Ceddanne Rafaela's two-run homer lifts Red Sox past White Sox, 3-1

BOSTON — The Red Sox offense has been ice cold lately. How cold is ice cold? So cold that over the past two weeks entering Friday the lineup had managed just 35 runs in 13 games, good for only 2.7 per game.

Fortunately for Boston, this weekend the club is hosting the only team in baseball whose lineup has been less productive.

The Chicago White Sox futility this season almost defies belief, but among the club’s plethora of lowlights, its lineup has averaged only 2.5 runs per game over the last two weeks. Much of Friday’s series opener featured more of the same from the two struggling offenses, but eventually the Red Sox were able to break through thanks to Ceddanne Rafaela’s two-run home run in the seventh inning, which lifted Boston to a badly needed 3-1 win.

Rafael Devers also got two hits to break out of his recent slump, and the Red Sox snapped their season-long five-game losing streak.

Though Nick Pivetta never totally found his footing, he pitched well enough to keep the White Sox from stringing together any sustained rallies. Chicago got baserunners in every inning Pivetta pitched, but its only run came in the top of the second, when Lenyn Sosa led off with a double and scored on a soft RBI single by Jacob Amaya.

Beyond that Pivetta survived two first-inning walks, sprinkled a couple of singles across the rest of his outing and benefitted from a nice double play started by Enmanuel Valdez at second to erase a leadoff walk in the sixth. His final line: six innings, one run, five hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

The Red Sox offense remained frustratingly stagnant, managing only one run of its own against White Sox right-hander Davis Martin. The club didn’t even do most of the work producing that run, as Martin hit Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida in back-to-back plate appearances to set Triston Casas up for his game-tying RBI single in the fourth.

Martin hit Yoshida a second time his next time up, giving him three HBP on the day. That’s tied for the most by one pitcher in a single game this season, but otherwise the Red Sox couldn’t do much against the 27-year-old. Martin allowed just the one run on three hits, a walk and the three HBP while striking out three.

But if there’s been one reliable cure for a slumping offense this season, it’s been the White Sox bullpen.

Coming into Friday Chicago relievers had combined for a 4.99 ERA and 31 blown saves on the year. While there wasn’t a save on the line, recently called up White Sox right-hander Matt Foster entered the game looking to preserve a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh. He got a leadoff pop out, but then walked Enmanuel Valdez after the Red Sox infielder won a 12-pitch battle.

That set the stage for Rafaela, who ambushed the first pitch he saw 381 feet into the Green Monster seats for a two-run home run.

Boston’s bullpen, which has been plagued by its own issues, held up its end of the bargain on Friday and shut the White Sox down the rest of the way. Zack Kelly, Brennan Bernardino and Josh Winckowski combined for three scoreless innings of relief, with Winckowski earning his first save of the season by posting a perfect ninth.