PHILADELPHIA -- A long drive and a little popup went a long way to changing the Red Sox’s fortunes.
Carlos Narváez got some redemption, too.
Narváez hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning to help the Red Sox complete the rally in a 9-8 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park, avoiding a three-game sweep. With the win, Boston (55-49) matched Seattle (54-48) for the second American League Wild Card spot.
“A special moment,” Narváez said.
After Thursday’s off-day, Boston returns home to Fenway Park to host the Dodgers in a three-game weekend series after winning two of six on the road from the Phillies and Cubs.
Both Narváez and the Red Sox likely will be feeling much better, too. Boston’s catcher was called for rare catcher’s interference calls in both Monday and Tuesday’s losses to Philadelphia before turning fortune his way with a one-out go-ahead homer off Phillies reliever Seth Johnson in extras.
“You gotta move forward,” Narváez said. “You gotta stay on the attack mode.”
Jorge Alcala got the first two outs in the bottom of the frame, giving up a run on Johan Rojas’ RBI single, before Brennan Bernardino shut the door.
“It was good,” manager Alex Cora said. “We’re going to fight, we’re going to play good, we’re going to struggle, but we have a good baseball team.”
Boston displayed that fight Wednesday night, but the Red Sox also got some help from the home team.
A misjudged popup that should have been the final out in the fifth inning quickly turned into six runs.
With the bases loaded, Rob Refsnyder fouled a 2-0 pitch behind the plate, but neither Philadelphia catcher J.T. Realmuto nor pitcher Jesús Luzardo tracked the ball and it fell harmlessly in foul territory. It was just the break the Red Sox needed.
After Refsnyder and Jarren Duran drew RBI walks to cut the deficit to 5-2, Romy Gonzalez crushed a changeup from Luzardo into the seats in left-center field for his first career grand slam and an unlikely 6-5 Boston lead.
“Sometimes you gotta have breaks,” Cora said. “That [popup] dropped. [Refsnyder] walked. And we took off.”
The Red Sox entered the fifth inning struggling mightily at the plate in the series. They had just three runs, 28 strikeouts and 12 total hits in the first two games.
A missed popup, of all things, helped to change everything despite entering the frame without a hit.
Boston also won on Wednesday despite starter Lucas Giolito surrendering a career-high-tying four home runs in just four innings. He entered having given up just nine long balls in 77 2/3 innings.
“Fastball command was off,” Cora said. “When he doesn’t have that, then the other pitchers are not as good as they should be.”
After being one of Boston’s most dependable starters in June with a 3.04 ERA in five starts, Giolito has given up nine earned runs in his past 9 1/3 innings. It started when Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper went back-to-back to give Philadelphia a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Then, Nick Castellanos went yard in the third, and Bryson Stott followed suit in the fourth to give Philadelphia a 5-0 lead.
“I came out flat,” Giolito said. “I made a lot of mistakes down the middle of the plate that they hit out of the park.”
But Boston got shutdown relief from Justin Wilson and Jordan Hicks before Cora went to Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the seventh. Chapman retired Schwarber for the final out of the inning and then set down the first two batters in the eighth before Realmuto tied it with a home run to center.
But the Red Sox continued to battle until pulling out the victory in 11 innings.
“It’s just one of those team effort wins,” Giolito said.