The Red Sox walked away with their fifth win at home of the season Saturday, but it was Xander Bogaerts that truly dazzled in Boston’s 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.
The shortscut had one night, hitting 3 out of 4 in the cleanup, adding a three-point blast on the first pitch he saw in the first inning of the game.
So what’s so consistent with him lately?
“It’s hard, you know? I feel like this year has been a genuine challenge for me,” Bogaerts told NESN’s Guerin Austin after the game, as noted in NESN’s post-match coverage. «… I mean, I just did smart at-bat shifts and got no effects (in the past), so it’s smart as a baseball player to get effects and see clearly that the paintings you make pay off.”
Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke praised Bogaerts to the plate.
“That’s what those boys can do with the damage. You have to be careful with the first release,” Roenicke said in reference to Bogaerts during his post-game Zoom conference. “And some guys, they’re pretty sure they’re going to accept it, but they’re not sure. So, they are still looking to move around the area. And he just left it where Alex is good.”
In fact, Roenicke thinks that swinging on the first pitch might be more for the headbutts than some might think.
“But I think it’s vital to jump into that first field,” he said. “You know, you don’t have to do any harm at home. But if you make a base shot or just bend from time to time, it makes them doubt your swing on that first pitch. And you know, there were some great hitters who did that. I was with Bobby Abreu, who almost never swinged on the first pitch, and was obviously a fantastic player. Array… Sometimes we couldn’t get Mookie (Betts) to swing on that first pitch. But there’s this doubt in the pitcher’s mind: this will be the moment he flies on that first pitch, so we still have to be careful.”
I hope this is a sign of what’s to come. But with 25 games to play on Boston’s regular-season roster, anything is possible.
Here are some notes from Saturday’s Nationals-Red Sox game:
– Roenicke victory a “hard win”.
“It’s like a playoff game where you do everything you can to check and win a game,” he said. «… It looked like a bunch of sleeves. But the boys did a smart job, they kept throwing zeros, and some guys came here and got big outs for us.
– Mitch Moreland celebrated his birthday in the majors
“It’s a lot to put into words, ” said Bogaerts in Austin. “Obviously, we all know what he’s like as a ball player. And I let you know that I appreciate every single thing you’ve done for me as a player to make me more wonderful and dazzling as a person, just as you present yourself. and every day, his leadership and I mean, he’s a wonderful presence to have on a baseball team and he’s a bseball guy and obviously I’m very lucky to play baseball with him. Array.. These are the guys you’re cheering for because, man, you need them to keep playing as long as they can. Obviously, he’s been a teacher with us quite a bit since his arrival.
– Darwinzon Hernandez did not make his Saturday night more productive, especially in terms of speed. Roenicke even identified him after the game.
“He didn’t seem to be right. He didn’t seem to be in his game,” Roenicke said. “And I know we’re still checking the exit to build it, and that doesn’t mean two (or) 3 rounds (working), yet that’s the kind of thing we’re seeing. And he didn’t seem smart tonight. That’s why I didn’t send him back there. And then, next time, I’m sure we’re going to go do two more (sleeves) with it. So Array (we’re checking the output) just to keep an eye on it and make sure everything goes well as you go to the point where we’d like it to go.”
– Washington left 14 (!) Men in defeat.
– By the way, Brock Holt faced the Red Sox for the first time since joining the Milwaukee Brewers in the off-season. Except he’s in the Nats now.
Unfortunately for Holt, who went 3 out of 30 with the Brew Crew, he hit three pitches.