Red Sox 7, Rockies 4: Boston outslugs Rockies to victory

The Boston Red Sox rode their powerful bats to take down the Rockies 7-4 on Wednesday night en route to a two-game sweep. The loss took the Rockies to 16 games below .500 on the season, the worst they’ve been since the end of the 2015 season.

Just Dingers vs. Just Singles

That’s the preferred nickname for Boston DH/OF JD Martinez, but it applied to the Red Sox in general tonight. Martinez opened up the scoring with a two-run homer in the third and Xander Bogaerts put up a two homer night (two-run in the fifth, solo in the seventh). Yes, the “Sawks” also had a two-RBI single from Christian Vazquez in the fifth, but it was about two-feet shy of being a home run so just go with it. Finally, Rafael Devers added a solo donger in the ninth.

Meanwhile the Rockies had 11 hits on the night but only two of those (both bases-empty doubles) went for extra bases. In contrast, seven of Boston’s 11 hits went for extra bases. In short, the Rockies’ inability to get the big hit doomed them.

#NolanBeingNolan

Nolan Arenado did not have a good month of July, but he’s had a considerably better month of August. He went 2-for-4 with a double tonight: pretty good. But part of what makes Nolan Nolan is the glove. And it was marvelous to watch.

[FOOTAGE NOT FOUND: barehand dribbler off the bat of Rafael Devers in the top of the sixth but trust me it was excellent]

Heck, he made a pirouette put-out in the top of the ninth that looked almost casual! I know it’s hard to stay engaged with such a disappointing season. But as long as Nolan is doing things like this, I’m willing to keep it watching.

C’mon, Jerry Meals

Charlie Blackmon got rung up on this pitch in the top of the ninth and immediately blew his top, spiking his helmet and getting all up in home plate umpire Jerry Meals’ face. Of course, he was tossed and then Bud Black came out and got himself tossed as well. It’s the boiling over of half a season’s worth of frustration, but Chuck certainly had a case.

Are we there yet?

After two hours of play, the game was in the fifth inning. An hour later, the seventh. In all it took the Red Sox and Rockies 3 hours and 48 minutes to score 11 runs over nine innings. Somewhere at MLB headquarters, Rob Manfred shakes an angry fist at the sky.

Up Next

The Pittsburgh Pirates, one of the few NL teams having a worse time than the Rockies, come to Denver for a four-game set. Thursday’s opener is scheduled for 6:40 pm MT and Chi Chi Gonzalez will start for the Rockies while Trevor Williams will take the mound for Pittsburgh.