The Red Sox changed things up on Friday night.
There’s a famous scene from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” where Paul Rudd’s character is trying to teach Jason Segel’s character how to surf, and Rudd’s character keeps yelling instructions as Segel’s attempts to stand up on the surf board.
“Don’t do anything,” he says. “Don’t try to surf. Don’t do it. The less you do, the more you do. … Do less.”
If the Red Sox have made one adjustment that’s turned them around this week, it’s just that: they’ve done less.
By not swinging at bad pitches and letting pitchers come to them, the Sox worked an impressive comeback against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night, erasing a four-run lead and going on to a walk-off, 6-5, win.
It was the Sox’ 23rd come-from-behind win of the year.
“We’re always down by a lot and then it’s one inning that we jump right back,” said Alex Verdugo, who hit a laser off the Green Monster for the walkoff hit.
The Sox’ relaxed approach at the plate Friday was in stark contrast to the way they played Tuesday and Wednesday against the Astros. They were outscored 15-4 in a pair of blowouts because they expanded the strike zone, swung at junk and struck out 21 times in two games.
Cora had a pretty clear message after those games: take your walks.
Thursday, they walked four times and struck out just three, knocking off the Astros, 12-8.
And when things were looking dicey on Friday, as the Sox fell behind 5-1 in the sixth inning, they did less.
Instead of swinging out of their shoes, they stayed back and stroked a few hits to the opposite field. And when Tyler Chatwood entered the game trying to get the Sox to chase out of the zone, the hitters did nothing.
They stood at the plate and didn’t swing the bat for 11 consecutive pitches.
“Once we keep the line moving and we’re able to take our walks and take our base hits the other way, and not try to do too much, good things happen,” Christian Arroyo explained.
Chatwood’s 11 pitches were concerning enough to result in his prompt removal. He walked one hitter, plunked two and threw one to the backstop. Two runs scored. Overall, the Red Sox plated three runs that inning, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
In the eighth, it was Arroyo yet again. For the second time in as many nights, Arroyo hit a clutch home run in the late innings to tie the game. This time he took Carl Edwards Jr. deep on a high fastball.
“I told him to control your emotions, don’t get caught up in the whole thing,” Cora said. “Then he put a good swing on it and the place went nuts.”
Kiké Hernandez started the ninth inning with a routine ground ball to short, but Bo Bichette threw it wide and Hernandez advanced to second on the error. Verdugo stepped up and blasted one off the Green Monster for the walk-off win.
Verdugo was 3-for-4 to move his average to .294.
“We believe this guy is a five-tool player,” Cora said. “He’s a game-changer. … He can hit for average. He can hit for power. He understands the circumstances of the game. High baseball IQ. We got a good one.”
Three other takeaways from this one:
1. Garrett Richards had one of the worst outings of his brief Red Sox career in this one. Somehow, he managed to hold the Blue Jays to just four runs while giving up 11 hits (including three doubles) and two walks, striking out just three. He wasn’t wild at all, quite the opposite actually and the Jays, a team that strikes out fewer than almost every other MLB team, made him pay for throwing too many strikes.
“Just grinding, man,” Richards said. “Seems like the last few have been just grinding. Haven’t really had my best stuff.”
2. Brandon Workman struggled when called upon in the seventh inning to keep the game close. He put men on second and third with only one out when Cora turned to Josh Taylor, his new set-up man. Taylor struck out Cavan Biggio and Riley Adams to keep the Jays’ lead at one. Taylor hasn’t allowed a run in 17 consecutive appearances.
“The bullpen has been kind of a rock for us, man,” Richards said. “They come in and mop up our garbage.”
3. Garrett Whitlock had a most-impressive performance against the Blue Jays’ top of the order in the eighth. Marcus Semien singled, but Whitlock picked him off. Then he struck out Bichette on a 97-mph fastball on the upper-outside corner. And he struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a 98-mph fastball, the hardest pitch Whitlock has thrown all year. He also pitched a scoreless ninth and got the win. His ERA is 1.74.
“We just used him in a situation that felt good for us,” Cora said. “We tied the game and didn’t have to go to (Adam) Ottavino or (Matt) Barnes because he’s that good. His composure is tremendous. His stuff is great. He gave us a chance to win.”
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