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Three struggling Red Sox broke out Sunday, including hitter whose average rose 51 points in one day
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- Three struggling Red Sox broke out Sunday, including hitter whose average rose 51 points in one day
ST. LOUIS — The Red Sox cruised to a 9-3 win Sunday in large part due to Willson Contreras, an early-season standout who continued his hot start with a 4-for-5 day that included a homer and three RBIs against his former team . While it was more of the same from Contreras, the Red Sox also received encouraging performances from three players who have scuffled to start the season, continuing a trend started by Ranger Suárez’s standout performance Saturday night .
Here’s a look:
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Duran entered Sunday hitting .130 with 12 strikeouts and a .530 OPS but had his biggest swing of the season in the fourth inning when he came up with the bases loaded and cleared them with a 112.3 mph double into the left-field gap. In a 1-2 count against starter Andre Pallante , Duran stayed on a slider and ripped it to turn a 3-1 Red Sox lead into a comfortable 6-1 advantage.
“He put a good swing on it,” said manager Alex Cora. “He hit the ball hard the last few days, so we’ve just got to continue off of that.”
Duran, hitting third for the Red Sox, has had a strange start to the season, playing less than envisioned with Boston rotating their outfield/designated hitter candidates. Before the game, Cora said he didn’t think Duran’s irregular routine was playing a role in his struggles . Instead, the issues stemmed from Duran continually chasing breaking balls, something he did in his first at-bat to strike out.
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Duran looked more comfortable at the plate than he has all season in St. Louis, smoking a 114.7 mph groundout Friday before collecting two hits Saturday and having the most important swing of Sunday’s series finale.
Much was made of Suárez’s start to the season because of the $130 million commitment the Red Sox made to him in January. But Bello was similarly sluggish out of the gate , when he allowed eight earned runs on 13 hits and had as many walks as strikeouts (7) in eight innings.
Things were much different in St. Louis as Bello posted the longest start by a Red Sox pitcher so far this season. Pitching with an early big lead, the righty lasted 6 ⅔ innings and allowed two runs on six hits. The strikeouts (2) weren’t there but Bello induced weak contact and kept control of the game.
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“If we pitch, we’re going to be in good shape,” Cora said. “He threw strikes, mixed up all of his pitches. Obviously, the lead gave him freedom to attack. We still want him to attack, regardless of the score. It was a good one for him.”
Bello, like Suárez less than 24 hours earlier, used a sinker-heavy approach to keep the Cardinals off balance. He threw that pitch 52% of the time (49 of 94 pitches) while leaning away from the changeup.
“I was able to locate it down and I was having a lot of positive results with that pitch,” Bello said (through interpreter Daveson Perez).
Quietly, Story had a great game at the plate, notching four hits. He singled in his first three plate appearances before shooting a Jared Shuster pitch down the first-base line for a two-run double to pad the lead in the ninth inning.
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It was Story’s first multi-hit game of the season. Last year, he had just one four-hit showing, in a blowout win against the Nationals on July 4. The most encouraging sign in the eyes of Story and Cora was that Story was getting his hits to the opposite field, as well as his first walk Saturday night (which came after 20 strikeouts).
“Use the other side of the field,” Cora said. “Swing at strikes and use the whole field. That’s what he did last year and he knows he needs to get back to that. Big things are going to happen. Right now, it’s the humble approach. Hit the ball the other way, take what they give you and keep moving forward.
Added Story: “Letting the ball travel and trusting that I can shoot the ball the other way. That’s when I’m at my best, shooting that four-hole when I need it and catch that breaking stuff out front.”
After a dreadful start to the season , Story entered Sunday — after back-to-back hitless games — with a .131 average (8-for-61). With four hits in the finale, his average rose to .182 (a difference of 51 points). Postgame, that fact was something Story was able to laugh at.
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“Over 162... the real guy will come out,” he said.
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