Red Sox 8, Marlins 7: Boston wins wild game at Fenway on walk-off error

BOSTON — The Red Sox continue to come up with unique ways to avoid a first four-game losing streak of the season.

This time the Marlins matched Boston’s pair of late bullpen meltdowns with two of their own, gifting the hosts a ticket out of what would have been a rather unenviable position.

J.T. Riddle’s error on a double-play grounder that would have forced extra innings was the difference, as the Red Sox walked off with an 8-7 victory.

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BOSTON — The Red Sox continue to come up with unique ways to avoid a first four-game losing streak of the season.

This time the Marlins matched Boston’s pair of late bullpen meltdowns with two of their own, gifting the hosts a ticket out of what would have been a rather unenviable position.

J.T. Riddle’s error on a double-play grounder that would have forced extra innings was the difference, as the Red Sox walked off with an 8-7 victory.

Back-to-back singles by J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts put the winning run in scoring position in the ninth, and Eduardo Nunez hit a high chopper over the mound. Riddle fielded cleanly coming over from shortstop, stepped on second and bounced his throw to first off the glove of Miguel Rojas and into the camera well. Martinez was awarded home plate and Boston had its sixth walkoff victory of the season.

“There’s a stat that tells that teams are lucky, and it’s a W,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I’ll take it. We didn’t pitch well in the last third of the game, but we swung the bats well and ended up winning.”

The Red Sox had dropped six of eight entering the brief two-game homestand, including a first sweep of the season. Boston was on its third three-game losing streak of 2018 but its second since Aug. 19, and a double disappointment seemed on the way after the Yankees defeated the White Sox, 5-4. The Red Sox maintained their 6½-game lead in the American League East with just 29 to play.

“I don’t believe in ugly wins,” Boston outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. said. “I believe in wins. As long as we continue to win, I don’t care how ugly it is.”

Boston looked to have regained control in the eighth, taking a one-run lead when Miami reliever Tayron Guerrero launched a fastball over the head of Mookie Betts and to the backstop. Ian Kinsler scampered home from third base and the Red Sox appeared to have escaped what was a mess of their own making after having a 4-1 lead. Bradley grounded a two-run single up the middle to plate the tying run and all Betts had to do was take four balls from the hard-throwing Guerrero to seemingly decide the game.

That changed in the next half inning, as Craig Kimbrel issued a pair of one-out walks to put himself in trouble. Magneuris Sierra sent an RBI single through the right side to make it 7-7, and Kimbrel was charged with his fifth blown save of the season. That’s the most for the right-hander since the eight he suffered through in his first season as a full-time closer with the Braves in 2011.

“We don’t want to come out here and give up runs on a given night,” Kimbrel said. “All we can do is learn from it, take it and go forward from there.”

Boston looked to be cruising to the finish with a 4-1 lead in the eighth, but Matt Barnes gave up back-to-back homers.

Brian Anderson’s leadoff single brought up J.T. Realmuto, who sat on a 2-and-0 fastball and cranked it over the Green Monster in left-center. Starlin Castro followed by driving a 1-and-1 fastball into the Boston bullpen in right-center to tie it 4-4. Barnes had allowed just three homers in 56 innings this season, but Miami nearly matched that total before Barnes was booed to the dugout by the sellout crowd of 36,708.

Barnes left an inherited runner for Heath Hembree, one who eventually came around to score as the Marlins took the lead. Miami loaded the bases with two outs and Rafael Ortega looped a two-run single to left, making it 6-4. The Marlins had scored a total of four runs during their four-game weekend split with the Braves, making the outburst all the more unlikely.

“I put my team in a position to lose this game tonight, and that always sucks,” Barnes said. “I didn’t do my job. The fact that we were able to come back and win the game, that’s really the most important thing.”

— bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25