Top Play (WPA): The Red Sox broke yesterday’s game open with a three-run sixth, and unsurprisingly the top play came from this inning. A couple at-bats after Xander Bogaerts knocked in the go-ahead run, Alejandro De Aza rocked a two-out double to the left-center gap (0.159) that knocked in two more and gave Boston the 5-2 lead. The rally got started with a leadoff triple off the bat of Mookie Betts (0.151). It wasn’t Betts’ only big play of the game, as he got the scoring started with an RBI double (0.094) in the first.

Bottom Play (WPA): In true 2015 Red Sox fashion, Boston claimed ownership of the two worst plays of yesterday’s game despite coming away with the win. In that same sixth inning mentioned above, David Ortiz followed up Betts’ triple with a line-out to second (-0.067). To his credit, he smoked the ball and it was bad luck that it ended up right at a defender, but it sure seemed like the Red Sox would blow that inning. Continuing the 2015 Red Sox theme, the second worst play from either team in yesterday’s game resulted in a run. Pablo Sandoval came up with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first, but grounded into a 6-4-3 double play (-0.053) that scored Betts. The worst play by WPA for the losing Braves was when former fan favorite A.J. Pierzynski flew out with men on first and second and one out (-0.051) in the seventh inning.

Key Moment: The key moment in this one for me was that sixth inning. After being frustrated by this offense all season long, it was nice for them to finally come through in a big spot. After Betts’ triple, my only thought was how they would manage to strand him at third base with nobody out. Sure, he scored on a ground ball to second and would have likely been out with a better throw, but it didn’t matter. They finally came through, and continued to hit the ball well for the rest of the game to expand the lead. The team needed that kind of outburst, and my mental health needed it as well.

The other key moment, of course, was Brock Holt’s triple in the eighth that gave him Boston’s first cycle since Will Smith’s masterpiece Independence Day was the number one movie in America and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony boasted the nation’s top song.

Trends to Watch: I can’t remember the first time I was able to be overwhelmingly positive in this section, so I’m going to run with it. We’ll start with Betts. He’s had a relatively tough year, but he has certainly looked better the last few games. He now has seven hits in his last three games with three of them going for extra bases.

In that same vein, Sandoval looks like his old self at the plate. It appears he has officially given up switch hitting, and while the numbers still don’t look great, he looks more comfortable against left-handed pitching. He’s now riding a seven-game hitting streak and has multiple hits in five of those games.

Finally, Wade Miley had another solid start yesterday, flashing the strikeout stuff that has been so lacking from him this season. He’ll need to string a few of these starts together, though, as he’s shown flashes before but has been largely inconsistent.

Coming Next: The Red Sox continue* their series against the Braves tonight, though they’ll be playing by the devil’s National League’s rules in Atlanta. Joe Kelly will be facing off against Alex Wood. Kelly will look to build upon a little streak of non-disaster starts while Wood looks to continue his typically solid season. The series will end Thursday night with an intriguing Clay Buchholz-Shelby Miller matchup.

*I’m aware these are technically two separate series, but the same two teams are playing four games in a row and I refuse to call that anything besides a single series. I will hear no counterargument.

Photo by Mark L. Baer/USA Today Sports Images

]]> http://boston.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2015/06/17/game-66-recap-red-sox-9-braves-4/feed/ 0 http://boston.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2015/06/08/game-58-recap-athletics-4-red-sox-7/ http://boston.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2015/06/08/game-58-recap-athletics-4-red-sox-7/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2015 10:30:40 +0000 http://boston.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=1274 The Red Sox finally took home a series sweep against the Athletics, leveraging a big seven-run eighth inning to snatch victory from the jaws of Bad Clay Buchholz. It’s officially a streak! (Note: Streak may not be official.)

Top Play (WPA): Go figure, it was Xander Bogaerts’ two-out, two-run double (0.531) to change a 4-3 deficit to a 5-4 lead that would hold until the final bell. When you wait until the end of the game to rack up all your runs, you can get enormous WPA swings. I think that we can all agree, after this single plate appearance, that the Xander Bogaerts (.287 True Average this season) versus Mookie Betts (.266 True Average) debate is finally over.

Bottom Play (WPA): Hanley Ramirez, batting with no outs and runners on first and second, grounded into a critical double play (-0.121) that stranded Brock Holt at second base. Despite the best efforts of Holt — who moved to third on a passed ball — all it took was a Mike Napoli whiff at that point to end the potential for a rally. Bad job, all around.

Key Moment: For me, the key was Rusney Castillo’s homer to lead off the eighth inning and chase Kendall Graveman. Castillo’s been pretty awful since coming up with the Sox this season, but this AB saw him work into a full count and finally go yard. It seemed like the kind of personal win that could break the seal on further run scoring, and that’s exactly what happened in that big inning.

Trends to Watch: Winning is a trend, right?

Okay, so that doesn’t really count. Perhaps the right trend to keep an eye on is Steven Wright, who threw three and one-third innings of effective ball in relief of Doubles McGee in this game. It was the full Wakefield, pitching on short rest, and “sneaking” through the Athletics lineup by allowing unimpressive contact and getting key outs on balls in play. No one needs Steven Wright to be a rotation stalwart or a shutdown reliever — but if he can be a swingman who doesn’t make you want to immediately throw up in your mouth, and can prove to get a strikeout here and there, he’ll be a valuable cog in the machine.

Coming Next: Momentum isn’t real, except when we really want it to be. Season savior and hyperbole king Eduardo Rodriguez faces off against his former team, the Baltimore Orioles, in the jump to a three-game series at Baltimore on Tuesday. If Rodriguez doesn’t strike out half a dozen and keep his ERA below 1.00, it’ll probably be viewed as a disappointment, but really taking two out of three against the Orioles would have to be considered a win. Now this team is living up to a little bit of its potential, so it’s all about keeping the dice rolling.

Photo by Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports Images