The Red Sox looked to their bullpen to cover 5.1 innings in Monday afternoon’s win over the Tigers, and they delivered in a big way.
The Boston Red Sox bullpen entered Monday morning’s series finale against the Detroit Tigers having pitched nine of the last 18 innings the team had played. But when starter Sonny Gray went down in the third inning, the already taxed 'pen was thrust into the spotlight, and they delivered in a big way en route to the Red Sox' 8-6 win.
Gray departed with two outs in the third inning with runners on first and second and a 2-1 Boston lead. The first man pegged by Red Sox manager Alex Cora was lefty Danny Coulombe, who promptly got Detroit first baseman Colt Keith to ground out to second and end the threat.
It would be Coulombe again on the mound in the fourth, but after allowing two of the first three batters he faced to reach base via walk and hit by pitch, Cora turned to Zack Kelly.
After striking out the first batter he faced, center fielder Matt Vierling, Kelly allowed one of the inherited runners to score on a base knock by third baseman Hao-Yu Lee, tying the game at two. He retired Detroit catcher Jake Rogers on a weakly hit line drive to second to end the inning relatively unscathed. Kelly covered the top of the fifth, retiring the top of the Detroit lineup in order.
Things started to unravel a bit in the top half of the sixth when the Red Sox turned to Jovani Moran, who threw 41 pitches across three innings on Saturday, and it was clear from the jump that Moran didn’t have it, walking the first two batters he faced.
Detroit manager AJ Hinch would make his first move of the game, tapping Jahmai Jones to hit for Kerry Carpenter, and Jones delivered with an RBI single to center to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead and mark the end of Moran’s day.
Greg Weissert then took over for Moran with runners on the corners and nobody out. Weissert delivered for the Sox in the biggest moment of the game, striking out the side on just ten pitches, ending the Detroit threat and keeping the deficit at one. Weissert spoke with the media after the game, telling reporters, "Those situations you gotta kinda be down their throats and make decisions, can't get cute there, just got to fill it up and make them make some bad swings."
As for Cora, he applauded his righty reliever for giving the team exactly what they needed, "That was impressive. We needed that," he said.
NESN's Lou Merloni pointed out on the broadcast that Weissert's job could be used as a big momentum swing for the Red Sox, and it was exactly that. The Boston offense rallied to tie the game at 3-3 in the sixth, and exploded for more runs in the final three innings to lock down an 8-6 win and salvage a series split with the Tigers.
Overall, Cora used seven of the eight relievers in the pen, all except Jack Anderson, who threw 41 pitches in Sunday's loss. "You gotta trust everybody... in games like that, everybody has to be a part of it and contribute, and today was kind of like perfect," Cora said.
The Red Sox seven-game homestand will roll on when they open a three-game series with the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. Connelly Early will get the start for the Red Sox opposite Luis Gil for New York. First pitch from Fenway Park set for 6:45 p.m. ET.
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