Red Sox bent but didn’t break to snap losing streak

BOSTON --- Kyle Hart didn’t factor in the decision on Wednesday, but he certainly had a hand in the outcome.

Same with Matt Barnes. And with Brandon Workman.

This was what the Red Sox had in mind as they entered Summer Camp. A handful of offensive stars would do most of the heavy lifting. The pitching staff would cobble together the rest.

It hasn’t played out often enough through 25 games, but it worked on Wednesday. Boston’s 6-3 victory over [...]

BOSTON --- Kyle Hart didn’t factor in the decision on Wednesday, but he certainly had a hand in the outcome.

Same with Matt Barnes. And with Brandon Workman.

This was what the Red Sox had in mind as they entered Summer Camp. A handful of offensive stars would do most of the heavy lifting. The pitching staff would cobble together the rest.

It hasn’t played out often enough through 25 games, but it worked on Wednesday. Boston’s 6-3 victory over the Phillies included runs in five different innings and five pitchers combining on a three-hitter.

Hart was making his second start with the Red Sox and found himself in trouble right away. The first three Philadelphia hitters reached safely and disaster seemed just around the corner. Boston entered on a nine-game losing streak – there was little reason for optimism.

Then JT Realmuto flew to shallow right, giving Hart a bit of a window to see his way out of danger. Phil Gosselin singled and Didi Gregorius lifted a sacrifice fly to center, but the Phillies couldn’t manage an extra-base hit to bury the Red Sox early. Alec Bohm struck out swinging to keep it just a 2-0 game.

"I thought Hart did a fantastic job," Barnes said. "The first inning could have gotten out of hand. He was able to limit it to two runs and then go back out there and continue to put up zeroes and give our offense a chance to score some runs."

The tying swing for Boston came in the third. Rafael Devers crushed a liner to deep center that wrapped its way around the flagpole for a two-run homer. Jake Arrieta wasn’t particularly sharp and finally lost his lead – it was a 2-2 game.

"I feel great," Devers said through translator Bryan Almonte. "It helps that we also got a win today, so it’s something that’s really good for us."

Two consecutive three-hit games will do that for a hitter. That kind of production will also give confidence to the pitching staff, as Hart survived into the fourth and Austin Brice coaxed a popup from Andrew McCutchen to strand an inherited runner.

"As poorly as I started I was able to keep us in there and give us a chance and give our offense a chance to breathe," Hart said. "They got some good at-bats going."

It could have been déjà vu for the Red Sox in the sixth holding a 4-2 lead. The same scenario Tuesday night turned into a 13-6 loss when Philadelphia’s bats caught fire and Boston’s bullpen melted down. Ryan Weber worked around a two-out walk and would have escaped the seventh as well if not for a throwing error at shortstop by Tzu-Wei Lin.

That trimmed the Red Sox cushion to just one, and this was the kind of spot where Boston tended to buckle through the first month. Barnes was summoned for a tough assignment – one out, a man in scoring position and the heart of the Phillies order due. He struck out Bryce Harper and Realmuto on a pair of breaking balls to send the hosts confidently into the stretch.

"I was able to make some quality pitches and fortunately it went my way and went the team’s way," Barnes said. "It was definitely awesome."

Barnes wriggled out of one more trouble spot in the eighth. Gregorius worked a 14-pitch walk with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. Barnes went back to the curveball and Lin capitalized on a chance at redemption, starting a 6-4-3 double play from the hole on a sharp one-hopper from Bohm.

"You’ve still got to be able to maintain composure and focus on the mound," Barnes said. "Now you’ve got somebody else coming up into the box trying to drive a baseball. In a two-run game one wrong pitch could be a two-run homer and we’re in a totally different spot in the game."

On other days this season that might have happened to Boston, but not this time. And with his teammates giving him a rare chance to record a save, Workman converted on his fourth of the season with a stress-free top of the ninth. Those final three outs helped Workman and the red Sox slam the door on nearly two weeks of frustration.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @BillKoch25