TAMPA, Fla. – On Wednesday night, the Red Sox did something they hadn’t done in over a year. Win a 1-0 game. David Hamilton’s first home run of the year made the difference on the scoreboard, but the story of the series finale was the pitching staff, which came together to shut out the Tampa […]
– On Wednesday night, the Red Sox did something they hadn’t done in over a year.
Win a 1-0 game.
David Hamilton’s first home run of the year made the difference on the scoreboard, but the story of the series finale was the pitching staff, which came together to shut out the Tampa Bay Rays for the series win.
Sean Newcomb turned in his best performance in over half a decade, going 4.2 scoreless innings, his longest outing without a run since June 10, 2019. The Massachusetts native limited the Tampa Bay batters to four singles, two walks, and struck out four, throwing 44 of his 71 pitches for strikes. For the second time this month and 11th time in his nine-year career, he went at least four innings without allowing an extra-base hit.
“Of the four (starts), it was definitely the best one,” Newcomb said. “I feel like usually takes me a couple outings to kind of like, lock in with all my stuff and typically I would say like, 10 to 15 innings, somewhere in there, so I think that’s where I was at, so now I kind of feel locked in and ready to roll.”
Backed by a strong defense, Newcomb worked out of multiple jams. The Rays had at least one baserunner in four of the left-hander’s five innings, but couldn’t get anyone over the finish line. Hamilton, Trevor Story and Triston Casas turned the team’s MLB-leading 23rd double play to erase Taylor Walls’ leadoff single in the third inning, and catcher Carlos Narváez caught Christopher Morel stealing second to end the fourth.
“Sean did an outstanding job,” said manager Alex Cora. “Using his fastballs around the zone helps him. … We talk about the cutter a lot, but he kept them off-balance and gave us more than enough.”
With two on and two out, Greg Weissert relieved Newcomb and struck out leadoff man Yandy Díaz to end the fifth. The Sox starter said he wanted to keep pitching, but he understood the setting: facing the Rays lineup for the third time with a 1-0 lead when the bullpen was well-rested would’ve been playing with unnecessary fire.
“That’s was the second time, I think, I went four and two-thirds and he came in and punched someone out,” Newcomb said appreciatively. “That’s good to have that guy that can come in and do that and go out and keep doing it for another inning.”
Weissert and former Tampa Tarpons teammate Garrett Whitlock combined for 3.1 scoreless, walk-less innings.
“It’s cool,” Weissert said, explaining that the pitchers fed off each other’s energy. “It’s weird playing here in the big leagues, but it’s still pretty cool.”
“He keeps the ball in the ballpark,” Cora said of Weissert. “When he throws strikes, he’s nasty.”
With closer Aroldis Chapman unavailable after being used heavily throughout the trip, Cora turned to Justin Slaten, who impressed in the closer role late last season. Slaten picked up his second save by getting the Rays 1-2-3 in the ninth, slamming the door with a swinging strikeout for Christopher Morel and a strikeout-looking for José Caballero.
Cora’s praise for the bullpen extended to the pitchers who set the stage for Wednesday night by shouldering the burden in Monday’s blowout loss.
“For how disappointed we were on Monday, right, Michael Fulmer went out there and gave us what we needed,” the manager said. “(Josh Winckowski) did the same thing, and then ‘Weiss’ and (Brennan Bernardino), and helped us to set up the next two days.
“And that’s what it takes, you know, in games like that. Somebody has to take a bullet, right, and try to give us as many pitches as possible and save the bullpen. Weissert was fresh, Whit was amazing, he was fresh too, Slaten too.
“And that’s the tough part about this business. Everybody sees the usage and not taking the starter out early and all that, but you have to manage the series. We have to manage the series. You cannot just manage one game, because if you try to manage one game pedal to the metal, you’re not going to survive. We’re not going to survive.”
Without Alex Bregman, who put together a career-high five-hit game on Tuesday before returning to Boston for the birth of his second child, the Red Sox failed to convert traffic on the basepaths into runs. Zack Littell, who was a member of the Boston bullpen for two games in 2023, dominated his former team for six innings, only yielding five hits, including Hamilton’s solo homer in the third, three walks, and five strikeouts. The Red Sox also watched several hard-hit balls die at the edge of the warning track or get run down by the unflappable Rays outfielders.
Neither Cora nor Hamilton thought his homer was gone. The round-tripper had the shortest hang time of any homer in the majors this season, 3.33 seconds.
“Honestly, I was hoping it would get down, for the most part,” the utility infielder said. “I didn’t think it was going over. … It’s a great feeling”
Wednesday was only Hamilton’s 10th game of the season, and he entered the contest hitting .048 with a .139 OPS. He admitted that with limited playing time, he’s put more pressure on himself to deliver for the team.
“I’m definitely trying to do too much,” Hamilton said. “Honestly, I’ve been all over the place, which I think might be a little bit of the problem, but I’m just trying to be myself, I guess that’s the main thing.”
“If you look at my career, I’m usually a fastball hitter, so that’s what’s kind of frustrating,” he clarified.
The Red Sox went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base. It was, however, a welcome change to see the lineup finish with only seven strikeouts. They’ve entered the contest leading the majors in the metric, and have punched out in the double digits in 13 of 20 games this season. They also finished their second consecutive game without an error.
Playing in his 1,000th career regular-season game, Rafael Devers walked and singled. He’s the 31st player in franchise history to reach the mark, but only the 12th to do so before turning 29 years old. He joins an elite group in that regard: Xander Bogaerts, Bobby Doerr, Dwight Evans, Harry Hooper, Duffy Lewis, Rico Petrocelli, Jim Rice, Everett Scott, Reggie Smith, Tris Speaker, and Carl Yastrzemski.
Given the way each of their last two series began – with the Red Sox getting blown out – Cora was moderately pleased to head home with a 3-3 record on the trip.
“Yeah. I mean, we won this series,” the manager said. “We haven’t played great for a while, but we have back-to-back clean games, and if we do that, we’re gonna have a chance.”
After playing 20 games in 21 days, the Red Sox finally get a day off on Thursday, before the Chicago White Sox come to Fenway for a four-game set.
