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The Boston Red Sox Sunday, April 11, 2021 * The Boston Globe Red Sox extend win streak to five with extra-inning victory over Orioles Julian McWilliams BALTIMORE — Manager Alex Cora said that he liked his group. Dating back to spring training, Cora unapologetically stated that he believed this crew of Red Sox players, despite the lack of a superstar, had what it took to be competitive. A little more than a week into the season, the Red Sox manager hasn’t eaten his words. The Red Sox clawed their way to the 10th inning Saturday night against the Baltimore Orioles in their eventual 6-4 win. With the game knotted, 4-4, Kiké Hernández flirted with the center-field wall, enabling Michael Chavis — who served as the special runner at second — to advance to third on the sacrifice fly. With the Sox looking to extend a four-game winning streak, Chavis scored on a wild pitch, putting his team ahead, 5-4. Alex Verdugo and Xander Bogaerts then walked and Christian Vázquez snuck a single to left field, scoring Verdugo and giving the Sox some breathing room. Matt Andriese retired the side in order in the bottom of the 10th for the save, putting the finishing touches on a nail-biting contest buy striking out Freddy Galvis to end it. The game featured twists and turns for both squads, but the Sox in particular. Adam Ottavino looked as if he had the game under control in the seventh inning, only to see a 3-2 lead disappear in the eighth following a Ryan Mountcastle single and a DJ Stewart double. A fielder’s choice tied the game and a Galvis single put the Orioles ahead, 4-3. Yet the Sox grinded through this one, responding with a run in the ninth on a fielder’s choice that could have been an inning-ending double play. But Bobby Dalbec’s hustle down the first-base line kept the Sox afloat and invited Matt Barnes’s flawless ninth. “I mean, the hits will come,” Dalbec said after the game. “I’m happy to get an RBI there and put the team in a position to win the game. So, that’s what I’m thinking about if I got a hit on it.” The play speaks to Dalbec’s competitive fervor which Sox scouts have alluded to as he trekked his way through the minor leagues. Dalbec’s not only a power hitter, but a complete package. His outlook after displaying part of that package leans on the selflessness and winning attitude, even though he’s struggled at the plate. “That was huge,” Cora said. “He’s a little bit down, obviously, he’s not swinging the bat the way he’s capable. But he took some tough changeups and then he put the ball in play and good things happen.” The Red Sox threw the first punch at Camden Yards. Rafael Devers stroked a single to center off Orioles starter Bruce Zimmerman, scoring Verdugo from second base with two outs in the first inning. The Sox scored the second run of the game on a play featuring a mental blunder by each team. The Orioles caught Devers sleeping at first and initiated a successful back-pick to get Devers in a rundown. The Orioles, however, didn’t check on Bogaerts and Devers stayed in the rundown long enough for Bogaerts to score all the way from second base. Garrett Richards found a bit of redemption on the mound after a rocky start. He surrendered home runs on back-to-back pitches to Trey Mancini and Anthony Santander to tie the game in the bottom of the first, but found some rhythm in the second inning, retiring eight straight following a Maikel Franco four-pitch walk. “Tonight, just in the first inning, I got clipped on a couple first pitches,” said Richards, who tossed five innings and allowed just those two runs in the first. “It’s going to happen but just keep the foot on the gas and keep moving forward and keep making pitches.” Devers’s mental lapses — including forgetting how many outs there were in the second inning — didn’t come back to haunt the Sox. As much as he was a headache, he was even more productive, belting a solo home run off Zimmerman to put the Sox ahead, 3-2, in the sixth inning. It was Devers’s second homer of the season and second in as many games. “You know, it’s a good vibe,” Cora said. “It’s a good vibe. We got a bunch of good baseball players. That’s the way I see it.” The vibe, so far, has been contagious. After suffering a series sweep at the hands of the Orioles last week, the Sox have responded with five straight wins and a chance at a sweep of their own. “It’s a hungry team,” Barnes said. “I mean it’s a 162-game season. We’re going to lose some games in a row even moving forward. But the way that we were able to bounce back and get the W and sweep the Tampa Bay Rays and then come here and get the first two, it’s been a lot of really good energy and everybody’s kind of meshing together.” Red Sox’ J.D. Martinez not in Saturday’s lineup, placed on COVID-19 Related Injured List Julian McWilliams BALTIMORE — J.D. Martinez was placed on the COVID-19 Related Injured List before Saturday evening’s game against the Orioles. Michael Chavis, who is in Baltimore and on the taxi squad, was recalled from the team’s alternate site. Prior to the game, manager Alex Cora intimated Martinez was dealing with a common cold. COVID-19 protocols require Martinez to undergo a series of testing, including both a rapid test and a more in depth Polymerase chain reaction test. That includes a waiting period. The Red Sox will have more on Martinez on Sunday morning. “We’ll have more information throughout the night or tomorrow morning,” Cora said before the Red Sox’ 6-4 win Saturday. “But, obviously, we have to wait. I’ll just wait for the [team doctors] to let me know what’s going on.” Martinez is hitting .433/.469/.867 with 2 homers and 7 doubles. He is the first Red Sox player and fifth major leaguer with at least one extra-base hit in each of a team’s first seven games. Verdugo finding groove at plate Alex Verdugo went his first 12 plate appearances without a hit. Despite hitting a number of pitches on the screws, each at-bat ended with a long walk back to the dugout. Yet, that didn’t deter Verdugo, believing his numbers would even out. “I feel like with that, you have one or two at-bats where you’re like, ‘I hit it right on the button,’ ” Verdugo said. “And then you have one or two at-bats where you’re like, ‘man what just happened?’ So before you know it you’re 0 for 4, but in reality it’s like you went 2 for 4 in quality at-bats.” An enlightened perspective keeps the sometimes-rambunctious Verdugo in check. Instead of focusing on the result, his primary goal is to hit the ball hard. If he does that, he can live with the result. “If I saw pitches, worked the count, if my swing felt good, and I hit it hard, I won that at-bat,” he said. “Yeah, he got me out. But I won the mental side of it.” Verdugo collected his first hit of the seasonApril 5 when he doubled off Rays starter Michael Wacha in the third inning. Since then, Verdugo is sporting a three-game hitting streak. On Thursday, he was 2 for 5 with two doubles. He went line to line with both, slicing his first double down the left-field line, followed by another down the right-field line. Verdugo was 0 for 4 Saturday but hit two balls hard and scored two pivotal runs. “I feel really comfortable up there at the box,” Verdugo said. “I think I’m still working on things. I’m still slightly hitting the ball out in front a little bit more than what I want. I want to see the ball longer. But feel good up there. I feel like I’m hitting the ball hard, having good at bats, you know, kind of feeling my swing out.” Cora said he’s still getting to know Verdugo, adding that his energy level is something the Red Sox need — particularly for a team that has carried much more of a cerebral approach in recent years. “He brings a lot to the equation. Very emotional, which is good for this team” Verdugo. “I do believe that this team is a lot different than the ones I’ve managed before. They got their handshakes, and they’re not afraid to let their emotions show right on the field. And he’s one of the leaders on that. “He seems like he was frustrated in the beginning. But talking to the other coaches and talking to him, that’s the way he is. He’s very competitive and he’ll let you know how frustrated he is. And he will let you know how happy he is when he gets singles.” Renfroe gets weekend off The Red Sox are giving Hunter Renfroe a breather. Renfroe came up a bit sore after making a sliding catch during Wednesday’s game against the Rays.

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