For a guy who’s ranked among baseball’s most prolific run producers all season, it’s often felt like this year has been a grind for Rafael Devers.
Yet tough as it’s been to find his rhythm, on nights like Friday you can see why the Red Sox invested so much in the young slugger.
Devers enjoyed one of his best all-around games of the season, crushing a towering two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starter Lucas Giolito before subsequently turning a dazzling double play to stamp out a potential rally the following inning. His efforts were the difference and helped Brayan Bello outduel Giolito in the 3-1 Red Sox win.
Devers’ home run came immediately after Masataka Yoshida reached on an error by White Sox shortstop Elvis Andrus to lead off the fourth, one of several Chicago miscues on the day. A White Sox error also contributed to Boston’s first run in the third, which was effectively created out of thin air by rookie David Hamilton, who walked, immediately stole second and then forced a bad pickoff throw that allowed him to score easily.
Though Bello wasn’t dominant, that was all the offense he wound up needing. The second-year right-hander went 6.2 innings and allowed one run on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. The lone run came on a Tim Anderson sacrifice fly in the third, and Bello was able to work his way out of a number of other jams unscathed thanks in part to some excellent defense, Devers’ web gem most prominent among them.
Crucially, Bello also continued his trend of locking down opposing lineups in clutch spots. Entering the night the 24-year-old had held batters to a .175 average and .488 OPS with runners in scoring position, and Friday the White Sox went 0 for 6 in those spots. He is now 5-4 on the year with a 3.27 ERA, and tossing out his rough season debut on Marathon Monday he’s posted a 2.70 ERA over his last 11 starts.
The combination of timely hitting, stout pitching and strong defense was essential on a day where the White Sox pitching staff otherwise gave Boston fits. Outside of the Devers homer Giolito was excellent, and he only allowed three hits and one walk while striking out 10 over six innings.
The White Sox also retired 10 straight Boston batters between the sixth and eighth innings and collectively the Red Sox struck out a season-high 17 times. Chicago made one last push in the eighth, getting runners at the corners after Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn reached on a pair of infield singles, but Chris Martin drew a Gavin Sheets groundout to end the threat and Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth for his 16th save.
With the win Boston improves to 40-37 and moves back within 1.5 games of the New York Yankees for the final American League Wild Card spot. Boston’s James Paxton (3-1, 3.29 ERA) will take the mound against Chicago’s Lance Lynn (4-8, 6.51) on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.
Prior to the game the Red Sox made a handful of roster moves, calling up infielder Bobby Dalbec and left-hander Chris Murphy from Triple-A while placing infielder Pablo Reyes on the 10-day injured list with an abdominal strain.
Left-hander Brandon Walter and recently acquired right-hander Tayler Scott were both optioned to Worcester.
Dalbec rejoins the big league club amid a hot stretch with the WooSox. The former starting first baseman is hitting .296 with a team-high 18 home runs and 42 RBI in Triple-A, but despite that production he still doesn’t have an obvious role on the big league roster beyond emergency infield depth.
The Red Sox have also had a handful of notable minor league promotions the past few days, among them outfielder Corey Rosier and infielder Max Ferguson being called up to Triple-A. The two prospects were acquired from San Diego in last summer’s Jay Groome trade, at which time neither had ever played above High-A.
Rosier in particular has enjoyed a terrific year in Double-A, batting .307 with 26 stolen bases. Ferguson’s numbers at High-A aren’t as impressive, but he still has 23 stolen bases and was called up straight from Greenville to help provided needed depth with so much of the WooSox infield currently either injured or in the big leagues.