BOSTON — Xander Bogaerts took one look at the ball he had just pulverized to left, made one step out of the batter’s box and then with one hand, slammed his bat into the ground.
Finally.
A week after his season-long frustrations boiled over with a rare ejection, Bogaerts took them out in a far more beneficial manner. Fresh off two of their worst losses of the year caused by offensive futility, the Red Sox needed a spark. The lineup finally came alive, and Bogaerts’ monster three-run homer in the sixth helped propel a 9-8 comeback win as they held on over the surging Rays at Fenway Park.
Bogaerts’ home run ultimately proved crucial as the Red Sox built a 9-4 lead heading into the eighth and nearly saw it slip away as the struggling Ryan Brasier gave up four runs — including a three-run homer to Jose Siri — without recording an out. But Matt Barnes continued his resurgence by coming on to retire the side, and Garrett Whitlock — though he had to be used on a night he shouldn’t have been needed — pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to preserve the victory.
The Red Sox (61-65) broke a four-game losing skid in the process as they snapped the Rays’ six-game winning streak.
On the heels of a brutal loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday — when they had the go-ahead run on third and no outs in both the eighth and ninth and didn’t score — the Red Sox finally pulled it together offensively.
Facing a 3-0 deficit after Michael Wacha gave up two early homers, the Red Sox responded against Rays bulk reliever Ryan Yarbrough. A team that has lost hitting homers as an identity, they strung together singles, doubles, walks — and most importantly, they came through in situations they needed to.
With Christian Arroyo on third and less than two outs, Kevin Plawecki’s single made it a 3-1 game.
With a 4-2 deficit in the fourth after Franchy Cordero’s solo homer, Kiké Hernandez and Plawecki hit back-to-back singles before Jarren Duran’s sac fly.
They completed the comeback in the fifth, when Hernandez and Plawecki recorded back-to-back RBI hits to give the Sox a 5-4 lead.
The Red Sox finished the night with 16 hits, but a night after they recorded 15 but still lost, that wasn’t the issue. It was the timeliness of them. For one night at least, they fixed it. After going 3 for 20 with runners in scoring position on Thursday, the Sox went 7 for 20.
It helped that Wacha found his groove so they could mount their comeback. After two strong starts coming off the injured list, Wacha faced trouble immediately. Yandy Diaz jumped on the first pitch of the game for a solo homer, and Ji-Man Choi followed with a two-run shot in the second — marking the first time he’s allowed multiple homers in a game since April.
But on a night he didn’t have his best stuff — his fastball command was off and velocity was down — Wacha found a way. He hit back-to-back batters to load the bases with no outs in the third, but escaped after allowing just one run. He didn’t really face trouble again, as he retired nine of the final 11 batters he faced, including dialing up his fastball to 96 mph to strike out Francisco Mejia to end the sixth.
