Bill Koch

Saturday

Jul 18, 2020 at 8:45 PM


BOSTON --- Intrasquad baseball delivers us to a place where a utility infielder can hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.


Such was the scene Saturday night at Fenway Park. Jonathan Arauz did the honors against Zack Godley, two players who the average Red Sox fan certainly couldn’t have named as recently as a week ago.


Arauz is a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Astros who has a strong chance of sticking on the 30-man roster. Godley is a veteran right- [...]

BOSTON --- Intrasquad baseball delivers us to a place where a utility infielder can hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.


Such was the scene Saturday night at Fenway Park. Jonathan Arauz did the honors against Zack Godley, two players who the average Red Sox fan certainly couldn’t have named as recently as a week ago.


Arauz is a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Astros who has a strong chance of sticking on the 30-man roster. Godley is a veteran right-hander who was brought in to complete the Boston player pool for this Summer Camp. Their paths collided when Arauz sent a drive to deep right on the final pitch, securing a 2-0 victory for the home team.


What followed was a somewhat muted celebration. Players and staff members, mindful of social distancing in the age of a pandemic, largely remained away from home plate. There was no pile of humanity, no helmet thrown skyward, no water cooler emptied in triumph. Both teams simply packed up their gear and headed out into the sultry summer evening.


"That’s still weird," red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. "I’ve still got to stay away from them. We’ve got a line coming in and you’ve got to stay away from every one of them."


Roenicke would sacrifice such awkwardness 30 times over if Boston won each of its home games this season in similar fashion. The first chance for the Red Sox comes Friday night against the Orioles, and Nathan Eovaldi will embark on one final tune-up start Sunday to prepare. Matching the four scoreless innings turned in by winning pitcher Matt Hall would be a worthwhile goal.


"When he’s commanding, especially the fastball – because those other pitches are good – he’s going to get people out," Roenicke said. "Right now he’s continuing to do it. It should be interesting."


Hall worked his way around Andrew Benintendi’s walk to open the game and eventually settled in. Michael Chavis stranded a pair when he grounded to third, the first of eight straight men retired by Hall into the top of the fourth inning. Xander Bogaerts broke up the string with a bullet single to center, a one-out single that ultimately amounted to nothing.


"That’s four good innings," Roenicke said. "He’s got the good curveball that everybody knows. But he’s got a nice changeup – he got J.D. (Martinez) out his last at-bat on a changeup. Then he throws his fastball and when he gets it in he’s got a little cut to it."


Austin Brice and Ryan Brasier each turned in a scoreless frame for the Boston visitors to set up Godley for his debut. His signing was announced just the day before, and Godley wasted no time escaping his first proper jam. The Red Sox loaded the bases in the third before Mitch Moreland bounced into an inning-ending 3-6-1 double play.


"He got in a little bit of trouble there in the first one and got the ground ball from Mitch to get him out of it with the double play," Roenicke said. "Then he got in a little bit of trouble again."


Jose Peraza drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth and was still at first base two outs later when Arauz dug in. He smoked a line drive deep to the corner in right field, and the ball crashed into the second row of field boxes between the Pesky Pole and the visiting bullpen. It was a welcome jolt of power from Arauz, a 21-year-old who has totaled 24 home runs in 1,484 minor league at-bats.


"I really like what I see," Roenicke said. "Everybody does. I think if we didn’t like what we see in him we really wouldn’t be thinking about holding onto him. What I see right now, I think everybody likes him."


bkoch@providencejournal.com


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On Twitter: @BillKoch25