The Red Sox opened up their 7 game homestand by splitting a four game series against the Minnesota Twins. The Sox offense is still very sluggish to start the season and again the bullpen is still very much a concern.

Starters:

To open off the Series Nick Pivetta delivered a real stinker of a game. Pivetta lasted only 2 innings giving up 4 ER while walking two. In game two of the series Tanner Houck delivered one of the better starts so far this year going 5.2 innings striking out four, only giving up two hits, and giving up 0 runs. In game three Micheal Wacha followed up Houcks strong performance with one of his own, going 5 shut-out innings with 5 strikeouts. Wacha’s outing was cut short due to a 15- pitch at bat where he prevailed, striking Carlos Correa out in the top of the 4th inning. In game four Rich Hill didn’t have a great start as he gave 4 ER in 4.2 innings giving up two 2-run homers. Overall the starters did enough in my eyes for the Sox to win these games. The Sox would really benefit from a solid go around from their starters going consistently deep into games as the bullpen is a weak point. 

Bullpen:

Christian Vázquez and Garrett Whitlock dap up eachother after yet another strong performance out of the bullpen from Whitlock in the Sox 4-0 win on Saturday. (Via. Getty Images)

Phillips Valdez was solid throughout the series, though he was used in very low leverage situations, going 3.1 innings giving up 0 ER, striking out 5. Hirokazu Sawamura was not very good as he gave up 2 ER in 2.1 innings of work including a wild pitch in game 4 of the series which put the game even further out of reach after Kutter Crawford imploded in the 8th inning. 

Crawford pitched 1.2 innings walking five and was charged with 3 ER. Ryan Braiser was an adventure out on the mound throughout the series while he pitched 1.2 scoreless innings; they were not pretty as in his second outing he gave up two hits and walked one. Austin Davis completed his two innings of work without giving up any runs and striking out four. Matt Barnes was not very good as his only appearance he gave up 2 ER, walking 2, in one inning of work. Matt Strahm was solid in his 2.1 innings pitched giving up only one run off of 2 hits. Jake Diekman and Garrett Whitlock also both looked phenomenal in the games that they pitched, yielding no runs. Whitlock went 2.1 innings striking out 5 and Diekman went 1 inning striking out 2. 

 Offense:

In game one of the series the offense was terrible, nobody other than Rafeal Devers and Alex Verdugo did anything worth mentioning, as the Sox combined for 13 strikeouts in game 1. In game 2 the sox offense was still relatively quiet but it was a good sign to see Xander Boagearts put one into the monster as it looked as though he was putting his early season offensive struggles behind him. Alex Verdugo also continued his hot streak to begin the season as he also homered for the second straight game. In game three of the series the Sox offense really turned it on as Boagearts led the way with 3 hits and Devers behind him with 2 of his own. The offense really broke the game open in the 8th inning where they scored 6 runs. In game 4 of the series the sox offense was quiet again and wasted their best opportunity in the 6th inning when Devers started the potential rally off with a single followed by a Bogearts double leading to second and third with one out when JD got jammed and hit a soft grounder to first leading to a run down where the Sox maintained second and third with 2 outs, which went by the wayside when Arroyo lined out to center field.   

Overall this series was again not good nor bad for the Sox. The Sox have been getting decent starting pitching for the most part so far this season, while the bullpen has been rocky at times (which was expected). The offense again has been inconsistent as it hasn’t come alive until later on in games. The one positive I can say was it looked as though after the shortened spring and disruptions for Trevor Story he looked to be getting his mojo back in the third game of the series where he barreled the ball 3 times. This upcoming series with Toronto will be a big one for the Sox as I’m hoping to see them get a more consistent offensive output as they will need to with the explosive Toronto lineup coming in.