Going into Friday night’s game, I fully expected the Red Sox to drop this one. Walker Buehler has been less than inspiring, and Nick Pivetta has been lights out at home this season. Apparently, Buehler’s hatred for the Padres was greater than Pivetta’s desire for vengeance against the Red Sox. The Red Sox grabbed a four-run lead in the fourth inning after Wilyer Abreu sent a ball to Jupiter, and they never looked back.
Much like in the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the misfit toys came up big when they were needed most. Walker Buehler, Connor Wong, and Masataka Yoshida all stepped up when their number was called. All of them pale in comparison to Herbie the elf turned dentist, but they each showed up in big moments and led the team to a series-opening victory.
On top of all of that, Mookie Betts led the Dodgers to a victory over the Blue Jays. We’re officially scoreboard watching in a race for the division title. How cool is that? Back at it again tomorrow night with Lucas Giolito vs. Michael King.
Walker Buehler – 6 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K, 0 ER
You can never be upset about six shutout innings. Buehler switched up his approach against lefties, eliminating his cutter in favor of four-seamers and curveballs. His four-seam had an extra inch of vertical movement tonight and generated four whiffs on 45 offerings. While the swinging strike rate with the pitch still leaves a little something to be desired, it was the most whiffs the pitch had returned this season. More importantly, he cut down on the rate of non-competitive pitches, helping him stay in control of at-bats. I’m still not entirely sold on Buehler, but this was an encouraging sign.
Connor Wong – 2-4, 2B, 3 RBI
Connor Wong recorded his first hit with runners in scoring position this season when he hit a bases-clearing double in the eighth inning. With Carlos Narvaez potentially needing a stint on the IL, it would be great to see Wong get going offensively.
Masataka Yoshida – 2-4, 2B, Sac Fly, HR
Yoshida was hitting just .222 coming into the game. Seemingly, every time he came to the plate, he was grounding out to second base. On Friday, he hit the ball in the air four times. Twice to left field for a double and a flyout, once to center for a sacrifice fly, and a pulled fly ball over the fence for a home run. If Yoshida gets going, an already good offense will get that much better.
Chris Murphy – 1/3 inning, 1 H, 4 BB
Murphy has been solid this season since being recalled, but he did not have it tonight. When you have to put Garrett Whitlock in the game after leading by eight, something went wrong, and tonight that something was Murphy. A win is a win, though, and every reliever has bad outings from time to time. Just go get ‘em next time.
I wanted to pick more duds, but even Ceddanne Rafaela, who was 0-4, drew a walk and scored a run. The only player in the lineup who didn’t score a run was Roman Anthony, who reached base three times.
