Red Sox Journal: Defense held when it mattered most

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --- Marcus Walden paused Wednesday morning as he thought about his answer.

No, in fact, the Red Sox right-hander had never taken a throw from Christian Vazquez while covering first base on a ground ball. Tuesday night was the first time, and it came under a significant amount of pressure.

Boston was about to squander its three-run lead when Austin Meadows hit a two-hopper down the line. Vazquez [...]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --- Marcus Walden paused Wednesday morning as he thought about his answer.

No, in fact, the Red Sox right-hander had never taken a throw from Christian Vazquez while covering first base on a ground ball. Tuesday night was the first time, and it came under a significant amount of pressure.

Boston was about to squander its three-run lead when Austin Meadows hit a two-hopper down the line. Vazquez fielded, took a couple steps forward and flipped to Walden for the final out. The Red Sox survived in a 5-4 victory, one that clinched a series win against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

“The thing with Christian – I know people see it weird, but he has good feet and he makes the play,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We put him in a spot and he’ll make the play.”

Vazquez homered as a pinch hitter in the seventh, snapping a 2-2 tie. He was flanked to his right at second base by Michael Chavis, who also served as a pinch hitter in the late innings. That duo might not be as sure-handed as Mitch Moreland and Brock Holt, for example, but Boston went with them to protect a 5-2 cushion.

Through some sort of strange baseball happenstance, the ball found both Chavis and Vazquez during the inning. Joey Wendle’s grounder to second could well have gone for a 4-6-3 double play, and the Red Sox could have collected two quick outs to save themselves some stress. Chavis fed low to Xander Bogaerts covering the bag at second, and Boston was forced to settle for just the first out of the ninth.

“That’s a routine one, and he knows it,” Cora said. “Replace your feet, a good feed to Xander and we turn a double play. Xander actually did an outstanding job staying with the throw – very athletic.”

It was just the fourth time playing at second base for Chavis since June 2. Holt and Marco Hernandez took the lion’s share of the work there during the last two months. Hernandez has since been optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket, clearing the way for Chavis to potentially get more chances up the middle.

In a pinch

Boston pinch hitters continued to be red-hot on Tuesday.

Vazquez’s home run was the fifth racked up by the Red Sox off the bench this season. All of those have come in the seventh inning or later, and they make up half of Boston’s 10 extra-base hits from reserves. The Red Sox lead the big leagues in all three categories on the slash line, posting a dangerous .368/.719/.1.165.

“Looking for my pitch – don’t miss it,” Vazquez said. “I know (Tampa Bay reliever Colin Poche) throws a lot of fastballs, so I’m looking for a fastball down. Drive it. Get on base. I got the homer.”

It was the 16th home run of the season for Vazquez, which is far and away a career high. He’s also set new personal bests with 45 RBI, 44 runs scored, 30 extra-base hits and 20 walks. Cora has seen flashes of such production in their native Puerto Rico.

“The way he’s swinging the bat here is the way he swings the bat back home,” Cora said. “He’s Christian Vazquez, the big leaguer in Winter Ball. He has status. There’s confidence.”

Bombers arrive

The Yankees make their first visit to Fenway Park this season on Thursday, beginning a four-game series.

New York outlasted the Twins in 10 innings on Tuesday night. Aaron Hicks made a diving catch in left-center field to preserve a 14-12 victory at Target Field. The Yankees rallied from an 8-2 deficit and survived blown saves by Zack Britton and Aroldis Chapman.

“They’re playing well,” Cora said. “We can’t hide it. It will be fun this weekend.”

New York enjoyed an 11-game American League East lead in the loss column over Boston heading into Wednesday’s action. Rick Porcello and Masahiro Tanaka are the listed starting pitchers for the opener. Cora pointed to free-agent acquisition D.J. LeMahieu as one of the key pieces thus far for the Yankees – per FanGraphs, the infielder ranks sixth among A.L. hitters in Wins Above Replacement, or WAR.

“I got to meet the guy at the All-Star Game and he’s very professional – very quiet,” Cora said. “You can tell that he understands the game. It’s one of those signings that not too many people talked about, but I think it changed the way they approach their at-bats.”

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25