3 Key Red Sox Takeaways from the Detroit Tigers Series

3. The Red Sox offense is as advertised before the season started.

The Red Sox finished the series with the Tigers by scoring 14 runs in their last 13 innings. While the offense was mostly quiet during the opening series in New York outside of the very first inning, the bats came alive in the second half of the Detroit series.

Maybe it’s a coincidence, maybe it isn’t. But the Red Sox offense seems to be at its best when Kiké Hernandez finds a way to reach base. He led off with a walk during the first inning against the Yankees, and it was downhill for both him and the Red Sox offense after that. It was also Hernandez who drove in the first run of Game 2 against the Tigers when he laced a double down the right field line for his first hit of the season, scoring Kevin Plawecki.

The Red Sox scored two more runs that inning, and two more in the 8th to win the game 5-3.

The offense picked it right back up in Game 3 against Eduardo Rodriguez. Hernandez got things going again, this time by belting his first home run of the season to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning.

The Sox went on to score six more runs in the 4th before ultimately winning the game 9-7.

Hernandez broke out. Rafael Devers went 6 for 14 with 3 RBI & 3 runs scored. J.D. Martinez was 3 for 9 with 3 BB, 1 HR, 2 RBI & 3 runs scored. Trevor Story returned from food poisoning at had two hits in Game 3. And even Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled twice.

The Red Sox offense showed how good it can be, and how deep it is during the second half of the series. Those 14 runs were scored with little help from guys like Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo, both of which had just one hit during the series. Not everyone will be hot every night, but this offense is deep enough to put up runs on a nightly basis even if a couple of the regular producers aren’t performing.