![Boston Red Sox v Tampa Bay Rays]()
Red Sox' David Hamilton runs the bases after homering in the third inning. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)Getty Images
The Red Sox’ 1-0 win over the Rays here Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field included a “terrible changeup,” a home run that nobody expected to clear the wall, dominant relief pitching and an assist from one of Monday’s unsung heroes.
A lot happened. Let’s break it down:
The doubter
David Hamilton hit a doubter, not a no-doubter.
He entered his third-inning at-bat 1-for-21 (.048 batting average) this season. He provided the game’s lone run when his 335-foot home run barely cleared the right field wall to lead off the inning.
He said “not at all” did he think he homered when the ball left his bat.
“I was hoping it would get down for (a hit) but no, I didn’t think it was going over,” Hamilton said.
Manager Alex Cora didn’t think so, either.
“Double, triple,” Cora said about his first thought when the ball left Hamilton’s bat. “And it just went out.”
The line drive homer — which had a 105.8 mph exit velocity and 20 degree launch angle — would have been a home run in no other park in the major leagues, per Statcast.
Cora laughed, then said, “He hit it to the right part of the ballpark.”
Hamilton added, “I’ve been struggling as I’m sure you all know. To help the team, it means a lot.”
Hamilton connected on a 92.5 mph four-seam fastball from Rays starter Zack Littell that was middle-in. He had been struggling against fastballs so far this season.
“If you look at my career, I’m usually a fastball hitter, so that’s what’s frustrating,” Hamilton said. “I was really just trying to put the ball in play and put a good swing on it and it went over.”
The terrible changeup
Garrett Whitlock was one of three relievers to combine for 4 ⅓ scoreless innings after starter Sean Newcomb left the game.
He retired six of the seven batters he faced for a scoreless seventh and eighth inning. He allowed one single and struck out four (three swinging, including two foul tips).
It was a dominant outing capped off with an 88.9 mph changeup that Whitlock threw to get Jonathan Aranda to fly out 259 feet to left fielder Jarren Duran for the final out of the eighth inning.
There was some buzz on X about the pitch. The esteemed X account Red Sox Stats tweeted, “whatever pitch Whitlock just threw to Aranda to get out of the inning was the first time he threw it this season, heck of a time for it. 88 mph.”
Whitlock confirmed the pitch was a changeup. After being shown the pitches’ details, Whitlock said, “I didn’t see what the velo was or anything but if it was 88 then that was a terrible changeup that I got lucky with.”
Whitlock’s changeup has averaged 83.5 mph this season. So he did throw this one much harder.
Whitlock said he felt the sharpest he has this season.
“That’s the feeling of attack that I want to have,” he said. “I hate being behind in counts and hate walking guys. So it’s good to get ahead in counts and everything. Just felt clean and crisp. It was a good day.”
The dominant relief
Whitlock, Greg Weissert, and Justin Slaten combined for 4 ⅓ scoreless innings.
Weissert took over for Newcomb with two outs and two runners on base in the fifth inning. He struck out Yandy Díaz swinging on a changeup to preserve the 1-0 lead.
“Gotta throw strikes early,” Weissert said about his approach when he inherits baserunners. “I didn’t.”
Weissert fell behind 2-0 in the count before battling back.
“It was nice to get back in the count and just make one pitch at a time,” he said.
Weissert then struck out two more batters (Junior Caminero swinging and Christopher Morel looking) during a perfect sixth inning.
“The fastball plays,” Cora said. “He keeps the ball in the ballpark. When he throws strikes, he’s nasty. And last year he made some adjustments when we optioned him to Triple A. He came back, did an amazing job.”
Weissert made a slight adjustment, moving from the third base side of the rubber to the first base side after getting demoted last year. He didn’t allow an earned run in his final 16 ⅔ innings after being recalled. He has allowed two runs in 8 ⅔ innings (2.08 ERA) so far this year.
Closer Aroldis Chapman did not pitch the ninth inning after pitching three of the previous four days. Slaten earned the save with a perfect inning. Cora said the plan is to use Slaten to close games whenever Chapman is unavailable.
The unsung heroes
The Red Sox got blown out 16-1 in the first game, then won the final two games to take the series.
Cora said a 1-0 win Wednesday wouldn’t have been possible if not for the four relievers, including Weissert, who saved the bullpen Monday.
“For how disappointed we were on Monday, Michael Fulmer went out there and gave us what we needed,” Cora said. “Wink (Josh Winckowski) did the same thing.”
Cora mentioned all four relievers who pitched Monday after starter Tanner Houck recorded just seven outs and gave up 12 runs. Fulmer went 2 ⅔ innings. Weissert, Winckowski and Brennan Bernardino each pitched an inning, which Cora said “helped set us up the next two days.”
“That’s what it takes,” Cora said. “In games like that, somebody has to take the bullet and try to give us as many pitches as possible and save the bullpen.”
Cora also called Zack Kelly’s 2 ⅔ innings in Tuesday’s win “huge” to keep Weissert, Whitlock and Slaten all fresh for Wednesday.
“When those guys are fresh, that’s the stuff they have,” Cora said. “It’s on us to make sure we do that.”
Cora said the long-term outlook is important when managing a game and pitching staff.
“That’s the tough part about this business,” Cora said. “Everybody sees the usage and not taking the starter out early and all that. But you have to manage a series. We have to manage a series. You cannot just manage one game because if you try to manage one game pedal to the metal, you’re not gonna survive. We’re not gonna survive. And they did a good job on Monday and saved some arms for the next few days.”
