For the second night in a row, the Boston Red Sox tortured the Detroit Tigers’ bullpen.
The two teams were tied in the bottom of the seventh Saturday night when Mitch Moreland laced a two-run double over Justin Upton’s head to give Boston the lead. But that was just the beginning of Detroit’s nightmare.
All in all, the Red Sox scored eight runs in the final two innings against the Tigers’ bullpen en route to an 11-3 victory at Fenway Park.
Moreland (three RBIs) and the Red Sox’s offense backed ace Chris Sale, who tossed seven solid innings and earned the victory against Justin Verlander and the Tigers.
The Red Sox improved to 34-27, while the Tigers fell to 29-32.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Tight.
The Red Sox blew two sperate leads, and the game remained tied into the seventh inning. Boston finally broke the tie for good with three runs in the seventh inning against the Tigers’ bullpen.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
The Red Sox scored five runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.
Closer Craig Kimbrel had been warming up, but the Sox’s offense continued to torch the Tigers’ bullpen in the later innings to take the second game of the three-game series.
ON THE BUMP
— Boston’s ace was unable to hold both leads he was given, but he still turned in a respectable outing. Sale allowed three runs on nine hits while striking out nine and throwing 110 pitches in seven innings of work.
The Red Sox left-hander ran into some trouble in the first inning when the Tigers had runners on first and second with two outs. J.D. Martinez hit a flare into center field that seemed ticketed for an RBI, but Jackie Bradley Jr. made an unbelievable diving catch to keep Detroit off the board.
The Tigers threatened again in the third when Jose Iglesias led off the inning with a double, and Ian Kinsler followed with a single to put runners at the corners with no outs. Sale, however, buckled down to strike out Nick Castellanos, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez to keep the game scoreless.
Detroit got on the board in the fifth inning when Castellanos laced an RBI double to left field to cut the Sox’s lead to one. Cabrera followed with an RBI groundout to tie the game.
Sale failed to record a shutdown inning in the sixth when Upton ripped a one-out double to left. Mikie Mahtook drove in Upton with an RBI single to center to tie the game.
— Matt Barnes pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
— Blaine Boyer pitched a perfect ninth.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Boston got on the board in the third inning against Verlander when it loaded the bases with no outs to begin the inning. Dustin Pedroia lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Josh Rutledge and give the Sox a one-run lead. Two batters later, Moreland laced an RBI single to right to stretch Boston’s lead to two.
— The Red Sox re-took the lead in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases again against Verlander. Andrew Benintendi hoisted a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Pedroia and give Boston a one-run lead. The Sox, however, were unable to tack on more runs as Verlander induced an inning-ending groundout off the bat of Hanley Ramirez.
— Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts got a seventh-inning rally started against the Tigers’ bullpen. The middle-infield tandem led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Moreland broke the tie with a two-run double to left field. Rutledge drove in Moreland with a two-out RBI single to swell Boston’s lead to three.
— Bogaerts extended the Red Sox’s lead to four with an RBI double in the eighth inning. Benintendi then busted the game open with a two-run single to give Boston a six-run lead. Rutledge and Sandy Leon also picked up RBIs in the eighth inning to grow the lead to eight.
— Rutledge reached base five times with two hits, three walks and an RBI.
TWEET OF THE NIGHT
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UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Tigers will conclude their three-game series Sunday night. Drew Pomeranz will get the ball for Boston and will be opposed by Daniel Norris for Detroit. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 8:08 p.m. ET.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images