BOSTON — The Red Sox might’ve thrown away their season with a historically-bad July, but Xander Bogaerts is doing everything he can to keep them afloat.
On Thursday night, the franchise shortstop just about won the game by himself.
With the Sox trailing by a run in the sixth, Bogaerts wallopped an 0-2 slider from Triston McKenzie and sent it flying over the Green Monster for a three-run shot that led the local nine to an eventual 4-2 comeback win over Cleveland.
The Sox are just 3-11 over their last 14 games. Bogaerts is responsible for two of those wins, with Thursday’s clutch hit joining his 11th-inning baserunning heroics in the Sox’ 5-4 win over the Yankees on July 15 as two of his memorable highlights.
It was looking like another lifeless performance from the offense, which had just one hit off McKenzie until the sixth inning, when Jeter Downs legged out an infield single to get things going.
Jarren Duran, a speedy left-handed hitter, confusingly dropped what appeared to be an attempt at a sacrifice bunt towards third base, but the ball rolled right into the waiting glove of Jose Ramirez, who threw out the lead runner at second with ease. Duran has occasionally shown the ability to drag bunt down the first base side, making the meaningless out towards third all the more mystifying.
But Alex Verduo blooped a single into center field on the very next play, then Bogaerts fell behind 0-2 and got a hanging slider that he demolished for a three-run blast that erased Duran’s mistake.
As bad as the Red Sox have been of late, Bogaerts has only accelerated his excellent season at the dish.
Since July 9, he’s hitting .382 (21-for-55) with six walks to 12 strikeouts. He’s often the only one bringing a spark to a team that’s been without Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez for much of the second half.
And if the Sox’ front office doesn’t see enough from this group before Tuesday’s trade deadline, Bogaerts could be out the door. He’ll likely opt out of his team-friendly contract after the season and be eligible for free agency as the best offensive shortstop in baseball since the start of the 2018 season.
The Sox added another run in the seventh, when the suddenly-hot Bobby Dalbec rifled a line drive off the Monster to score Franchy Cordero from second base.
Until Wednesday, Dalbec had been ice cold at the plate all year and has been one of the most noticeable holes on the team. It still seems like the Sox need to address first base if they’re going to make a playoff push, but Dalbec has RBIs in back-to-back games after his two-homer, five-RBI night on Wednesday.
Rookie Kutter Crawford continued his run of solid efforts from the bump, as he went 5-2/3 innings, allowing just one run while striking out two. He needed only 69 pitches, but the Sox quickly turned it over to Jake Diekman, who threw 1-1/3 scoreless innings to get the ball to Garrett Whitlock.
Whitlock once again handled the last two innings for a save, his second consecutive outing with a two-inning save.
While the Red Sox managed a series split with the Guardians, who are neck-and-neck with them in the Wild Card chase, the Sox still have low playoff odds, according to Fan Graphs.
The Sox have just a 23% chance to make the playoffs, compared to a 38% chance before the All-Star break, and a 79% chance before they began a grueling stretch against the American League East on July 4.
The Milwaukee Brewers come to town for a three-game set starting on Friday.
