Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly undergoes successful elbow surgery, could still return this season

Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly underwent a successful ulnar nerve transposition revision in his right elbow on Tuesday, the club announced. The procedure was performed by Dr. Jeffrey Dugas at The Andrews Institute in Birmingham, Ala.

While the Red Sox did not provide a timetable for Kelly’s return to action, MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reports that Kelly could be back on the mound in September if he does not suffer any setbacks in his rehab.

Kelly injured his throwing elbow during his relief appearance against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Because the 28-year-old was visibly emotional as he walked off the mound that night, there was an initial fear that he sustained serious damage to the UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in the elbow.

Had that been the case, Kelly likely would have required Tommy John surgery. Instead, his MRIs showed no damage in that area, but they did reveal that his ulnar nerve had become detached. As noted by Cotillo, that diagnosis was considered to be “a best-case scenario” at the time.

Kelly underwent an internal bracing procedure on his right elbow in lieu of Tommy John surgery in May 2020, so he has dealt with this sort of issue before. He was with the Angels at that time and would have missed the entirety of the 2020 minor-league season had it not been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kelly was released by Los Angeles shortly thereafter and joined the Red Sox organization as a minor-league free agent that December.

A former undrafted free agent out Division II Newberry College (S.C.), Kelly debuted for Boston at the age of 27 last August. The Virginia native posted a 3.95 ERA and 4.28 FIP with 11 strikeouts to four walks in 13 appearances (13 2/3 innings) to close out the 2022 campaign. He then leveraged that performance and a strong showing in spring training into making his first Opening Day roster this year.

Prior to injuring himself on April 12, Kelly had allowed just one run through his first five outings of the year. He was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list on April 16 so that the Red Sox could create a 40-man roster spot for left-handed reliever Brennan Bernardino.

(Picture of Zack Kelly: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Speedy Red Sox outfield prospect Corey Rosier off to strong start with Double-A Portland

Corey Rosier has gotten his first full season as a member of the Red Sox organization off to a promising start.

The 23-year-old outfield prospect is coming off a month of April in which he batted a stout .310/.344/.466 with four doubles, one triple, one home run, eight RBIs, nine runs scored, 10 stolen bases, three walks, and 14 strikeouts in his first 17 games (58 plate appearances) with Double-A Portland.

On the road against the Erie SeaWolves last week, the left-handed hitting Rosier registered two multi-hit games in five attempts and clubbed his first homer of the year for the Sea Dogs, who took the final five games of the six-game series to improve to improve to an Eastern League-leading 16-5 on the season.

Among 92 qualified Eastern League hitters coming into play on Tuesday, Rosier currently ranks seventh in batting average, 19th in slugging percentage, 23rd in OPS (.810), first in stolen bases, second in speed score (9.3), and 22nd in wRC+ (128), per FanGraphs.

While the offensive production is undoubtedly encouraging, Rosier has posted suboptimal strikeout and walk rates of 23 and 4.9 percent, respectively. Those two factors have hindered his ability to get on base on a more-frequent basis, which subsequently allows him to pose even more of a threat on the basepaths.

Defensively, Rosier has past experience at all three outfield spots but has seen all of his playing time to this point in the season come in the corners. The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder has logged 112 innings in right and 26 innings in left. He has only committed one error between the two positions, though he has yet to record an outfield assist.

The Red Sox acquired Rosier and minor-league infielder Max Ferguson from the Padres ahead of last year’s trade deadline. The deal also sent veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer to Boston and pitching prospect Jay Groome to San Diego. Rosier closed out the 2022 season with High-A Greenville and struggled to a .163/.272/.275 slash line in 23 games (92 plate appearances) with the Drive.

After a full winter and spring with the Red Sox, though, it appears that Rosier has begun to settle in and get more comfortable with his new surroundings. That is understandable given the fact that the Maryland native has already been traded twice since being selected by the Mariners in the 12th round of the 2021 amateur draft out of UNC Greensboro.

A little more than four months after signing with the Mariners for $125,000 that July, Rosier was traded to the Padres along with left-hander Ray Kerr in exchange for infielder Adam Frazier. The Friars then dealt him, Ferguson, and Hosmer to the Red Sox for Groome the following August.

While some young players may be slighted by having to change organizations multiple times early on into their careers, Rosier actually takes pride in it. He explained as much in an over-the-phone conversation with MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith last month.

“I think it’s definitely cool to know I’m sought after and people see me fitting into their system somewhere,” Rosier said. “So that’s cool to know I’ve been a part of two big-league trades. So that’s the way I try to view it. Coming over in the middle of the season last year, it was a big transition. … But I think going through spring training with the Sox, getting more acclimated with the staff, getting comfortable, I think that’s really played a part in the early success that I’ve had in a small sample size.”

At present, Rosier — who does not turn 24 until September — is not regarded by any major publication as one of the top prospects in Boston’s farm system. That could soon change if he carries over the success he enjoyed in April into the month of May.

(Picture of Corey Rosier: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.sm

Red Sox promote lefty relief prospect Nathan Landry to High-A Greenville

The Red Sox have promoted left-hander Nathan Landry from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville, per the club’s minor-league transactions log.

Landry, who turns 24 later this week, did not allow a run in his first eight relief appearances of the season for Salem. He issued just three walks and recorded 11 strikeouts over 10 1/3 innings in which he held opposing hitters to a .171 batting average against.

Boston took Landry in the 15th round of last year’s amateur draft out of Missouri. The Quebec native signed with the club for $112,500 and was identified by Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo as the Red Sox’ best late-round pick. He made his professional debut in the rookie-level Florida Complex League over the summer.

“I think the keyword for me is opportunity, and I got that with a great organization with the Red Sox,” Landry told Andrew Parker of Beyond the Monster back in February. “The first baseball stadium I ever visited was Fenway Park. It was my last year of high school. You can feel the history once you get in there. I fell in love with the stadium once I walked in the place.”

Landry, who speaks both English and French, is not yet ranked by any major publication as one of the top pitching prospects in Boston’s farm system. That could soon change if he shows he can handle more advanced competition with Greenville moving forward.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, Landry throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of an 88-90 mph fastball that tops out in the low-90s, a slider, and a changeup, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report. He is well-regarded for his command of the strike zone and has already shown why.

Landry is now slated to join a Drive bullpen mix that includes fellow 2022 draftees Alex Hoppe (UNC Greensboro) and Jaret Godman (Oklahoma). Isaac Coffey, who was selected in the 10th round out of Oral Roberts, is currently in Greenville’s starting rotation.

(Picture of Nathan Landry: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Alex Verdugo continues to come through in the clutch, delivers with walk-off home run as Red Sox top Blue Jays, 6-5

The Red Sox squandered another late lead in Monday’s series opener against the Blue Jays, but it was not enough to hold them down. Thanks to some more late-game heroics from Alex Verdugo, Boston defeated Toronto by a final score of 6-5 at Fenway Park to improve to 16-14 on the season.

With Jose Berrios starting for the Jays, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first inning. Verdugo led off with a hard-hit double and immediately scored from second on another two-base hit from Masataka Yoshida. Justin Turner followed by plating Yoshida on an opposite-field RBI single to give his side a 2-0 lead right out of the gate.

It did not take long for Toronto to respond, though. As Corey Kluber made his sixth start of the season for Boston, Danny Jansen and Kevin Kiermaier drew a pair of walks to put runners at first and second with two outs in the top of the second. Bo Bichette then got his productive night at the plate started by crushing a 312-foot three-run home run over the Green Monster to put the Blue Jays up, 3-2.

While it appeared as though Kluber was about to have another rough go of it, he was able to settle in a bit after getting through the first. The veteran right-hander allowed just the three earned runs on five hits and four walks to go along with seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work.

After putting up zeroes from the top of the third through the middle of the fifth, Kluber came back out for the sixth and recorded the first out of the inning before issuing a five-pitch walk to Jansen. Having already thrown a season-high 104 pitches (59 strikes) to that point in the contest, the 37-year-old was given the hook in favor of Brennan Bernardino.

Bernardino ended things in the top of the sixth by retiring the only two batters he faced. Moments later, Jarren Duran led off the bottom of the sixth by taking Berrios 434 feet to dead center for his second home run of the year. The ball left Duran’s bat at a blistering 109.1 mph and pulled Boston back even with Toronto at three runs apiece.

The stalemate did not last long, however. After Triston Casas drew a one-out walk off Berrios, Enmanuel Valdez followed by launching a go-ahead, two-run shot 427 feet into the center field bleachers for the first home run of his big-league career. Valdez’s 106 mph blast gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead going into the seventh.

Chris Martin, making his first relief appearance since April 12 after being activated from the injured list on Sunday, took over for Bernardino and worked his way around a bases-loaded jam by getting the pinch-hitting Alejandro Kirk to ground out to himself for the final out of the inning.

Josh Winckowski came on for the eighth and got the first out by getting Jansen to ground out to Enrique Hernandez at short. Hernandez, who made a fantastic diving grab and throw from his knees in the left field grass to nab Jansen, them made two costly throwing errors.

Following a Cavan Biggio double, Hernandez fielded a grounder from Kiermaier but made a poor throw to Casas at first. Biggio scored as a result to cut Toronto’s deficit to one. Kiermaier moved up 90 feet on a Bichette single (his fifth hit of the night) to put runners at first and second for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero Jr. roped another grounder in the direction of Hernandez, who hustled over to second to get the force out but airmailed his throw to first in an attempt to finish off the double play. The ball sailed well over Casas’ head and landed in the Red Sox dugout. As a result, Kiermaier was able to score from second to tie the score at 5-5.

Winckowski, who was only charged with one of those two runs, got through the rest of the eighth unscathed and then retired the side in order in the top of the ninth. Jordan Romano took over for Nate Pearson out of the Blue Jays bullpen in the following half-inning, but he was not on the mound for long.

On the third pitch he saw from Romano to lead things off, Verdugo came through in the clutch yet again by lacing a 385-foot line-drive to right-center field that barely cleared the bullpen fence and lifted the Red Sox to a 6-5 walk-off victory.

Verdugo’s fifth home run was good for his third walk-off hit of the year and his second in Boston’s last three games. He finished the night going 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored. On the flip side, Winckowski was credited with the winning decision.

Next up: Kikuchi vs. Houck

Winners of three straight and now at two games over .500 for the first time this season, the Red Sox will look to take the first two games of this four-game set from the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Right-hander Tanner Houck will get the start for Boston while left-hander Yusei Kikuchi is expected to do the same for Toronto.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and TBS.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Chris Sale reaches 97.8 mph, Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong both homer as Red Sox take series from Guardians with 7-1 win

The Red Sox closed out the month of April with a series-clinching win over the Guardians. On a drizzly Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, Boston defeated Cleveland by a final score of 7-1 to improve to 15-14 on the season.

Starters Chris Sale and Logan Allen traded zeroes through the first four innings of Sunday’s series finale. The Sox then drew first blood in their half of the fifth, when Connor Wong led off with a groundball single.

Jarren Duran followed by blooping a ground-rule double down the left field line to put runners at second and third base. After Enmanuel Valdez struck out on five pitches, Alex Verdugo opened the scoring by plating both Wong and Duran on a a two-run single to left-center field off Allen to put Boston up, 2-0.

Cleveland got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth. After working his way out of a jam by striking out the side in the fifth inning, Sale gave up a leadoff double to Steven Kwan. Seven pitches later, Amed Rosario drove in Kwan with an opposite-field single to cut the deficit in half.

Rosario was able to advance to second on Verdugo’s errant throw home. He then moved up to third on a Jose Ramirez flyout, but Sale left him there by getting both Josh Bell and Oscar Gonzalez to ground out, thus limiting the damage to one run.

It did not take long for the Red Sox to respond. With reliever Nick Sandlin taking over for the Guardians, Christian Arroyo ripped a one-out single in the latter half of the sixth and Wong followed by crushing a 1-2, 91.8 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate 427 feet over the Green Monster for his first home run of the year.

Wong’s two-run blast left his bat at 111.8 mph. It also gave his side a 4-1 lead. Sale, meanwhile, came back out for the seventh and retired the final batter he faced by getting Andres Gimenez to line out to Duran — who made a nice sliding catch — in center field. Having already thrown 98 pitches (71 strikes) to that point in the contest, Sale was given the hook in favor of John Schreiber.

All told, Sale allowed just the one earned run on three hits, no walks, and one hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts over 6 1/3 strong innings of work. The 34-year-old hurler induced 11 swings-and-misses while averaging 94.1 mph and topping out at 97.8 mph with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 59 times. He picked up his second winning decision of the season and lowered his ERA to 6.75.

After Schreiber ended things in the top half of the seventh, the Sox lineup got back to work on the other side of the stretch. Verdugo greeted new Guardians reliever Peyton Battenfield by lacing a 107.9 mph leadoff home run 373 feet down the right field line for his fourth big fly of the year. Following back-to-back two-out walks from Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida, Arroyo extended Boston’s lead with a two-run double off the rightmost part of the Green Monster.

Both Devers and Yoshida scored on the play to make it a 7-1 contest. Arroyo then made a fantastic leaping grab in the top of the eighth to help out Richard Bleier and rob Kwan of a base hit that had an expected batting average of .810. Bleier got through the rest of the eighth unscathed, paving the way for Brennan Bernardino to come in for the ninth and secure a 7-1 victory with another 1-2-3 inning.

Sunday’s win took two hours and 32 minutes to complete. Verdugo, Arroyo, and Wong accounted for six of Boston’s nine hits and all seven RBIs. Yoshida, Duran, Arroyo, and Valdez all doubled.

Next up: Kluber vs. Berrios in first of four against Jays

Coming off a 15-13 April, the Red Sox will open the month of May by welcoming the Blue Jays into town for the first of a four-game series on Monday night. In the first meeting of the year between the two division rivals, Corey Kluber will get the start for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Jose Berrios for Toronto.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox option Kaleb Ort to Triple-A Worcester ahead of Chris Martin’s return from injured list

The Red Sox optioned reliever Kaleb Ort to Triple-A Worcester following Saturday night’s 8-7 win over the Guardians, according to The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.

By optioning Ort, the Red Sox have cleared a roster spot for fellow reliever Chris Martin, who is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list ahead of Sunday’s series finale against Cleveland.

Ort, 31, has posted a 7.30 ERA and 6.27 FIP with 12 strikeouts to six walks in 12 relief appearances spanning 12 1/3 innings of work out of the Boston bullpen so far this season. The right-hander last pitched against the Orioles on Tuesday, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits (two home runs) in just one-third of an inning.

When Ort entered that game in Baltimore, the Red Sox had an 8-1 lead over the O’s. By giving up five runs and only recording one out, Ort forced manager Alex Cora to bring in closer Kenley Jansen, who notched the save and secured an 8-6 win by retiring the only two batters he faced.

Though the Red Sox remain intrigued by Ort’s arsenal, particularly his upper-90s fastball, the righty has yet to find success on a consistent basis at the big-league level. He will now look to sort things out in Worcester, where he pitched to a 2.88 ERA in 39 appearances (40 2/3 innings) last year.

Martin, meanwhile, was placed on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation on April 16 (retroactive to April 13). The 36-year-old underwent an MRI after reporting arm discomfort, but the results revealed only inflammation as opposed to any sort of structural damage.

As such, Martin was never expected to be out of action for too long. After dealing with a stomach bug earlier this week, the veteran hurler made a rehab appearance for the WooSox at Polar Park on Friday night and allowed two unearned runs on two hits in one inning of work.

“I feel like I got what I needed [from the rehab outing] and today I feel good,” Martin told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier at Fenway Park earlier Saturday afternoon. “I’m starting to feel better. I’ve just got to keep with the process and keep working on the tedious things.”

Martin, who turns 37 in June, signed a two-year, $17.5 million with the Red Sox back in December. Prior to going on the injured list, he posted a 2.57 ERA and 5.06 FIP with two strikeouts and one walk through his first seven outings (seven innings) of the season.

(Picture of Kaleb Ort: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen dealing with tight back, will not be available to pitch on Sunday

Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen did not look quite like himself on Saturday, and it turns out there is a logical reason as to why.

Coming into play earlier in the afternoon, Jansen had yet to allow a run through his first eight relief appearances (7 2/3 innings pitched) of the season. The 35-year-old was also a perfect six-for-six in save opportunities.

In the ninth inning of Saturday’s contest against the Guardians at Fenway Park, though, Jansen was clearly laboring on the mound. With a 6-5 lead to protect, the veteran right-hander gave up back-to-back singles to Myles Straw and Steven Kwan out of the gate.

That put runners at first and second with no outs. Jansen then fanned Amed Rosario, but followed by surrendering a game-tying RBI single to Jose Ramirez that pulled Cleveland back even with Boston at six runs apiece.

Jansen, who was charged with his first blown save of the year, remained in the game and got through the rest of the inning on 29 pitches (22 strikes), but not before getting checked up on by Red Sox manager Alex Cora and head athletic trainer Brandon Henry.

The meeting on the mound was brief, as Jansen assured both Cora and Henry that he was fine. After retiring Josh Bell for the final out of the inning, though, Jansen grimaced and looked rather uncomfortable as he made his way back to the home dugout.

When speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) following the Sox’ 8-7 walk-off win over the Guardians on Saturday night, Cora revealed that Jansen had dealing with back tightness throughout the day.

“His back got tight,” Cora said. “Before the game, he was running and he felt it. But he was available. He said, ‘You need me, we’ll go.'”

According to Jansen himself, he first felt his back tighten up during pregame conditioning and felt it again as he ran in from the bullpen in the top of the ninth. Though Jansen was able to pitch through the pain, he did receive some medication and is hopeful that it will kick in within the next “couple of days.”

Given what transpired on Saturday, Jansen will not be available out of the bullpen for Sunday’s series finale against the Guardians. The hope is that he will be back in action on Monday, when the Red Sox open a three-game set against the Blue Jays. If not Monday, then perhaps Tuesday.

“Pitching with lower-back tightness sucks,” Jansen told NESN’s Jahmai Webster. “We’ll see in a couple of days. We’ll take two days — probably a day or two — and then we’ll see how it feels and we’ll get back out there.”

Jansen’s blown save on Saturday represents the first for any Red Sox reliever this season. The righty now owns a 1.04 ERA with 12 strikeouts to 12 walks in his first nine outings (8 2/3 innings) with Boston. He is three saves away from 400 for his major-league career.

(Picture of Kenley Jansen: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo comes through with walk-off single as Red Sox overcome blown lead to defeat Guardians, 8-7, in extras

The Red Sox may have squandered a five-run lead against the Guardians on Saturday evening, but they still found a way to win in extras. Thanks to a walk-off single from Alex Verdugo, Boston defeated Cleveland in 10 innings by a final score of 8-7 at Fenway Park to get back to .500 at 14-14 on the season.

With Zach Plesac starting for the Guardians, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first. After Verdugo ripped a leadoff double on the very first pitch of the game, Masataka Yoshida drew a four-pitch walk and Justin Turner struck out. That brought Rafael Devers to the plate with one out and runners at first and second.

Devers wasted little time in getting the Red Sox on the board, as he cranked a 411-foot three-run blast deep to right field for his American League-leading 10th home run of the season. The ball left Devers’ bat at a blistering 114.1 mph and gave Boston an early 3-0 lead.

The Guardians were able to get one of those runs back off Brayan Bello in the top of the second, though. Josh Bell led things off by taking Bello 405 feet over the Green Monster to cut into the deficit and make it a 3-1 game. Bello and Plesac exchanged zeroes in the third before the Sox struck again in the fourth.

Back-to-back one-out doubles from Raimel Tapia and Enmanuel Valdez extended Boston’s lead to 4-1. Christian Arroyo then plated Valdez with an RBI single back up the middle and Connor Wong followed with a base hit of his own to knock Plesac out of the game after just 3 1/3 innings.

Bello, meanwhile, pitched well in his third start of the season for Boston and his first since being recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Friday to take the injured Garrett Whitlock’s spot in the rotation. Over five solid innings of work on Saturday, the young right-hander allowed just the one earned run on five hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts.

After giving up that solo shot to Bell in the second, Bello retired the next six hitters he faced before working out of a jam in the fourth. He did not issue his first walk until there were two outs in the top of the fifth. Due to a bloody fingernail on his right index finger, Bello received attention from a team trainer. He then walked his second straight batter to put runners at first and second, but he ended his outing by fielding a soft roller off the bat of Amed Rosario and making a strong throw to first base for the final out of the inning.

All told, Bello finished with 84 pitches (47 strikes). The 23-year-old hurler induced eight swings-and-misses while mixing in a 93-96 mph sinker, an 83-87 mph slider, an 86-89 mph changeup, and a 95-97 mph four-seam fastball. Though he did not factor into Saturday’s decision, Bello did lower his ERA on the season down to 6.57.

Following a scoreless inning of relief from Richard Bleier out of the bullpen, the Red Sox tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth. Arroyo and Wong led off with back-to-back singles off Guardians reliever Xzavion Curry. A Verdugo lineout allowed Arroyo to advance up to third. With one out and Yoshida at the plate, Wong took off for second base. Catcher Mike Zunino attempted to throw his counterpart out, but he instead made an errant throw that wound up in center field.

As a result of Zunino’s throwing error, Wong was credited with a stolen base while Arroyo scored from third to put Boston up, 6-1. Bleier came back out for the seventh but immediately served up a solo homer to Andres Gimenez that panged off the top of Pesky’s Pole. The left-hander was then replaced by Ryan Brasier, who recorded the first two outs of the inning before issuing a four-pitch walk to Jose Ramirez to load the bases.

That sequence of events forced Red Sox manager Alex Cora to dip into his bullpen again, and in came John Schreiber. With one out to get and the bases full, Schreiber surrendered a bases-clearing, three-run double to Josh Naylor. Myles Straw, Steven Kwan, and Ramirez all scored as Boston’s five-run lead was suddenly trimmed to one.

Schreiber was able to avoid any further damage in the seventh and Josh Winckowski followed with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, thus paving the way for Kenley Jansen, who had yet to allow a run through his first eight appearances of the year, to come on for the ninth.

In uncharacteristic fashion, Jansen gave up back-to-back singles to Straw and Kwan out of the gate. After punching out Rosario, the veteran closer yielded a game-tying RBI single to Ramirez that knotted things up at six runs apiece. Jansen got through the rest of the inning unscathed, but he was clearly not himself and was charged with his first blown save of the season as a result.

A scoreless bottom of the ninth from the Red Sox pushed this one into extras. Lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino recorded two quick outs before allowing the automatic runner at second base to score on a hard-hit RBI single from Zunino in the top of the 10th.

Now trailing 7-6, Christian Arroyo led off the bottom of the 10th with a game-tying RBI single off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase that brought in Valdez from second. Arroyo then moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt from Wong and to third on a pitch that got past Zunino.

With the winning run just 90 feet away and the infield drawn in, Verdugo delivered by ripping a 88.9 mph single to left field. Arroyo came into score and Verdugo was credited with his second walk-off hit of the year and his fifth in a Red Sox uniform.

All nine members of Boston’s starting lineup registered at least one hit on Saturday. Arroyo and Wong led the way with three hits apiece while Verdugo, Devers, and Tapia each had two hits. On the flip side, Bernardino picked up the first winning decision of his big-league career.

Next up: Allen vs. Sale in rubber match

The Red Sox will go for a series win over the Guardians on Sunday afternoon. Chris Sale is slated to start for Boston while fellow southpaw Logan Allen is lined up to do the same for Cleveland.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN, though the forecast does not look particularly encouraging.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta has another rough start as Red Sox drop opener to Guardians, 5-2

The Red Sox found themselves in an early hole and could never recover against the Guardians on Friday night. Boston fell to Cleveland by a final score of 5-2 in the opener of this three-game series at Fenway Park to drop back below .500 on the season at 13-14.

Nick Pivetta was unable to find his rhythm in his fifth start of the season for the Sox. The right-hander allowed four earned runs on five hits, two walks, and one hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts over five innings of work.

The Guardians got to Pivetta right away in their half of the first. Steven Kwan led off with a line-drive single and Jose Ramirez capped off a 12-pitch at-bat with a base hit of his own to put runners at the corners with one out. Josh Naylor then opened the scoring by driving in Kwan with a sacrifice fly to left field.

Ramirez advanced to second base on a wild pitch and then scored from second on an RBI double off the bat of Josh Bell to give Cleveland a 2-0 lead out of the gate. An inning later, Pivetta plunked Will Brennan with one out. Brennan then stole second and quickly scored on a Myles Straw RBI single to put the Guardians up, 3-0.

Boston got one of those runs back in the latter half of the second. With ace righty Shane Bieber starting for Cleveland, Triston Casas drew a one-out walk and Jarren Duran followed with a groundball double to put runners at second and third for Enrique Hernandez. Hernandez, in turn, cut into the deficit by plating Casas with a run-scoring single through the left side of the infield.

Hernandez’s base hit put runners on the corners for Reese McGuire, but the catcher grounded into an inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play to extinguish the threat. Pivetta then put up a zero in the third before running into more trouble in the fourth, when he served up a 346-foot solo shot over the Green Monster to Mike Zunino.

Zunino gave the Guardians a 4-1 lead with his towering blast. Pivetta, for his part, got through the rest of the inning unscathed and retired the final three batters he faced in a scoreless fifth. The 30-year-old hurler finished with exactly 100 pitches (73 strikes). He also induced a game-high 11 swings-and-misses, but was ultimately charged with the loss as his ERA on the season rose to 5.11.

With Pivetta’s night done, the Red Sox continued to try to chip away against Bieber. In the bottom of the fifth, Hernandez led off with a single and Enmanuel Valdez moved him up to third with a double. Alex Verdugo then brought in Hernandez with an RBI groundout, but Masataka Yoshida left Valdez at third base by grounding out to Bieber himself.

Fast forward to the seventh inning, Duran led off with yet another double off Bieber. But Hernandez popped out, McGuire struck out, and Valdez grounded out to leave Duran at second. In the eighth, Yoshida ripped a one-out double off reliever Trevor Stephan and Justin Turner followed with a single to put runners on the corners for Rafael Devers.

Following a mound visit from Guardians pitching coach Carl Willis, though, Stephan responded by fanning Devers on three straight strikes and getting Casas to ground out to squander yet another scoring opportunity for the Red Sox.

Still trailing 4-2 going into the ninth, Kutter Crawford had already tossed three scoreless innings of relief after taking over for Pivetta in the sixth. But with one out and the bases empty in the top half of the frame, Brennan took Crawford 351 deep to right field to make it a 5-2 contest in favor of Cleveland.

Guardians closer Enmanuel Clase came on for the last of the ninth and worked his way around a Duran leadoff ground-rule double by retiring Hernandez, McGuire, and Valdez to end it two hours and 25 minutes.

All told, the Red Sox went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position on Friday and left seven runners on base as a team. Duran (3-for-4) accounted for three of Boston’s eight hits. His three doubles left his bat at 108.7 mph, 97.1 mph, and 61 mph, respectively. He is now batting .436 (17-39) in his first 11 games this season.

Next up: Plesac vs. Bello

The Red Sox will look to put an end to this two-game skid with a win over the Guardians on Saturday afternoon. Brayan Bello will get the start for Boston in place of the injured Garrett Whitlock. Fellow right-hander Zach Plesac is lined up to do the same for Cleveland.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox place Garrett Whitlock on 15-day injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis, recall Brayan Bello from Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have placed right-hander Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list due to right elbow neuritis, the club announced prior to Friday’s series opener against the Guardians at Fenway Park. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Brayan Bello was recalled from Triple-A Worcester.

Whitlock was originally scheduled to start opposite Zach Plesac on Saturday, but that responsibility will now fall to Bello. The 26-year-old began the season on the injured list after getting a late start in spring training as he continued to recover from a right hip arthroscopy last September.

After making two minor-league rehab starts, Whitlock made his season debut for Boston on April 11 in Tampa Bay. He has since pitched to a 6.19 ERA and 5.98 FIP with 11 strikeouts to three walks over three starts spanning 16 innings of work in which opponents are batting .312 against him.

Whitlock told reporters (including The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier) on Friday that he felt something “akin to a numbness or tingling two side sessions ago, and had felt it sporadically when throwing pitches since.” More specifically, he felt it “a couple of times” during his last start against the Brewers this past Saturday.

Though Whitlock — who has yet to have an MRI — was unable to provide any sort of recovery timetable, he did say there were no concerns pertaining to Tommy John surgery, which he first underwent in July 2019 after tearing his right UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) while still a member of the Yankees organization.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora added further details, indicating that there is not too much concern about Whitlock and that the team is hopeful he will only miss two starts before returning to action. Of course, that all depends on how he responds to treatment in the coming days. Cora also said the Red Sox still view Whitlock as a starter as opposed to a reliever moving forward.

Because his stint on the injured list was backdated to April 25, Whitlock will not be eligible to be activated until Wednesday, May 10 at the earliest. The Red Sox have two off days (one before and one after their two-game series against the Braves) that week, so they could look to take advantage of that schedule flexibility as it pertains to their rotation when the time comes.

In the meantime, Bello will fill in for Whitlock and make his third start of the season on Saturday. Like his counterpart, Bello also began the year on the injured list after being slowed by right forearm tightness during spring training. He made just one rehab start for Worcester and made his season debut on April 17.

Bello has since posted a 9.82 ERA and 6.35 FIP with eight strikeouts to three walks in two starts (7 1/3 innings) against the Angels at home and the Brewers on the road. Though he showed signs of improvement in Milwaukee over the weekend, the 23-year-old was optioned on Monday as the Red Sox went from a six-man to a five-man starting rotation and added another lefty to the bullpen mix by calling up Brennan Bernardino from the WooSox.

It turns out that Bello’s stay in Worcester was shorter than expected since he is replacing an injured player on the roster. Regardless, the Dominican-born hurler will now rejoin a Red Sox rotation that includes Corey Kluber, Chris Sale, Tanner Houck, and Nick Pivetta.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: John Fisher/Getty Images)