The Red Sox finally showed us they’re a team to root for when they’re working. A lot of great things happened tonight. The offense, backed by two primary studs (more on that below), came back from behind, the bullpen was overall nails, and Tanner Houck, while not stellar, kept us in the game. This dub was needed, for the leaderboard and for morale. It feels good to write about a win again!
Four(!) Studs:
Alex Bregman: Proving again and again that signing him was one of the best recent decisions the Sox front office has made, he bolstered this game with a solo homer (his 200th in his career!), and two hits, including a two-run RBI single. He’s having an unbelievable spring and would be the best in the AL if it were not for a certain Aaron Judge becoming the new Barry Bonds.
Wilyer Abreu: The second star of the game, with two solo home runs and an RBI double. He has some vendetta against the Texas Rangers, because he loves hitting against them. He and Bregman were the sole run producers tonight, though other members of the team did get on base.
The Bullpen: Clean innings from Greg Weissert, who’s emerging as a dependable arm, and from Justin Wilson and Brennan Bernardino, who are both starting to bounce back from their less-than-ideal forms. Aroldis Chapman did give up a solo homer and a single, but fortunately the Sox still had a two run lead and it didn’t cause much damage. Bernardino’s ERA is now under 2, at 1.93.
Bonus: The Offense: 11 hits today, but more importantly, and incredibly, only one strikeout the entire game, and that was a caught-looking Trevor Story strikeout in the eighth.
Three Duds:
The Umpires and the Guys in New York: They must’ve all had money on a Texas win, because they made two very annoying calls against us. The throw from Houck to Romy should’ve been an out, because even though Romy didn’t tag the base on the throw, the runner Wyatt Langford didn’t hit the base either, and Romy got back to the base in time before Langford did. So Langford should’ve been out, but the umpires AND the guys in New York confirmed it. So when Campbell came home on Wilyer’s RBI double in the sixth, and C.B. Bucknor called him out at home, the Sox couldn’t challenge it when Campbell may have been safe. I feel like the umps statistically have made a lot more calls against the Red Sox than for the Red Sox, but that’s likely just personal bias from me. It’s cool we won the game despite all that mess.
The First Base Bag: Why does it hate our first basemen!? First it knocks down Casas and then hurts Romy!? Romy, fortunately, didn’t look as banged up and/or doomed as Casas did, but the Sox still put Toro in. Does the base itself need to get changed? Do the Sox need to relearn how to safely run the bases?
The Celtics: Unrelated, but: Bruh.
Play of the Game: Bregman’s 200th Homer
A baseball milestone that got us on the board! It’s a bad idea to pitch to Bregman right now, because more likely than not he’s gonna do something offensive with it.
Despite all the yuckiness we’ve seen so far this season, the 2025 Boston Red Sox have yet to be swept and yet to be shut out. Here’s to hoping for a long-missed series win tomorrow!
