Red Sox reactions: Carlos Narváez the hero in dramatic, back-and-forth win catalyzed by shocking grand slam

PHILADELPHIA — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (55-49) fight and claw to a landmark, sweep-avoiding 9-8 victory in a back-and-forth, dramatic game in which Carlos Narváez won it with a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning:

1) In what was perhaps Boston’s most dramatic game of the season, the Red Sox erased a 5-0 deficit (after Lucas Giolito gave up four home runs) with a six-run, two-out fifth-inning rally that was capped off by Romy Gonzalez’s grand slam off Jesús Luzardo. That lead lasted until the eighth, when Aroldis Chapman allowed just his third homer of the year as J.T. Realmuto tied it with a solo shot. The teams then traded runs in the 10th as Greg Weissert blew a save chance by allowing an RBI single to Kyle Schwarber.

It was fitting, then, that Narváez — the center of two bizarre catcher’s interference plays in the first two games of the series — was the hero. In the 11th, Narváez launched a two-run, go-ahead homer off reliever Seth Johnson that barely cleared the left field wall and won the game. The Red Sox, after losing their first seven chances, finally won an extra-inning road game.

It’s the kind of win that can propel a team. Suddenly, a 2-4 road trip to Chicago and Philadelphia feels much better than it was.

2) Long before extras, Gonzalez looked like he’d be the hero when he delivered perhaps the biggest swing of Boston’s season to that point. After falling behind by five runs, Boston clawed out of the hole thanks to Luzardo’s wildness — and the first grand slam of Gonzalez’s career.

Working with a five-run lead and two outs in the fifth, Luzardo completely lost the strike zone, walking Marcelo Mayer to load the bases, then Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran to force in two runs. In what was suddenly a 5-2 game, Luzardo left an 88 mph changeup over the plate and Gonzalez didn’t miss it. The slam went 415 feet at an exit velocity of 107.5 mph.

3) Gonzalez said he was “tremendously locked in” during a 13-game stretch from June 22-July 9 in which he hit .409 with four homers, five doubles, two triples and a 1.315 OPS in 49 plate appearances. But he had cooled off significantly in recent days. The lefty-masher, after grounding out in his first two plate appearances, was in an 0-for-20 rut with eight strikeouts.

It was the first grand slam of Gonzalez’s career and his four RBIs tied a career-high.

4) Alex Cora managed quite aggressively after the Sox took the lead. That strategy included employing Aroldis Chapman before the eighth inning for the first time all year. Once Trea Turner hit a two-out double off Jordan Hicks in the seventh, Cora immediately went to Chapman to face fellow lefty Kyle Schwarber. He got him to pop out to end the threat.

Chapman, attempting to record four outs for the first time, almost got there without faltering. But with two outs in the eighth, Realmuto took him deep to straightaway center to tie the game, 6-6. It was just the third homer the All-Star lefty has surrendered all season — and his first since May 7.

Chapman’s 1-⅓ inning outing was his longest of the year. Garrett Whitlock handled the ninth before Greg Weissert came in for the 10th and blew a save chance when Schwarber matched Trevor Story’s RBI double with a run-scoring single that tied it, 7-7.

5) Giolito, riding an elite seven-start stretch, took a major step back before all the dramatics. Four Phillies — Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the first inning, then Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott later on — tagged him for homers to open up the big lead. Giolito had only given up a quartet of homers once before, pitching for the White Sox against the Twins on July 25, 2019.

Giolito has done a good job making sure bad starts don’t bleed into his next outings and will look to continue that trend early next week in Minnesota.

6) Luzardo was untouchable before the fifth. He retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced (with six strikeouts) and had a no-hitter through four innings before Masataka Yoshida led off the fifth with a double. The avalanche came quickly for the left-hander, who departed having walked five batters.

7) Mayer, after coming around to score on Gonzalez’s slam, left the game with “right wrist discomfort,” according to the team. He was replaced at third base by Abraham Toro.

A downcast Mayer, wearing a brace on his right wrist after the game, said he expects to have an MRI and is hopeful the injury is not a serious one.

8) Some unheralded relievers helped the Red Sox win, too.

Making his first appearance of the second half — and first in 10 days, veteran fireman Justin Wilson had his longest (and potentially best) outing of the season. Covering two innings for the first time all year, Wilson faced the minimum six batters in relief of Giolito, pitching a 1-2-3 fifth before getting a double play to erase a leadoff single in the sixth. Wilson needed just 24 pitches.

Weissert, despite the blown save, deserves some credit for striking out Harper and then getting out of the 10th on a caught stealing of pinch-runner Weston Wilson. It was ultimately Brennan Bernardino on the mound when the game ended after Jorge Alcala allowed an RBI single to Otto Kemp that made it a one-run game again. Bernardino’s first career save — which was of the one-out variety — came when he struck out Max Kepler looking to end the game.

9) The Sox were out-hit significantly in the win, 13-7.

10) The Red Sox have Thursday off before beginning a key home series (and a very quick homestand) Friday night against the Dodgers. Here’s the schedule (plus pitching probables):

Friday, 7:10 p.m. ET — RHP Emmet Sheehan (1-1, 4.41 ERA) vs. RHP Brayan Bello (6-4, 3.23 ERA)

Saturday, 7:15 p.m. ET — LHP Clayton Kershaw (4-1, 3.27 ERA) vs. LHP Garrett Crochet (11-4, 2.19 ERA)

Sunday, 1:35 p.m. ET — RHP Dustin May (6-6, 4.73 ERA) vs. RHP Walker Buehler (6-6, 5.72 ERA)