BOSTON — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 2-0 shutout win over the New York Mets:
1) Walker Buehler was activated off the IL Tuesday afternoon and took the mound for the first time since April 27. But he didn’t stay long. In the third inning, Buehler took issue with a ball call on the part of home plate umpire Mike Estabrook as Francisco Lindor stole second base. Buehler could be heard telling Estabrook that the previous pitch was “right down the (expletive) middle.” Estabrook responded by telling Buehler to get back on the mound. The argument escalated as Estabrook took off his mask, and soon, he had ejected Buehler. On one hand, Buehler has to be careful and not put his team in a bad spot so early in the game. On the other hand, Estabrook seemed intent on provoking the pitcher and reacted too hastily in running Buehler, and soon after, Alex Cora, too.
2) The Sox have already won the series and they have their bullpen to thank. In the two wins, the Sox have gotten 11 scoreless innings from their relievers. Both times, interim manager Ramon Vazquez manipulated the bullpen expertly. On Tuesday, Mets’ hitters were 0-for-5 against Red Sox relievers with runners in scoring position.
3) Losing their starting pitcher, unexpectedly, in the third inning, put a strain on the Red Sox’ bulllpen, with six relievers covering the final 20 outs. Coming one night after Hunter Dobbins was lifted after just 4.2 innings, that means the Boston bullpen has combined to throw 11 innings over the last two nights. Even with ace Garrett Crochet set to pitch in the series’ finale, the Sox could probably use some reinforcements from Worcester. Justin Wilson, Justin Slaten, Greg Weissert and Aroldis Chapman will be unavailable, having made appearances in back-to-back games.
4) Kristian Campbell, who was out of the lineup the previous two games, returned to the lineup, but this time, in center field. The rationale was that Ceddanne Rafaela needed a night, and the Sox wanted to get David Hamilton into the lineup. Whatever the reason, the move paid off when Campbell made a terrific running catch on a ball hit into The Triangle by Brandon Nimmo for the final out of the third inning. Campbell ran a long way to track the ball down, and saved two runs in the process.
5) As the Red Sox go through their revolving door of first baseman candidates, Nick Sogard had himself a nice night at the position. In the fourth inning alone, he handled a hot-shot grounder to retire Jeff McNeil, then a batter later, made a diving snare a hard-hit low line drive off the bat of Brett Baty for the third out.
6) Rafael Devers is on an absolute heater. He’s homered in three of the last four games, and since the start of May, is batting over .400. The homer by Devers in the fifth inning was the 210th of his career, tying him with Rico Petrocello for 10th most in club history.
7) The legend of Carlos Narvaez continues to grow. He belted his fifth homer of the season with a blast into the Monster Seats leading off the fifth. He’s got 16 hits and seven RBI in his last 12 games. He also helped to navigate six different Red Sox pitchers through the game and, for good measure, threw out Francisco Lindor once in two stolen base tries. With each passing day, Narvaez is further cementing the role of starting catcher.
8) So much for the announced retirement of interim manager Ramon Vazquez. A night after jokingly retiring from filling in as manager, having directed the team to a 3-1 win in his debut, Vazquez was unexpectedly pressed back into duty in the third inning to take over for the ejected Cora. Unlike Monday night, Vazquez won’t get credit for Tuesday’s win; that goes to Cora.
9) The series concludes Wednesday — weather permitting — with the pitching matchup of LHP Garrett Crochet (4-3, 2.00) vs. RHP Tylor Megill (3-4, 3.74) at 6:45 p.m. It will be a chance the Red Sox to record an interleague sweep, something they haven’t done since the first home series of the year when they took three from St. Louis.
