The Boston Red Sox were supposed to have an off day in San Diego today but some poor weather forced them to resume a game with the Royals instead.
It took two weeks for the Red Sox and Royals to once again cross paths so they could resume their suspended game from August 7th. Luckily for Boston, they were already at Fenway Park as they just concluded their latest homestand last night but they would lose an off day due to today’s game. Unfortunately for Kansas City, they had to fly in from Baltimore just to fly out right after the game for Cleveland.
We’ve heard it form the broadcasters over the last few weeks that today’s game could go 10 minutes or 10 hours as baseball is beyond unpredictable. With the uncertainty of the result and span of time the game would cover the Red Sox made things as fan-friendly as possible. Members of Red Sox Nation under 18 were admitted for free and concessions were slashed in cost in order to fill the stands and put smiles on faces.
I’ll admit I was pretty surprised to see the turnout as the stands were pretty damn full except for the center field bleachers. And on top of that, the fans in attendance were rowdy as all hell to see the Red Sox get a “W” before hitting the road for San Diego. It was fun to listen to Jerry Remy and Dave O’Brien call the game as if it was a normal day while also relaying that we were just minutes into playing.
Things got off to a quick start as Josh Taylor made quick work of the Royals in just 13 pitches in his 1IP. Just like that, the game was placed into Boston’s hands to get the win and move on to the next city. A hot-shot double to the gap from Christian Vazquez led the way for Sam Travis to get intentionally walked. This was done so Royals southpaw Richard Lovelady could get the ideal lefty-lefty matchup against Brock Holt.
Sliding into home is an electric #walkoff celebration. pic.twitter.com/614yMn3EQs
— MLB (@MLB) August 22, 2019
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Oh yeah, Chris Owings came in as a pinch-runner for Vazquez! Now if you remember last night, and I’m sure you do, Alex Cora left Holt on the bench to avoid a very similar matchup against the Phillies. Holt would take his opportunity and show that he was more than capable of overcoming the disadvantage though. Brock would rope a shot down the third-base line allowing Owings to score from second for the walk-off win.
In the blink of an eye, the game was over in just 11 minutes and 30 seconds, per NESN’s Tom Caron. All the waiting and all the travel came down to less than 12 minutes. In what should’ve been an off day became a quick way for the Red Sox to pick up a 0.5 game in the wild card standings.
Today also showed that overthinking matchups could be a crux for the 2019 Red Sox as the very thing they tried to avoid last night is what handed them a victory today. After the highs of the Baltimore sweep getting erased by the Phillies taking both games at Fenway, this quick win is a definite morale boost.
Boston now heads to San Diego and will be looking to build on the momentum, however minimal, that they gained today. With a long eight-game stretch outside of Fenway coming up, every game is going to be crucial to the season’s outcome. With 33 games left in the regular season, not a single one can be deemed unimportant, they’re all a necessity. Though it only took 12 minutes, today’s win was something the Red Sox absolutely needed going forward.