Category: Sports

Red Sox’ Darwinzon Hernandez set to begin rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester

Red Sox reliever Darwinzon Hernandez has been sent out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Hernandez, 24, has not appeared in a game for the Sox since July 29 after being placed on the 10-day injured list on account of a right oblique strain two days later.

At the time Hernandez initially hit the IL, it did not appear as though the left-hander would be out for long, but he wound up undergoing an MRI — which came back clean — in early August.

On August 15, Hernandez resumed playing catch and threw a bullpen session at Fenway Park the following weekend. He completed his second live bullpen session on Sunday, which seemed to be one of the final hurdles he needed to clear.

That being the case because Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) on Sunday that the team was trying to determine if Hernandez would need to go on a rehab assignment or if he would just be immediately activated from the injured list.

As it turns out, Hernandez will indeed head out to Worcester to join the WooSox ahead of their six-game series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs that begins Tuesday night at Polar Park.

Before straining his right oblique in late July, the Venezuelan southpaw had posted a 3.44 ERA and .697 OPS against to go along with 46 strikeouts and 26 walks over 41 relief appearances spanning 34 innings of work out of the bullpen.

In the time that Hernandez has been sidelined, the Red Sox have used four additional left-handed relievers in Josh Taylor, Austin Davis, Martin Perez, and Stephen Gonsalves.

Those four lefties have combined to put up a 4.98 ERA, a 3.72 FIP, a 4.08 xFIP, and strikeout-to-walk ratio of 37:16 over 34 1/3 total innings pitched in Hernandez’s absence dating back to July 30.

As noted by Speier, Hernandez’s time away from the team has been ‘significant’ given his ability to induce punchouts at a relatively high rate (29.9% this season).

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

Red Sox squander 6-run lead, commit 4 errors in 11-10 loss to Rays in extras

Despite holding leads of 7-1, 8-6, and 9-7 on Monday afternoon, the Red Sox were unable to keep the Rays at bay and ultimately fell to their division rivals by a final score of 11-10 in 10 innings at Fenway Park.

Chris Sale, making his fifth start of the season for the Sox, did not factor into Monday’s decision, though Boston did lose a game he started for the first time this year.

Over just 3 2/3 innings of work, Sale surrendered five runs — only one of which was earned — on 10 hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts on the afternoon.

The veteran left-hander began his day by fanning Randy Arozarena on three straight strikes, but then issued a 394-foot triple to rookie sensation Wander Franco.

Franco quickly came into score on an RBI single off the bat of Nelson Cruz to give the Rays their first lead of the contest at 1-0.

Sale did manage to get out of the top of the first by escaping a bases-loaded jam, and the Red Sox lineup responded by getting to Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough for an equalizing run on a run-scoring single from J.D. Martinez.

Pushing across one run in their half of the first was not the only damage the Boston bats did while Yarbrough was on the mound, as they plated six additional runs off the left-hander an inning later.

On an RBI single from Taylor Motter, an RBI double from Hunter Renfroe, an RBI single from Rafael Devers, a two-run double from Bobby Dalbec, and a sacrifice fly from Alex Verdugo, the Sox took a commanding 7-1 lead and appeared as though they would be well on their way to a series-opening win.

At that point, Sale had seemingly settled in by putting up a zero in the second and third innings while also recording the first two outs of the fourth rather quickly.

The division-leading Rays, however, did not go down quietly, as Taylor Walls ignited a two-out rally by reaching base via softly-hit, two-foot infield single. Arozarena and Franco followed with singles of their own, loading the bases for the ever-dangerous Cruz.

Sale got Cruz to lift a 370-foot fly ball to center field that had an expected batting average of just .270. Verdugo, the center fielder, was in position to make the inning-ending catch, but instead battled with the sun and was unable to make a clean snag, resulting in the ball rolling towards right field.

On Verdugo’s fielding error, Cruz managed to unload the bases while also advancing all the way up to third base. He then scored from third when Motter, the second baseman, overthrew Devers.

Tampa Bay’s little-league grand slam allowed them to trim Boston’s advantage down to two runs at 7-5 while also getting Sale out of this contest after just 86 pitched (65 strikes).

In relief of Sale, right-hander Garrett Richards closed out the fourth inning, tossed a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, and surrendered one run on three singles in the sixth, with Jordan Luplow making it a 7-6 game on his RBI base hit.

The Sox answered back in their half of the sixth, though, with Motter ripping a leadoff triple off Rays reliever J.T. Chargois and Renfroe plating him on a hard-hit RBI single through the left side of the infield.

Boston’s newfound two-run lead did not last long, with Arozarena driving in Mike Zunino in the seventh while Adam Ottavino was on the mound.

Jonathan Arauz quickly got that run back by clubbing a 416-foot solo shot off J.P. Feyereisen a half inning later, but Ottavino — for the second appearance in a row — served up a leadoff home run to Cruz to begin things in the eighth.

The Rays completed their comeback in the ninth, with Austin Meadows drilling an inside-the-park homer off Garrett Whitlock.

Meadows had scorched a 393-foot line drive to center field to lead off the inning, but it was one Verdugo could not come up cleanly with while leaping in the direction of the wall.

Neither Martinez nor Renfroe backed up Verdugo as the ball caromed away, resulting in recently-signed shortstop Jose Iglesias to hustle out from the infield to make the play himself.

Iglesias, however, bobbled the ball while attempting to corral it, and that allowed the speedy Meadows to complete his trek around the base paths to tie things up at nine runs apiece.

Whitlock did manage to get through the rest of the frame unscathed to keep the 9-9 stalemate intact, and the pinch-hitting Travis Shaw led things off against former Red Sox hurler Collin McHugh in the bottom of the ninth by lacing a leadoff ground-rule double.

The Rays intentionally walked Verdugo and the Sox had Franchy Cordero run in place of Shaw, but Christian Vazquez was not able to advance the lead runner when his botched bunt attempt wound up getting caught by Zunino in foul territory.

Arauz followed by grounding into an inning-ending 5-6-3 double play, meaning the Red Sox had squandered yet another scoring opportunity as this one headed into extras.

Whitlock, back out for the 10th, gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Cruz and the pinch-hitting Brandon Lowe, thus putting his side in a two-run hole while giving the Rays their first lead of the first inning at 11-9.

Down to their last chance in the bottom of the 10th, Iglesias promptly drove in Arauz from second base and later advanced to second himself when Renfroe reached base on a fielding error.

Devers proceeded to draw a two-out walk against McHugh, meaning the potential tying run was just 90 feet away from scoring while the potential winning run was 180 feet away.

In that spot, Red Sox manager Alex Cora opted to have Kevin Plawecki hit for Cordero, but the veteran backstop could only dribble a softly-hit, inning-ending groundout to shortstop that secured a hard-fought 11-10 win for the visitors and a disappointing 11-10 defeat for the home side.

In a game that took 4 hours and 54 minutes to complete, the Red Sox committed four errors, went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 runners on base as a team in the process of falling to 79-61 on the season.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Rasmussen

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill on Tuesday night as they look to halt this latest skid. The Rays will counter with right-hander Drew Rasmussen.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

Red Sox roster moves: José Iglesias signed, Josh Taylor activated, Michael Feliz selected from Triple-A Worcester

In addition to signing veteran shortstop Jose Iglesias to a major-league deal, the Red Sox made yet another flurry of roster moves ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Rays at Fenway Park.

First off, left-hander Josh Taylor was reinstated from the COVID-19 related injured list, while right-hander Michael Feliz had his contract selected from Triple-A Worcester and was added to the major-league roster.

Secondly, righty Kutter Crawford was returned to Worcester following Sunday’s 11-5 loss to the Indians, while fellow right-hander John Schreiber and infielder Jack Lopez were also returned to Worcester.

The Red Sox made all of these transactions official earlier Monday afternoon.

Taylor, who was placed on the COVID-19 related injured list last Tuesday after being identified as a close contact of Matt Barnes’ while the team was in Tampa Bay, re-joins the Sox after a six-day hiatus.

The 28-year-old became the fifth of 11 players Boston has had to place on the COVID IL since their outbreak began last Friday, but he becomes the first of that group to be activated off it — with Enrique Hernandez likely to follow.

Joining Taylor in the Red Sox bullpen will be Feliz, who initially signed a minor-league pact with Boston on August 28 after being released by the Reds.

Prior to getting designated for assignment by Cincinnati in late August, Feliz had appeared in a total of 16 games between the Pirates and Reds this season, posting an 8.79 ERA and 3.65 FIP to go along with 17 strikeouts to five walks over 14 1/3 innings of relief.

A native of the Dominican Republic, the 28-year-old originally signed with the Astros as an international free agent in 2010. He made his major-league debut for Houston in 2015, appeared in 46 games while Red Sox manager Alex Cora served as Astros bench coach in 2017, and was part of the trade that sent Gerrit Cole from Pittsburgh to the Lone Star State in 2018.

Per Baseball Savant, Feliz — listed at a stout 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds — operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a four-seam fastball, slider, and changeup.

With the additions of Taylor and Feliz, Crawford and Schreiber — both of whom made their Red Sox debuts on Sunday, were returned to Worcester. Lopez, too, was returned to accommodate the signing of Iglesias.

Because all three of Crawford, Schreiber, and Lopez were called up as COVID-19 replacements, the Sox were able to take the trio off their 40-man roster without exposing them to waivers.

(Picture of Josh Taylor: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox sign veteran shortstop, former top prospect José Iglesias to major-league deal

The Red Sox have signed veteran infielder Jose Iglesias to a major-league contract for the remainder of the 2021 season, the club announced earlier Monday afternoon.

Iglesias, 31, was released by the Angels on Friday and had been spotted at Fenway Park on Monday morning before his signing was made official.

In 114 games with Los Angeles this season, Iglesias slashed .259/.295/.375 (84 wRC+) with 23 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 41 RBI, 57 runs scored, five stolen bases, 18 walks, and 66 strikeouts across 447 plate appearances while seeing all of his playing time come at shortstop.

The Red Sox have found themselves in need of infield depth as of late, as Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Xander Bogaerts, and Yairo Munoz have all been out on the COVID-19 related injured list on account of testing positive for the virus.

Before Monday, Boston had been mainly relying on Jack Lopez and Jonathan Arauz to fill the gap left behind in the middle infield by Arroyo and Bogaerts, but they now gained a more experienced infielder in Iglesias.

Known for his defensive prowess more than his offensive capabilities, Iglesias has not had the best season at shortstop, as he has put up negative-21 defensive runs saved while posting an ultimate zone rating of negative-4.9.

A native of La Habana Cuba, the 5-foot-11, 195 pound right-handed hitter originally signed with the Red Sox as an international free agent in September 2019.

He made his major-league debut for the Sox in May 2011 and appeared in 98 games with the club before being part of a three-team trade involving the Tigers and White Sox that saw him go to Detroit and veteran starter Jake Peavy come to Boston in July 2013.

Since that trade was made, Iglesias was named to his first All-Star team while with the Tigers in 2015 and has also played for the Reds, Orioles, and Angels.

Having previously worn the No. 10 the last time he put on a Red Sox uniform more than eight years, Iglesias will wear the No. 12 this time around. He will not be eligible for the postseason since he signed after the September 1 deadline.

(Picture of Jose Iglesias: Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Taylor Motter batting leadoff in first start with Red Sox

In his very first start for the Red Sox, newcomer Taylor Motter has been tasked with leading off against the Rays at Fenway Park on Monday afternoon.

Motter, who turns 32 later this month, has appeared in two games for the Sox — both as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement — since being claimed off waivers from the Rockies on Thursday and subsequently being added to the major-league roster on Saturday.

For his major-league career, which dates back to 2016, the right-handed hitter has batted leadoff on just two separate occasions, both of which came during his rookie season with the Rays five years ago.

The Red Sox will be facing off against left-hander Ryan Yarbrough to kick off a three-game series against the division-leading Rays on Monday. Motter is a lifetime .197/.275/.283 hitter when matched up against southpaw.

Prior to joining the Sox last week, the versatile 31-year-old had enjoyed a productive season at the plate with Triple-A Albuquerque before having his contract selected by the Rockies in early August.

In 67 games with the Isotopes, Motter slashed an impressive .335/.460/.759 slash line to go along with 16 doubles, one triple, 24 home runs, 57 RBI, 54 runs scored, 49 walks, and 49 strikeouts across 265 total trips to the plate. That includes going 25-for-60 (.417) against lefties.

“Just get a pitch, hit it in the air and give us a lead,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) when asked about his decision to bat Motter leadoff. “He put two good at-bats yesterday. He was having a great season in Triple A. I was watching video. I think his swing should play against Yarbrough. … He might get three at-bats against the lefty, give us a boost and get us going.”

Through his first two games with Boston, Motter is 0-for-1 with a walk and run scored, though he made a nice play at second base on Sunday in addition to getting picked off at first base in the seventh inning of an 11-5 loss to the Indians.

Motter will be getting the start at second base in Monday’s series opener against Tampa Bay. Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up behind him, as they will be looking to improve to 5-0 in games ace left-hander Chris Sale starts.

First pitch Monday (Labor Day) is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Taylor Motter: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

After weekend of uncertainty, Kutter Crawford makes major-league debut for Red Sox

Kutter Crawford had been in line to make his regularly scheduled start for Triple-A Worcester on Friday while the team was in Rochester, N.Y.

Rather than have him pitch, though, the Red Sox scratched Crawford from his start with Worcester so that he could join the big-league club in Boston in the event that they would need a starter while navigating through a COVID-19 outbreak.

The 25-year-old was to fly from Rochester to Boston on Friday night, but that required a layover in Charlotte. His connecting flight was scheduled to depart from Charlotte Douglas International Airport and head towards Logan International Airport at around 10:30 p.m. eastern time. It did not leave until the wee hours of Saturday morning.

“My connecting flight in Charlotte was supposed to leave at 10:30 (p.m.) and it didn’t leave until 1:45, 2 o’clock in the morning,” Crawford said earlier Sunday evening.

Crawford did not arrive in Boston until around 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning. At that time, he was told by the Red Sox to remain on standby without being given a specific date as to when his name could be called.

Later that night, the Sox found out that Nick Pivetta, who was slated to start Sunday’s series finale against the Indians, was going to need to be placed on the COVID-19 related injured list, meaning a spot in their starting rotation had just opened up.

“I got in at 4:30 yesterday morning,” Crawford said. “Kind of uncertain what the plan was with all the COVID stuff. I was told to be on standby, and after [Saturday night’s] game I was notified that I’d be starting today.”

Able to have some friends and family in attendance at Fenway Park on Sunday, Crawford’s major-league debut did not go according to plan, as the right-hander allowed five runs — all of which were earned — on five hits, two walks, and two strikeouts over two-plus innings of work and took the loss in an 11-5 defeat at the hands of the Indians.

“Unfortunately, it didn’t go as I wanted it to,” he said in regards to his first big-league start. “But, we live and we learn and we’re going to make adjustments to keep moving forward.”

While the box score may suggest otherwise, there were positive developments from Crawford’s outing. Of the 57 pitches he threw, 40 — or 70% of them — went for strikes.

He also induced nine total swings-and-misses while topping out at 96 mph with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 26 times.

Crawford’s 57th and final pitch was ball four to Bobby Bradley, putting a runner on first base with no outs in the third inning of a 4-0 game and subsequently prompting Red Sox manager Alex Cora to hand things over to his bullpen.

Before officially taking the ball out of Crawford’s hands, though, Cora took the time to offer the rookie right-hander some “words of encouragement” as his first start in the majors came to an end.

“I wanted him to take a deep breath and enjoy the situation,” Cora said. “It’s Fenway Park on a Sunday afternoon. There’s nothing better than that. There’s only one MLB debut. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a good one or you struggle. It’s something you still dream about as a kid. And I wanted him to take a deep breath, look around, see the whole thing — because he probably didn’t do that before the game or during the game.”

Cora understands that Crawford himself may be disappointed with his own performance on the mound, but given the circumstances, he should still hold his head high.

“Obviously there were a lot of two-out hits but he filled up the strike zone with good stuff,” said Cora. “It’s not easy to come into a situation like this and maneuver a big-league lineup.”

Crawford, who was selected by the Red Sox in the 16th round of the 2017 amateur draft, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 22 prospect in Boston’s farm system.

Before Sunday, the 6-foot-1, 209 pound hurler had made just six appearances (five starts) above the Double-A level after earning a promotion to Worcester earlier this simmer.

On short notice, and in his first in-game action since August 27, Crawford did not let the moment get to him, as he felt as though he was able to keep his emotions in check while working through the obvious nerves and anxieties that come with a major-league debut.

“I just didn’t execute some pitches when I needed to,” Crawford said. “I felt like I had pretty good control of my emotions. I didn’t feel like I got out of hand with some unfortunate hits and obviously giving up that home run to [Franmil] Reyes. But I felt like I had pretty good control of everything, I just didn’t execute pitches like I needed to, and they got me.”

Results aside, Cora seemed please with what he saw from Crawford on Sunday, as he praised the righty not only for his pitch arsenal, but for his demeanor as well.

“I can see it,” Cora said. “Stuff-wise, he’s really good. Like I told him on the mound, he’s a big-leaguer.”

As of now, it’s not particularly clear when Crawford will pitch again, though it seems likely that he would be returned to the WooSox once Pivetta can be activated from the COVID IL.

That being said Crawford can become eligible for the Rule 5 draft for the first time this winter, so the Red Sox would need to permanently add the righty to their 40-man roster by the November 20 deadline in order to protect him from that, thus ensuring he remains in the organization moving forward.

“With time I know he will contribute,” Cora said of Crawford. “He’ll be part of this.”

(Picture of Kutter Crawford: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox struggle with runners in scoring position, come up short, 11-5, in series finale against Indians

Despite a plethora of opportunities, the Red Sox were unable to finish off a series sweep and extend their winning streak to five consecutive games on Sunday afternoon, as they fell to the Indians by a final score of 11-5 at Fenway Park.

It was a day that started with uncertainty for the Sox, with Nick Pivetta being scratched from his start on account of being placed on the COVID-19 related injured list.

Instead of Pivetta, Boston was forced to turn to pitching prospect Kutter Crawford, who had been on the club’s taxi squad after making just six appearances (five starts) above the Double-A level this season.

Crawford’s inexperience showed on Sunday, as the right-hander surrendered five runs — all of which were earned — on five hits and two walks to go along with two strikeouts over just two-plus innings of work.

While he did not necessarily get shelled, Crawford did fall victim to some poor luck, as evidenced by his loading the bases with no outs in the top half of the first.

Cleveland did get to Crawford for two runs on a pair of sacrifice flies after loading the bases, and they got to him for an additional run an inning later when Owen Miller led off with a double and came around to score on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Myles Straw.

In the third, Crawford served up a monstrous 419-foot solo shot to Franmil Reyes to lead off the inning, and the righty’s day quickly came to a close after issuing a six-pitch walk to Bobby Bradley.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 57 (40 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler threw 26 four-seam fastballs, 15 cutters, 13 curveballs, two sinkers, and one changeup. He induced nine total swings-and-misses while averaging 93.8 mph with his four-seamer.

In relief of Crawford, John Schreiber got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and he officially closed the book on the starter’s outing by giving up a hard-hit double to Harold Ramirez that was followed by a softly-hit two-run single from Bradley Zimmer to give Cleveland a commanding 6-0 lead.

Schreiber, to his credit, managed to escape the third inning without giving anything else up before stringing together two scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth innings in what was his Red Sox debut.

At that point, the Sox, still trailing by six runs, finally got to Indians starter Zach Plesac, as Hunter Renfroe led off the bottom of the fifth with a line-drive double to center field.

Renfroe did not stay at second base for long, though, with J.D. Martinez getting his productive afternoon of the plate started with an RBI double to left field.

After an Alex Verdugo walk, Kevin Plawecki snuck a run-scoring single back up the middle to bring in Martinez, while Travis Shaw came up just inches short of a three-run homer, but settled for an RBI single that scored Verdugo and put runners at first and second with no outs.

Bobby Dalbec failed to advance either runner on a flyout to left field, and — at that moment — Red Sox manager Alex Cora got aggressive by dispatching Rafael Devers, who initially had the day off, to pinch-hit for Jack Lopez.

Devers, however, was unable to get the job done off the bench, as he punched out on seven pitches before Jonathan Arauz also struck out to leave two important runs at second and third base.

Still, after Schreiber and left-hander Stephen Gonsalves combined to put up a zero in the top of the sixth, the Boston bats kept things going against the Cleveland bullpen.

Matched up against Nick Wittgren, the Renfroe-Martinez combination struck once more, with the former reaching base via a one-out single and the latter clearing the bases on a 401-foot two-run home run into the Red Sox bullpen.

Martinez’s 25th homer of the season made cut the Sox’ deficit down to just one run at 6-5, and Verdugo kept the pressure on by ripping a line-drive double to put the potential tying run in scoring position.

Plawecki moved Verdugo up to third base on a softly-hit groundout, but Shaw was unable to bring him in and instead grounded out to first base to extinguish the threat.

From there, Ryan Brasier bounced back from a shaky 2021 debut on Friday by facing the minimum of three batters in the top of the seventh, and the Red Sox offense had another chance to pull even with the Indians in the bottom half.

Taylor Motter, who replaced Lopez at second base earlier in the contest, had drawn a one-out walk off Trevor Stephan and remained there when Arauz flew out to left field. With Kyle Schwarber at the plate, though, Motter was picked off at first base, thus ending the inning.

Hansel Robles kept Cleveland at six runs with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, but this one got away from Boston when Phillips Valdez took the mound for the top half of the ninth.

After twirling two shutout frames on Saturday, Valdez got rocked for five runs on five hits on Sunday afternoon.

That meltdown of an inning allowed the Indians to jump out to an 11-5 lead, and that would go on to be Sunday’s final score.

In total, the Sox went 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base as a team on Sunday.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 79-60 on the season, though they remain just a 1/2 game back of the Yankees, who lost to the Orioles on Sunday, for the first American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Rays on deck

The Red Sox will celebrate the Labor Day holiday on Monday by welcoming in the Tampa Bay Rays into town for a three-game series at Fenway Park.

Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston in Monday’s series opener, while fellow lefty Ryan Yarbrough will do the same for Tampa Bay.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec and Kyle Schwarber: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox place Danny Santana on COVID-19 related injured list, recall Franchy Cordero from Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have placed infielder/outfielder Danny Santana on the COVID-19 related injured list, the club announced before taking on the Indians at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon.

Outfielder Franchy Cordero was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Santana’s spot on the active roster.

Santana joins right-hander Nick Pivetta as the 10th and 11th players the Sox have had to place on the COVID-19 related injured list since last Friday.

According to MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, Santana has yet to test positive for the virus — though he is exhibiting symptoms.

Pivetta, on the other hand, has been vaccinated against COVID-19, as he previously spent one day on the COVID IL back in May due to side effects from the vaccination.

Earlier in the day, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Smith) that the 28-year-old hurler, who was scheduled to start Sunday’s series finale, has not necessarily tested positive for COVID.

“It’s one of those where we have to be very cautious,” Cora said in regards to Pivetta’s status. “As you guys know with testing and all that, sometimes the results doesn’t match up. So out of precaution, we did it. We’ll know more today or tomorrow morning.”

Red Sox pitching prospect Kutter Crawford had his contract selected from Worcester to start in Pivetta’s place for what was his major-league debut on Sunday.

With Santana and Pivetta being placed on the COVID IL, they join the likes of Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, Hirokazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor, Xander Bogaerts, Yairo Munoz, and Jarren Duran.

Hernandez, Arroyo, Perez, Barnes, Sawamura, Bogaers, Munoz, and Duran — as well as quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose — have all tested positive, while Taylor and first base coach Tom Goodwin were identified as close contacts.

As a result of Santana being placed on the COVID IL, the Red Sox called a familiar face in Cordero back up from Worcester.

Across two prior stints with Boston this season, Cordero has slashed an underwhelming .189/.237/.260 with just one home run, six doubles, nine RBI, 12 runs scored, one stolen base, eight walks, and 51 strikeouts over 47 games and 136 total plate appearances.

Since being optioned last month, the recently-turned 27-year-old hit .240/.377/.400 (117 wRC+) to go along with one homer, five doubles, 10 RBI, 13 runs scored, two stolen bases, eight walks, and 17 strikeouts over 14 games (61 plate appearances) in his most recent stay with the WooSox.

(Picture of Danny Santana: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox place Nick Pivetta on COVID-19 related injured list, select Kutter Crawford from Triple-A Worcester

Before wrapping up their three-game series against the Indians on Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox placed right-hander Nick Pivetta on the COVID-19 related injured list.

In a corresponding move, fellow righty Kutter Crawford has been selected from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced earlier Sunday morning.

Pivetta had been slated to start Sunday’s series finale against Cleveland, but that responsibility will now fall to Crawford.

At the moment, it’s unclear if Pivetta has tested positive for COVID-19 or if he is just exhibiting symptoms or was recently identified as a close contact, but it is worth mentioning that he did spend one day on the COVID-related injured list back in May due to side effects from the vaccine.

Regardless, the 28-year-old becomes the 10th player the Red Sox have had to place on the COVID-19 related injured list since last Friday, joining the likes of Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, Hirokazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor, Xander Bogaerts, Yairo Munoz, and Jarren Duran.

Hernandez and Arroyo tested positive for the virus while the team was in Cleveland, Perez, Barnes, Sawamura, Bogaerts, and Munoz tested positive in St. Petersburg, and Duran tested positive in Boston on Friday.

On top of that, quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose have also returned positive results, while Taylor and first base coach Tom Goodwin are quarantining since they were identified as close contacts.

With Pivetta being forced to miss his scheduled start on Sunday afternoon, the Sox will now turn to Crawford in his place.

Crawford, 25, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 22 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking 11th among pitchers in the organization.

Boston originally selected the right-hander in the 16th round of the 2017 amateur draft out of Florida Gulf Coast University, the same school ace left-hander Chris Sale attended.

After undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2019 and another elbow procedure last summer, Crawford began the 2021 season with Double-A Portland. He posted a 3.30 ERA and 2.81 xFIP to go along with 64 strikeouts to five walks across 10 starts (46 1/3 innings pitched) for the Sea Dogs before earning a promotion to Triple-A Worcester in late July.

Since that time, Crawford has pitched to the tune of a 5.52 ERA, but a much more encouraging 3.79 xFIP, in his six appearances (five starts) that span 29 1/3 innings of work with the WooSox.

He had been in line to make his sixth start for Worcester on Thursday, but was scratched from said start and added to the Red Sox’ taxi squad on account of the COVID-19 issues the club is currently navigating through.

Per his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the 6-foot-1, 210 pound hurler operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 91-94 mph fastball, an 85-87 mph cutter, a 77-78 mph curveball, and an 83-85 mph changeup.

Sunday will mark Crawford’s major-league debut, and it certainly comes at an interesting time in which the Red Sox are looking to finish off a sweep of the Indians.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and TBS.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo delivers with walk-off single as Red Sox extend winning streak to four straight with 4-3 victory over Indians

In the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that could ravage other teams’ postseason aspirations, the Red Sox are proving that they should still be taken seriously despite having placed nine players on the COVID-related injured list.

Saturday was just the latest instance of this resilience, as the Sox fought their way to a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Indians at Fenway Park to push their winning streak to four consecutive games.

Tanner Houck, making his 10th start and 12th overall appearance of the season for Boston, laid out the groundwork for his team’s fourth straight win by keeping Cleveland off the scoreboard while scattering just three hits, zero walks, and seven strikeouts over five strong innings of work.

Having just faced off the Indians on the road last weekend, Houck proved to be much more in control this time around by demonstrating better command on the mound.

The right-hander dealt with some traffic on the base paths, such as a leadoff single in the first inning or leadoff double in the third inning, but was otherwise solid as he retired the final nine batters he faced in order through the end of the fifth.

At that moment in time, Houck’s pitch count was relatively low, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora did not want him to go up against the Indians lineup for a third time, so his night promptly came to an end there.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 68 (47 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler did not factor into Saturday’s decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 3.26.

In relief of Houck, left-hander Austin Davis got the first call out of the bullpen in the sixth inning of a scoreless contest and immediately surrendered a leadoff double to Andres Gimenez to put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.

Davis did manage to get the next two outs, but did so while allowing Gimenez to steal third before intentionally walking the dangerous Jose Ramirez and issuing another free pass to Bobby Bradley.

That sequence led to the Indians loading the bases with two outs in the sixth, and it led to Cora turning to Hansel Robles to get out of the jam.

Robles, in turn, got Harold Ramirez to rip a 97.2 mph grounder back up the middle that deflected off his foot and rolled over to Bobby Dalbec at first base in time to get the final out.

Phillips Valdez followed in Robles’ footsteps by tossing a scoreless top of the seventh, granting the Red Sox lineup to put something together in their half of the frame.

To that point, the Boston bats had been stymied by Indians starter Eli Morgan, but were able to get it going once the Cleveland bullpen took over.

Christian Vazquez led off against Nick Wittgren by lacing a hard-hit single to center field. Jack Lopez followed by moving Vazquez up to second on a successful sacrifice bunt, while Jonathan Arauz followed suit by advancing to Vazquez to third on a groundout.

Those two productive outs put the Sox in a promising position as the lineup flipped back over for Kyle Schwarber, who greeted new Indians reliever Blake Parker by drawing a five-pitch walk to put runners at the corners for Rafael Devers.

After working a full count on the first five pitches he saw from Parker, Devers took the sixth pitch — a juicy 92 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate — and came through with the clutchest hit of the ballgame to that point by clubbing a 419-foot three-run homer well over the Green Monster.

Not only did Devers’ 33rd home run of the season set a new career-high for the young All-Star and bring him up to 100 RBI on the year, it also gave the Red Sox their first lead of the night at 3-0.

Valdez, after retiring the side in order in the seventh, did the very same in the eighth, meaning the Sox were just three outs away from securing a series win over the Indians.

Adam Ottavino, however, had different plans, as he gave up a leadoff single to Ramirez to begin things in the ninth before yielding an RBI double to Bradley, making it a 3-1 game in favor of Boston.

The veteran reliever did get the first two outs of the ninth and was one strike away from retiring the pinch-hitting Franmil Reyes, but instead served up a game-tying, two-run home run to Reyes, thus knotting things up at three runs apiece.

To their credit, the Red Sox did not waver even after seeing their three-run lead come off the board. Travis Shaw, pinch-hitting for Lopez, led off the bottom of the ninth off Indians reliever Bryan Shaw by reaching base via an infield single.

Shaw was then replaced by the pinch-running Taylor Motter, who moved up to second on yet another sacrifice bunt from Arauz.

Schwarber then flew out to center field against Alex Young, while Devers drew a five-pitch walk off the newly-inserted Cleveland reliever.

J.D. Martinez got ahead in the count at 2-0, and was promptly intentionally walked to fill the bases with two outs for Alex Verdugo.

Verdugo, motivated by the Indians intentionally walking to get to Martinez since they had a left-hander in Young on the mound, made Cleveland pay for their decision by drilling a walk-off, run-scoring single over the head of Daniel Johnson in right field.

Motter was able to easily score from third on Verdugo’s late-game heroics, and the Sox came away with a 4-3 victory as a result.

By extending their winning streak to four straight games on Saturday, the Red Sox improved to 79-59 on the season and are once again 20 games over .500 for the first time since July 31.

With the Yankees and Athletics both losing on Saturday, Boston now has a four-game lead over Oakland for the second American League Wild Card spot and only trail New York by 1/2 a game for the first American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Plesac

The Red Sox will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound as they look to complete the three-game sweep of the Indians on Sunday afternoon.

Pivetta will be going up against fellow righty Zach Plesac, who will be making his 21st start of the season for the Indians.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and TBS.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Jim Rogash/Getty Images)