The Boston Red Sox got the last laugh against old friend Rafael Devers and the San Francisco Giants to begin the teams’ weekend series.
The Red Sox will look to continue the proceedings with another victory on Saturday night.
A five-run third inning — including a three-run homer by Willson Contreras — made the difference in Boston’s 6-4 win on Friday. The big inning overshadowed Devers’ first Fenway Park action since the Red Sox traded him to San Francisco in June of last season.
“(Devers) was an amazing player, amazing person, amazing teammate,” Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu said before going 3-for-4 with an RBI triple, a walk and a run on Friday. “I learned a lot from him because he’s a superstar.”
For the Giants, Drew Gilbert and Devers hit back-to-back homers in the fourth inning to bring the Giants within a run, but Sonny Gray and three relievers, including former Giant Erik Miller, finished off Boston’s victory.
The Red Sox have five wins in their last eight games and 30 in come-from-behind fashion this season, as the 450-foot Contreras homer helped erase an early 1-0 deficit.
“It was hit a ton,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy, whose team has homered in six consecutive games.
Boston is 23-11 since the All-Star break, the best mark in baseball. That stretch includes a 15-5 home record.
Miller has been outstanding since being acquired by Boston, pitching 8 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.
“Everything about playing for the Red Sox has been amazing,” he said.
Boston’s Patrick Sandoval (1-2, 4.76 ERA) has taken back-to-back losses since an Aug. 4 victory, his first since his return from Tommy John surgery last month.
Sandoval was roughed up for seven runs over four innings in an 8-3 defeat Sunday to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He walked three and struck out six while pitching through a blister on his left foot that has hampered him for most of the season.
The southpaw is 0-1 with a 5.74 ERA in three career starts against San Francisco.
The Giants, who are 5-13 in August, have lost two straight games overall and 13 of their last 16 on the road. Gilbert and Christian Koss bookended the Friday lineup with multi-hit efforts.
Devers, who stepped into the batter’s box to mixed emotions, has hits in six of his last seven games after a 2-for-15 stretch.
“I’d assume all the people that cheered were people that lived here (in Boston when the Red Sox won the World Series) in 2018, and all the people that had anything else moved here after that,” Giants manager Tony Vitello said of the reaction.
While Devers stole the headlines, Vitello expected to have former Red Sox infielder Marcelo Mayer — who was acquired by the Giants in a deadline deal for Miller — available for the series. However, right foot soreness halted his rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento.
“He just aggravated it a little bit from being back out there every day,” Vitello said. “He’s just going to take the weekend off and then kind of reassess things later.”
San Francisco will look for a bounce-back outing from right-hander Blade Tidwell (0-0, 4.33 ERA), who will face Boston for the first time in his career and will make his fourth start since joining the team’s rotation.
After allowing no more than two runs in his previous two outings, Tidwell took a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. He allowed a season-high six runs on three hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings in his team’s 13-7 loss.
Vitello said Tidwell was dealing with back stiffness during the outing, but the ailment had no impact on the performance.
“A lot of walks; those kill you,” Tidwell said. “They did a good job with their plan, and I didn’t execute mine.”
–Field Level Media
