BOSTON -- For the reeling Red Sox, the resuscitation of the offense came with some smart, small ball on Patriots' Day.
In the bottom of the sixth inning with one out, slow-footed catcher Carlos Narváez realized that Brant Hurter wasn’t holding him on and he stole third without a throw.
With the infield drawn-in, Roman Anthony's eyes lit up and he looped a 74.5-mph single into right for a game-tying hit.
That small spark helped create some much-needed momentum, that continued on in the seventh when pinch-hitter Ceddanne Rafaela went the other way for a 76-mph, two-run single that put the Sox back in front for what ultimately led to a satisfying, 8-6 win that enabled manager Alex Cora’s club to salvage a split of this four-game series against the Tigers.
As the offense got into gear in the late innings, the festive crowd of 34,880, many of them poised to watch the Boston Marathon once the game ended, made the type of noise that has been lacking of late.
In a season that has been full of stress so far in Boston, there was more when Sonny Gray walked off the mound after just 2 2/3 innings with right hamstring tightness.
Through the first 21 games, all of the wins for the Red Sox came when the starter went six innings.
But this time, thanks to a strong effort by a recently overworked bullpen and some timeliness from what had been a mostly tepid offense so far, the trend finally changed as Boston improved to 9-13.
The victory was Boston’s second comeback win of the season.
With the Yankees coming to town for the first rivalry series of the season on Tuesday, perhaps Monday’s win will start the team on the consistent run of solid baseball that has been elusive to this point.