Red Sox surge late to claim series over Yanks

BOSTON -- After a late spring slumber, the Boston bats are rolling again just as summer approaches.

In Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader against the Yankees, the Red Sox looked like they were playing wall ball, banging five hits off the Green Monster and rolling to a 6-2 victory at Fenway Park.

The offense has gone from slumping to surging in a hurry. Sunday’s matinee was the fourth straight game manager Alex Cora’s club has scored six runs or more. Prior to that stretch, the Sox scored three runs or less nine times in 10 games and their high-water mark was a five-run performance on June 6.

“It's fun when you can light up the scoreboard,” said Red Sox center fielder Adam Duvall. “We had that big game a couple of days ago, and then were able to put some runs up on the board today. So I feel like we're starting to drive the baseball. And whenever you can do that, put the barrel to it, get it in the air, I feel like good things can happen.”

Considering the Sox went with an opener in Kaleb Ort and a bulk-innings option who was appointed as the 27th man just prior to the game in Chris Murphy, this win was an auspicious way to open a doubleheader. And Nick Pivetta, taken out of the rotation last month, fired three perfect innings out of the bullpen with four strikeouts to earn the win.

“His stuff is getting better,” Cora said of Pivetta. “And the cutter/slider mix is a good one. He’s not a two-pitch pitcher now and he’s moving his fastball all over the place. He's not only up in the zone, there's a little bit more conviction, better tempo. He cleaned up a few things mechanics wise and it’s paying off.”

Ort gave up a two-run homer to Gleyber Torres in the first, but otherwise held the Yankees down for 2 1/3 innings. Murphy, making his second career appearance, stifled the Yanks, firing 2 2/3 innings while allowing one hit and no walks to go with three strikeouts.

“They did a good job,” Cora said. “That's something we talked about yesterday, we had different options. Actually, [chief baseball officer] Chaim [Bloom] brought it up. Start with Kaleb, and then go from there. He misfired that pitch to Torres [who] hit it out of the ballpark but he gave us enough. Murph has been really good in that role since we started doing it in Triple-A, more efficient, throwing a lot of strikes, repeating his delivery.”

The solid pitching by unexpected sources bought time for the Red Sox to get going on offense. And once they did, they went into full throttle.

Justin Turner (double off the Monster) and Duvall (RBI single off the Monster) had the big knocks in the fifth to tie the game at 2.

It was encouraging to get an authoritative hit from Duvall, who has struggled to get his timing back after missing two months with a broken left wrist.

“Yeah, I'm starting to,” Duvall said. “I'm starting to get in the flow, kind of get in the rhythm with the pitcher again. I feel like today was a step in the right direction. So I’ll just continue to work on it, continue to be able to get that contact point right where I want it. The pitching up here is good so it's a work in progress.”

In the sixth, Connor Wong (RBI double) and Alex Verdugo (RBI double) both banged drives off the wall in left to push the Sox ahead.

“Good hitting conditions,” said Cora. “We’ve been talking about that. This is a team that obviously, we have a lot of lefties that can take advantage of [the Monster]. Well, we’ve got three righties now including Wong that can pull the ball with power, and hopefully they can take advantage of the Green Monster.”

The win put the Red Sox back above .500 (36-35) for the first time since June 6. And if the offense can go on a sustained run, perhaps Boston can distance itself from the .500 mark.

“Whenever you see those guys swing like who they are and be the players that they are, it’s big,” said Pivetta. “It's really confidence driven all the way through. And they get into a rhythm and they feed off each other and the dugout has a lot of energy and all around, it’s just good positive vibes.”