Christian Vazquez Rallies Red Sox Past Mets, 6-5, To End 4-Game Losing Streak
NEW YORK (AP) — After nearly a month at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox needed a change of scenery. Even if it meant facing Jacob deGrom.
Christian Vázquez hit a tying home run off Seth Lugo in the seventh inning and a two-run single against Justin Wilson in a three-run eighth, rallying the Red Sox over the Mets 6-5 Wednesday night when New York's bullpen could not hold a lead for the two-time Cy Young Award winner.
At 108-year-old Fenway, with the major leagues' most cramped clubhouses, Red Sox players used luxury suites to get dressed for the past month instead of their regular locker room. After a 1-4 start, they welcomed Citi Field's visitors' quarters.
"We're all together here in the clubhouse," said Nathan Eovaldi, who allowed two runs over five innings. "We got the mask on. We're staying same apart and stuff like that, but we're all together in the clubhouse. And I think that's what we miss the most. It's nice having the suites and everything, but I feel like we never see each other."
Boston had lost four in a row following its opening win over Baltimore -- the equivalent of 11 straight over a full season -- that included a pair of defeats to the Mets.
"I think actually it was nice leaving leaving Fenway," new manager Ron Roenicke said. "We'd been there for so long with the training camp and then opening it up there, so it was probably a nice thing for them to feel a little different atmosphere."
DeGrom threw up to a career-high 101.1 mph and his scoreless streak tied for third-longest in Mets history, trailing only R.A. Dickey's 32 2/3 innings in 2012 and Jerry Koosman's 31 2/3 innings in 1973. He allowed three hits in six innings in his second straight no decision.
"I actually feel like it's coming out with less effort than in years past. I'm not falling off," deGrom said.
Brandon Nimmo hit his first homer this season for New York, which went 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11. The Mets are 1-1 in deGrom's starts this year after going 14-18 last season.
"It's frustrating," Pete Alonso said after his first four-hit big league game. "Usually when Jake is on the mound, we're getting somebody's best. So it's basically a clash of the clash of the titans out there."
Boston went ahead 2-1 in the fourth on consecutive doubles by Rafael Devers and Mitch Moreland on changeups followed by a pair of wild pitches on sliders in the dirt. DeGrom threw just two wild pitches in each of the 2018 and 2019 seasons but catcher René Rivera, making his first start this season, was slow in sliding his mitt toward pitches with movement.
Wilson (0-1) allowed his first two batters to reach in the eighth on a single and a four-pitch walk, and Moreland hit a 60-foot, four-hopper for a go-ahead single that third baseman Jeff McNeil grabbed barehanded but couldn't hold on to. Vázquez followed with an opposite-field poke down the right-field line for a 6-3 lead.
"I don't think I was tired. I didn't really have my best stuff," Wilson said. "I thought I was going to sneak out of it. Kind of a tough one to know where those hits were kind of placed."
Heath Hembree (1-0) threw three pitches, striking out J.D. Davis to strand runners on second and third in the seventh.
Yoenis Céspedes hit his second home run of the season leading off the eighth, against Matthew Barnes.
After Brandon Workman walked his first two batters in the ninth, Alonso blooped a curveball just over Moreland just inside the line in short right field. Michael Conforto took a called third strike, and Davis nearly grounded the ball through the infield only for Devers to smother the ball for an infield hit and that forced the potential tying run to hold at third.
Workman recovered for his first save of the year by striking out Céspedes and retiring Robinson Canó on a soft liner to shortstop.
While deGrom is throwing at his best, he has no wins to show for it.
"With that time off, I continued to work on my delivery," he said, "and feel like everything's kind of in line where I want it to be."
ROOKIE WATCH
Mets rookie Andrés Giménez got his first hit and first triple in his first start, going 2 for 4. The 21-year-old, who had debuted on opening day, had an RBI triple in the sixth off Marcus Walden for a 3-2 lead on a ball that over Jackie Bradley Jr. that the center fielder misread.
BYE
No. 3 C Jonathan Lucroy was designated for assignment by Boston after making one appearance, as an eighth-inning defensive replacement on opening day. The Red Sox recalled right-hander Chris Mazza from their alternate training site.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: OF Jake Marisnick was placed on the 10-day injured list after hurting a hamstring. New York selected the contract of OF Ryan Cordell from their alternate training site in Brooklyn and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designated right-hander Jordan Humphreys for assignment.
UP NEXT
Boston's Martín Pérez (0-1) and New York's Steven Matz (0-0) start in a matchup of left-handers that finishes this week's back-to-back, two-game series between the teams. Pérez lost his Red Sox debut, allowing five runs — four earned — in five innings against Baltimore. Matz gave up one run in six innings against Atlanta in his season debut, a 10-inning loss.
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