Jake Bennett settles down, Red Sox rally to complete sweep of Giants

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Aug 23, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — It looked at first like it was going to be a long day for Jake Bennett.

The rookie left-hander has already surpassed his career-high in innings pitched as a professional, and in order to help manage his workload the Red Sox opted to push Bennett’s next start back so that when he took the mound on Sunday he’d be doing so on nine days rest.

The early returns weren’t good, but before long Bennett locked back in and gave his offense a chance to make their move.

Bennett shook off a rough first two innings and finished brilliantly in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants, allowing three earned runs in seven innings to help complete the three-game home sweep. The offense also rallied from three runs down, scoring five unanswered including three in the fourth to take the lead for good.

The Giants initially teed off on Bennett, scoring twice in the top of the first after Rafael Devers walked and his teammates ripped off three consecutive singles. Bryce Eldridge and Victor Bericoto had RBI knocks, and San Francisco extended its lead to 3-0 in the second when Jonah Cox hit a leadoff solo home run to the Green Monster.

But from there Bennett retired 18 of the last 21 batters he faced, and the only additional damage he incurred was an unearned run in the seventh stemming from a comical sequence where Christian Koss singled, advanced to third on a throwing error by Andruw Monasterio and scored for a Little League home run when Wilyer Abreu’s throw to third sailed into the camera well.

Bennett finished with four runs (three earned) over seven innings on seven hits, one walk and six strikeouts. He needed just 84 pitches to get through the seven innings, sending the Giants down on 10 pitches or fewer in each frame from the second through the sixth.

While Bennett was dealing, the bats went to work.

Nick Sogard answered Cox’s second-inning leadoff homer with a leadoff shot of his own, his second of the season, and Boston scored again in the third after Jahmai Jones tripled and came in to score on Ceddanne Rafaela’s RBI single.

The Giants nearly got out of the fourth inning unscathed despite a leadoff double by Sogard when Connor Wong hit a sky high fly ball that Bericoto appeared to catch right up against the Green Monster wall. But the ball made an unmistakable banging noise that seemed to suggest it may have grazed the wall before bouncing into the glove, and upon review the catch was waved off and Wong was awarded the game-tying RBI double.

From there Mickey Gasper followed with a go-ahead RBI double of his own, and Rafaela tacked on an RBI single to give him three hits before the end of the fourth inning.

Giants starter Matt Wilkinson, who was making his second career MLB start, was pulled with two outs following the Wong double and charged with four runs over 3 2/3 innings on seven hits and two strikeouts.

While Koss’s trip around the bases made things closer than it needed to be, the Giants never seriously threatened to complete the comeback. Tyron Guerrero threw a scoreless eighth aided by an inning-ending double play, and Aroldis Chapman sent the Giants down 1-2-3 in the ninth for his 29th save.

Beyond completing the three-game sweep, the Red Sox finished their six-game homestand 5-1 and are now 71-59 on the season overall. Sunday also marked the club’s 16th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park dating back to the first game of the July 22 doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles.

Boston will now hit the road for a three-game series against the Miami Marlins that will begin Monday, and after Thursday’s off day they’ll fly up to the Bronx for four games against the New York Yankees, who also won Sunday to remain three games up on the Red Sox in the AL East and AL wild-card standings.

Ranger Suarez (5-3, 3.41) will face off against 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara (13-8, 3.46) in Monday’s opener. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. ET.

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