Hernandez's clutch K's help Sox win in Philly

Darwinzon Hernandez's coming of age moment just might have happened in a thrilling bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Boston’s talented yet inconsistent lefty reliever came on to quite a spot in this one. The Phillies had the bases loaded and one out, with Bryce Harper coming up and the Red Sox clinging to a two-run lead.

If there has been a frequent criticism of Hernandez, it’s that he sometimes nibbles, loses command and doesn’t trust his electric stuff as much as he should. At a time the Red Sox needed it most, Hernandez struck out Harper on three straight fastballs.

Without question, it was the key sequence in Boston’s 4-3 victory over the Phillies.

“I went out there with the mindset that I just had to go out there and attack the hitters,” said Hernandez. “It’s something that we always try to do when we’re in the game, just attack, attack, attack and I was able to do that and get the job done.”

After the key strikeout of Harper, Hernandez hit Rhys Hoskins with a first-pitch heater to force in a run and trim the lead to one.

This was a situation that could have unnerved Hernandez, especially when his 1-2 fastball to Brad Miller looked like a clear strike, but was called a ball. Two pitches later, Hernandez fanned Miller on a fastball, pumped his fist with elation and headed back to the dugout -- his team still in possession of the lead.

“You know, it was a big moment. A big spot,” Hernandez said. “Obviously after I hit the previous batter I had the bases loaded and it’s just a lot of emotions flowing through. When I was able to get that out, it was an exciting moment.”

After losing the first game of this six-game road trip, Boston won the next four and will try to finish strong in Sunday afternoon’s finale.

While the Red Sox are 29-18 and have led the American League East for 42 consecutive days, the most concerning area of their club has been the bridge to closer Matt Barnes, which has too often been wobbly.

For one night, those worries were put to rest.

In his 10-pitch sequence to get those two pivotal outs in the seventh, Hernandez threw nine fastballs.

Adam Ottavino took over in the eighth and was just as impressive as Hernandez, striking out the side on 15 pitches to put the game into the trusty right hand of Barnes, who did the rest.

“Very aggressive,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Ottavino. “There was something, you could see the body language on the mound, he made some great pitches on [Odúbel] Herrera. He mentioned the other day he’s close. I think the stuff is a lot better than last year, we know that. It’s just a matter of executing pitches and he did tonight.”

Nobody has executed as consistently for the Red Sox when it matters the most as Barnes. And when the Phillies had the potential tying and winning runs on base with just one out, he got Harper on a groundout and then struck out Hoskins in a four-pitch at-bat in which he threw all curveballs.

“He’s been awesome,” said right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who got the win. “Just watching him grow and develop, even from ‘18 when I got over here, he’s attacking the zone a lot more. His mechanics are a lot cleaner, I feel. It’s an uncomfortable at-bat for them. That’s what you want, especially when he’s out there closing games for us.”

Eovaldi the hitter helps his cause
For someone who entered his first at-bat on Saturday night with a career on-base percentage of .115, Eovaldi did a commendable job of earning his way on base with an eight-pitch walk that jump-started a two-run Boston rally to break a scoreless tie in the top of the third.

“It was actually a great at-bat,” said Cora. “I always joke around with them about 3-2 counts at the big league level right now. If you are a bad hitter and have no chance, it should be an auto take because it’s 50-50 -- 50 percent it’s a ball, 50 percent it’s a strike. If you swing, the odds of you getting on base go way down.”

Eovaldi also showed good baserunning instincts, advancing to second on a wild pitch and scoring on a one-out double by Rafael Devers.

“I was kind of in between with that fly ball to right. Wasn’t sure if I should tag up or get out there. Looked like he wasn’t going to get to it, so I started taking off. I was able to score and put one on the board,” Eovaldi said.

The righty turned in a solid performance on the mound, giving up five hits and two runs over 5 1/3 innings. The only down note was that his impressive streak of going 68 1/3 innings without giving up a homer finally ended when Hoskins took him deep in the sixth.

“It’s unfortunate, but like you said, it’s not going to last forever. Go out there and keep competing,” said Eovaldi.