The Daniel Bard retirement story
PHILADELPHIA - Before the Red Sox's 11-inning, 9-8 win over the Phillies Wednesday night, Alex Cora was asked to compare his club's leap out of the All-Star break this season to last year.
Considering the circumstance, it was a fair question at the time.
Just as was the case in the first two series after the All-Star vacation in 2024, this Red Sox team had only won one of the five tilts, all coming on the road and all representing a slight step back from the elite vibes garnered before the hiatus.
Alex Cora went on to explain that the two stretches weren't comparable, considering the level of pitching this current stretch included, along with the depleted bullpen that served as the foundation to last season's frustration in Los Angeles and Colorado.
"It's night and day compared to last year," the Red Sox manager said.
By the time Cora's club boarded the bus, putting these series against the Cubs and Phillies in the rearview mirror, his point was well taken. It was different. And for that, the Red Sox could thank one of their most memorable games of the season.
For starters, juxtaposing the final game in this year's post-break road trip compared to a year ago painted a pretty powerful picture. The 2024 series finale in Colorado wasn't about to be forgotten because it was the day that Cora agreed to his contract extension and the Red Sox lost 20-7, with some of the players venturing over to the Rockies' side after Cal Quantrill's derogatory remark toward Reese McGuire during the game's bench-clearing fracas.
This was going to stick for a much more heartening collection of moments. It was night and day.
- The Red Sox trailed by five runs with two outs in the fifth inning when they got a run-scoring bases-loaded walk by Rob Refsnyder. It was a free pass that was only made possible because Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto lost an easy pop-up in the early evening sky, giving Refsnyder and the Red Sox continued life.
- After another bases-loaded free pass, cutting the Philadelphia lead to three, Romy Gonzalez hit his first-ever grand slam to give the Red Sox one of their most impactful leads of the season.
- Cora managed as aggressively as he had all season, bringing on Aroldis Chapman to face Kyle Schwarber in the seventh inning. It was a plan that seemed to be on-point after the closer retired Schwarber, followed by Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos to begin the eighth. But Realmuto put a dent in the plan by tying the game with a two-out blast to dead centerfield.
Considering it was the first time Chapman had gone more than an inning since July 3, 2024, and marked just the fifth occasion he had been called on for such a stretch since 2018, it was certainly notable.
- There was also Carlos Narvaez's excellent adventure. After two straight games of being smack dab in the middle of pivotal moments thanks to various catcher's interference rulings, it was only fitting that the well-meaning rookie got a chance to leave Philly with a different kind of punctuation. It was Narvaez whose two-run homer in the 11th ultimately gave the Red Sox their first extra-inning road win in eight tries.
- And, finally, this unforgettable game had to be capped off by one more unforgettable moment, which was accomplished thanks to Brennan Bernardino coming on to record his first career major league save and first save since he closed out a game in Mexico back in 2020.
All of those moments will forever be put on the 2025 season's highlight reel. There were others. Lucas Giolito giving up a career-high four home runs to put the Sox in a five-run hole. And Marcelo Mayer needing to exit the game in the fifth inning due to right wrist discomfort.
They are all cemented.
What we don't know is exactly how impactful this one win will ultimately be when trying to define the grit and guile of a team still trying to prove it belongs among MLB's big boys.
Listening to some in the Red Sox's clubhouse, there wasn't a hesitancy to already separate this one as a true difference-maker when it comes to the big picture of the 2025 season.
"What we did tonight was a postseason game," Narvaez said. "If we show up, we can do it."
"Sometimes it takes that hero moment," Giolioto said when asked about Gonzalez's grand slam. "Sometimes it takes grinding. I would say we had that hero moment."
"I feel like this is, I don't want to say a signature win of the season, but it feels like it," Gonzalez said. "It felt like playoff baseball. Our backs were against the wall and we didn't lay down and came out with a victory tonight."
Night and day ... From a year ago ... From a day ago.