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The Boston Red Sox Sunday, May 9, 2021 * The Boston Globe Xander Bogaerts continues to show why he’s among the game’s best shortstops in Red Sox’ rout of the Orioles Julian McWilliams BALTIMORE — In an era defined by talented shortstops, and in a league that has seen talented players such as Francisco Lindor and Fernando Tatis rise to the sport’s forefront,, Xander Bogaerts’s has made his own ascent, his talent propelling him into the same strata as his well-healed and handsomely-paid counterparts. Manager Alex Cora spoke to Bogaerts’s supreme skill and competitive fervor ahead of the Red Sox’ series with the New York Mets a couple of weeks ago, adding his shortstop’s calm demeanor, his lack of flashiness in the field can, at times, downplay what Bogaerts actually brings to the game. Yet, with the season Bogaerts has had to this point, and the career he’s fashioned with the Red Sox, that should no longer be the case. In the Sox’ 11-6 win against the Orioles Saturday at Camden Yards, Bogaerts’s imprints were all over the outcome. Bogaerts went 3 for 4 on the night, hitting a two-run home run to left in the top of the sixth inning to stretch the Sox’ lead to 11-2. at the time. In the bottom half of that frame, Bogaerts flashed on defense, making a back-handed stab of a sharply- struck Maikel Franco rocket to the hole. He initiated what ended up being an inning-ending double play that enabled Red Sox starter Garrett Richards to get out of a jam. In the bottom of the seventh, Bogaerts leaped and caught a Cedric Mullins line drive that also ended the inning. The Sox went on to collect 14 hits, their 11 runs scored giving the team in the contest has the club at 44 in the last five contests facing the Orioles. At the fulcrum of it all is Bogaerts. He’s currently hitting .357, .400, .603 with a 1.003 OPS to lead all shortstops. “I just want to strive to get better,” Bogaerts said afterward. “I want to go somewhere really high, and that’s what I expect of myself every day. I have that mentality of, of going out there and even surprising myself.” Bogaerts’s play left Red Sox starter Garrett Richards in awe of his teammate. Richards, who went seven solid innings and allowed four runs on eight hits, including a Freddy Galvis solo shot in the second, knows how important it is to have Bogaerts behind him. “Absolutely amazing,” Richards said of Bogaerts. “I mean these guys, this team in general, I mean, you guys have seen it for, you know, a month and a half now.” The bottom of the Sox order contributed in each of the last two Red Sox wins after delivering virtually nothing for a large chunk of the season. The Red Sox (21-13) survived some ninth-inning drama to put their third consecutive win under wraps when Josh Taylor entered the game for a shaky Austin Brice and struck out Trey Mancini on three pitches. Marwin Gonzalez’s double in the top of the second off Orioles lefthanded starter Zac Lowther, who made his big league debut, scored the Sox’ first run of the game. Orioles right fielder D.J. Stewart’s throw from right skidded away from second baseman Rio Ruiz, allowing Christian Vázquez to score. Hunter Renfroe’s RBI single up the middle later in the frame scored Gonzalez, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Michael Chavis, who was activated from the team’s taxi squad Friday and was in the leadoff spot Saturday, belted a two-run shot off Lowther to highlight the Red Sox’ four-run outburst in the inning that expanded their lead to 4-1. Yet few teams have a Bogaerts, and as he reaches his prime in a Sox uniform that has over 1,000 games of dominance, his manager can’t help but look across the league and put his shortstop at the top of the pack. “The whole package if he’s not the best shortstop in the big leagues, well, you know, I mean, somebody needs to show me somebody else, to be honest with you. That’s how I feel about him. This guy is amazing.” Michael Chavis makes an immediate impact in return to Red Sox lineup Julian McWilliams BALTIMORE —It’s been a while since he erupted onto the scene, but Michael Chavis’s opportunity with the Red Sox arrived once more in Saturday evening’s game against the Orioles. In the first half of 2019, Chavis’s debut season, he hit .263 with 15 home runs only to see his average plummet to .221 the rest of the way. That was followed by a pandemic-shortened, 60-game season during which his batting average fell to .212. As the 2021 season approached, Chavis found himself on the outside looking in when it came to a roster spot. A couple of key acquisitions, including Marwin Gonzalez and Kiké Hernández, coupled with the positive impression Christian Arroyo made during spring training, meant Chavis would start his season in Triple A Worcester. However, Chavis, who was placed on the team’s taxi squad for this four-game series against the Orioles at Camden Yards, found his way back to the big leagues when he was called up after Hernández was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday with a strained hamstring. It marked his second stint with the big league club. He was recalled April 10 at Baltimore, entering as a pinch runner in the 10th inning of a 6-4 victory over the Orioles during which he scored on a wild pitch. “I was talking yesterday with our hitting coach, and I was like, ‘Do you think I should approach this 10-day stint as an opportunity to prove myself and maybe earn a spot?’” recalled Chavis, who drew the start at second base and was penciled into Alex Cora’s lineup as the leadoff hitter in a 11-6 win over the Orioles. “After really thinking about it with him, and talking through it with him, I don’t think that’s the appropriate approach from my own mindset.” When the competition tightened during spring, Cora noticed Chavis began chasing results, something the player noted as the reason he started to get outside of his tried-and-true approach. Not controlling the strike zone has always been an issue for Chavis, and it reared its head once more. So, when Chavis was optioned to Worcester, the team wanted him to focus on his control of the strike zone. Judging from his second plate appearance Saturday night, it was apparent Chavis had solved his issues. After striking out in the first inning, Chavis’s persistence paid off when he belted a two-run homer off Orioles lefthanded starter Zac Lowther to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead in the second. “Well, first at-bat, I’d never faced that guy before and if we’re being completely honest, we’re human and I was scared,’' Chavis admitted after going 1 for 6. “I’ve been in the big leagues before and I’ve had some experience up here, but 100 percent I was a little bit nervous. “It was kind of weird, but those jitters showed up and that first at-bat it sped me up a little bit, and that second at-bat, I was able to slow it down a little bit and it just kind of fell into place. We’re just going to try and keep getting better every single day.” But, given the circumstances of the season, Chavis said it was a difficult task getting things sorted out at the team’s alternate training site.. During simulated games, the team didn’t have umpires. As a result, Chavis said it was difficult to get a really good sense of the strike zone. “It was odd,” Chavis said. “Working on zone recognition when we didn’t have any umpires, to say the least, I mean, you don’t have a legitimate consistent strike zone. You’d have a guy either standing behind the pitcher’s mound calling balls and strikes. So you have a catcher who’s working with the pitcher to call balls and strikes. But he doesn’t want to mess up his pitcher. He doesn’t want to mess you up, [either].” It also helped Chavis prepare for this opportunity when he came into spring training lean and in better shape. “Somebody else thinks I’m quick,” Chavis joked. “I feel good. I really do.” Stretching out starters The Red Sox have gotten at least five innings from their starters in five of their last six appearances. For much of the season, that has been the standard for this Red Sox pitching staff. But Cora said before the game that his team now needs more length. “We’ve been talking about it,” Cora said. “The whole 30 whatever games, it feels like we’ve been in every game from day one. And that’s great. But sometimes it’s like, this is too much. Right now, we’re not getting that [length]. We’re getting five quality innings and so hopefully, we start turning the corner and it’s time to start getting there.” Righthanded starter Garrett Richards, meanwhile, delivered another seven strong innings for the Sox, allowing four runs on eight hits, including one homer, while issuing one walk and striking out five batters.