Red Sox walk all over Mets in 6-3 win
By Lucy Burdge
Half of the Red Sox squad traveled all the way across the state of Florida to Port St. Lucie on Sunday to grab a 6-3 win over the New York Mets.
Boston’s ace for the day, Rick Porcello, pitched three solid innings, albeit with a slightly wobbly defense behind him. The Mets scored the first run of the game in the second inning on a throwing error by second baseman Brock Holt. Then, in his first professional appearance at third, Jemile Weeks bobbled a grounder, but was able to gun it to first in time to throw out Johnny Monell.
The Red Sox drove Mets starter Jon Niese from the mound in the third after putting together a respectable two-out rally. The first Red Sox hit of the game came courtesy of Weeks, who then advanced to third after Holt smacked a single to right field, then scored when Xander Bogaerts did the same.
After Daniel Nava reached first on a walk, Tyler Pill replaced Niese and surrendered a walk to Bryce Brents to force in Boston’s second run. Worcester native Bryan LaHair then killed it by grounding into a force out to get Pill out of the jam.
Brian Johnson got some time on the mound for Boston and gave up another run to the Mets in the fourth to tie the score at two. But his team turned on the excitement level of this ho-hum game in the top of the fifth. Weeks and Holt walked, Weeks stole two bases, and Bogaerts crushed a three-run homer to put the Sox ahead 5-2.
The Red Sox added another run in the seventh when Holt scored on a wild pitch from Mets right-hander Akeel Morris. The Mets responded with a run in the bottom of the inning, but never got their act together enough to overcome a shaky day by their pitching staff. The Red Sox were able to score six runs on only five hits, as walks were abundant for the Mets’ staff. Seven pitchers took the mound for New York and surrendered a total of ten walks, along with a balk in the ninth. Basically, almost everything that could go wrong for them did.
The Red Sox take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter on Monday.