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Alex Verdugo gives the Sox a walk-off win April 18, 2023 ... With an ERA of 11.25 and a WHIP north of 2 (2.08) coming into this start, and an affinity to giving up long balls, Chris Sale just simply did not look like a guy who could give you a real quality start the way he has for his entire 13-year career. His affinity for giving up long balls was a liability this season, as it has plagued the rest of the rotation thus far. Luckily for Sale, and debatably even more-so for the Red Sox, he looked fantastic. Sale’s first six outs recorded were all strikeouts. He managed eleven strikeouts on the night and was continuously keeping guys guessing. Well, if 11 strikeouts in six innings is any indicator on where things might go with future starts, it’s something to feel really good about. Through the same two innings where Chris Sale cooked the Twins’ lineup for those six strikeouts, the Red Sox stranded five runners on their offensive errors, each by way of a strikeout, from Triston Casas and Justin Turner, respectively. With the game tied and Chris Sale holding his end of the bargain incredibly, after a 1-2-3 3rd that saw Casas strike out swinging again, a Devers fly-out would squander another two runners, including Connor Wong at third. The score was 1-0, but not for long, as Sale would get into some trouble in the fifth and surrender his only run of the game via a Carlos Correa fly-out to score Michael A. Taylor. After the sixth inning saw Sale strike out two more guys, it was time for Josh Winckowski to come in and continue his commanding season. He gave up a home run to Max Kepler two pitches in, and the Red Sox were down 2-1. This offense was a liability... until deep in the 8th inning, that is. Old friend Christian Vazquez acquainted Boston with a new friend, a catcher’s interference, interestingly enough, on a catcher, Reese McGuire, who came in for Connor Wong since he bats over his weight. Kiké Hernandez scored one play later on a Jarren Duran fielder’s choice that saw Hernandez make that choice look like not a good one, beating out Vazquez’s outstretched arm. Kenley Jansen was in typical form in the ninth inning, striking two out to bring the total to sixteen on the night through nine, but again, the Boston bats went down on strikes as well, even with some long at bats, and so we were headed to extras. John Schreiber came in in the tenth, and he did not have his best stuff, walking two right away, The ghost runner scored on a Byron Buxton fly, and then Kiki Hernandez didn’t have the play at the plate on a Jose Miranda grounder, so he got the easy out at first, and so the score was a seemingly insurmountable 4-2. Schreiber continued to struggle to find the strike zone. Mercifully, the inning ended with a Trevor Larnach fly to Duran. Boston faithful, in the bottom of the tenth, your faith must have been put into the collapse of the arm of Jovani Moran, after Jhoan Duran hit 102 miles per hour, which I guess is pretty fast, in the ninth. And after a passed ball by Vazquez ot was up to Triston Casas, the guy who’d struck out four times this game. Except he was nice and patient and drew a walk. Reese McGuire then hit a nice little looper above third to score two, with no outs. Then Jarren Duran hit a slider right up the middle to advance everyone. Rob Refsnyder got involved in a double play on a dribbler that also saw Casas get tagged out running to the plate. Alex Verdugo then hit a ball that soared innocently around the Pesky Pole, one that even Verdugo thought was a foul and but it hit fair ground. The Red Sox won on that Verdugo totally fair ball 5-4. And so, the Red Sox pulled one out in a bizarre game that got weirder as the game went on. |
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