Before Friday night’s 7-5 win over the San Francisco Giants, pitching had largely powered the Red Sox’s seven wins in their previous eight games.
In the series opener at Oracle Park, it was the offense’s turn to pick up the pitching staff. Staring up at an early 3-0 Giants lead, the Boston bats battled back and after being no-hit for the first 2.1 innings, ultimately out-hit their hosts 11-7. The Red Sox capitalized on their opportunities, going 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving six men on base, while the Giants were 2-for-10 with eight men left. It was the 42nd time an opponent scored first, and just the 14th time the Red Sox had come back to win.
“We put good at-bats,” manager Alex Cora told reporters after his team’s 40th win of the season. “We were relentless.”
Early on, the Giants were sitting pretty, thanks in no small part to their guests. It was anything but smooth sailing for Hunter Dobbins in the Bay Area. The rookie right-hander lasted just four innings (plus one batter in the fifth) and allowed five runs, four earned, on four hits. Velocity was also down 1.6-1.7 mph on his four-seamer and slider.
More concerning was that Dobbins usually pounds the strike zone but couldn’t find it on Friday night; he issued five walks, including one to his first batter, and only struck out one man. Three Giants batters came home to score after getting walked.
“He was off from the get-go,” Cora said of his starter. “He made some pitches, but I think as far as like, the command, he was off today.”
The first run of the game was unearned, when Wilmer Flores reached on a fielding error by second baseman David Hamilton in the first. He atoned for the miscue shortly after with a two-run homer that got Boston on the board.
Dobbins then opened the second inning with back-to-back-to-back walks. He got former Red Sox prospect Christian Koss to ground into a double play, scoring a run but putting the first two outs on the board. Mike Yastrzemski, grandson of the legendary Red Sox captain, ground a single up the middle, where it bounced off Dobbins. San Francisco’s third run came home as the Sox starter tried to grab the ball as it lay in between the mound and home plate.
The bottom of the fourth began with another bases-loaded situation for the Giants when Willy Adames and Casey Schmitt led off with a pair of singles and were joined on the bases when Dobbins walked Patrick Bailey. San Francisco retook the lead when Koss ground into his second run-scoring double play; according to the Associated Press’ Josh Dubow, Koss is just the third player in the last 50 years to ground into multiple run-scoring double plays with the bases loaded in the same game.
In May, such an early deficit was often insurmountable for the Red Sox. June, however, has been defined by battles, and Friday night was yet another fight to the finish.
The comeback started from the bottom. No. 8 and No. 9 hitters Ceddanne Rafaela and Hamilton blasted the game’s only home runs, a pair of two-run shots in the third and sixth inning, respectively. Hamilton’s got Boston on the board, and Rafaela’s gave the Red Sox a lead they would not relinquish.
It’s quietly been a hot stretch for Rafaela, who’s hitting .333 with four double and five homers over his last 21 games. On Friday night he went 3 for 4 and was a triple shy of the cycle. His one-out double in the third was the team’s first hit, and he scored moments later when Hamilton homered. The following inning, he tied the game with an RBI single. He also made a leaping catch at the wall to rob former teammate Rafael Devers of a big hit.
“He had a great day,” Cora said of Rafaela. “It was one of his best games of the season.”
Roman Anthony re-tied the game 4-4 with an RBI single in the fifth. Wilyer Abreu, in his first game back from the injured list, scored a run and drove in Boston’s final run with an RBI single in the seventh. Jarren Duran also came through with a pair of hits and a stolen base.
A bevy of bullpen arms picked up where Dobbins left off. Brennan Bernardino, Zack Kelly, Justin Wilson, Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman each recorded between one out and one inning’s worth of work in the victory. The Giants collected three hits and three walks, and never scored. Red Sox relievers own a 1.00 ERA over the last nine games.
Raffy’s revenge? Not so much
Devers’ first career at-bat against the franchise he’d played with from age 16 until last Sunday was about as anticlimactic as could be. He ground out on pitch No. 1, the first of many four-seam fastballs Red Sox pitchers threw at him in Friday night’s series opener.
Devers’ subsequent at-bats were more intriguing, but he finished the night 0-for-5. Closer Aroldis Chapman was the only Red Sox pitcher to strike him out.
Watching Devers play in a different uniform in person was “not surreal, just weird,” Cora said.
The Red Sox and Giants have two more games to play this weekend. Devers won’t return to Fenway until 2026, unless …
“If we face each other later on, that’s gonna be surreal,” Cora said.
Imagine that World Series matchup.
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