{"id":671112,"date":"2026-04-08T22:56:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:56:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671112\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T22:56:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:56:18","slug":"5-takeaways-as-red-sox-pull-away-from-brewers-5-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/671112\/","title":{"rendered":"5 takeaways as Red Sox pull away from Brewers, 5-0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBoston Red Sox\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThey have a long way to go but are starting to resemble the team many believed they could be.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\tSonny Gray salutes the crowd after another strong showing for the Red Sox. Charles Krupa\/AP Photo\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Trevor Hass<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApril 8, 2026 | 5:54 PM\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

5 minutes to read<\/p>\n

With a productive offseason behind them, and much of their proven core back, the Red Sox appeared poised to build off last year\u2019s breakthrough and keep momentum on their side.<\/p>\n

Instead, the season started inauspiciously, as they sputtered to a 2-8 record and unexpectedly struggled in nearly every area. The newly acquired pitchers were inconsistent. The lineup couldn\u2019t find timely hits. The fielders made untimely errors. The relievers couldn\u2019t take care of business.<\/p>\n

\u201cSell the team!\u201d chants echoed throughout Fenway Park, as the buzz disappeared and the Red Sox gave fans little reason to believe.<\/p>\n

Since that point, they\u2019ve responded to offer those fans a glimmer of hope. They\u2019re still 4-8, in last place in the American League East, and nowhere near where they need to be. But, they\u2019re starting to resemble a team capable of making some noise.<\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s 5-0 victory over the Brewers gave Boston its first series win of the season. After losing six games by two runs or fewer start the season, the Red Sox have now found somewhat of a rhythm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great game last night,\u201d Sonny Gray, Wednesday\u2019s starter, said. \u201cTo continue that into today, it was just a good finish to the home stand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are five takeaways:<\/p>\n

Sonny with no chance of meatballs<\/p>\n

Gray had a tough debut with the Red Sox, allowing three earned runs in four innings against the Reds in late March. <\/p>\n

Since that point, he\u2019s made major strides and looked like the pitcher the Red Sox hoped he would be. Gray surrendered two runs in six innings against the Padres on Friday, then tossed 6 1\/3 scoreless frames Wednesday to put Boston in prime position.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe competes, he prepares, he knows what he\u2019s doing out there,\u201d Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters.<\/p>\n

He mixed in his curveball and sweeper masterfully, giving up just three hits and needing only 90 pitches to lower his ERA to 2.76. Gray only struck out two, but that was all he needed to do. The Brewers put runners on second and third in the third before Gray escaped.<\/p>\n

He grew stronger with a 10-pitch fourth and 11-pitch fifth and didn\u2019t let the Brewers sniff a potential comeback from there. Gray exited to a well-deserved standing ovation and tipped his cap to the Fenway faithful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just thinking, \u2018Happy flight, happy flight,’\u201d Gray said. \u201cYou want to win on get-away day.\u201d<\/p>\n

His emergence in recent weeks has stabilized the Red Sox, and he appears to be capable of providing a 1-2 punch alongside ace Garrett Crochet. The Red Sox are built to win games with their pitching and defense, and this was another step in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this team to make it to October, we have to pitch, and we will,\u201d Cora told reporters.<\/p>\n

Showin\u2019 Drohan who\u2019s boss<\/p>\n

Brewers starter Shane Drohan worked his way through the Red Sox farm system and starred for the Worcester Red Sox, but he never got the chance to pitch at Fenway Park.<\/p>\n

Drohan, sent to Milwaukee as part of the Caleb Durbin trade, made his Major League debut Wednesday. He didn\u2019t allow a hit in the first two innings, struck out two Boston hitters in the second, and looked ready to go deep into the game with his family on hand.<\/p>\n

In the third, though, the Red Sox played small ball and ended his afternoon much earlier than he would have liked. Ceddanne Rafaela singled to left, Isiah Kiner-Falefa delivered a beautiful bunt, and Roman Anthony moved them to second and third on a grounder.<\/p>\n

Andruw Monasterio walked, Willson Contreras walked to score Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu plated Kiner-Falefa on a sharp grounder to second, then Trevor Story drove in Monasterio on a sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n

That was all it took, as the Red Sox capitalized on their opportunity and seized momentum.<\/p>\n

Walk this way<\/p>\n

Boston took a patient approach against Drohan and the Brewers\u2019 relievers, walking a total of eight times and making Milwaukee throw 146 pitches spread over four pitchers.<\/p>\n

Monasterio walked three times, Anthony twice, and Contreras, Durbin, and Rafaela once apiece. When facing a young and inexperienced starter, it\u2019s wise to make that pitcher earn everything he gets, and Boston did exactly that. <\/p>\n

The Red Sox \u2014 who entered the day 24th in the majors with 36 walks \u2014 didn\u2019t try to force anything, and the mindset paid dividends. It was their most walks since they racked up nine against the Yankees in August of last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about it last week,\u201d Cora said. \u201cWe were swinging too much, chasing a lot. The last few games, we\u2019ve walked and gotten rallies going. We stay humble.\u201d<\/p>\n

New chapter for Story<\/p>\n

It may take some time for Story\u2019s average to ascend to where he wants it to be, but, over the past three games, he\u2019s looked more like himself and the well-rounded player he was last year.<\/p>\n

Story, who plated Contreras with a sharp single in the seventh, now has two RBIs in three consecutive games (matching a career high) and a hit in four straight. He was the Red Sox\u2019 designated hitter Wednesday, with Monsaterio getting the start at shortstop, and the plan paid off.<\/p>\n

Durbin then drove in Abreu on a grounder to second to make it 5-0 Red Sox, which was more than enough. <\/p>\n

Tyler\u2019s time<\/p>\n

Tyler Samaniego made his major league debut and struck out the side in a scoreless eighth for Boston.<\/p>\n

He joins Fred Wenz in 1968 as the only Red Sox relievers ever to allow zero runs in their debut and record three strikeouts in their first inning of work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was awesome, man,\u201d Samaniego told reporters. \u201cIt was everything you ever dream of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cora offered high praise for Boston\u2019s newest pitcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally good,\u201d Cora said. \u201cThrew strikes, good stuff. Like I said before the game, in that trade, he was a guy that was very intriguing. We got him, and he\u2019s going to contribute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samaniego, called up earlier in the day, honored his father, Rick, who died in 2022, with the lettering \u201cRIP POPS\u201d inscribed on his glove. <\/p>\n

When asked how his father would react to his call-up, Samaniego smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI probably can\u2019t say it on a microphone, but he\u2019d be fired up,\u201d he said, per NESN\u2019s Jahmai Webster. \u201cThat\u2019s for sure. He\u2019d be ready to come out here behind the dugout and drink a beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\"Profile\t<\/p>\n

Trevor Hass is a sports producer for Boston.com, where he writes and edits stories about Boston’s professional teams, among other tasks.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet the latest Boston sports news<\/p>\n

Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boston Red Sox They have a long way to go but are starting to resemble the team many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,4,89,2543],"class_list":{"0":"post-671112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-red-sox","11":"tag-bostonredsox","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-red-sox","14":"tag-redsox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116371560805462901","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}