Travis Shaw's go-ahead hit, Josh Taylor's first career save lift Red Sox to gritty win over White Sox

Sep. 12—The circumstances were far from ideal for the Red Sox on Saturday night. J.D. Martinez was another late scratch from the lineup. And in the midst of their COVID-19 outbreak, in the thick of a playoff race, they were forced to start Connor Seabold for his major-league debut against the first-place White Sox in Chicago.

On paper, it's a game they weren't likely to win. And yet, they pulled it off for one of their gutsiest victories of the season.

Behind some unlikely sources, the Red Sox proved resilient again. Travis Shaw, not even in the lineup until an hour before first pitch, came up with two huge hits — including the go-ahead RBI single in the 10th — and Josh Taylor slammed the door to earn his first career save as the Red Sox held on for a huge 9-8 win over the White Sox.

The Red Sox (81-63) can earn a critical series victory on Sunday afternoon as they continue to hold on to a slim lead at the top of the stacked wild card standings.

Saturday's triumph certainly didn't come easy. They blew a 7-2 lead after an ugly error from Rafael Devers led to a five-run fourth inning from the White Sox, who took an 8-7 lead in the fifth when Yasmani Grandal took Ryan Brasier deep.

Boston battled back. They played much better defense towards the end of the game — including an incredible diving play from Xander Bogaerts in the ninth — and strong pitching from Garrett Whitlock kept them in it to force extras. Shaw — who hit a three-run homer to cap off their seven-run third inning — came up big again with an RBI single to right to score Alex Verdugo from third.

It's all they ultimately needed. Taylor gave up a leadoff single to put runners on first and third with no outs, but he retired the next three batters he faced. He struck out Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick before inducing Brian Goodwin into a grounder to second, where Kiké Hernandez ranged to his left to make a nice play and Bobby Dalbec made an impressive game-ending pick.

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