Normally recording four outs on the base paths would be a recipe for disaster, and Boston’s careless baserunning cost the club at least two runs.
But when you’re also hitting the way the Red Sox were Sunday, you can get away with a little more than usual.
The Red Sox were all over the New York Mets in Sunday night’s series finale, piling up 15 hits en route to a decisive 6-1 win that should have been even more lopsided than it was.
Boston’s big offensive surge came in the bottom of the third, when the club strung together a season-high seven consecutive hits to chase Mets starting pitcher Carlos Corrasco from the game amid what wound up being a four-run rally.
After Justin Turner led off with a double and Rafael Devers singled, Adam Duvall roped an RBI double to make it 2-0. Devers was caught straying off the third base bag by left fielder Mark Canha on the play, but Triston Casas followed with an RBI single, Connor Wong and Kiké Hernández both singled to load the bases and Yu Chang capitalized with an RBI single.
Wong came in to score on a wild pitch before the Mets finally got out of the jam by striking Jarren Duran out and forcing Masataka Yoshida to fly out to center. By that point the Red Sox had 11 hits and a 5-0 lead.
It could have been more if not for Boston’s numerous baserunning blunders.
Canha, the Mets left fielder, took advantage of the Red Sox overly aggressive and at times careless baserunning to rack up three outfield assists. In addition to catching Devers sleeping in the third, he also threw Duran out at the plate in the first and Triston Casas trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth.
Duran was also picked off at first base after singling in the bottom of the sixth.
Duran’s first-inning play was unfortunate but defensible, as it came after he took third from first on a Yoshida groundout and drew a bad throw that bounced into foul territory. The trouble was he didn’t notice and break for home until a moment too late, and that extra beat allowed Canha to field the ball and make the good throw home.
Casas’ play was just a bad read. The rookie went the other way to the Green Monster but the ball was quickly fielded and Casas wound up being thrown out by a mile.
In the end the miscues didn’t matter. After Duran was thrown out at the plate the Red Sox drew a pair of walks and Duvall had the first of his two RBI hits with a single to make it 1-0. Opener Brennan Bernardino and left-hander Chris Murphy combined to hold the Mets scoreless on two hits through the first five innings, and after the Mets tagged Murphy for two hits, a walk and an RBI single by Francisco Lindor to make it 5-1 in the sixth, Josh Winckowski came on and struck out Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos to end the threat.
Rafael Devers smoked a 413-foot solo shot, his 24th home run of the season, to make it 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh, and relievers Joely Rodriguez, Joe Jacques, Chris Martin and Brandon Walter combined to keep the Mets off the board the rest of the way. Wong finished the day 3 for 4 and five others recorded two hits, including Duvall, who went 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored.
With the win Boston takes the series and finishes its 12-game stretch against sub-.500 clubs with an 8-4 record. The Red Sox (53-47) move back in front of the New York Yankees in the standings and go into Monday’s off-day two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final AL Wild Card spot.
The road is about to get much tougher for the Red Sox over the next two weeks. Tuesday the club will welcome the Atlanta Braves, owner of the best record in baseball at 64-34, to Fenway Park for a two-game series. Boston will then have another off-day Thursday before heading back to the west coast for a pair of series against the San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners.
Atlanta is set to send Charlie Morton (10-7, 3.36 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday, while Boston hasn’t announced a starter and is expected to use another opener. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.