Home run balls help carry Red Sox to victory over Phillies
Wednesday was a Plan A kind of day for the Red Sox.
In a 3-1 win over the Phillies, virtually every facet of the game went their way at Fenway Park, just as they drew it up over the offseason.
It began with a sharp outing from righthander Sonny Gray, the high-profile starting pitcher acquisition, and featured just enough pop, most notably Ceddanne Rafaela’s pinch-hit, go-ahead, two-out, two-run home run in the sixth inning.
They sprinkled in sparkling defense — from shortstop Trevor Story, first baseman Willson Contreras, and reliever Garrett Whitlock — and finished with the late-inning bullpen trio of Justin Slaten, Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman.
Consider it the blueprint — rarely used in the Sox’ sideways season, but proven to be still possible as they improved to 18-24.
“That was just good baseball,” Whitlock said. “When you pitch and when you play defense, you give yourself a chance to win, and the offense did a great job. That’s just trying to play solid baseball.”
Gray said: “We haven’t played our best baseball. That’s no secret. It’s a fact. But I do believe in the guys in the locker room. I believe in the talent that we have in there.”
Whitlock’s defensive contribution was perhaps the strangest play of the game, the final out of the top of the eighth inning.
Edmundo Sosa popped a pitch straight up. Catcher Connor Wong was in pursuit but bumped into Sosa, appeared to roll his right ankle, hit the ground, and stayed there. Whitlock sprinted into foul territory to make a sliding catch.
“Everyone told me I should have caught it standing up,” Whitlock said. “It felt like slow motion, because my mind was like, all right, we got out of it. And then I was like, holy crap, Connor’s in the dirt, I hope he’s OK. And then it was like, wait a minute, that ball is still in the air, I need to go.”
Wong said: “I heard the crowd and saw Whitlock out of the corner of my eye. I’m glad he made the catch.”
Carlos Narváez replaced Wong behind the plate in the ninth. X-rays on Wong’s ankle were negative, and he reported being “a little sore.”
Chapman, pitching for the first time in five days, walked a pair of batters. But he struck out Alec Bohm for the last out, stranding the potential tying run at second base.
Gray (six innings, one run) and Phillies rookie Andrew Painter (five innings, one run) were about equals. The damage: Story’s homer in the second, and Justin Crawford’s in the third.
Story’s was his first long ball and second RBI since April 15.
Philadelphia (20-23) pulled Painter after just 62 pitches, by far his fewest of the season, guaranteeing him a positive outing after a recent rough stretch had bumped his ERA to 6.89. As soon as he exited, though, the Sox took the lead for good.
Rafaela was “hunting a fastball,” and finally got one over the heart of the plate on the fourth pitch from Orion Kerkering. He eked it into the first row of Green Monster seats in left field.
“There is a clutch gene in there with him,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “He tends to get big hits in big moments.”
For Rafaela, it was redemption a day after he struck out — swinging at a head-high fastball — in the ninth inning.
“I really want to be in those situations every time,” Rafaela said. “Sometimes I don’t do the job. Sometimes I do. I had a chance yesterday, but I didn’t do it. I wanted to be in this situation today, and it came true.”
Getting the assist on Gray’s good day: Contreras, who completed a pair of standout plays at first base.
To end the top of the fifth, he made a diving stop of Crawford’s would-be double — then beat the speedy rookie to the bag for the out. In the sixth, he made a lunging grab of Bryce Harper’s line drive, catching Sosa way off first for a double play, again ending the inning.
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“Those are big outs,” Tracy said, “in big spots.”
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