Red Sox vs Tigers: Devers single through shift leads Red Sox to 5-3 win over Tigers

Red Sox vs Tigers: The Boston Red Sox rallied from a three-run hole to upset the Detroit Tigers 5-3 in the eighth inning, when Rafael Devers singled through the open shortstop area with the infield shifted to the right side.

“Teams are going to attack him a certain way and he feels like he has to swing hard. It’s the other way around,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “Just take what they give you. That’s the mark of a professional hitter.”

Garrett Whitlock (1-0) won his first start since the Red Sox announced his $18.75 million, four-year deal on Sunday.

Hirokazu Sawamura also got two outs in a hitless relief appearance for starter Rich Hill, who went 4 1/3 innings and allowed three runs and five hits.

Hill should pitch five innings and Whitlock should pitch the final four, according to Cora. The strategy came close to working perfectly.

“They’re going to load up with righties against Rich,” Cora said. “He can get them out and then we can turn the page to Whitlock. We get a lot of good matchups from that. They complement each other well. It’s a good plan, it’s just a matter of how long we can do it.”

Whitlock pitched 39 pitches and only gave up one baserunner, a walk to Jeimer Candelario in the sixth inning.

“Rich pitched amazing, did an absolutely wonderful job,” Whitlock said.

Boston, which had not been above.500 in a long time, now has a record of 2-3.

Kiké Hernández doubled twice for the Red Sox, while Devers added a pair of RBI singles to raise his average to.381.

After a 0-for-10 start, Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson, the top choice in the 2020 amateur draught, doubled in the third inning for his first big league hit.

The ball landed in right-center field, 309 feet from home plate, squarely in front of diving right fielder Christian Arroyo’s glove.

“It’s something I’ve looked forward to for a long time,” Torkelson said. “For it to finally happen, it’s special. The baseball gods were tested me out a little bit, just seeing what I was made of. You’ve just got to persevere, trust yourself and the hits will come.”

Torkelson scored on a Robbie Grossman groundout in the third inning, Jonathan Schoop followed with a run-scoring single, and Javier Báez added an RBI double.

Tyler Alexander, who had given up five hits in 5 1/3 innings, was chased after Hernandez hit an RBI double in the sixth inning and scored on a single by Devers. J.D. Martinez tied the game against Jacob Barnes with an opposite-field double off the foul line in deep right field, a call that was upheld after video review.

Hernandez led off the eighth inning with a walk against Alex Lange (0-1) and advanced on a wild pitch. Will Vest gave up a two-out RBI single to Arroyo.

“They did a good job with their at-bats as the game went along,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said. “They had tougher at-bats and we didn’t execute quite as well as the game went on.”

Red Sox vs Tigers | Room For Trainees

Red Sox

2B Trevor Story (illness) didn’t start for the third consecutive game. “Hopefully tomorrow,” Cora said. “We’re not going to be stupid about it.”

Tigers

Grossman left after the sixth inning due to right groin tightness.

Up Next

Red Sox

In his season debut on Friday, RHP Nathan Eovaldi (0-0, 5.40 ERA) allowed three runs on five hits in five innings while striking out seven New York Yankees. In four starts versus Detroit, he has a 2-0 record and a 3.86 ERA.

Tigers

Eduardo Rodrguez will start the last game of the three-game series against his former team on Wednesday. Before signing a $77 million, five-year contract with Detroit as a free agency, Rodriguez had a 64-39 record in 159 appearances with Boston.

“All in all, I’m going to enjoy having the opportunity to face my old teammates.” In his Tigers debut, Rodriguez allowed three runs on four hits over four innings against the Chicago White Sox.

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