It took nearly 21 hours, but the Red Sox eventually got it done.
The Red Sox won Wednesday afternoon’s rain-suspended contest 5-3, rallying for two runs in the bottom of the eighth to clinch the midweek series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Wilyer Abreu delivered the go-ahead RBI single, and Brayan Bello allowed two runs over five innings after taking the mound in relief of starter Richard Fitts when play resumed.
“Definitely a weird one,” Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story said. “Resuming play is always kind of a weird vibe but a little bit quiet out there, which is weird for Fenway, but as the offense got going the crowd picked up and it was fun.”
Before the game was suspended due to inclement weather on Tuesday night, the Red Sox led 2-1 thanks to an RBI double by Roman Anthony, a run-scoring single by Carlos Narvaez and a strong effort by Richard Fitts, who allowed one run over three innings before severe thunderstorms moved into the area.
Rather than go right to the bullpen as the Reds did when play resumed, the Red Sox opted to have Bello take the mound in hopes of having him pitch as much of the remaining game as possible.
Initially things didn’t go well for the Red Sox right-hander. Bello allowed a walk and then a two-run home run to Spencer Steer in the bottom of the fourth, allowing the Reds to take a 3-2 lead, but from there he settled down and retired the next eight batters he faced.
Bello faced the minimum 14 from the point he gave up the home run through the end of the eighth. During that stretch Cincinnati only got two baserunners — both on hit batsmen — and each runner was subsequently erased by a double play.
Bello wound up allowing just the two runs on one hit over five innings with two walks, two hit batsmen and three strikeouts.
“That was a good learning experience for him because every pitch mattered,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “As a starter you give up three in six innings you’re happy, but here he needed to make pitches the whole game. He did a great job with the runners, he kept them at first, the last game they stole two or three I think it was. He was in command, got ground balls, we played good defense behind him and a really good one.”
The Red Sox tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Narvaez, who scored Abraham Toro after the first baseman hit a bloop double and took third on a wild pitch. Toro came up big his next at-bat in the eighth with a single, and pinch runner Nate Eaton subsequently stole second and advanced to third on a ground out to move into scoring position.
That set the table for Abreu, who gave Boston the lead with his RBI knock, and Story provided some insurance with an RBI double to deep center field.
Story wound up being thrown out at second after he rounded the bag too far and slipped trying to get back, but the gaffe didn’t prove costly, as closer Aroldis Chapman came on for the top of the ninth and sent the Reds down 1-2-3 for his 15th save of the season and the 350th of his career.
“It means a lot, obviously because of all the hard work you put in and it means your team wins,” Chapman said via interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “350 saves means your team has won that many times.”
Setting aside the 1:20 rain delay on Tuesday night and the subsequent suspension, the actual game flew by. The total time of game was 2:09, and getting from the moment play resumed to the point Sweet Caroline played entering the bottom of the eighth inning took barely over an hour.
In many ways the game was reminiscent of the seven-inning doubleheaders held during the pandemic, which Cora said was an experience he enjoyed.
“The game is sharper, the fans are into it and the decision-making, you have to be on point,” Cora said. “Obviously that’s not going to happen, but games like that, their guy did an amazing job early on, two innings, they went to the bullpen, you have to put the ball in play, steal a base, put the ball in play and the game was over. The faster the game is played the better it is for the fans.”
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