Refsnyder comes through in rare start as Red Sox romp

CLEVELAND -- Manager Alex Cora has been trying his hardest this season to find at-bats for Rob Refsnyder due to the Red Sox facing off against so many right-handed pitchers.

On Sunday, the right-handed-hitting Refsnyder and the Red Sox finally got a chance to face off against a left-hander. He made it count by going 2-for-4 with a home run in Boston’s 13-3 win over Cleveland at Progressive Field.

Refsnyder wasted no time making his presence known against Guardians starter Logan Allen, as his home run came on the fifth pitch of his at-bat in the second inning.

Allen tried to bury a changeup but missed up, and Refsnyder made him pay by sending the ball a Statcast-projected 361 feet into the home run porch in left field. It left his bat at 111.5 mph, making it the hardest-hit home run of his career.

Refsnyder wasn’t the only Red Sox bench player who made the most of his opportunity. The right-handed-hitting Romy Gonzalez drew a walk, scored twice and had a stolen base in a rare start.

“They’re good players,” Cora said. “It’s hard to not play them because we haven’t faced that many lefties. I think their starts last week against righties probably helped them to have two great games today.”

Refsnyder added a third-inning single and a fifth-inning sacrifice fly, which was part of Boston’s five-run barrage in the inning off Allen and reliever Paul Sewald.

After Refsnyder brought the first run in with his bases-loaded sacrifice fly, Boston recorded three runs in a three-pitch span when Kristian Campbell hit a two-run single to center field, then Gonzalez stole home on a double steal.

“That was Romy’s awareness,” Cora said. “He took advantage of the situation.”

Cora will be in a bit of a pickle if Refsnyder and Gonzalez continue to have strong showings. While he wants to give them at-bats against right-handed pitchers (and will happily give them at-bats against lefties), their presence in the lineup means someone else is on the bench.

Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu, both left-handed hitters, were on the bench on Sunday in place of Refsnyder and Gonzalez.

“Do I want Triston and Abreu to face lefties? 100%,” Cora said. “But it’s hard because [Refsnyder and Gonzalez] are really, really good at what they do.”

Campbell finished 2-for-2 with a double, two RBIs, four runs and three walks.

“He stays with the process and works hard,” Cora said. “Today was a good day. He did a great job.”

The Red Sox are the first team with a steal of home in consecutive games since the Marlins in August 2020. It’s the first time the Red Sox have done so in consecutive games within a season in at least the expansion era (1961).

Jarren Duran pulled off a straight steal of home on Saturday.

“I think we’re a really good baserunning team,” Duran said. “We’re doing little things that some other teams aren’t doing because they’re checked out or celebrating their hit. That extra 90 feet is always important.

“We like to play aggressive, and I think that’s something that’s showing.”

Sunday's double steal came on one of numerous sloppy defensive plays from the usually solid Guardians that the Red Sox took advantage of.

While all but one of Boston’s runs were earned, Cleveland committed four errors. The biggest one came in the second inning, when Angel Martínez committed a throwing error on a Ceddanne Rafaela flyout that allowed Campbell to score from third.

Martínez’s throw glanced off cutoff man Carlos Santana’s glove, which gave Campbell a window to score.

“I was trying to score initially, but he caught it shallow. But as soon as I saw it pop out of his glove I knew I had a chance, so I took off,” Campbell said.

The 22-year-old Campbell is now hitting .305 with an .886 OPS after the first 27 games of his rookie season.

“I’m trying to keep it as simple as possible,” Campbell said. “I’m trying not to let the game speed up.”

While the big win was nearly ruined when a fan said something inappropriate to Duran in the seventh inning, security was able to de-escalate the situation before it became anything more.

“He said something inappropriate, but I’m happy that security handled it,” Duran said postgame.