As Xander Bogaerts stepped to the plate within the eighth inning late Monday night time at Fenway Park – with a lot of the crowd dispersed after an extended rain delay – a chant might be heard loud and clear from the tons of that remained.
“Re-sign Xander!” they chanted over and over.
Then, the Red Sox’ shortstop granted them some affirmation of their want.
Bogaerts proceeded to hammer a fastball from Houston reliever Hector Neris, a two-run homer to Lansdowne Street that was a deciding swing within the Red Sox’ 6-3 victory over the AL West-leading Astros to open a three-game set, which was interrupted by a one-hour, 38-minute rain delay within the sixth inning.
For a Red Sox workforce that has routinely bottled leads within the ninth inning, it was greater than sufficient respiration room for a teetering bullpen. Hansel Robles gave up a leadoff single however bounced again to earn his second save of the season and first since April 13.
Other takeaways from Monday’s win:
* Trevor Story heard the boos within the Red Sox’ final homestand as his struggles continued by the primary month, however he got here again to Fenway with a powerful efficiency in his return.
Story made most likely his greatest defensive play since becoming a member of the Sox within the third inning, when Alex Bregman hit a pointy grounder to his left that appeared destined to succeed in the right-field grass. But Story made a terrific dive for it earlier than making a tough throw from his knees to get Bregman for the inning-ending out.
Story then produced his greatest swing at Fenway Park within the seventh. After the Astros took a 3-2 lead towards Matt Barnes, Story knotted the sport up once more when he launched a slider from Phil Maton that cleared the Monster to Lansdowne Street – an estimated 428-foot blast. It was his first homer at Fenway, and second in 5 video games after going his first 25 video games with out one.
* When he was acquired within the Andrew Benintendi commerce final yr, the Red Sox lauded Franchy Cordero’s uncooked expertise – a uncommon mix of energy and pace – and what he may do when he put all of it collectively. There haven’t been many possibilities for Cordero to showcase that athleticism, however he supplied a glimpse Monday.
In the fifth, Cordero scored the Red Sox a run along with his legs. In a powerful show of his abilities, he crushed a Jake Odorizzi fastball excessive off the Monster – with an exit velocity of 104.3 mph that slammed off the wall, which might normally solely be good for a wall-ball single – however he motored round first with a mission and slid into second with a double.
Two batters later, Cordero moved over to 3rd as Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out, after which Odorizzi threw a handed ball that allowed Codero to attain from third for the go-ahead run that made it a 2-1 recreation.
Source: www.bostonherald.com
