Red Sox 3, Rays 1: Roman’s Reign begins at Fenway

This here is what a professional hitter looks like! Two on, two out, two strikes, and the boy with the bat boldly lines a pitch away and off the plate to the opposite field with purpose.

He didn’t try to pull it, and he didn’t try to do too much. He just took what it was, made a mid at bat adjustment on the fly, and delivered what the team needed. It was the kind of winning baseball play you’d expect from a veteran player.

But it wasn’t from a veteran player. It’s 21-year old Roman Anthony’s first career hit, and if all goes well, this double down the left field dirt designed to do specific situational damage might be a glimpse into his glistening future.

In a stretch of such dark, depressing baseball where the team has woefully underachieved in general and especially underperformed at situational opportunities, Roman Anthony delivered a masterclass in how it’s done in the first at bat of just his second game in a big league uniform. We might have something special here folks!

Then in the sixth inning, he made this snazzy play in right field:

This was a sneaky huge catch in the game. The Rays had just gotten on the board in the fifth, it was a one run affair, and the Sox still had to navigate through eleven more outs with a bullpen running on fumes. If this drops in, or there’s any hesitation at all from Anthony after his muff yesterday, it’s “here we go again.”

But instead, Anthony’s play and presence injected a calmness into the game I almost forgot could exist after watching this group play baseball the last few weeks. After the ball landed in Roman’s glove, the Rays didn’t get another base runner the rest of the night.

Here’s Anthony’s reaction interview after his first win with the Sox:

Studs

Roman Anthony : I mean, duh!

Lucas Giolito: It was Roman Anthony’s night, but none of his heroics come with the same impact if good Giolito didn’t show up. It’s the fourth time this year he’s allowed one run or less in a start, and it comes immediately on the heels of his disaster class outing last week when he only got five outs and gave up seven runs. (Oddly, that game also came a day after the Sox lost in extra innings and needed the bullpen to get some rest). In other words, Giolito redeemed himself this evening!

Trevor Story: He delivered this insurance bomb in the sixth inning over everything in left. As it turned out, the Sox didn’t need this run, but in the moment everybody at Fenway would have bet the farm they needed this and more the way the bullpen’s been abused of late.

Garrett Whitlock and Greg Weissert: Speaking of the bullpen, together these guys closed down the final three innings with shockingly little drama. It was nine up, nine down on just 29 pitches. Whitlock was especially impressive throwing a pair of shutout innings and racking up three strikeouts.

Three Duds

Not hitting with runners in scoring position: After Roman Anthony’s beautiful at bat in the first, the team went 0-8 with runners in scoring position the rest of the night, making them just 5-32 with runners in scoring position this series.

Not playing a complete game defensively again: Lucas Giolito made a throwing error in the fifth inning when the Rays’ running game nearly derailed his otherwise great night, and Jarren Duran made what should have been an error when the ball clanked off his glove in the second inning. There was also a moment in the fifth inning when Kristian Campbell couldn’t quite make a great leaping play that would have ended the inning without any runs coming across. (It wasn’t a play he absolutely should have made, but it’s a big play he could have made if things were going well.) The team still needs to lock down defensively if they’re going to go on a run.

Strikeouts: Every single starter had at least one strikeout, and they had 13 total as a team. There’s still way too many empty at bats in this lineup, and on night’s when the pitching’s not as sharp as it was this evening, it’s going to continue to cost them.