Category: Baseball

Red Sox minor-leaguers Triston Casas, Jack Lopez named to Team USA’s Olympic roster

A pair of Red Sox minor-leaguers will represent the United States in the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.

First baseman Triston Casas and utility man Jack Lopez were both named to Team USA’s 24-man Olympic roster, USA Baseball announced on Friday.

Darren Fenster, a minor-league outfield and baserunning coach within the Red Sox organization, will serve as Team USA’s third base coach under manager Mike Scioscia.

Casas, 21, is regarded by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Red Sox farm system and the No. 24 prospect in all of baseball.

In 36 games with Double-A Portland this season, the left-handed hitter is slashing .275/.357/.413 (113 wRC+) with three doubles, two triples, four home runs, 23 RBI, 26 runs scored, 17 walks, 38 strikeouts, and three stolen bases over 157 plate appearances.

Selected by the Red Sox with the 26th overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft, Casas participated in the Baseball Americas Qualifier Tournament in late May and early June and will once again be representing his country in the coming weeks.

Lopez, meanwhile, was added to Team USA’s roster after initially playing for Team Puerto Rico before they were eliminated from Olympic contention during qualifiers.

The 28-year-old originally inked a minor-league deal with the Sox in January after spending the first nine years of his professional career between the Royals and Braves organizations.

After opening the 2021 season with Double-A Portland, Lopez was promoted to Triple-A Worcester on May 11. Since then, the right-handed hitter has posted a .336/.369/.434 slash line (114 wRC+) to go along with eight doubles, one homer, 19 RBI, 18 runs scored, seven walks, 21 strikeouts, and seven stolen bases over the course of 33 games (122 plate appearances).

Despite playing nothing but second base, third base, and shortstop in his brief time with the WooSox, Lopez is listed as an outfielder on Team USA’s roster. This is the case because the former 16th-round draft pick out of Puerto Rico does have limited professional experience in both left and center field.

Speaking of outfielders, top Red Sox prospect Jarren Duran, like Casas, aided Team USA in qualifying for the Summer Games this spring and turned the heads of many while doing so.

That said, Duran was not named to the United States’ Olympic roster on Friday. According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the reasoning behind this comes from the decision makers at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, not the Red Sox.

“The Red Sox would have been OK with him going, with the proviso that if they wanted to call him up, they could,” Speier wrote on Friday. “With visa requirements and the logistical challenges of replacing a player, the US elected not to include Duran on the roster for the same reason that the team doesn’t feature members of MLB 40-man rosters: Duran is de facto big league depth at this point.”

Duran, who turns 25 in September, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 25 prospect in all of baseball, ranking eighth among the game’s top young outfielders.

With the WooSox this season, Duran has proven that he is more than capable of handling Triple-A pitching, as he came into play Friday boasting a .278/.372/.599 batting line in addition to 15 homers and 31 RBI over 39 games.

The speedy outfielder has been on the verge of a big-league call up for quite some time now, and the fact that he will not be headed to Tokyo may signal that his impending promotion could be coming sooner rather than later.

As for the Olympic baseball tournament itself, Team USA will open play with a game against Team Israel on July 30. The tourney runs through August 7 as the U.S. will be going for its third gold medal in baseball.

(Picture of Triston Casas: Mark Brown/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers named to American League All-Star team as starters

Red Sox infielders Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers have been named to the American League All-Star team as starters, Major League Baseball announced Thursday night.

Bogaerts becomes an All-Star for the third time in his career and is slated to start an All-Star Game for just the second time after getting the starting nod at shortstop for the American League back in 2016.

Following a 1-for-4 showing at the plate in Boston’s 15-1 win over the Royals at Fenway Park on Thursday, the 28-year-old is now slashing .329/.391/.550 with 25 doubles, 13 home runs, 48 RBI, 50 runs scored, 29 walks, 57 strikeouts, and five stolen bases through his first 77 games (325 plate appearances) of the 2021 season.

Among qualified American League shortstops, Bogaerts came into play Thursday ranking first in hits (94), first in doubles (24), third in homers, third in runs scored (49), third in RBI, first in batting average (.330), second in on-base percentage, first in slugging percentage (.551), first in OPS (.942), first in weighted on-base average (.400), second in wRC+ (151), and first in fWAR, per FanGraphs.

“For Xander to be a starter, that means the world. He’s one of the best, if not the best shortstop in the big-leagues,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following the rout over Kansas City on Thursday afternoon. “The way he goes about his business, it’s amazing. I’ve been saying all along, he’s the most consistent in this organization. He’s amazing. Day in and day out he shows up, he works and he goes out there and performs. There’s no red flags on the field and off the field. This kid got here and he contributed to win a World Series.”

By finishing in first place in regards to the fan vote, Bogaerts beat out the likes of Toronto’s Bo Bichette and Houston’s Carlos Correa for the top spot among AL shortstops.

Devers, meanwhile, becomes an All-Star for the first time in his young career after nearly making the team in 2019.

The 24-year-old enjoyed a productive day at the plate on Thursday, as he went 3-for-5 a home run, three runs scored, and five runs driven in to raise his batting line on the season to .288/.359/.582.

The homer, a 426-foot three-run blast, was his 20th of the season, while his five RBI brought his total on the year up to an American League-leading 69 through 78 games (329 plate appearances).

As of Thursday morning, Devers ranked first among qualified AL third basemen in hits (81), first in doubles (24), first in home runs (19), second in runs scored (52), first in RBI, first in batting average (.282), fourth in on-base percentage (.355), first in slugging percentage (.571), first in OPS (.926), first in isolated power (.289), first in weighted on-base average (.387), first in wRC+ (143), and first in fWAR (3.0), according to FanGraphs.

Devers finished in first place among American League third baseman in terms of fan votes, as he beat out Houston’s Alex Bregman and Chicago’s Yoan Moncada for the No. 1 spot.

“[With] Raffy, we had a conversation early in the season, actually in spring training. It was him understanding what was going on in the business,” said Cora. “Looking around and everybody’s talking about all these young kids, right? (Fernando) Tatis, (Ronald) Acuña, (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.), (Cavan) Biggio, (Bo) Bichette, and people forget about the fact that he’s 24. He led the big leagues in extra-base hits two years ago and he’s doing what he’s doing now. For him to get recognized, I know it it means the world for him, it means the world for the organization.”

To put it simply, both Bogaerts and Devers are having stellar seasons with the Red Sox to this point, and the two teammates will become the first pair of Boston infielders ever to start in the same All-Star Game at shortstop and third base.

—

J.D. Martinez and Alex Verdugo, who were both named All-Star finalists along with Bogaerts and Devers on Sunday, were not named as starters for the American League side on Thursday.

That being the case because Martinez finished second behind Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani to start at designated hitter for the AL, while Verdugo finished ninth among eligible AL outfielders and behind the likes of the Angels’ Mike Trout, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, and the Blue Jays’ Teoscar Hernandez.

While Martinez and Verdugo will not start this year’s Midsummer Classic, there is still a chance for both of them to partake in the festivities, as pitchers and reserves for both the American League and National League teams will be announced on Sunday, July 4.

From there, All-Star Week will begin in Denver on July 11 with the All-Star Futures Game, and the All-Star Game itself will take place at Coors Field on July 13.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Rafael Devers, Danny Santana collect 5 RBI each as Red Sox crush Royals, 15-1, to finish off sweep and perfect homestand

Even on short rest, the Red Sox opened up the second half of their season by crushing the Royals, 15-1, at Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon to finish off a four-game sweep of Kansas City while also wrapping up a perfect 7-0 homestand.

With the win, Boston improves to 20 games over .500 for the first time this season at 51-31. They also increase their lead over the Rays, who were idle on Thursday, for first place in the American League East to 3 1/2 games.

Kiké Hernández got the scoring started for the Sox right away, as he led things off against Royals starter Kris Bubic by clubbing his third leadoff home run in the last five days in the first inning.

J.D. Martinez followed suit in the fourth, as he led the inning off with another solo shot — his 17th homer of the season — to give Boston a 2-0 lead.

A two-out walk drawn by Hunter Renfroe and two-out single from Marwin Gonzalez brought Danny Santana to the plate with the chance to do some damage, and the switch-hitter did just that by mashing an opposite field three-run blast into the Red Sox bullpen. Santana’s first big fly since late May put his side up by five runs.

The Boston offense put up another four-spot in their half of the fifth against Royals reliever Ervin Santana, with Alex Verdugo, Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts loading the bases with one out, and Rafael Devers plating a pair on a two-run single to center field.

The bases were re-loaded when Gonzalez was issued another free pass, and Santana came through in that spot by placing a softly-hit, 108-foot RBI single to second base that came as a result of the Kansas City infield playing in a shift.

A balk with Connor Wong at the plate brought in another run, and the Red Sox found themselves in possession of a 9-0 lead.

Devers tacked on three more runs on one swing of the bat in the sixth. With two outs and runners on second and third, the left-handed slugger absolutely obliterated a 98 mph sinker from Josh Staumont and sent it flying 426 feet — with an exit velocity of 110.2 mph — over everything in right field for his 20th dinger of the season.

Michael Chavis, pinch-hitting for Hernández, drove in an additional run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, while Gonzalez and Santana wrapped up productive days at the plate by collecting one more RBI each in the eighth.

All in all, the Red Sox lineup totaled 15 runs on 17 hits on Thursday. Devers went 3-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored, and five RBI to tie a season-high in that department. Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI, and one walk. And Santana — in his best game in a Sox uniform to date — went 3-for-5 with a double, one run scored, an a season-high five runs driven in.

Eovaldi tosses seven scoreless frames

While the Red Sox were getting stellar production out of their lineup on Thursday, they also got yet another impressive start from Nathan Eovaldi.

Making his 17th start of the season in this one, the right-hander tossed seven scoreless innings while scattering just five hits and zero walks to go along with six strikeouts on the afternoon.

Four of the five hits Eovaldi allowed came within the first three innings. From the top of the fourth up until the middle of the seventh, the flame-throwing righty retired 12 of the last 13 hitters he faced.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 84 (63 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler picked up his team-leading ninth winning decision of the year while also lowering his ERA to 3.41. His next start should come against the Angels in Anaheim next Tuesday.

Andriese gives up shutout bid

In relief of Eovaldi, Matt Andriese came on the for the eighth inning, faced the minimum in the inning thanks to a double play, but was unable to keep the shutout going in the ninth when he served up an RBI double to Jarrod Dyson.

Still, Andriese did stay on until the end, and he saw the Sox’ 15-1 victory through to its completion.

Next up: Heading out West

The Red Sox will board a flight to San Francisco later Thursday afternoon and open up a three-game series against the Athletics in Oakland on Friday.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is slated to get the ball for Boston in the series opener, while right-hander Frankie Montas will be doing the same for Oakland.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Danny Santana: Boston Red Sox)

J.D. Martinez and Hunter Renfroe homer, Kiké Hernández makes jaw-dropping diving catch as Red Sox top Royals, 6-2, on rain-filled night at Fenway Park

It took more than five hours to complete on account of two lengthy rain delays, but the Red Sox were able to come away with a 6-2 win over the Royals on a stormy Wednesday night/early Thursday morning at Fenway Park.

With the victory, Boston reaches the halfway point of their season having improved to 50-31 on the year. They also extended their winning streak to six consecutive games while increasing their lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East to three full games.

Martin Perez made his 16th start of the season for the Sox on Wednesday (at 7:40 p.m. as opposed to 7:10 p.m. thanks to a 30-minute delay), facing off against Kansas City for the second time in as many weeks.

The left-hander stumbled out of the gate a bit by serving up a solo home run to Salvador Perez in the second inning, but then managed to settle in nicely from there.

Over 5 1/3 innings of work, Perez wound up surrendering just two runs — both of which were earned — on seven hits and zero walks to go along with two strikeouts on the night.

In the top of the fifth, Perez received some help from his center fielder, as Enrique Hernandez made a fantastic sprawling catch on a Hanser Alberto fly ball to both prevent the Royals from scoring and end the inning since it came with two outs.

The only other run Perez gave up came in the top half of the sixth, when he yielded an RBI groundout to Carlos Santana, and his outing came to a close shortly after that.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 86 (54 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler was ultimately hit with the no-decision in this one, though he did lower his ERA on the year to 4.04. His next start should come against the Angels in Anaheim next Monday.

In relief of Perez, Brandon Workman came on and escaped the sixth by inducing an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Hunter Dozier.

At that point, the skies opened up in the Fenway-area, the tarp came on the field, and another rain delay commenced, with this one lasting nearly two hours.

By the time the game resumed and a Red Sox pitcher took the mound again, it was nearly midnight. That long layoff did not seem to affect the Boston bullpen, though, as Darwinzon Hernandez tossed a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, Josh Taylor extended his consecutive scoreless appearance streak to 24 games with a perfect eighth inning, and Matt Barnes shut the door on the Royals in the ninth to preserve a 6-2 win for his side.

—

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a familiar foe in Royals left-hander Mike Minor, who they also saw last week in Kansas City.

Despite falling behind early on Wednesday, J.D. Martinez did not mess around in taking that lead back, as he belted a 420-foot three-run home run to deep center field off Minor to get his side on the board in the third inning.

Martinez’s 16th homer of the year had an exit velocity of more than 108 mph, and it also gave the Sox a 3-1 lead.

Fast forward to the fifth, and a leadoff single from Alex Verdugo proved to be the catalyst for another multi-run inning, with Xander Bogaerts plating him on an RBI base hit off the Green Monster and Hunter Renfroe driving in another run (Martinez) on a force out.

Renfroe’s productive night at the plate would not end there, however, as the right-handed hitting slugger came out of the in-game delay and cranked a 427-foot solo shot over everything in left field with one out in the eighth inning.

Capping off his month of June with a bang, Renfroe’s 12th big fly of the season (and fifth of the month) left his bat at 106.9 mph on a hanging slider from Royals reliever Anthony Swarzak.

The towering blast also gave the Red Sox a 6-2 lead over the Royals, and that would go on to be Wednesday’s final score, though the final out was technically recorded on Thursday morning.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

Next up: Bubic vs. Eovaldi

The Red Sox will wrap up their four-game series against the Royals while simultaneously opening up the second half of their season (Game No. 82) on Thursday afternoon.

Left-hander Kris Bubic is slated to get the ball for Kansas City, while Nathan Eovaldi will be doing the same for Boston. Also expect Connor Wong to get the start behind the plate.

First pitch Thursday (weather permitting) is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Final game of the homestand in which the Red Sox are a perfect 6-0.

(Picture of Enrique Hernandez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox injuries: Bobby Dalbec (hamstring tightness) out of Wednesday’s lineup, Christian Arroyo (knee contusion) set for rehab assignment with WooSox, Tanner Houck sharp in latest start

Red Sox manager Alex Cora provided injury updates pertaining to Bobby Dalbec, Christian Arroyo, and Tanner Houck prior to Wednesday’s game against the Royals at Fenway Park.

Dalbec, who experienced right hamstring tightness that forced him to exit in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s win over Kansas City, is out of Boston’s starting lineup for Wednesday’s contest.

“Bobby’s OK,” Cora said earlier Wednesday afternoon. “He’s still tight. He’s going to get treatment. I don’t know if we’re going to try to make him run today. But better than yesterday, but not 100%.”

While it certainly looks like Dalbec, who actually turned 26 on Tuesday, will avoid a trip to the injured list and should be considered day-to-day, Michael Chavis will start in his place at first base and bat ninth on Wednesday.

Arroyo slated to begin rehab assignment with WooSox

Christian Arroyo, meanwhile, has been on the 10-day injured list since June 24 (backdated to June 21) due to a right knee contusion that was originally diagnosed as a right shin bone bruise after he collided with Enrique Hernandez in Kansas City two weekends ago.

Because his stint on the IL was backdated to June 21, Arroyo is eligible to be activated on Thursday, July 1. That said, the Red Sox would like the 26-year-old infielder to get some at-bats in with Triple-A Worcester before that happens.

“Most likely he’ll go to Worcester and he’ll DH tomorrow,” Cora said of Arroyo. “He faced Chris [Sale] today. I think he had two at-bats against him. But there’s not too much going on the field today as far as batting practice and all that. But that was the plan last night. Probably after the game we’ll let you guys know, but that seems to be what he’s going to do.

Arroyo himself expects to head out to Polar Park on Thursday to DH for the WooSox before rejoining the big-league club for their upcoming West Coast road trip.

Houck feeling good after third start back for WooSox

Red Sox pitching prospect Tanner Houck woke up Wednesday morning with no ill effects from his latest start with the WooSox at Polar Park on Tuesday night, Cora said.

In his third start back off the injured list after missing more than a month with flexor muscle soreness, Houck allowed two earned runs on three hits, zero walks, and two hit batsmen to go along with four strikeouts over four innings of work.

It was the right-hander’s longest outing (67 pitches, 40 of which were strikes) since he returned to the mound on June 17.

“Everything went well,” Cora said when asked about Houck, who turned 25 on Tuesday. “I actually texted with [WooSox pitching coach Paul Abbott] this morning, he felt like [Houck] was really good. Command was good, the intent was good, very aggressive. Everything went well. Obviously, let’s see how he shows up today and if there’s any red flags. We don’t expect red flags, so it was a good one for him.”

As he continues to build up his arm strength, Houck could make his return to the Sox’ starting rotation out of the All-Star break if the club opts to add a sixth starter to the mix out of the gate in late July.

—

Also, for what it’s worth, Cora did not provide an update on backup catcher Kevin Plawecki, who has been on the injured list with a left hamstring strain since June 22 but suffered an apparent minor setback on Monday.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Chris Sale’s latest live bullpen session at Fenway Park was ‘eye-opening,’ Alex Cora says

Chris Sale keeps giving the Red Sox reasons to get excited for his impending return to the mound.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sale threw a live batting practice session at Fenway Park. marking the second time he has faced hitters since undergoing Tommy John surgery last March.

Facing off against the right-handed bats of Christian Arroyo and Connor Wong in near-100 degree heat in the Fenway-area, the ace left-hander threw 15 pitches and topped out at 95 mph with his fastball, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Wednesday’s outing marked another important milestone for Sale, and it was one that, quite frankly, left Red Sox manager Alex Cora thoroughly impressed with what he saw from the lefty.

“What we saw today was eye-opening,” Cora said earlier Wednesday afternoon. “Good slider, good changeup, 94-95 mph velocity. We just got to be patient. But he’s already making an impact in the clubhouse — just his mere presence. His knowledge, his communication with other guys is helping. I know he’s looking forward to contributing on the field, but so far, he’s made an impact already on this club.”

What about Sale’s performance was so “eye-opening” in Cora’s view? Well, his command of the strike zone certainly helped.

“Just his command of the pitches. That’s something that I didn’t expect,” said Cora. “He was able to throw fastballs inside, fastballs arm-side up and away to put people away. The changeup was good, the slider was good. And that’s something that — throughout the process — I do believe that’s kind of like the last thing you get, right? The changeup and command. And for him to be dotting pitches already, that’s a great sign.”

Assuming Sale wakes up on Thursday without any sort of issue, the next step for the 32-year-old hurler will be to throw to hitters once again sometime next week, according to Cora. That will however take place in Fort Myers — and last two innings as opposed to just one — since the Red Sox will be out on the west coast and Sale will not be traveling with the team.

From there, Sale could be ready to head out on a rehab assignment with a minor-league affiliate by next week, though Boston would like to keep him close by (with Double-A Portland or Triple-A Worcester) as opposed to far away (with Low-A Salem or High-A Greenville).

“[Head trainer Brad Pearson] feels like we should keep [Sale] around and play him at the highest two levels (Double-A and Triple-A),” Cora said. “And the fact that Worcester is right here, the facilities are good, we can do the same thing we used to do in Pawtucket. They get their work in here, then they go over there and pitch. I think that’s what Brad envisions, so hopefully that’s the case.”

Sale, who underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020 — his 31st birthday — last pitched in a major-league game on August 13, 2019.

As noted by The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, Sale could be ready to make his return to the Red Sox’ starting rotation by late July or early August depending on how many rehab starts he requires.

If that plan comes to fruition and Sale is activated off the injured list within the coming weeks, the Sox would be adding a seven-time All-Star to their rotation at just the right time for the home stretch of the regular season and beyond.

“It’s like I said before, ‘Nobody can trade for Chris Sale,'” Cora said emphatically. “We can add Chris Sale to the equation. This is a guy, he’s looking forward to contribute. He’s in a great frame of mind. Physically, he looks tremendous.”

(Picture of Chris Sale: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox infield prospect Jeter Downs to represent Boston in All-Star Futures Game on July 11

Red Sox infield prospect Jeter Downs will represent the Red Sox in the 2021 All-Star Futures Game on July 11, Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday.

Downs will serve as Boston’s lone representative for the American League squad in one of the hallmark events that will lead up to the 91st MLB All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver on July 13.

“I think it’s great, honestly,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Wednesday when asked about Downs’ selection. “It’s a showcase. He’s going to be around the best of the best prospects in the league. This is a guy that we believe is going to be a good big-league player. Just to be in that environment he has to be special. So, looking forward for Jeter to go over there, do his thing, and enjoy the whole experience.”

This year’s American League team will be managed by former big-league reliever LaTroy Hawkins. The game itself is a seven-inning exhibition that features some of the top prospects in baseball that will begin at 3 p.m. eastern time on Sunday, July 11.

Downs, who turns 23 in late July, is regarded by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline as the No. 2 prospect in Boston’s farm system, trailing only fellow infielder Triston Casas for the top spot in the organization.

One of three players acquired from the Dodgers in the infamous Mookie Betts/David Price trade last February, Downs has certainly experienced the trials and tribulations of playing at the Triple-A level for the first time in his career this season.

Coming into play on Wednesday, the right-handed hitting middle infielder is slashing .243/.323/.410 with three doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBI, 20 runs scored, 16 walks, 51 strikeouts, and 10 stolen bases over his first 38 games (164 plate appearances) for Triple-A Worcester.

In just his last seven games, though, Downs has seemed to turn a corner offensively, as he is hitting .320/.379/.440 (.819 OPS, 118 wRC+) since June 20.

That said, Downs was forced to exit the WooSox’ latest game on Tuesday after an awkward collision at home plate with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders catcher Rob Brantly. He was later checked for a head injury, per MassLive.com’s Katie Morrison.

With that in mind, it should be noted that Downs will be held out of Worcester’s lineup on Wednesday, though Morrison notes that ‘he looks to be fine’ and was out taking ground balls at shortstop earlier in the afternoon.

(Picture of Jeter Downs: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Tanner Houck tosses four 2-run innings in third start back for Triple-A Worcester as questions loom for Boston’s starting rotation

Red Sox pitching prospect Tanner Houck took another important step in building up his arm strength at Polar Park on Tuesday night, which also happened to be his 25th birthday.

Making his third start for Triple-A Worcester since coming off the injured list after missing more than a month with flexor muscle soreness, Houck put together his longest outing in quite a while.

Over four innings of work, the right-hander allowed two runs — both of which were earned — on three hits, zero walks, and two hit batsmen to go along with four strikeouts on the evening.

Both runs Houck surrendered came in his fourth and final frame, as he breezed through the first three and retired the first nine hitters he faced in order before running into some trouble as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders’ (Yankees affiliate) flipped back over.

In the fourth, Houck issued a leadoff single to Estevan Florial, a run-scoring groundout to Hoy Jun Park that was aided by a throwing error, and back-to-back singles to Ryan LaMarre and Socrates Brito.

He followed that sequence by plunking the next two RailRiders — Derek Dietrich and Kyle Holder — to first load the bases and then allow another run to score.

From there, Houck got Trey Amburgey to ground into a forceout and proceeded to fan Rob Brantly on five pitches to limit any further damage while also ending his night on a more somewhat positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 67 (40 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler now owns an ERA of 3.32, a WHIP of 0.66, and a batting average against of .158 in three starts (10 2/3 innings pitched) with the WooSox since returning the mound on June 17.

In each of those starts, Houck has seen his workload increase from three innings on 45 pitches (26 strikes) to 3 2/3 innings on 58 (38 strikes) to four full innings on 67 pitches (40 strikes) on Tuesday.

“I feel good, feel strong, everything feels normal, and I’m excited for [my next start] Sunday,” Houck told MassLive.com’s Katie Morrison following the WooSox’ 9-7 loss to the RailRiders. “I’ve felt strong since the first outing. I just want to continue to pitch, pitch strong and keep moving forward.”

Houck has not started a major-league game for the Red Sox since April 18. Since making his big-league debut last September, the former first-round pick has posted a 1.98 ERA and 2.92 FIP over six total appearances (five starts) and 27 1/3 innings of work.

At the moment, the Sox have a healthy five-man starting rotation comprised of Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez, Garrett Richards, Nick Pivetta, and Martin Perez.

That said, Boston’s starters have not been particularly sharp as of late (5.40 starters’ ERA in June), and the club is preparing for a stretch out of the All-Star break next month where they are scheduled to play 18 games in 18 days (all against the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Rays) from July 15 until August 1.

When asked earlier Tuesday afternoon if the team would consider reshuffling its starting rotation or adding a sixth starter — such as Houck — to the mix post-All-Star break, Red Sox manager Alex Cora did not get too specific, but he did seem open to the idea of reinforcements for the rotation in the not so distant future.

“We’ll talk about it. I actually found out yesterday that we play on Thursday after the All-Star break. I thought it was a three-game series and I was actually planning on going to Puerto Rico. But, no, I’m not going to do that now,” Cora said with a grin on his face. “It’s a lot of straight games, a lot of good lineups. We’re talking about that. We’re talking about that.

“August, it’s going to help us with the five off-days,” added Cora. “That’s going to be very important. But, we’re going to need some help at one point. And these guys, they’ve been posting the whole time. So we’ll see where we go with it.”

In addition to Houck building back up in Worcester, Chris Sale is also slated to throw another live batting practice session at Fenway Park.

Cora described Sale, who is on the road back from Tommy John surgery after undergoing the procedure last March, as someone who “is feeling amazing” in between the days he has pitched, so that is certainly an encouraging development on the Red Sox’ note.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, if all goes well with Sale on Wednesday and the day after, the ace left-hander could be in line to begin a rehab assignment with a Red Sox minor-league affiliate sometime in July.

Like Houck, Sale represents another potential reinforcement for a Red Sox starting rotation that has left plenty to be desired recently.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Ashley Green/Telegram & Gazette)

J.D. Martinez comes through with clutch 2-run double as Red Sox hold on to defeat Royals, 7-6

It was a back-and-forth affair that saw six lead changes and 25 total hits exchanged between both sides, but the Red Sox were able to hold on and defeat the Royals by a final score of 8-7 at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Nick Pivetta, making his 16th start of the season for Boston, saw his run of no-hit baseball come to an end moments after he delivered his first pitch Tuesday, as he served up a leadoff home run to the first man he faced in Whit Merrifield.

The Red Sox lineup, however, responded promptly to being put in an early hole. Enrique Hernandez didn’t lead things off in the first with yet another leadoff homer, but he did reach base by getting plunked by Royals starter Brad Keller.

An Alex Verdugo single advanced Hernandez up to third, and both runners came into score on back-to-back RBI base hits from J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.

Despite getting that sort of run support right from the jump, Pivetta gave the lead up when he issued a run-scoring single to Michael A. Taylor in the second.

Again, the Boston bats answered almost immediately, as three straight one-out walks from Keller loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third for Hunter Renfroe, who drove in Martinez on a sacrifice fly to put his side back up 3-2.

The Sox were unable to enjoy that lead for too long, though, with Pivetta serving up a two-run shot to Taylor with no outs in the top half of the fourth inning, thus putting his side back in a one-run hole at 4-3.

On the contrary, Kansas City was not able to enjoy their lead either, as the bottom of the Boston lineup paved the way for Hernandez to plate the tying run on a line-drive single and later for Martinez to bring in the then go-ahead run on another sac fly with the bases loaded.

Even with his team constantly battling back early on, Pivetta again surrendered the lead in his fifth and — what would turn out to be — final inning of work on a two-run blast off the bat of Ryon O’Hearn with one out in the inning.

At that point, the 28-year-old right-hander had yielded six runs (all earned) on a season-high nine hits (three of which went for home runs) and two walks to go along with five strikeouts, all while throwing 89 pitches (57 strikes).

With that relatively high pitch count in mind, Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave Pivetta the hook in what was at the time a 6-5 in game in favor of Kansas City. With an ERA of 4.43 on the season now, the righty’s next start should come against the Athletics in Oakland on Sunday.

In relief of Pivetta, Yacksel Rios came on, ended the fifth inning in quick fashion, and also tossed a clean top half of the sixth. Five of his six appearances with Boston have been scoreless, and he is now 2-0 in a Red Sox uniform.

In the bottom half of the sixth, Bobby Dalbec led off with a single, Verdugo drew a six-pitch walk off Royals reliever Jake Brentz, and that set the stage for Martinez.

On the first pitch he saw from Brentz, a 91 mph changeup on the outer half of the plate, Martinez came through in the clutch and laced a two-run double down the right field line to score both runners.

That gave the Red Sox a 7-6 lead going into the late innings of this one.

From there, the Red Sox bullpen only did what they have been doing as of late, and that’s keeping the opposition off the scoreboard.

Darwinzon Hernandez hurled a scoreless seventh inning with the help of Verdugo’s fifth outfield assist of the year, Adam Ottavino danced his way around a jam and stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base in the eighth, and Matt Barnes punched out the side in the ninth to preserve the 7-6 win while also notching his 18th save of the season.

With the one-run victory, the Red Sox improve to 49-31 on the season while extending their winning streak to five consecutive games. They now sit two full games ahead of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Dalbec leaves with right hamstring tightness.

On his 26th birthday, Bobby Dalbec was forced to exit Tuesday’s contest in the sixth inning due to right hamstring tightness, Alex Cora said. He likely won’t be in the lineup on Wednesday.

Next up: Minor vs. Perez

Wednesday’s starting pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Royals will feature a pair of veteran left-handers going at it, with Martin Perez getting the ball for Boston and Mike Minor doing the same for Kansas City.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Red Sox will be going for their sixth straight win.

(Picture of Red Sox celebrating: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox injuries: Christian Arroyo (knee contusion) likely to begin rehab assignment this week, Kevin Plawecki (hamstring strain) suffers minor setback, Alex Cora says

Prior to Tuesday’s game against the Royals at Fenway Park, Red Sox manager Alex Cora provided updates on a pair of key injured position players in Christian Arroyo and Kevin Plawecki.

Arroyo, who has been held out of action since June 20 and on the 10-day injured list with a right knee contusion since June 24, appears to be on the verge of starting a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester — who are at home through July 4 — before rejoining the Sox ahead of their West Coast road trip that begins later this week.

The 26-year-old second baseman sustained a right shin bone bruise last Sunday in Kansas City after colliding with center fielder Enrique Hernandez while going after a fly ball.

At the time, Arroyo was hitting .264/.324/.432 with nine doubles, four home runs, 17 runs scored, 19 RBI, one stolen base, five walks, and 38 strikeouts through his first 42 games of the season.

Because his stint on the IL was backdated to June 21, the soonest Arroyo could be activated would be this coming Thursday, July 1. That said, it seems as though the Sox would like the right-handed hitter to get some playing time in with the WooSox before he is back in the big-league lineup once again.

In terms of proximity to a return date, Arroyo is in better shape than Plawecki. That being the case because the Sox’ backup catcher suffered somewhat of a setback in regards to his hamstring injury while working out at Fenway on Monday.

Plawecki was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 22, two days after straining his left hamstring while chasing down an errant throw last weekend in Kansas City.

Like Arroyo, Plawecki’s stint on the IL was backdated to June 21, but it looks like the 30-year-old backstop will require more than the minimum 10 days.

“Yeah, Arroyo is going to run the bases,” Cora told reporters (including NESN.com’s Alexandra Francisco) earlier Tuesday afternoon. “Kevin, he didn’t feel great throughout the day yesterday. He is going to get treatment. It’s not a big setback, but it’s probably going to slow him down a little bit. If I can guess, it feels like Christian, he’ll be back when he has to, he’ll be OK.

“Probably will send him to Worcester to a rehab assignment to get a few at-bats, and then he should be ready to go for the West Coast trip,” added Cora. “And Kevin, now we have to wait a little bit, I’ll see how he feels today. Nothing major, but like I told him, I said, ‘This is not about this week or next week, this is about the whole season, and we need you, you know? So just make sure you’re patient enough and we’ll see where it takes us.’”

While Arroyo and Plawecki have been sidelined, the Red Sox have had infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis and catching prospect Connor Wong up in their place.

After wrapping up their four-game series with Kansas City on Thursday, Boston will set out to Oakland for the start of a two-city, six-game road trip against the Athletics and Angels that begins on Friday and concludes on Wednesday, June 7 in Anaheim.

(Picture of Kevin Plawecki: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)