By Tiffany Williams –
Boston Red Sox v. Los Angeles Angels
Following their 4-game losing streak in Tampa, The Red Sox have bounced back to the winning column with back-to-back wins against the Angels. Saturday the Sox won 9-7. Rafael Devers hit a 2-run homer in the 1st inning to cut the deficit to 4-2. Devers has six homers and 12 RBI in his last seven games. He’s hit seven homers this season and is tied for the MLB lead at the conclusion of today’s game (NYM’s Pete Alonso). Yu Chang hit a 2-run homer in the 4th inning to give the Red Sox a 5-4 lead. Nick Pivetta didn’t have such a great start, giving up a 1st inning grand slam to put the Red Sox down 4-0. But following that, Pivetta didn’t allow a hit over the next 13 batters. Pivetta retired 7 Los Angeles batters in a row from the 2nd to the 4th inning. He allowed 3 consecutive hits to start the fifth inning before exiting with 2 runners on base.
Former WooSox players Rob Refsnyder and Connor Wong contributed to the Red Sox 9-7 win on Saturday. Refsnyder hit a double and scored in the 1st inning, hit an RBI single in the 4th inning to extend the Red Sox’ lead to 6-4, and drew a bases-loaded walk in the 8th inning to extend the Red Sox’ lead to 9-7. Wong singled in the second inning and doubled in the fourth inning. He recorded his 1st career multi-hit game, and reached base in five straight plate appearances from the fourth inning last night to the fourth inning Saturday.
Worcester Red Sox v. Columbus Clippers
After losing their last four games against the Columbus Clippers, the Worcester Red Sox on Saturday grabbed their first win of the six-game series, beating Columbus 6-5 with runs at the bottom of the fourth, sixth, seventh and ninth. Columbus had runs at the top of the first, top of the third, and at the top of the ninth. Enmanuel Valdez had a good offensive game Saturday with his first homer of the season in the bottom of the fourth, an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, and an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to help Worcester get a walk-off win. Bottom of the sixth, Niko Goodrum hit an RBI single to drive in Valdez and Duran hit his second homer of the season in the bottom of the ninth.
New England Revolution 1 v. Columbus Crew 1
Saturday night New England Revolution (5-1-2; 17 pts.) played to a 1-1 draw against the Columbus Crew (4-2-2; 14 pts.). After a strong first-half performance that saw New England outshoot Columbus 10-5, the Revolution broke the deadlock in the 58th minute via an own goal after a Borrero cross deflected off Columbus defender Milos Degenek and into the net. New England is now unbeaten in six straight games (4-0-2) against Eastern Conference opponents to begin the 2023 campaign. Revolution Sporting Director and Head Coach Bruce Arena, when talking about the team’s performance Saturday night said “I think our guys did a good job. [They] played real hard. I think the game management by the officiating crew and the VAR at the end was very poor. They scored, on my watch, in the 98th minute. So, I’m disappointed with all of that. That simple.” When asked about Dylan Borrero’s performance Saturday night, Arena said “Well, [Borrero’s] a young, immature player and you’re in a game with a referee that’s probably immature as well. I think the yellow card for dissent, a strong referee doesn’t give that. The yellow card for the foul was clear. No question about that. [Borrero] has to grow up. He’s still a young player. He has to mature.”
MILB Double-A
The Portland Sea Dogs won their third straight game over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 6-1 behind 5.0 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts for CJ Liu along with a 3-for-5 day at the plate for Ceddanne Rafaela.
NewsTalk New England 