Chicks aren’t the only ones who dig the long ball! (Here is the link if you didn’t get the reference.) Especially when two of them come from the underproductive “big-time” trade piece that Craig Breslow overpaid for at the trade deadline.
Adley Rutschman, who started his tenure with the Sox on the IL and then was less than impressive upon his return, came back from a few days off with a hyperextended elbow to blast his way into the hearts of his teammates. In his return to the ballpark he called home for the first five years of his career, Rutschman returned to the form that once won him MVP votes.
At least for a day.
Adley celebrated his return to Baltimore by launching his first homer as a member of the Sox over the high wall in right field in his first at-bat, giving Boston a quick 1-0 lead.
Baltimore matched the run in the bottom of the first with two singles and two other hard-hit balls against Jake Bennett.
In the bottom of the fourth, Luis Robert Jr. and Pete Alonso hit a couple more hard-hit balls, but this time they didn’t end up in the gloves of Red Sox players. They ended up in the hands of Orioles fans in the bleachers.
Back-to-back homers put the O’s up 3-1 and increased Chad Tracy and Craig Breslow’s blood pressure as they watched one of the few starting pitchers they thought they could rely on appear to turn into a pumpkin.
But Bennett rebounded and managed to complete six innings without surrendering another run to the Orioles, buying some time for Adley and the bats to get going again.
In the top of the sixth inning, Rutschman launched another homer into the right-center field bleachers to cut Baltimore’s lead in half, 3-2.
In the top of the seventh, Eli White doubled into the right-field corner with two outs, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa delivered his first big hit for the club since his return from the IL with an RBI single that squeezed down the first-base line, past the bag and Pete Alonso, to tie the game.
Chad Tracy then turned the game over to his well-rested bullpen, and Erik Miller and Garrett Whitlock each delivered a scoreless inning that included two strikeouts apiece.
In the top of the eighth, Rutschman was at it again, this time with his legs and not his bat. Jahmai Jones led off the inning with a single but was forced at second when Rutschman hit a fielder’s choice to third. The relay throw from the second baseman to first short-hopped Alonso, who knocked the ball high into the air with his scoop attempt.
Rutschman never broke stride. He took off for second base and reached it just before the throw from Narváez, who was backing up the play.
One out later, Adley was able to trot home in front of Nick Sogard, who delivered another clutch homer into the Baltimore night.
In the top of the ninth, Roman Anthony joined the power party by driving a 385-foot opposite-field homer over the left-field fence.
That homer would turn out to be a crucial insurance run because the Cuban Missile misfired a little in the bottom of the ninth, giving up a two-run home run to Christian Encarnacion-Strand. But Chapman rebounded and retired the final two batters, the last one by strikeout and his customary stare-down.
Mr. Reliable
Jake Bennett is quickly becoming one of the very few starting pitchers that Chad Tracy and Andrew Bailey can rely on. The Red Sox have won his last three starts, and in each of them, he has gone at least six innings and allowed three earned runs or fewer.
Bennett’s revival after a brief two-start hiccup in the middle of August has helped breathe a bit of life into the shriveling corpse that was once one of the most dominant starting staffs in baseball.
Hopefully, the youngster can continue to pitch effectively even as he goes well beyond his previous career high in innings pitched.
Pieced Together With Glue and Duct Tape
It appears that the days when Chad Tracy could count on everyone pulling the rope at the same time during a game are gone.
While Miller, Whitlock, and Bennett threw the ball well on Thursday night, Aroldis Chapman faltered. Thankfully, it didn’t cost the team, but as we have documented, this rendition of the Red Sox cannot afford too many imperfections from the few key professionals they rely upon.
Right now, it seems like every time one piece gets fixed, another one starts to wobble.
While Story and Anthony have come back hot from the IL, the absence of Contreras, combined with Abreu and Rafaela struggling a little bit, has brought the Red Sox offense simply back to even instead of those returning players providing the additional lift that was expected.
At this point, Boston doesn’t need everyone to suddenly become great. They just need enough of the pieces to hold together at the same time.
On that note, let’s hope Ranger Suárez remembers just who he is, and maybe his closer geographic proximity to the town where he enjoyed his greatest success will translate into a better version of himself.
Just like it did for Rutschman!
Image courtesy of https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/09/03/adley-rutschman-homers-twice-in-return-to-baltimore-as-red-sox-beat-orioles/