By Zachary McMahon –
The Boston Red Sox played the opener of the two-game series against the Atlanta Braves at
Fenway on Tuesday night. The Sox had split a four-game series with the Detroit Tigers at
Fenway after the loss in extra innings on Sunday, as they have been 4-6 since the three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays on May 20-22. Meanwhile, the Braves won two out of three games against the Oakland Athletics last weekend.
Jamie Westbrook made his first ever start in the major leagues at second base after being
added to the 40-man roster and being called up on Sunday, where he made his debut in theninth inning where he drew a walk. Westbrook did not get a hit in this game, but he did reach base when he was hit by a pitch from Max Fried in the sixth inning.
Wilyer Abreu landed on the ten-day IL after injuring his right ankle after he slipped in the dugout in Sunday’s game, so Bobby Dalbec played in right field for the first time in his major league career. Kutter Crawford pitched for the Sox, as he pitched five innings, four earned runs, two walks, and five strikeouts.
The Braves struck first in the second inning as they scored two runs by an error by Red Sox first baseman Dominic Smith, which Adam Duvall was able to reach first on. Dom Smith would strike back for the Sox, however, as he hit a solo shot that barely made it over the Green Monster as he chopped the deficit in half 2-1.
Dalbec batted in two runs on an RBI single in the fourth, as he would get the Sox to take the
lead, in what would be the only time in the game.
Sean Murphy hit an RBI single to left that scored Jarred Kelenic to tie the game up at three in the fifth, and Ozzie Albies blew the gates wide open with a three-run homer to make it 6-3 Braves in the sixth inning.
Orlando Arcia would have a solo homer of his own, while Michael Harris II scored former Sox infielder Zack Short, who was pinch running for Murphy as the Braves would win 8-3. Max Fried got a career high of 13 strikeouts against the Sox as he topped his previous mark of 11 strikeouts, hs he did twice, most recently in 2019.
The teams will conclude their two-game series on Wednesday afternoon at 1:35 pm first pitch on NESN/NESN360. NIck Pivetta will be going up against Spencer Schwellenbach on the