'Offense breeds energy': Red Sox rally late in thriller

BOSTON -- Three runs in the hole is usually nothing on a warm, summer night at Fenway Park. But on Wednesday, with the Red Sox facing the nasty offerings of Spencer Strider, it felt like something.

Until it wasn’t.

The surging Sox turned the tables on Strider, and then Atlanta’s bullpen, pulling out a 5-3 victory over the Braves in one of the most thrilling games of the season at Fenway Park.

It was also the largest crowd (37,457) at Fenway since Aug. 20, 2019. It was the fourth win in a row for the Red Sox, pushing their record to 15-5 since June 30 -- the best in MLB over that span.

“The fans were into it,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “So it was fun -- it was a fun night for us.”

As the Red Sox head west, they are 1 1/2 games back for the third American League Wild Card spot, and perhaps more surprisingly, just seven games back in the AL East.

On June 30, Boston was 15 games back in the division.

“I’ve got to give credit to those guys in that clubhouse,” said Cora. “You know, they're grinding, they’re playing hard, they’re doing everything possible to make it interesting.”

The story early on Wednesday was a tremendous duel between young-gun starters, who are both 24 years old.

Emerging Red Sox righty Brayan Bello matched zeros with All-Star Strider for the first five innings.

When Bello made one very unfortunate mistake in the top of the sixth, a 95.4 mph sinker right down the middle, Ozzie Albies crushed it into the visiting bullpen for a three-run homer.

Then came the turning point.

With the Sox down, Rafael Devers went golfing against Strider in the bottom of the sixth. He lifted an 86.6 mph slider practically out of the dirt and mauled it into the seats in right at an exit velocity of 105 mph and a projected distance of 404 feet. According to Statcast, the pitch was 1.06 feet off the ground, the third-lowest pitch hit for a homer in MLB this year.

It was just one run, but psychologically, it gave the Red Sox some life against a pitcher who had thoroughly shut them down.

“One hundred percent,” said Red Sox infielder Justin Turner. “It was pretty flat in the dugout the first five innings and I've said it plenty of times, offense breeds energy and there wasn't a whole lot of offense in the first five innings.”

As for Devers, when he swatted his 25th homer of the season, it looked like he was preparing for an upcoming tee time.

“No, no, I’m very bad at playing golf,” Devers said. “I think that’s just my natural swing and I’m glad that today the ball went out.”

The second shot of life came off the bat of red-hot rookie Triston Casas, who unloaded for a solo shot to center off Strider with one out in the bottom of the seventh that sparked the completion of the comeback.

With two outs and Strider out of the game, Turner lofted a two-run double off the Green Monster, giving the Red Sox the lead.

“He’s a veteran hitter, he’s one of the better hitters in the game,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker. “When I looked up there, I saw it was second and third and him up there, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s probably the last guy I want to see up there quite honestly.’ Because he’s been through the wars, and nothing fazes him and he’s such a good hitter.”

When it looked like the Braves had a chance to tie the game or take the lead back in the top of the eighth, Alex Verdugo raced into deep right field and crashed into the fence to make a tremendous catch against Austin Riley.

“He's the best defensive right fielder in the big leagues,” said Cora. “I know he's scuffling offensively, but defensively, he's been great for us. He's taking chances and we're very happy with the way he's been playing defense.”

Meanwhile, the Red Sox were set for a happy cross-country trip after their big win, with the dress code of pajamas for a flight that figured to get them to San Francisco in the wee hours of the morning.

“It’s always good momentum when you win the series,” said Cora. “It's a long flight. And I know the guys are gonna have fun, hopefully they don't lose too much money playing cards and just be ready to play a tough team in San Fran. They're really good.”