Red Sox 7, Reds 4: Series Secured in Cincinnati

What an impressive streak this has been for the Boston Red Sox. After a strange series split in the south side of Chicago, the Sox have rattled off series wins against the Phillies, Yankees and a sweep of the Blue Jays. After splitting the first two games of this weekend matchup, could the Red Sox take another one against the Reds (not Sox)?ed Sox

T1: Kelly Starts Strong

Another bullpen game. With no Giolito, Whitlock, Criswell (due to being sent down), or faith in any reliever to really be a spot starter, this was a game by true committee today. Props to Zack Kelly for starting the game off strong and matching the Reds’ “ace” as long as possible.

T4: Floodgates in the Fourth

Let’s start here with Connor Wong opening the scoring with a great two-run shot to left field. Wong is just operating on a different level right now!

Then a little intermission for festivities as David Bell gets heaved for arguing balls and strikes. Can I unbiasedly admit the strike zone was skewed towards the Red Sox today? Yeah, he has a gripe. But the pitch itself he chose to get ejected on? That…was a ball, good sir. Pick and choose your battles.

Then Duran Duran doubles doubles to push Boston’s lead to four. This is a dude DEDICATED to being in the lineup and contributing every single day.

T6: Sealed in the Sixth?

Rob Refsnyder absolutely punched this out to left-center field. As long as the bullpen could hold on, the offense did its job.

B6: Reds Recover Rapidly

And…the bullpen did not hold on (well, at least Brad Keller didn’t). A Tyler Stephenson double, Santiago Espinal single, and Stuart Fairchild single (as seen below) makes this a game once again.

B9: Kenley Cleans Up

Luckily, the rest of the pen squad held up its end of the bargain. Kenley has a fairly clean 9th with the exception of a single by Elly De La Cora and that’s the ballgame. Another series win for these slick Sox!

Three Studs

Connor Wong (1-for-5, 1 HR)

Ding Dong, Connor Wong! I know the goalposts for rate stat qualifications keep getting moved because of how far we get in the season, but to be batting .330 this far into the season? The halfway point for the Sox is Wednesday. Wong is at 200 ABs, so it’s far from a small sample size.

Jarren Duran (3-for-5, 2 RBI)

Honestly, Superman might be an apt nickname for Duran at this point. He just continues to do everything. Yesterday’s defense, today’s continuance of offensive consistency (he and Wong each have 13 game hitting streaks), and oh yeah, he joined the 20 steal club for the squad in the third inning. He’s been one of a few incredible stories for the 2024 Red Sox.

The Whole Bullpen (sans one)

I’m not a GIANT fan of having this many bullpen games again lately, but credit to most of the ‘pen for holding their own. Zack Kelly started for 2.2, Greg Weissert leads the team in appearances and gets the win, while Cam Booserm Chris Martin and Justin Slaten all get holds. Kenley does what he does and gets the save,

Three Duds

Brad Keller (1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 K)

In reality, Keller is the only real dud of the game, His inning was shaky at best, and the the one where the Sox got damaged the most.

Dom Smith (0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K)

Dom Smith, as long as he can just be NPC level, not a true negative, that’s a positive. His biggest contribution today was being the walk that got David Bell ejected.

Ceddanne Rafaela (0-for-4, 1 run scored)

Yeah, he got on base with a throwing error and scored in the frame, but he just didn’t have an impact otherwise today.

Play of the Game

POTG today goes to Rob Refsnyder’s dinger to really open the game up!