The Red Sox had to overcome some obstacles in order to secure their series victory over the Sacramento Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Thursday.
It’s safe to say some of them were self-inflicted, though we’ll talk about that later…
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Boston didn’t play cleanly — the defense added two more errors to its series total of six, the offense put together some truly putrid plate appearances that included several early-count pop flys to opposite field, and on several occasions the whole group failed to take advantage of mistakes made on the other side of the diamond — but got the job done thanks to a pair of clutch home runs from Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras.
It’s not about how it looks. It’s about getting the job done, and that’s exactly what they did.
STUDS
Contreras: If you hit the game-winning home run, you make this list. If you hit the game-winning home run while playing tremendous defense, reaching base three times, and stop yourself from killing one of your teammates, you also make this list.
Abreu: The Red Sox need this young man to get going, and while he has a long way to go before we can say that he’s back on the right track, this was one hell of a way to start!
DUDS
Jarren Duran: How many times are we going to do this?
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Duran added yet another temper tantrum to his growing list during the 5-4 victory at Sutter Health Park, though this time he turned his attention from fans of the other team to his own co-workers — showing up both Contreras and third base coach Chad Epperson for failing to tag up on a lazy fly ball that landed in the glove of Athletics outfielder Tyler Soderstrom.
It’s one thing to try and climb into the stands at Kauffman Stadium, or to have someone removed at Progressive Field, or to flip somebody off at Target Field, but to throw a fit toward your teammate? It’s unacceptable, as has been the majority of these instances that have popped up over the years.
I’ve been critical of the guy, and that certainly isn’t going to change any time soon, but what does need to change is the perception of those who have defended it over the years. I understand the back story. I understand that the organization is in a tough spot. I just don’t care.
Get this loser out of the organization.
“DURAN IS BEING AN A-HOLE” OF THE GAME
If you want to see the incident, you can click here.
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