Red Sox 3, Mets 1: Joe Kelly beats Jacob deGrom (actually)

Joe Kelly gets the win, Jacob deGrom gets the loss. Just another day in an increasingly confusing Red Sox season.

For reference.

Also the Owens vs. Harvey win, but Harvey actually won the pitching matchup, just not the game.

But I digress! The Red Sox locked up a series win Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over the Mets, and once again...it was thanks to Joe Kelly being surprisingly successful on the mound.

It was not always the most convincing start from Kelly. The fifth pitch he threw was driven to right for a double, but two strikeouts in the inning saved him. Strangely, those were the only strikeouts Kelly managed on the night, which would have been helpful when the next two innings also started with hits.

But Kelly was up to the task of escaping each fix, strikeouts or no, as well as a leadoff walk in the fifth. It wasn't until the seventh when the Mets actually managed to group together two hits in an inning, with Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe producing a one-out single and double to finally get the Mets on the board.

Two innings earlier, and that run would've given deGrom a lead to work with, and one well earned after five dominant innings against the Red Sox. It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Red Sox managed so much as a single against deGrom, that coming on a Brock Holt ground ball that led off the frame. He fought back with two consecutive strikeouts before walking Alejandro De Aza. Not the worst move with Joe Kelly batting behind him. A bunt out was the end of that threat.

The sixth, though, the sixth proved different. Mookie Betts smacked a single into left, took second on a wild pitch, then scored when deGrom gave Pablo Sandoval a high fastball to drive into the gap in right-center field for a double. Sandoval would later come in to score himself on a Brock Holt ground out, making it 2-0, Red Sox.

A Mookie Betts homer would tack on a third run, this time against Hansel Robles, before the Mets brought it back to 3-1. That left the Red Sox bullpen with two innings to hold a two-run lead (or 1.2 after Kelly induced a groundout to start the eighth). Not always the best of bets, but Tommy Layne and Jean Machi successfully held the fort, locking in a series win for Boston.