Christian Vazquez gets instructions from the Red Sox third base coach in a game earlier this season at Fenway Park. Vazquez hit a homerun on Sunday to lead Boston to a win over Detroit. Photo courtesy of Delaney Gardner
The Boston Red Sox will end the first half of the 2019 season on a high note. Christian Vazquez hit a go ahead game two run homer Sunday afternoon and David Price picked up his seventh win, as Boston completed a three game weekend sweep with a 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit to head into the All Star Break riding a four game win streak.
Nicholas Costellanos gave the Tigers the early lead though with a RBI double off Price in the first inning to make it 1-0. From that point though Price wouldn’t allow any more runs on three hits in his remaining four innings on the mound. Vazquez with one out in the second gave the Red Sox a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, lifting a two run homer to right center field to make it 2-1. It was the 14th homer for the catcher. A two run double from Xander Bogaerts, and an RBI single from Andrew Benintendi in the fifth would extend the lead to 5-1. JD Martinez scored on a wild pitch in the eighth for a five run lead. Brandon Dixon hit a two run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth off Boston reliever Ryan Brasier to cut the lead to three. Brandon Workman got the final out of the eighth, and Heath Hembree allowed a hit and no runs in the ninth to pick up his second save.
Price (7-2) went 5.0 innings and only allowed one run on five hits, with two walks and six strikeouts. The win gives the left hander 150 for his career. Josh Taylor, Workman, and Hembree combined for 3.1 innings of one hit and scoreless relief. Marco Hernandez and Martinez each had two hits for the 49-41 Red Sox. Castellanos had two hits for the Tigers. Gregory Soto (0-2) took the loss allowing two runs on three hits in 2.0 innings. Detroit is now 28-57 and 12-32 at home.
Boston will return to play after the break next Friday night at Fenway Park to open up a three game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The teams meet for the first time since the Sox beat the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series. LA has the best record in the major leagues. Boston sits 9 games behind the Yankees for first place in A.L. East.
