Blanked by Red Sox, Giants Find Nothing but Frustration in Boston

Wilyer Abreu of the Boston Red Sox follows through on an RBI triple against the San Francisco Giants in Boston on April 30, 2024 (Michael Dwyer/AP Photo)

BOSTON—Rookie Wilyer Abreu knocked out a single, double, and his first career triple, Cooper Criswell pitched five scoreless innings, and the Boston Red Sox beat the San Francisco Giants 4–0 on Tuesday night for their major league-leading sixth shutout.

Abreu, who finished a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, helped Boston win its third straight game. Jarren Duran singled in his first three at-bats and drove in a run, and Rob Refsnyder had two RBI singles as the Red Sox quickly ended Giants’ ace Logan Webb’s streak of 19 consecutive scoreless innings.

Boston finished with 11 hits and drew six walks, taking a toll on San Francisco’s pitching on a crisp night.

“We stayed very humble tonight,” Boston Manager Alex Cora said. “There were no chases. We hit the ball the other way, not too many swings and misses. We’ll take the homers, but I think the at-bats are going to get better.”

Webb’s scoreless streak ended in the first inning with an RBI single by Refsnyder, and the game continued to slide from there. Webb, who didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, hadn’t allowed a run since April 7. Webb (3–2) surrendered four runs and nine hits, with four strikeouts and three walks, in 3 2/3 innings.

Criswell (2–1) had a much stronger night, holding the Giants to just two hits and striking out four in his five innings. San Francisco didn’t have a hit until Michael Conforto led off the fifth with a single. After a quick double play, Jorge Soler added a two-out single for the Giants, but that was their last hit until Wilmer Flores’ one-out single in the ninth.

Related Stories

Estrada, Yastrzemski Hit Back-to-Back Homers to Lead Giants Past Pirates

4/28/2024

Pair of Homers Lifts Pirates Over Giants in 10

4/28/2024

“He just located well,” San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman said of Criswell. “He was putting the ball where he wanted to for the most part, keeping guys off balance, and then we weren’t really able to get anything going.”

San Francisco finished with just four hits to match a season-low, and was shut out for the second time this year.

The Giants were able to limit the damage to just one run in each of the first four innings, although the Red Sox forced Webb to push his pitch count up to 55 by the end of the second. The third inning wasn’t much better for Webb. Abreu led off with a double, and Refsnyder followed with his second RBI single of the game.

Webb had to face Abreu again in the fourth, and the Red Sox rookie tagged him for an RBI triple to the corner in right field.

“I think that was the baseball that I’ve hit the hardest in my career,” Abreu said through a translator. “It feels good. You can see the progress from the start of the season to right now. It feels good to see results.”

Early ERA

Boston starting pitchers haven’t allowed a run in 12 of 30 games this season and have a cumulative ERA of 2.00.

“We expect to be consistent. I don’t know about the numbers,” Mr. Cora said. “I know every single night, I feel very comfortable with where we’re going to be pitching-wise.”

Further Review

Duran nearly had a fourth straight single in the fifth inning on a grounder to third base and a Chapman throw that took first baseman LaMonte Wade off the bag. San Francisco challenged the safe call, however, and replays confirmed Wade was still touching the base when he caught the throw.

The Giants were on the losing end of a challenge in the eighth after appearing to turn an around-the-horn triple play on a grounder by Tyler O‘Neill. Mr. Cora called for the review. Video showed that O’Neill beat the throw just in time, so it was a 5–4 double play.

Trainer’s Room

Giants: Right fielder Mike Yastrzemski needed a few minutes after getting hit by a pitch from reliever Brennan Bernadino in the top of the sixth, but remained in the game. It was Yastrzemski’s first trip since 2019 to Fenway Park, where his grandfather, Carl, was a Hall of Famer for the Red Sox.

Red Sox: First baseman Garrett Cooper left in the fifth inning after taking a 95 mph pitch from Giants reliever Sean Hjelle off his right wrist. Cooper met with Mr. Cora and a trainer before heading to the clubhouse, and was replaced by pinch-runner Bobby Dalbec, who also took over defensively at first base. ... The Red Sox acquired minor-league left-hander Bailey Horn from the Chicago White Sox in a deal for cash considerations, and then optioned him to Triple-A Worcester, Mass.

Up Next

Giants Manager Bob Melvin had not named a starter for Wednesday night’s second game of the three-game series. Red Sox right-hander Kutter Crawford (1–1, 1.35 earned-run average) is coming off his first loss of the season after allowing four runs and 10 hits over six innings in a loss to the Chicago Cubs on Friday. Crawford picked up the win last July in his only other start against the Giants, holding San Francisco to one run over 5 2/3 innings.

By Doug Alden