Boston pinch hitter Nick Sogard hit a tie-breaking, two-run double with two outs in a three-run ninth and the Red Sox beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-4 to salvage the final game of a three-game series on Sunday in Phoenix.
Romy Gonzalez extended his career-high hitting streak to 10 games with a one-out single in the ninth before Taylor Rashi (0-1) walked Nate Eaton and got Ceddanne Rafaela on a fly out, bringing up Sogard.
Sogard found the gap in left-center to drive in two, and pinch hitter Carlos Narvaez singled him in.
Closer Aroldis Chapman struck out four in the ninth — one reached on a wild pitch — for his 29th save in 31 chances. It was his franchise-record 17th consecutive hitless appearance, the third-longest such streak in the modern era (since 1901).
Trevor Story had two hits and an RBI, and David Hamilton had an RBI single in a three-run seventh, when Boston took a 4-3 lead.
Gabriel Moreno had two hits and an RBI, and Blaze Alexander and Jordan Lawlar had RBI singles for the D-Backs.
The Red Sox (79-65) broke a three-game losing streak and moved to 3 1/2 games behind Toronto in the American League East. They are 3 1/2 games ahead of Seattle for the final AL wild-card spot.
The Diamondbacks (72-72) had a four-game winning streak broken and failed to move two games over .500 for the first time since June 25, when they were 41-39.
Arizona is 4 1/2 games behind the New York Mets for the third National League wild-card spot and also trails San Francisco and Cincinnati with 18 games to play. The Diamondbacks begin a three-game series at the Giants (72-71) on Monday.
Third baseman Lawlar’s run-scoring single in the seventh tied it at 4-4 after his two-out, two-base throwing error on Connor Wong’s hard grounder in the top of the inning enabled two runs to score.
Garrett Whitlock (6-3) retired all five batters he faced after entering following Lawlar’s single with two on in the seventh.
Arizona starter Ryne Nelson gave up one run and three hits in six innings, leaving with a 2-1 lead after a season-high 105 pitches. He struck out three and walked three in his third straight quality start.
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello gave up three runs on four hits in six innings, with two strikeouts and one walk.
–Field Level Media
