The Boston Red Sox have the most powerful offense in the major leagues, and for most of Tuesday evening, fill-in starter Albert Suarez and the Giants kept it in check.
They were undone in the 10th inning by smaller names and soft contact. Santiago Casilla, working his second inning, could not extract himself after the Red Sox loaded the bases on a double by backup catcher Sandy Leon, a walk and a bunt single. Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run blooper that fell in front of center fielder Denard Span as the Giants lost 5-3 at AT&T Park.
“He gives himself an opportunity to cover the whole plate against a lot of pitchers,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said of Bogaerts. “He’s going to put the bat on the ball.”
Against a potent interleague opponent, the Giants were missing several of their biggest names. In addition to Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence, who are on the disabled list with hamstring injuries, they lacked another Killer P: Buster Posey was scratched because of an irritated nerve in his right thumb, and is likely to miss the two-game series.
The Red Sox started their winning rally with the end of their bench. Leon, who had entered in the seventh inning, doubled to right field and reached safely when Jarrett Parker’s throw was off line. Pinch hitter Marco Hernandez tried to sacrifice Leon - not an easy task given Leon’s lack of speed. But Casilla issued the walk that proved to poison the inning. Mookie Betts put down a bunt single to load the bases, and after Dustin Pedroia grounded into a forceout at the plate, Bogaerts waved at a 2-2 curveball and found a patch of grass.
The Red Sox showed how quickly they can get on the board in the second inning, when Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a two-out double and Chris Young followed by threading another double down the left field line. The Giants had an open base, two outs and backup catcher Christian Vazquez at the plate. It’s a testament to the potency of the Red Sox lineup that Giants manager Bruce Bochy didn’t order the customary intentional walk. He preferred to go after Vazquez, and give Suarez the advantage of starting the next inning with opposing pitcher Rick Porcello. The move paid off, as Vazquez grounded out.
The Red Sox managed to score in the third anyway. After Porcello grounded out, Betts hit a double and went to third on a ground out. Betts scored when Bogaerts hit an to the left side that Crawford deftly gloved, but the shortstop’s off-balance throw to first base arrived a split second too late. From there, Suarez plowed through the Red Sox lineup. He allowed one baserunner over the next three innings, and erased Vazquez when he got Betts to ground into a double play.
Suarez, who signed as a minor league free agent, was an Arkansas Traveler in the Double-A Texas League at this time last season. While the Angels struggle to put together a functional rotation, the Giants are enjoying their revelatory find.
Suarez walked off the mound with a 3-2 lead, one out in the seventh inning, and a standing ovation filling his ears. Against a Red Sox offense that leads the majors in runs and slugging percentage, he recorded 19 outs on a mere 88 pitches.
But Suarez also left a runner on base that the Giants bullpen failed to strand. His last act was to walk Bradley Jr., who proceeded to steal second base on right-hander George Kontos and take third on catcher Trevor Brown’s errant throw.
After Kontos walked Young, the well represented Red Sox faithful rose to its feet as David Ortiz walked to the plate. With no designated hitter in this series, the retiring postseason hero will be limited to pinch hitting duty – and Red Sox manager John Farrell picked his spot. The Giants countered with the matchup that everyone saw coming. The only surprising part in the bout between left-hander Javier Lopez and Ortiz was that, in close to 29 years of combined major league service time, it hadn’t happened before.
The bout lasted one pitch. Ortiz chopped a hanging slider up the middle, Crawford gloved it and tried to start a double play by tagging Young with the ball. But Young crumpled while staying in the base line and avoided horsehide on jersey by mere millimeters. Crawford threw for the forceout on Ortiz as Bradley Jr. scored the tying run.
A depleted lineup managed to mount just one threat in six innings against Porcello. Joe Panik, Matt Duffy and Brandon Belt hit consecutive singles to start the fourth inning, Crawford walked to force in a run and the Giants took a 3-2 lead when Duffy scored on Gregor Blanco’s double-play grounder. Jarrett Parker hit a home run for the second consecutive game, sending a solo shot into the arcade in the third inning.
RESULTS
Pittsburgh 3 NY Mets 1
Philadelphia 3 Chicago Cubs 2
Baltimore 9 Kansas City 1
NY Yankees 6 LA Angels 3
Pittsburgh 3 NY Mets 1
Detroit 3 Toronto 2 (10 innings)
Cincinnati 7 St. Louis 6
Texas 4 Houston 3
Minnesota 6 Miami 4 (11 innings)
Milwaukee 5 Oakland 4
Washington 10 White Sox 5
Arizona 5 Tampa Bay 0
San Diego 4 Atlanta 3
Seattle 7 Cleveland 1
LA Dodgers 4 Colorado 3
Boston 5 San Francisco 3
(10 innings)