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The Boston Red Sox Monday, April 10, 2017 * The Boston Globe Red Sox can feel better after this win Nick Cafardo DETROIT — This isn’t a team that’s felt sorry for itself, but if the Red Sox had lost Sunday’s game to the Tigers, that feeling might have crept in. Sunday’s win simply changed the entire complexion of things. The outlook was bright again. I’m never going to say that a win in Game 5 of the season is huge, but it was on this day, given the plight of the team. Instead of falling to 2-3 with three straight losses, the Sox are 3-2 following a 7-5 win over the Tigers, and now they’ll take their chance with ace Chris Sale opposing the always tough Justin Verlander in a Monday matinee at Comerica Park. “We’re going up against a bunch of things that are going around our clubhouse right now,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “But the one thing that hasn’t emerged was anybody talking about excuses. We know what’s in front of us. We know how people feel, and there are a number of guys who aren’t 100 percent, but there’s a lot of fight in this group.” Even before Sunday’s game, as one player (Betts) returned, another (Jackie Bradley Jr.) went down. It’s been a vicious cycle five games into the 2017 season. Between sickness and bereavement and now Bradley’s ailing knee, it’s been difficult for the Red Sox to field their regular lineup. After beating the Pirates twice to open the season, the Red Sox had lost two straight to the Tigers and were looking at a third loss before a four-run rally in the eighth fueled by Sandy Leon’s two-run single. Heading into the Red Sox clubhouse is perilous these days. Reporters were even seen interviewing Andrew Benintendi from a distance Saturday after the left fielder had vomited in the sixth inning of the game. Farrell hasn’t felt well. The coaches have all gone through some phase of the sickness. Some have been sick and gotten better. Brock Holt came back to DH, but he feels awful. With lefthander Daniel Norris starting for Detroit on Sunday, the Red Sox weren’t able to match up as they wanted. The plan from the start has been that Mitch Moreland would sit against tough lefties and Hanley Ramirez would play first base while Chris Young DH’d. Obviously, if Xander Bogaerts wasn’t on bereavement leave he’d be playing shortstop instead of lefthanded-hitting Marco Hernandez, although Hernandez did have three hits. Why didn’t Red Sox players get flu shots? It’s like with everyone else. You’re offered one, but it’s up to you whether you want to get one. You can’t make players get flu shots. When you’re young and a pro athlete, the last thing you think about is getting the flu. Maybe now players will reconsider when the shots are offered next spring. A sickness isn’t what Rick Porcello was dealing with Sunday. Norris pitched well for the Tigers, but Porcello, the defending Cy Young Award winner pitching against his former team, should have carried the day. He didn’t. This has been a strange offensive season given the lineup irregularities. In the 47 innings the Red Sox have batted this season, they have scored in eight innings. They scored in four innings Sunday. And the starting pitching isn’t where it should be or probably will be. Steven Wright gave up four runs in his 6⅔ innings Friday. Certainly not horrible, but costly nonetheless in a one-run loss. Eduardo Rodriguez was breezing along Saturday until he gave up three of his four runs in the fifth, which, given the way the Sox offense was going, was a death knell. And Porcello being the reigning Cy Young winner . well, you expect better than three earned runs (four runs) and 11 hits over six-plus innings. You also expect better from the bullpen. Matt Barnes gave the bullpen a shot in the arm with two scoreless innings Sunday, but when you see Heath Hembree and Joe Kelly walk four batters with two outs in the eighth inning Friday, that is simply a recipe for disaster — and it was. On Sunday, Craig Kimbrel gave us a heart-attack save after he walked the first two batters in the ninth and Victor Martinez hit a towering foul ball down the right-field line, followed by a sharp RBI single. But Kimbrel rebounded and got the final two outs via strikeout with 98-mile-per-hour pitches. The excellent starting pitching the Sox planned on hasn’t clicked yet, and with David Price out, it may not for a while. The bullpen got Barnes back following his bereavement leave after the death of his grandmother, and he was key in holding things in place Sunday while the offense did its thing. And the lineup is what it is. Benintendi stroked an RBI single in the seventh, but we haven’t seen him really break out yet. Betts seemed a bit out of synch as he got back into the swing of things after missing three games. Pablo Sandoval had the big homer Friday but is hitting just .150. Moreland started 0 for 12 but had an RBI double Sunday. The Red Sox should thank the Washington Nationals again for the gift of Sandy Leon. And so the Red Sox turn their bloodshot eyes, their congested chests, and their uneasy stomachs to Sale to hopefully leave here with a much-needed split. Matt Barnes helps pick up Red Sox in his return Peter Abraham DETROIT — Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes prepared himself as best he could for the death of his grandmother. Barbara Bennett had been fighting cancer for five years and he knew the time was drawing near. Every chance he had in the offseason, Barnes made sure he spent time with her before going off to spring training. “She was the last grandparent I had,” Barnes said Sunday. “Her house was where we spent every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. For probably 50, 60 years, that was where everybody went. She was the matriarch.” It was at that house in upstate New York where the family gathered again over the weekend to celebrate Bennett’s life. As the Red Sox played in Detroit, Barnes consoled his mother and aunts and remembered better times. “She got to see me play in the big leagues, a couple of games. That meant a lot,” he said. All that was on Barnes’s mind as he drove back to Boston on Saturday afternoon to catch a flight. As much as he loves baseball, leaving his family behind to go play a game didn’t seem right. “I’ll be honest, it was one of the last things that I wanted to do, was to get on a plane and go flying after 3½ hours of my grandma’s funeral.” But professional responsibilities can be paused for only so long. Barnes had even played catch with his cousin Friday to stay sharp. “We’re in a unique position,” Barnes said. “It’s not just taking a day off from work. We’re here to win games and then win the World Series.” Barnes walked into the clubhouse Sunday morning, the routine of pregame preparations somehow comforting. Then he was needed in the seventh inning with the Red Sox down by a run against the Tigers. With a runner on first base, the righthander was called out of the bullpen to face four-time All-Star Victor Martinez and struck him out. Barnes finished off the inning, then watched from the dugout as the Red Sox scored four runs in the eighth inning to take the lead. He worked a scoreless eighth with two more strikeouts, and was the winning pitcher in a 7-5 victory. “This one meant a lot to me,” Barnes said later. “To come back and win like that . I’m just glad it happened.” For far less emotional reasons, it meant a lot to all of the Red Sox. They lost the first two games of the series playing with a spring training-like roster. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts, like Barnes, returned home following the death of his grandmother. Designated hitter Hanley Ramirez stayed back in Boston with the flu. Right fielder Mookie Betts returned from the flu Sunday, but center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. couldn’t play because of a knee injury. “We’re going up against a bunch of things that are around our clubhouse right now,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “The one thing that hasn’t emerged was anybody talking about any excuses . a lot of fight in this group.” In a 3-3 game, Sox starter Rick Porcello allowed a home run by Nick Castellanos in the seventh inning. When Miguel Cabrera singled, Barnes came in and kept the deficit at a run. The Sox, who hadn’t led all game, broke through with four runs in the eighth inning. Facing Bruce Rondon, Betts drew a walk. Chris Young followed with a single to left field and Betts took a hard turn around second. Left fielder Justin Upton made a wild throw that allowed both runners to move up. Betts, playing for the first time since Opening Day, was 0 for 3 but drew two walks. Detroit manager Brad Ausmus intentionally walked Mitch Moreland to load the bases with no outs.

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