Throughout this spring, the Red Sox have struggled to come back. Entering Tuesday night’s contest in Detroit, they were 7-15 when opponents scored first, 3-4 when tied after eight innings, 1-15 when trailing after the seventh, and 0-2 in extra-inning games on the road.
They came painfully close to adding a win to each of those records on Tuesday night, battling back from four deficits in the first six innings and forcing two extra innings before Javy Baez blasted a walk-off home run, his second three-run blast of the contest, to win it for Detroit in the 11th, 10-9.
The Red Sox out-hit the Tigers 14-11 in the contest, but Detroit did more with their opportunities, going 5 for 17 with runners in scoring position and only stranding seven men, while Boston was 4 for 13 RISP and left 10.
A trio of clutch home runs from Alex Bregman (solo, fourth), David Hamilton (two-run, eighth), and Kristian Campbell (two-run, 11th) wasn’t enough. Nor was a barrage of hits from the bottom of the lineup, including a three-hit performance by catcher Carlos Narváez and multiple knocks from Wilyer Abreu and Nick Sogard.
It ended up being an even longer night than expected for the Boston bullpen after Brayan Bello only lasted 4.2 innings. The Red Sox righty allowed two earned runs (three total) on six hits, two walks, and struck out four.
Justin Wilson, Garrett Whitlock, Brennan Bernardino, Justin Slaten, Aroldis Chapman, and Greg Weissert pitched the rest of the way. Whitlock blew the first save opportunity by giving up Baez’s first three-run homer, and Weissert did the same at game’s end.
With the game tied for the fourth time, closer Aroldis Chapman took the mound in the bottom of the ninth and set the Tigers down in order to create another opportunity for the Red Sox.
Into extra innings, the bottom of the Boston order delivered again. With Sogard on second as the automatic runner to begin the tenth, Narváez led off with a first-pitch single to put men on the corners. Grounding into a force-out, Rafaela gave the Red Sox their first lead since the fifth inning.
With a one-run lead and only one teammate, Liam Hendriks, remaining in the bullpen, Weissert took the mound for the bottom of the 10th. The righty got off to a strong start, recording the first two outs without allowing Zach McKinstry, the Tigers’ automatic runner at second, to advance. Trey Sweeney turned an 86 mph changeup into a game-tying single before Weissert could get out of the 10th.
Campbell was 3 for his last 38 and mired in an 0 for 14 slump when he stepped up to the plate with two outs in the 11th. Beau Brieske couldn’t believe his eyes when Campbell turned his first pitch, a 97.3 mph sinker, into a towering fly ball that traveled 363 feet, just far enough to be a go-ahead two-run homer.
The euphoria of Campbell’s blast evaporated instantly in the bottom of the 11th, when Baez blasted Weissert.
The Red Sox are back at .500 once more, and have to face reigning AL Cy Young, Tarik Skubal, in Wednesday’s series finale.