The Red Sox won a much needed game in what could have been an absolute disaster. The way this team is currently constructed, the Red Sox really only have one chance to win a game every five days. That would be because of a man named Nathan Eovaldi. With Eduardo Rodriguez down due COVID-19 complications, the Red Sox rotation consists of Nathan Eovaldi and then four openers that will likely change weekly.
We have known about Chris Sales injury since Spring Training and Chaim Bloom traded Price himself, which makes Bloom’s decision to refrain from acquiring starting pitchers quite questionable. I get that we are not going to be able to pick up an All-Star off the streets, but there has to be someone better than Matt effing Hall (Aaron Sanchez, Danny Salazar?). Regardless, this lackluster pitching staff makes Eovaldi’s start date extremely important for this 2020 Red Sox team. In 2020 fashion, Eovaldi had to start against back-to-back Cy Young Award Winner Jacob deGrom. He had entered the game with a 28 inning scoreless streak and was pumping fastballs in at 101 MPH. This Red Sox team however, seems to be resilient with Nathan Eovaldi on the mound.
First Inning – NYM 1 – BOS 0
Eovaldi did not feature his best stuff and got into a little trouble early, giving up three singles in a row by the Mets two, three, and four hitters. Mets Left Fielder Dominic Smith would then ground out to drive in a run. Eovaldi got out of the bases loaded jam by blowing a fastball by Yoenis Cespedes.
Fourth Inning – BOS 2 – NYM 1
After a shaky first inning for Nathan Eovaldi, both pitchers started dealing. deGrom found his change-up early and the Red Sox lineup could not square him up. In the fourth inning however, the Red Sox started to make deGrom sweat. The Red Sox lineup finally started to make deGrom work and Devers was able to connect on deGrom’s first bad change-up of the night. Devers hit his fourth double in as many days, which led to one of the biggest at-bats of the night. Mitch Moreland continued to make Jacob deGrom work and eventually drive another change-up into left-center field for a double.
Moreland broke deGrom’s impressive streak that dated back to last season and put the Red Sox on the board. Vasquez and Verdugo both battled deGrom and kept making deGrom execute. Fortunately for Boston, deGrom would throw two wild pitches (one of which should have been blocked) that would bring Moreland all the way home. deGrom threw 15 pitches between those two at-bats to drive his pitch count up to 70 through four.
Fifth Inning – BOS 2 – NYM 2
Nathan Eovaldi gave up a solo shot to Brandon Nimmo (1) on a deep fly to right-center field. He eventually got through a stressful inning by getting Conforto to ground into a double play. Eovaldi finished the night with 8 hits allowed, 2 earned runs, a walk, and four strikeouts. He is now 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA though two starts.
Sixth Inning – NYM 3 – BOS 2
Marcus Walden came into the game to relief Eovaldi. Walden started off hot with back-to-back swinging strikeouts. Cano would then single to center to set up a one-run triple by rookie Andres Gimenez. Walden finished his outing by striking out Rene Rivera.
Seventh Inning – BOS 3 – NYM 3
The game was close all night but really heated up in the later innings. Christian Vasquez hit a solo home run (2) off of a hanging curveball from Seth Lugo in the top of the inning. Josh Osich came into start the bottom of the seventh, in a somewhat questionable move by Ron Roenicke. In the first close game in a week, Heath Hembree should be taking the mound. Osich came due to the lefty match-ups and got into some trouble. He started out by striking out Nimmo. Then he hit Jeff McNeil and gave up a single to Pete Alonso. After facing three batters, Roenicke would stick with Osich, who induced a ground out from Conforto. Hembree finally got the ball and swiftly struck out J.D. Davis.
Eighth Inning – BOS 6 – NYM 4
Justin Wilson could not hold off the Red Sox offense and loaded the bases quite quickly. After a Benintendi sacrifice bunt, the Mets intentionally walked Martinez to set up a prime opportunity for Rafael Devers. Wilson however was able to strikeout Devers on a high fastball to record the second out. Moreland came up in another key spot for Boston and delivered in a way he likely did not expect. Mitch essentially hit a swinging bunt McNeil could not handle to take the lead. Vasquez stepped into the box next and delivered a two-run single to push the lead to 6-3.
Matt Barnes came in to the game and gave up a first pitch monster homer to Yoenis Cespedes (2). Barnes has looked shaky thus far but was able to get out of the inning with only one run allowed thanks to a nifty double play started by Jose Peraza.
Ninth Inning – BOS 6 – NYM 5
The Red Sox entered the game in a prime position to steal a game from arguable the best pitcher in baseball. Brandon Workman did his very best to ruin that headline. His command was off from the jump and his deadly curveball was completely out of control. He switched from hanging curves to hooking them straight into the dirt. His fastball kept missing as well and Workman started the inning by walking two batters. Pete Alonso loaded the bases with no outs by hitting a pop up just over Moreland’s head on the foul line.
Workman settled down a little and struck out Conforto by surprising him with a fastball. J.D. Davis followed that at-bat up with a single to cut the lead to one. Luckily, Yoenis Cespedes put up a poor at-bat and eventually struck out swinging against Workman’s best curveball of the day. With the bases loaded, two out, Red Sox killer Robinson Cano came up to the plate to try to spoil another night for Red Sox fans. Cano hit a soft liner up the middle that would just get snagged by Jose Peraza, who has been a great addition for Boston this season. Brandon Workman nearly escapes with a 30 pitch save.
Martin Perez will face Steven Matz in the final came of the series Thursday night. If you liked this article, check out the rest of our MLB content here!