Duvall Walk-Off Scores Boston First Win Of Season

By / April 1, 2023

There’s really no better way to become ingratiated with the Fenway Faithful than with a walk-off homerun. Adam Duvall did just that, putting the exclamation point on an impressive comeback victory by the Red Sox Saturday afternoon.

Duvall really had himself a day. That wasn’t even his first two-run homerun of the ballgame.

Needless to say, the veteran outfielder is already making a strong impression in Boston. In just his second outing with the team, Duvall finished batting 4-for-5 with a pair of homeruns and 5 RBIs.

His valiant effort fueled and finished Boston’s epic comeback against the Orioles. It was a game the Red Sox really had no business being in.

The team fell in a rather large hole early. Baltimore was already leading by a score of 7-1 entering the bottom of the third inning. The Orioles’ offense took advantage of a poor start from former ace Chris Sale.

Look, there’s really no way to sugarcoat this. Sale threw a stinker. Against an Orioles lineup that’s respectable but assuredly not one of the best, he gave up seven runs off of seven hits. That, in just three innings of action.

I’m willing to throw the guy a little slack. It was his first start at Fenway Park in 528 days afterall. That’s absurd to think about. Today marked Sale’s 12th start since the end of the 2019 season. It’s reasonable to think there could be some rust there.

Hopefully that’s all it is. With how paper thin this rotation is, Boston is going to need some version of Chris Sale to keep this team afloat. Certainly not today’s version, though.

Bullpen Bailout

After Sale exited the game, things went much smoother. The Boston bullpen had a solid outing.

Zack Kelly was a little rocky. He gave up the only run of the game to Baltimore after the third inning. From that point on, it was pure dominance.

Josh Winckowski, John Schreiber, Chris Martin, and Kenley Jansen all came in and gave at least an inning of relief. Their combined numbers?

No runs, just three hits, and five strikeouts through five innings of relief work. They made up for what was a really rough start from Sale and Kelly.

It was particularly nice seeing Boston’s expensive closer acquisition Kenley Jansen coming through when needed in the ninth. Boston’s improved bullpen should be an area of strength all season.

As should this lineup. Through two games, Boston has compiled 18 runs and 22 hits against Baltimore. Not bad at all.

Is there room for improvement? Absolutely. Young guys like Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida were no shows Saturday. Casas is still looking for his first big league hit.

The back end of the lineup with Casas, Christian Arroyo, and Reese McGuire is….not great. That trio went a combined 0-for-10 at the plate on Saturday.

Got to be optimistic though, it’s only 2 of 162 games played. Plenty of time to figure that stuff out.

I’ll go more in-depth on Boston’s opening weekend performance on my next episode of “The Fenway Faithful Podcast.” Until then, enjoy this win Sox Nation. I know I am.

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