CHICAGO — The Red Sox had scored just one run in their first 24 innings coming out of the All-Star break and were in danger of getting swept at Wrigley Field.
Perhaps Wilyer Abreu was feeling that a bit as he stepped to the plate in the top of the seventh, his team down by a run. Boston’s home run leader this season offered a bunt attempt on the first pitch, putting him down in the count.
It was Abreu’s most fortuitous swinging strike of the season. On the next pitch, he struck again — this time with a towering, two-run homer to right that fueled the Red Sox to a 6-1 victory on getaway Sunday.
Normally not one to show a lot of emotion on the field, Abreu flipped his bat and shouted at his teammates as he rounded the bases. His clutch shot not only gave the Red Sox their first lead of the game, but their first of the three-game series.
Two innings later, Abreu unleashed another pull shot to right, his 20th homer of the season, to put the game on ice.
After a pair of losses coming out of the break cooled their 10-game winning streak, the last thing Boston needed was to be swept in the first series of the “second half” for the second straight season.
Last year, however, the Red Sox didn’t have Alex Bregman on their team.
In the top of the eighth, manager Alex Cora had his veteran leader pinch-hit for Masataka Yoshida against lefty Drew Pomeranz. Bregman responded with a three-run shot to left field to break open the game in what had been a tense weekend for the Red Sox.
Ace Garrett Crochet bought time for the offense to find itself, gutting his way through six strong innings in which he gave up one run on eight hits while walking two and striking out five. The lefty threw 100 pitches, 64 of them for strikes.
