Don’t let the scoreline fool you. For eight innings, this was the same old Red Sox team, struggling to string together any semblance of offense behind yet another solid start from Sonny Gray.
But lest we despair too much, let’s note that Guardians starter Parker Messick is no slouch on the mound, having entered today’s game with the seventh-best bWAR amongst all pitchers. The Sox didn’t exactly do damage against him, but they made him work, putting two runners on base in three of his five innings.
Getting Messick out of the game early was the most important thing the lineup did, as they proceeded to score eight of their nine runs against Cleveland’s bullpen, including sixth in the ninth, as Guards’ skipper Stephen Vogt more or less waived the white flag.
Sonny Gray: When the sox win a ballgame, it’s usually because the starting pitcher did his job. Sonny Gray continues to be the steadying force in Boston’s rotation, throwing six relatively clean innings and striking out seven. Three walks drove his pitch count up a little higher than you’d like, but there’s nothing really to complain about in this outing.
Connor Wong: Is Connor Wong really going to go two whole seasons without hitting a homer? Is that even possible in 2026? When you see what happened to him today, you wonder. Wong — along with everyone else in the ballpark — thought he’d broken his drought in the sixth inning, only for replay review to downgrade his knock to a double. But it was the double that would give the Sox a lead they would not relinquish, and he would get another RBI in the Sox’ big ninth inning outburst.
Caleb Durbin: Yes, Jarren Duran hit a three-run bomb in this game. But the game was already on ice at that point, so get that front-running shit out of here! (Plus he also struck out three times…) Instead, let’s give some much needed glory to our beefy, slumpy, third baseman, who started the scoring with a sac fly and then added an insurance RBI on a double in the eighth.
You know what? I’m in a generous mood, so let’s skip duds tonight and let everyone go home early.
