Jake Burger bought in an 0-2 gap in opposition to Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider with two outs within the sixth inning of Saturday’s tied sport at Truist Park.
What does one do in that spot in opposition to the pitcher with probably the most strikeouts within the majors?
“I was just staying short and not trying to get too big,” Burger mentioned.
That strategy labored. Burger related on the subsequent pitch, driving the ball over the right-field wall for a go-ahead solo homer.
An evening after getting blanked, the Sox bounced again in opposition to one of many prime pitchers within the National League and beat the Braves 6-5 in entrance of 43,344.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Burger mentioned. “We went into the game knowing we had our hands full and we’re going to have to buy into our approach and make sure we’re swinging at the right pitch. Fortunately it fell our way today.”
Strider struck out 5 of the primary six batters. The Sox put collectively a collection of good at-bats within the third.
Zach Remillard and Oscar Colás singled. With one out, Andrew Benintendi drove in a run with a single. And with two outs, Luis Robert Jr. knocked in two with a double.
“We didn’t try to do too much against (Strider),” supervisor Pedro Grifol mentioned. “We let him provide slightly little bit of the facility and we stayed inside ourselves. That’s what we wish to do every single day. I do know it’s simpler mentioned than executed.
“There was a good game plan going in and these guys executed a game plan against one of the best pitchers in baseball, if not the best. This guy has really, really power stuff. And he pounds the strike zone with (a) 100-mph fastball.”
The 3-0 lead didn’t final lengthy.
Eddie Rosario started the Braves’ half of the third with a homer. They tied it later within the inning with a two-run homer from Ronald Acuña Jr.
Benintendi hit a slicer within the fifth that bought previous Rosario in left discipline. Seby Zavala scored from first, giving the Sox a 4-3 lead. The Braves tied it once more within the fifth on a two-out RBI single by Austin Riley.
Burger broke the tie together with his twentieth homer of the season. Strider (11-3) allowed 5 runs on eight hits with 10 strikeouts in six innings.
“That was huge,” Burger mentioned of reaching 20 dwelling runs. “Wanted to get to it earlier than the (All-Star) break, however I’ll take two video games after the break.
“I was just staying short and not trying to get too big,” Burger mentioned. “(Strider’s) got an electric fastball. Just slowing it down and being able to drive the ball and just make contact with it because it’s electric.”
The Sox added a run an inning later when Colás doubled in opposition to reliever Joe Jiménez and scored on a Benintendi single. It was his third hit and third RBI.
Lance Lynn navigated via 5 1/3 innings, permitting 4 runs on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
“That’s a good team, from top to bottom a deep lineup,” Lynn mentioned. “They’ll foul some balls off. They’ll go away the ballpark in the event you make a mistake. Made a few errors tonight they usually had been capable of capitalize on these with the 2 dwelling runs.
“But all and all, I was able to make enough pitches to where it didn’t get out of hand.”
Gregory Santos allowed one hit in a powerful 1 2/3 scoreless reduction innings.
Keynan Middleton escaped a bases-loaded jam within the eighth, getting Michael Harris II to come out to first baseman Andrew Vaughn.
Acuña homered main off the ninth in opposition to reliever Kendall Graveman, chopping the Sox result in a run. Ozzie Albies singled and stole second.
With one out Matt Olson lined a single to left. Albies needed to maintain up earlier than advancing to 3rd.
Graveman broke Sean Murphy’s bat, and the catcher grounded right into a game-ending double play began by shortstop Tim Anderson.
“If there’s one common denominator today about our pitching, it’s they made pitches when they had to,” Grifol mentioned.
Before the sport, Grifol mentioned he wasn’t seeing the eye to element that he would love from the workforce.
“We’re not as detailed as I want to be, we’re not as focused as I want to be,” Grifol mentioned. “Those are issues that now we have to get higher at. Pretty easy.
“That starts with me. I’m responsible for that. We’ve got to continue to address it. I’ve got to continue to address it with our coaches and we’ve got to pass it on to our players and we all have to hold each other accountable for it.”
After a sluggish begin to the second half with Friday’s 9-0 loss, the Sox made the massive pitches and bought the well timed hits for a powerful win in opposition to the workforce with one of the best report within the majors.
“We beat a pretty damn good pitcher today and a really damn good team,” Grifol mentioned. “I’m proud of these guys the way they played. They played hard, they were detailed. And they played to win today.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com