With help from their hosts, the Red Sox took their first lead since Anthony’s injury. Ryan Thompson hit Trevor Story with a pitch to begin the seventh. The Diamondbacks challenged the call, and lost.

It was the first of several snafus for the home team in the inning. Story’s American League-record perfect stolen base mark looked over by a mile when the Diamondbacks caught him in a rundown. Instead, the veteran shortstop managed to avoid the tag and extend his mark to 27 for 27. (The MLB record is Trea Turner’s 30 for 30 season with the ‘23 Phillies.)

Nathaniel Lowe joined Story on base with a single, and Romy Gonzalez, pinch-hitting for Rob Refsnyder, advanced them to second and third with a groundout. David Hamilton’s line-drive RBI single plated Boston’s second run of the contest and prompted the Diamondbacks to swap Thompson for Jake Woodford.

Hamilton moved into scoring position with his 20th stolen base of the year, making this the second time since 1915 that a Red Sox team has three players with at least 20 steals apiece. Fittingly, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury, two-thirds of that ’08 trio spent time with their successors at Chase Field this weekend. (Coco Crisp was the third.)

Even with his speed, Connor Wong likely would have been the inning-ending groundout. Instead, Jordan Lawlar’s throw from third shot past first baseman Tyler Locklear. Lowe and Gonzalez raced home, Wong to second. For the first time since placing Anthony on the injured list, the Red Sox were in the lead.

“We’re gonna grind,” said Cora. “We’ve been hurt, we’ve been banged up throughout the season, and we have been able to put ourselves in these situations. And we talked to the guys a few weeks ago: ‘just be ready.'”

Zack Kelly had warmed up as Bello finished the sixth, and even though the Red Sox took their improbable one-run lead, Kelly took the mound rather than Garrett Whitlock, who last pitched Sept. 2.

Whitlock got the ball moments later, after Kelly gave up the tying run on a redemption RBI-single by Lawlar. Despite a double-steal by Locklear and Lawlar, Whitlock recorded the remaining two outs, and followed with a 1-2-3 eighth inning. According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, however, Whitlock “has been dealing with a physical issue on his lower right leg,” and was “limping pronouncedly on his way back to the dugout” at the end of the eighth.

The bats rewarded Whitlock’s heroics moments later with some pinch-hit magic. Gonzalez began the rally with a one-out single, and Nate Eaton joined him with a walk. Ceddanne Rafaela skyed one to left, but not deep enough, and for a moment, it looked as though these base runners would be wasted, too.

Then, Cora sent Nick Sogard to pinch-hit for Wong. The result: a two-run double to center. Cora sent Carlos Narváez to pinch-hit for Masataka Yoshida, and the rookie catcher sent Sogard home with an RBI single. Alex Bregman reached on Lawlar’s second throwing error of the game before Jarren Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.

“Took two pitches, didn’t panic and shoot the ball the other way,” Cora said of Sogard.

“I think that’s just a testament to how deep this team is,” Sogard told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “It’s always good to help contribute, and especially this time of year, with the way this team’s been going, it feels good … That was a big win.”

With a three-run lead, Aroldis Chapman took the mound for the first time in six days. Thanks to a wild pitch that allowed Ildemaro Vargas to reach first after striking out swinging, the veteran closer’s 29th save required four outs. Getting Lawlar swinging to end the game, Chapman joined Craig Kimbrel (May 25, 2017) as the only pitchers in franchise history with four strikeouts in a single inning.

“It’s huge, and Chappy too. We just got to be better with the rest of the guys, and that’s the reality of it,” Cora said of Whitlock, who received the win, and Chapman. “Trying to avoid him going two innings or four outs, but in that situation we needed it… Having those two guys in the back end of the bullpen is a luxury.”

Closing in on MLB history

Chapman’s 17 consecutive hitless appearances dating back to July 26 are not only a franchise record, but the third-longest streak since MLB’s Modern Era began in 1901. Only Tim Byrdak (18, 2012 Mets) and Randy Choate (20, 2011 Marlins) stand in front of the veteran closer.

Chapman’s 60th appearance of the season dropped his ERA down to 0.98. He’s struck out 81 batters in 55 innings.

Cora compared Chapman’s season to Eric Gagne at the apex of his career, when he won the ’03 Cy Young Award as the Dodger’s finisher.

“Very close to Eric, I think,” Cora said. “What Eric did in L.A., that was amazing, that was crazy. He was so good that people started staying late at games and started leaving early. But this is special, let’s put it that way. To do it at this age, and where we’re at as an industry as far as like, the hitters and adjustments that they make, is eye-opening.

Facts and figures

The Red Sox are 26-45 when opponents score first. They’re 26-20 in series finales. Next up, they head to Sacramento for three games with the Athletics at their Triple-A lodgings.

The Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Sunday to take two of three in a crucial division matchup.

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