Red Sox 7, Orioles 3: Sox Salvage Series in Rain-Soaked Affair

A lot of credit needs to go to Brayan Bello for this start. He had one shaky inning but showcased a lot of what’s making him such an effective pitcher.

It takes a lot of confidence to change a pitch in your arsenal in-season, let alone use it effectively in general, let alone let it become a workable two-strike pitch.

The defense also gets a shoutout here? What world is this when we praise anything the Sox do in the field anymore?

Let’s start with this great leaping catch by Rafaela to keep the bleeding from opening back up after Bello’s rough second. He misses that catch, it’s a 4-0 game, easily. Bello gets out of the third inning unscathed, and the Red Sox comeback began.

What about after the Sox had the lead? Miscommunication between Devers, Story and Abreu leads to a fly ball dropping between all three of them. Devers has the heads-up to grab and fire right to second base, nabbing Adam Frazier trying for a double. Get yourself into trouble, get yourself out of it right back.

One win in this series is only a consolation prize as we look forward to the Yankees coming into town this week.

FanGraphs

Three Studs

Rafael Devers (1-for-4, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, .165 WPA)

Big day for Raffy! Go-ahead RBI single (mainly because Ramon Urias couldn’t handle a scorcher of a line drive), a big defensive play, he had a better game to remember,

Triston Casas (1-for-3, 1 run, 1 HR, 3 RBIs, 1 BB, .127 WPA)

The man of the moment continues to shine through the rain. His oppo-taco, three-run shot was all the Sox needed late to finish this game off.

Reese McGuire (1-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI, 1 K, .140 WPA)

I don’t know if you can script a better triple at Fenway Park. Outfielders split up, shot to the triangle, even for the slowest of runners, it’s a good triple. It tied the game up with no outs and set up the victory.

Three Duds

Ceddanne Rafaela (0-for-4, 1 run, 1 BB, 2 K, -.148 WPA)

Alex Verdugo (1-for-4, 1 K, -.053 WPA)

Wilyer Abreu (1-for-4, 1 K, -.051 WPA)

Play of the Game

Of course, it’s Triston Casas’ three-run blast in the bottom of the sixth inning to give the Red Sox a big cushion.