The Boston Red Sox Saturday, September 23, 2017 * The Boston Globe Red Sox put new formula to work in win over Reds Peter Abraham CINCINNATI — The Red Sox were up by a run after four innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night and Rick Porcello had thrown only 57 pitches. His performance had been erratic, the righthander putting eight men in base. But Porcello expected he would stay in the game because that is what managers traditionally do, they let starting pitchers try to hold a lead. But most managers do not have a pitcher of David Price’s caliber in the bullpen and John Farrell does. Farrell turned to Price in the fifth inning and he handed that lead over to Addison Reed with two outs in the seventh. Craig Kimbrel took over in the ninth and the Sox beat the Reds, 5-4. It was a dress rehearsal for the playoffs, the Sox using Price for multiple innings to get to Reed and Kimbrel. That combination can be as good if not better than what any other playoff team has. “You saw it last year in the playoffs, so many starters went five innings or even less. You need that guy to bridge the gap,” Reed said. “When that guy is David Price, it doesn’t get much better. We’re pretty damn excited to have him down there.” With the Yankees losing in Toronto, the Sox now lead the American League East by four games with nine games to play. “The ball’s in our court. We win, we’re fine,” Price said. “We don’t care what the Yankees do. Just go play our game.” The Red Sox have won four straight, seven of eight and 12 of their last 15 games. Price (6-3) was the winner with 2⅔ scoreless innings. It was the 34th save for Kimbrel. He has thrown 10 consecutive scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out 18. Price would prefer to be starting. But after eight weeks on the disabled list with a strained triceps, the Sox felt they had run out of time to build him up to five or six innings. Plus, Price could affect two or three games in a five-game series coming out of the bullpen, not just one. “It worked tonight,” he said. “That was good, a good team win.” The Red Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning and scored one run. The Reds loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning and scored four. Xander Bogaerts opened the game with a single before Reds starter Sal Romano walked Dustin Pedroia and Andrew Benintendi. Mookie Betts struck out on four pitches. Mitch Moreland drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field, but that was it for the Sox as Christian Vazquez popped up to first. In the bottom of the inning, Billy Hamilton led off with a single and went to third on a double to the gap by right by Zack Cozart. Jackie Bradley Jr. ran the ball down but did not make a play he usually does. Porcello, pitching carefully, walked Joey Votto on four pitches. His next pitch was a high fastball that Scooter Gennett drove more than halfway up the bleachers in right field. He has 27 home runs, four of them grand slams. “The first inning was horrendous,” Porcello said. The Red Sox took the lead in the fourth inning, scoring four times. Betts led off with a double before Moreland walked. Vazquez continued to produce, lining an RBI double to right center. Rookie Rafael Devers, who was held out of Wednesday’s game in Baltimore to rest, homered to right field. It was his first in 108 at-bats dating back to Aug. 19. Devers has nine homers on the season. Porcello had put at least one runner on base in every inning but not allowed another run. That he would be taken off the mound three outs shy of a win didn’t seem likely. “When you have a lead you usually don’t come out of the game,” Porcello said. “I was pretty frustrated with that. But thank God we won the game and that’s all that matters.” Absent Price, Farrell likely would have given Porcello at least another inning. But the Reds had Cozart, Votto and Gennett coming up, the latter two being lefthanded hitters. Price was available for 40-50 pitches after four days of rest. “Hopefully it was going to bridge us to Addison. It did just that. It worked in our favor,” Farrell said. Price has pitched twice in relief since coming off the disabled list. He has thrown 4⅔ scoreless innings and struck out six with one walk. Of his 61 pitches, 41 have been strikes. Price even had a single in the seventh inning, his first since 2010. The ninth inning was momentarily dicey when Cozart singled with one out to bring up Votto, who has 35 home runs. But he grounded to first and Moreland touched the bag before getting Cozart in a rundown that ended the game. The Sox are 14-4 in interleague games this season. It’s father-son night in Cincinnati for the Farrells Peter Abraham CINCINNATI — Red Sox manager John Farrell treated one of the Cincinnati Reds’ relief pitchers to breakfast on Friday morning. Then they walked over to Great American Ball Park together. Luke Farrell is the youngest of John Farrell’s three sons. It took interleague play and a series of transactions to bring them together this weekend and they plan to enjoy it. “I don’t how many times this has happened in history,” Luke said. “For myself, my dad and my family this is a pretty cool experience.” Luke, a 26-year-old rookie righthander, made his major league debut with the Kansas City Royals on July 1. His father was able to attend that game, the Red Sox giving him permission to miss a game at Toronto. Luke was traded to the Dodgers on July 28 then claimed off waivers by the Reds two weeks later. With the Red Sox playing the Reds, it worked out perfectly. “It’s a unique opportunity to catch up in person when schedules can be taking you everywhere,” John Farrell said. “Proud of what he’s earned. It’s been an interesting year for him in terms of three different organizations.” John has always worked with Luke on his pitching but never could coach any of his youth teams. When he was the Red Sox pitching coach from 2007-10, Luke spent a lot of time at Fenway Park watching and learning from pitchers like Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and Curt Schilling. “I was fortunate to grow up in a clubhouse and be around a lot of guys who showed me how to be a professional even when I was 14 or 15 years old,” Luke said. “I was just sitting there quiet, trying to watch. So many memories.” When the Reds picked Luke up, head clubhouse man Rick Stowe gave him No. 52, the same number his father wore during his career and as the Sox pitching coach. “Pretty special to wear the same number, too,” Luke said. Said John: “A touch of class on the organization’s part.” Farrell has two other sons in baseball. Jeremy, 30, is a minor league coach with the Cubs after playing eight seasons in the minors. Shane, 28, is an amateur scout with the Cubs. The last major league manager to face his son in a game was Felipe Alou of the Giants in 2004 when Moises Alou was with the Cubs. Reds manager Bryan Price said he planned to use Luke in the series. If that happens, John expects to feel nervous. “He’s my son but he’s in the other uniform,” John said. “I don’t mean to sound crass or ultra-competitive, but that’s where we are. This is an important series for us. We’ve got business to attend to.” A hero’s welcome There were approximately 1,000 Andrew Benintendi fans in the left field bleachers for the game as the rookie played in his hometown for the first time since high school. “I don’t know anybody who’s not coming,” Benintendi said. The Sox were off on Thursday and Benintendi went back to Madeira Middle School to be honored at an assembly. “It was awesome. It seemed like the whole town was there,” Benintendi said. “I’m not one for that kind of stuff, but it was put together really well. I got to see everybody. It was something I’ll never forget.” The high school band played “Sweet Caroline” and the elementary school choir sang “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.” The speakers included former Madeira High coach Jack Kuzniczci. The high school also unveiled a sign on the baseball field that said “Home of Andrew Benintendi” along with a photo from his high school days. Benintendi addressed the crowd as well. Benintendi saw a handful of Reds games every season growing up and pictured himself playing on the field some day. Ken Griffey Jr. was Benintendi’s favorite player. He also liked watching Adam Dunn. The Reds selected Benintendi in the 31st round of the draft after his senior year at Madeira but he went to Arkansas instead. “Best decision I ever made,” Benintendi said. Nunez progressing Eduardo Nunez, who has not played since Sept. 9 because of a sprained right knee, worked out on the field before the game but did not run the bases.