It was certainly a start.
Sleepy as they were in the batter’s box to begin the season, it was just a matter of time before the Red Sox’ offense — the team’s biggest strength entering the year — figured things out. It seemed like they did on Tuesday in Detroit.
And, who else but Rafael Devers to lead the way? The Red Sox third baseman collected three hits — including a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning — to lift Boston’s bats and turn a 3-0 deficit into a much-welcomed 5-3 victory over the Tigers.
“It was good to come back and get a W,” Red Sox starter Rich Hill told reporters in Detroit. “It was a must-win game, in my opinion. They all are.”
The Red Sox can win the series — and head home for Friday’s Fenway Park opener with a 3-3 record — when they face former teammate and new Tigers ace Eduardo Rodriguez in Wednesday’s rubber game.
Takeaways from Tuesday’s win:
Wake-up call
The Red Sox had just scored 12 runs in their first four games, and a familiar script was following them Tuesday when they had just two hits in the first five innings before they came to life against Detroit starter Tyler Alexander.
Leadoff hitter Kiké Hernandez — who was the key table-setter for the Red Sox’ offense during the second half and postseason last year — finally got things going, breaking his 0-for-19 skid to start the season with a one-out RBI double in the sixth. And then the line started moving. Devers followed with an RBI single to end Alexander’s day, and then the Red Sox got a little bit lucky to tie the game, when J.D. Martinez hit a two-out RBI double down the right field line that appeared to barely touch the chalk to stay in fair territory.
The Tigers challenged the play, and replay showed that the divot the ball made in the dirt looked like it may have been a foul ball. But home plate umpire Jeff Nelson ultimately stood by the on-field call — there wasn’t enough conclusive evidence to overturn it — and the game stayed tied.
The Red Sox continued the momentum against Detroit’s bullpen in the eighth. Hernandez drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and Devers found a hole to center for the go-ahead run. Christian Arroyo then won a seven-pitch at-bat and earned his first hit of the season with a two-out RBI single to give the Sox some insurance.
“It’s part of baseball,” Devers told NESN on the offense’s slow start to the year. “Obviously there’s going to be some times when we have some slow stretches, but at the end of the day, we continue to battle.”
Whitlock shuts the door
The Red Sox probably didn’t even need that insurance run, because Garrett Whitlock was dominant out of the bullpen.
The ace reliever — fresh off a big contract extension — expectedly piggybacked starter Rich Hill, who threw 4 1/3 solid innings. Hirokazu Sawamura finished the fifth — thanks to Devers doubling up Jonathan Schoop — before Alex Cora handed Whitlock the ball for four shutout innings, the longest appearance of the second-year big-leaguer’s career. He could barely be touched as he issued one walk and gave up no hits over the four innings in just 39 pitches.
For the foreseeable future, it looks like the plan is for Whitlock to piggyback Hill’s starts, with Whitlock getting other big spots as the bullpen’s best weapon. The Red Sox like the different looks Hill and Whitlock give opposing lineups, and if Whitlock can do more of what he did Tuesday, it gives the rest of the bullpen an extra day of rest.
“I think his stuff is that good,” Cora told reporters of Whitlock. “There’s a reason we like them together. At one point in the offseason, we were talking about (Chris) Sale and (Tanner) Houck in the same role. Lefty, righty. They’re going to load up with righties against Rich and he can get them out, and then turn the page to Whitlock and we get a lot of good matchups for us. I think both of them, they complement each other well. … It’s a good plan. It’s just a matter of how long we can do it.”
Arroyo has tough day in RF
Facing another lefty, Arroyo received another start in right field and faced two difficult plays he couldn’t come up with, both coming in the Tigers’ three-run third.
Spencer Torkelson recorded his first major league hit with a double to right, where it looked like Arroyo had trouble reading the ball and couldn’t decide to dive or not. The ball dropped in and got away from Arroyo, allowing Torkelson to advance to second. Three batters later, Schoop hit a pop up down the right field line, but Arroyo was playing deep and couldn’t get there in time as Detroit took a 2-0 lead. Cora didn’t fault him for it.
“I think the second one, that’s a long way,” Cora told reporters. “It’s just a big ballpark. The other one, I have to take a look at it. But he made some plays at the end, and whenever we can, we’ll do what we did. Just put him at second, get Jackie (Bradley Jr.) in the outfield and have our best defensive team out there until Trevor (Story) comes back.”
