Red Sox option Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester, call up Brennan Bernardino

The Red Sox have optioned right-hander Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester, the club announced prior to Monday’s series opener against the Orioles in Baltimore.

To take Bello’s spot on the active roster, left-hander Brennan Bernardino was recalled from Worcester.

Despite being optioned, Bello is still with the Red Sox in Baltimore, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The 23-year-old appears to be the odd man out for now as Boston makes the transition from a six-man to a five-man starting rotation moving forward.

Bello, who began the season on the injured list after being slowed by right forearm tightness in spring training, did not make his 2023 debut until last Monday. In his first two starts of the year for Boston, the Dominican-born hurler has posted a 9.82 ERA and 6.33 FIP with eight strikeouts to three walks in 7 1/3 innings of work. He allowed three runs on five hits, two walks, and three strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings against the Brewers on Sunday.

Because he has been sent down, Bello will need to spend the next 15 days in the minor-leagues unless he replaces an injured player or serves as the 27th man in a doubleheader. In the meantime, Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, and Garrett Whitlock will remain in Boston’s rotation.

Bernardino, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from the Mariners on April 16 after fellow reliever Zack Kelly (right elbow inflammation) was transferred to the 60-day injured list. The 31-year-old southpaw has just two games of prior major-league experience, both of which came with Seattle last summer.

In those two outings, Bernardino yielded three runs (one earned) on three hits, two walks, and no strikeouts across 2 1/3 innings in which he threw 26 sinkers and 15 curveballs. The 6-foot-4, 180-pounder made one appearance for the WooSox on Friday and struck out two over two scoreless frames of relief against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

While he is up, Bernardino should provide the Red Sox with some much needed left-handed bullpen depth. With Joely Rodriguez (right oblique strain) still on the 15-day injured list, Richard Bleier had been the lone lefty reliever available to manager Alex Cora going back to Opening Day.

Bernardino will wear the No. 83 for the Red Sox, becoming just the third player in franchise history to do so and the first since Eduard Bazardo wore it in parts of two seasons (2021-2022) with the club.

(Picture of Brayan Bello: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida homers twice in 9-run eighth inning as Red Sox take series from Brewers with 12-5 win

The Red Sox rode a nine-run eighth inning to a series-clinching victory over the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Boston capped off the first leg of its road trip by defeating Milwaukee by a final score of 12-5 at American Family Field to get back over .500 at 12-11 on the season.

With Corbin Burnes starting for the Brewers, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first inning. Alex Verdugo led off with a single and went from first to third on a Justin Turner base hit that was aided by a Bryce Perkins fielding error in right field. Masataka Yoshida then got his productive day at the plate started by driving in Verdugo on a sacrifice fly.

An inning later, Triston Casas drew a leadoff walk off Burnes and Jarren Duran followed with a single. A successful bunt single from Connor Wong then filled the bases with one out for Verdugo, who worked a six-pitch walk to bring in casas. With the bases re-loaded, Rafael Devers made it a 3-0 game by plating Duran on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Brayan Bello, meanwhile, was making his second start of the season for Boston. The young right-hander made relatively quick work of Milwaukee through the first three innings of Sunday’s contest before running into some trouble in the fourth.

After punching out Rowdy Tellez, Bello served up an opposite field home run to Brian Anderson to get the Brewers on the board. In the fifth, Joey Wiemer led off with a double and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt before cutting the deficit to one by scoring on a Christian Yelich RBI single. Yelich then went from first to third before coming into score on a game-tying sacrifice fly from Willy Adames.

Adames was the last batter Bello faced. The 23-year-old hurler finished with 82 pitches (52 strikes) and induced 12 swings-and-misses in the process of lowering his ERA on the season to 9.82. Richard Bleier received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in relief of Bello. The lefty fanned Tellez to end things in the fifth and then worked his way around a leadoff walk in a scoreless sixth inning.

Kaleb Ort took over for Bleier in the seventh and had a difficult time finding the strike zone. The hard-throwing righty put runners on the corners with one out on a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt. He then spiked a wild pitch while Jesse Winker was up to bat. As a result, Wiemer came in to score the go-ahead run, thus giving the Brewers their first lead of the day at 4-3.

Despite only throwing 10 of his 26 pitches for strikes, Ort avoided any further damage in the seventh by retiring Adames and Tellez. The Red Sox, in turn, wasted no time in re-taking the lead in their half of the eighth as reliever Matt Bush entered the game for the Brewers.

Turner greeted Bush by crushing a game-tying, 388-foot solo shot to left field on the second pitch he saw. Moments later, Yoshida went back-to-back with Turner by clubbing a go-ahead home run 374 feet into the right field seats. An Enrique Hernandez double and one-out walk from Duran knocked Bush out of the game and brought Javy Guerra in.

Duran promptly stole second base before both he and Hernandez scored on a 104.4 mph two-run single from Wong. Following a Yu Chang single and intentional walk of Devers, Turner took ball four with the bases loaded to bring Yoshida to the plate yet again.

Yoshida took full advantage of the opportunity by going deep for the second time in the same inning. The left-handed hitter unloaded on an 0-2, 84.5 mph slider on the inner half of the plate from Guerra and deposited it 407 feet into the second deck in right field for his first career grand slam. Yoshida’s second big fly of the eighth (and third of the season) capped off a nine-run frame and put Boston up, 12-4.

From there, John Schreiber served up another home run to Anderson in the bottom of the eighth before Ryan Brasier retired the side in order in the ninth to end it. With the win, the Red Sox have now won three series in a row and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Yoshida makes some history

Masataka Yoshida became the first Red Sox player to homer twice in the same inning since David Ortiz did it in August 2008. Prior to Ortiz, only three players in team history (Nomar Garciaparra in 2002, Ellis Burks in 1990, and Bill Regan in 1928) had accomplished the feat, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

All told, Yoshida went 2-for-4 with the two home runs, six RBIs, and two runs scored on Sunday.

Next up: Sale vs. Kremer

The Red Sox will open a three-game series against the 14-7 Orioles in Baltimore on Monday night. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston in the opener opposite right-hander Dean Kremer.

First pitch from Orioles Park at Camden Yards is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire avoids serious injury after X-rays on right hand come back negative

Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire appears to have avoided a serious injury scare after taking a hard-hit foul tip off the top of his throwing hand in the late stages of Saturday night’s 5-4 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field.

McGuire had X-rays that revealed no broken bones in his right hand, which was struck by a Willy Adames foul tip in the bottom of the eighth inning. The 28-year-old remained in the game and even hit in the top of the ninth. That, in part, was due to the fact that McGuire had already pinch-hit for Connor Wong in the seventh, meaning the Red Sox had no other available catchers to come off the bench.

McGuire, who flew out to end the game, expressed optimism that he would not need to miss any time with the injury when speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) on Saturday night.

“It’s a little swollen, a little bruised,” McGuire said. “But I just got some X-rays and all is negative. That’s really good news. I had a smile on my face because it was kind of throbbing. I’m going to go get ice right after this and be ready for tomorrow.”

After McGuire was hit by Adames’ foul tip, Red Sox manager Alex Cora and a member of the team’s training staff went out to check on him. Athletic tape was applied to McGuire’s hand, but the backstop quickly removed it after some of his practice throws to reliever Kutter Crawford were off the mark.

With no true emergency catcher on the roster according to Cora, McGuire toughed it out and caught the rest of the inning. As noted by Cotillo, first baseman Triston Casas — who did not play on Saturday — was the only other player left on Boston’s bench.

“He didn’t fight it,” Cora said of McGuire. “He was like, ‘(expletive) it, let’s go, we’ve got to go.’ It’s not perfect but this is the nature of everybody’s roster. There’s certain games you have to be aggressive to hit for them.”

Though the ball caught McGuire in a familiar spot for foul tips, McGuire acknowledged that the pain lingered more it usually does.

“As a catcher, you’re kind of used to getting baseballs all over,” he said. “I got some on the forearm the other night. It’s one of those things you shake off at first but that one kind of stung. When I looked down, it was starting to swell up a little bit. Life of a catcher right there.”

McGuire and Wong, who have started nine and 13 games behind the plate, respectively, are currently the only two catchers on Boston’s 40-man roster. The Red Sox do have a plethora of catching depth (Jorge Alfaro, Caleb Hamilton, and Ronaldo Hernandez) at Triple-A Worcester, but they would need to clear a 40-man spot in order to add either of them to the active roster.

(Picture of Reese McGuire: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock gives up another home run to Rowdy Tellez as Red Sox fall to Brewers, 5-4

The Red Six threatened late, but they could not come through with another come-from-behind win over the Brewers on Saturday night. Boston instead fell to Milwaukee by a final score of 5-4 at American Family Field to drop back to .500 on the season at 11-11.

Garrett Whitlock, making his third start of the year for the Sox, took a step backwards after tossing seven innings of one-run ball against the Angels last Sunday. This time around against the Brewers, the right-hander allowed five earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with just one strikeout over four-plus innings of work.

Milwaukee first got to Whitlock in the bottom of the second. William Contreras led off with a double and quickly came into score the first run of the game on a blooper of a ground-rule double off the bat of Brian Anderson. An inning later, with two outs Christian Yelich already on base, Whitlock served up a 412-foot two-run blast to noted Red Sox killer Rowdy Tellez.

Tellez’ second homer of the series and 14th in 37 career games against the Red Sox gave the Brewers an early 3-0 lead. It took until the top of the fifth inning for the Boston bats to respond.

After getting shut out by old friend Wade Miley for four innings, Christian Arroyo reached on a one-out single. Two batters later, Yu Chang continued his power surge by taking the lefty 399 feet deep to left field to cut the deficit to one at 3-2. Chang’s third home run (and fourth hit) of the season left his bat at a blistering 107.3 mph.

It did not take the Brewers long to retaliate, however. In the bottom of the fifth, Blake Perkins led off with a single and promptly scored all the way from first on a line-drive RBI double from Yelich that sailed over the head of center fielder Enrique Hernandez. Whitlock then plunked Jesse Winker and gave up a single to Willy Adames to fill the bases with no outs.

Having already thrown 81 pitches (54 strikes), Whitlock was given the hook by Red Sox manager Alex Cora in favor of Richard Bleier. Bleier, in turn, officially closed the book on the 26-year-old’s night by allowing one of the runners he inherited to score when he got Tellez to ground into a 3-6-1 double play. But the left-hander avoided any further damage and kept the Brewers at five runs by getting Contreras to ground out to end the fifth.

Another old friend, Joel Payamps, took over for Miley in the sixth. Justin Turner led off with a single and remained at first after the pinch-hitting Jarren Duran struck out. Rafael Devers then unloaded on a 3-2, 93.2 mph fastball at the top of the zone and deposited it 416 feet into the right field seats for his eighth big fly of the year already.

Devers’ 110 mph laser brought Boston back to within one run of Milwaukee at 5-4. After John Schreiber and Kutter Crawford put up zeroes in the sixth and seventh innings, the Sox threatened again in the eighth when Turner laced a one-out double. But Turner was stranded at second as newly-inserted Brewers reliever Hoby Milner (a lefty) fanned both Duran and Devers to escape the jam.

Crawford retired the side in the bottom of the eighth, taking the Red Sox down to their final three outs in the ninth. Masataka Yoshida made it somewhat interesting by reaching on a one-out single off Devin Williams, but the Brewers closer rebounded and sat down both Raimel Tapia and Reese McGuire to end it.

All told, the Red Sox went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left four runners on base as a team. Whitlock was charged with the loss and now carries a 6.19 ERA through his first three starts. Turner, Devers, and Yoshida accounted for six of Boston’s eight hits.

More history for Devers

With his sixth-inning homer, Rafael Devers became just the third Red Sox player to have eight-plus home runs and 20-plus RBIs in the team’s first 22 games since the turn of the century. Carl Everett accomplished the feat in 2000 and Hanley Ramirez was previously the last to do it in 2015.

McGuire’s X-rays come back negative

Reese McGuire, who pinch-hit for starting catcher Connor Wong in the seventh inning, took a foul ball off his throwing hand in the bottom of the eighth. He was able to stay in the game, but was clearly in discomfort as he had issues throwing the ball back to Kutter Crawford.

Following the loss, McGuire had X-rays taken on his right hand. Fortunately for him, those X-rays came back negative.

Next up: Bello vs. Burnes in rubber match

The Red Sox still have a chance to take this three-game series from the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Brayan Bello will get the start for Boston in the rubber match opposite fellow righty Corbin Burnes for Milwaukee.

First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN+.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: John Fisher/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Angel Bastardo strikes out 11 in latest start for High-A Greenville

Red Sox pitching prospect Angel Bastardo had a performance to remember in his third start of the season for High-A Greenville on Friday night.

Going up against the Greensboro Grasshoppers on the road at First National Bank Field, Bastardo allowed two earned runs on two hits and two walks to go along with 11 strikeouts over six solid innings of work in a tough-luck 2-1 losss.

The 11 punchouts represent a career-high for Bastardo, who finished with 84 pitches (58 strikes). The right-hander also induced 27 swings-and-misses while lowering his ERA on the season to 5.93 across 13 2/3 innings with the Drive.

Among 27 qualified South Atlantic League pitchers coming into play on Saturday, Bastardo ranks first in strikeouts per nine innings (13.83), second in strikeout rate (35.5 percent), 11th in batting average against (.212), second in line-drive rate (9.7 percent), first in swinging-strike rate (23.8 percent), and seventh in FIP (3.57), per FanGraphs.

While those numbers are undoubtedly encouraging, Bastardo also ranks 23rd in walks per nine innings (4.61), 21st in walk rate (11.9 percent), and 17th in WHIP (1.32), so there is still room for improvement in different areas, like command and control.

Bastardo, 2o, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 56 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks 23rd among pitchers in the organization. The native Venezuelan originally signed with the Red Sox for just $35,000 as an international free agent coming out of Moron shortly after his 16th birthday in July 2018.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, Bastardo throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a three-pitch mix that consists of a 93-95 mph fastball that tops out at 97 mph and shows sink, an 83-86 mph curveball that varies in shape, and an 84-88 mph changeup that can be inconsistent at times, according to his SoxProspects.com scouting report.

Considering that he has only pitched at one level per year since debuting in the Dominican Summer League in 2019 and does not turn 21 until June, it seems likely that Bastardo will spend most — if not the entirety — of the 2023 season in Greenville’s starting rotation.

Bastardo can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career this winter. With those prior points in mind, though, the Red Sox probably won’t add the righty to their 40-man roster by the November deadline since he is still relatively raw and at least one full season away from garnering any sort of big-league consideration.

(Picture of Angel Bastardo: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Alex Verdugo homers again as Red Sox open series against Brewers with 5-3 win

Playing at American Family Field for the first time since 2017, the Red Sox kicked off their road trip with a series-opening win over the Brewers. Boston defeated Milwaukee by a final score of 5-3 on Friday night to get back over .500 and improve to 11-10 on the season.

Matched up against Freddy Peralta out of the gate, the Sox drew first blood against the Brewers in their half of the third inning. Jarren Duran led off with a hard-hit single and advanced to second on a successful sacrifice bunt from Yu Chang. As the lineup flipped over, Alex Verdugo delivered with a 366-foot two-run home run down the right field line.

Verdugo’s third homer of the season — and second in as many days — had an exit velocity of 98.3 mph. It also gave his side an early 2-0 lead as Nick Pivetta was in the midst of his fourth start of the year for Boston.

After stranding one runner, who Reese McGuire helped pick off, in the first and putting up another zero in the second, Pivetta ran into some trouble in the bottom of the third. There, the right-hander gave up a one-out single to Owen Miller, who stole second base and came into score from second on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Christian Yelich.

Milwaukee then leapfrogged Boston in the fourth. With one out in the inning, Pivetta served up a game-tying solo shot to noted Red Sox nemesis Rowdy Tellez. William Contreras followed by making some more hard contact in the form of a line-drive double. Two batters later, Brice Turang provided the Brewers with their first lead of the night by plating Contreras on a groundball single through the right side of the infield.

Despite falling behind, 3-2, the Sox were able to respond in the top of the sixth. Enrique Hernandez and Triston Casas drew back-to-back two-out walks to knock Peralta out of the game. With left-handed reliever Hoby Milner set to take over for the Brewers, Red Sox manager Alex Cora dipped into his bench by having the right-handed hitting Rob Refsnyder pinch-hit for McGuire, a left-handed hitter

Refsnyder made the most of the opportunity, as he greeted Milner by lofting a game-tying single to right field. Hernandez came into score from second to knot things up at three runs apiece. Moments later, Duran broke the tie by driving in Casas on a 100.4 mph liner that could not be handled cleanly by Miller.

As a result, the Red Sox went up, 4-3, going into the latter half of the sixth. Pivetta then recorded the first two outs of the inning before issuing a four-pitch walk to Brian Anderson, which marked the end of his night. The 30-year-old hurler wound up allowing just the three earned runs on seven hits and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work. He finished with exactly 100 pitches (65 strikes) and induced 12 swings-and-misses before ultimately picking up his first winning decision of the year.

In relief of Pivetta, Josh Winckowcki received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from Cora. The righty stranded the lone runner he inherited in the sixth by getting Turang to fly out to left fielder Masataka Yoshida. A half-inning later, Yoshida provided Boston with an important insurance run by pushing across Justin Turner on a 107.3 mph RBI double off Bryse Wilson.

Yoshida’s clutch two-base hit gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead at stretch time. Winckowski picked up where he left off by tossing a 1-2-3 seventh inning. The Brewers threatened in the eighth when Tellez drew a two-out walk and Contreras followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but Winckowski did not falter. Instead, he fanned Anderson on a 95.1 mph fastball to escape the jam.

That paved the way for Kenley Jansen to enter in the ninth. The veteran closer made quick work of the Brewers, punching out two and getting Joey Wiemer to pop out into foul territory to notch his fifth save of the season and secure the 5-3 victory.

Next up: Whitlock vs. Miley

Winners of six of their last eight games, the Red Sox will look to take this series from the Brewers on Saturday night. Right-hander Garrett Whitlock is slated to take the mound for Boston while former Sox left-hander Wade Miley is expected to do the same for Milwaukee.

First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox outright Jake Faria to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox designated Jake Faria for assignment on Monday after recalling Jarren Duran from Triple-A Worcester and activating Brayan Bello from the 15-day injured list.

Faria spent two days in limbo before being outrighted off Boston’s 40-man roster on Wednesday. Because he has previously been outrighted, the right-hander had the ability to refuse an outright assignment to the minor-leagues in favor of free agency.

It appears as though Faria has accepted his assignment and re-joined the WooSox. The 29-year-old gave up a solo home run and struck out one in the seventh inning of a 7-4 victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown, Pa. on Thursday night.

In four relief appearances for Worcester this season, Faria has now allowed seven earned runs on five hits (three home runs), six walks, and six strikeouts over six innings of work. He is currently holding opposing hitters to a .217 batting average against.

Faria originally signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox in February after spending the 2022 season in the Twins organization. The former Rays, Brewers, and Diamondbacks hurler received an invitation to big-league spring training and broke camp with the WooSox last month.

After placing reliever Chris Martin on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation last Sunday, the Red Sox found themselves in need of a fresh arm and selected Faria’s contract from Triple-A. They made room for Faria on the 40-man roster by transferring fellow righty Wyatt Mills (right elbow inflammation) to the 60-day injured list.

Faria was available out of the bullpen at Fenway Park on Sunday but was not needed as Garrett Whitlock, Kaleb Ort, and Ryan Brasier combined for nine innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 win over the Angels. Since he was on Boston’s active roster, though, Faria ensured that he would get a prorated version of the major-league minimum as far as his salary is concerned.

With that being said, Faria’s stay in Boston lasted all of one day. As previously mentioned, he was designated for assignment on Monday to open a roster spot for Bello and was outrighted off the 40-man roster on Wednesday after clearing waivers.

Faria, who turns 30 in July, will now look to continue stringing together strong outings for Worcester in hopes of ultimately making it back to a big-league mound — whether it be with the Red Sox or elsewhere — for the first time since August 14, 2021.

(Picture of Jake Faria: Elsa/Getty Images)

Red Sox minor-league reliever Michael Gettys to undergo back surgery

Red Sox minor-league reliever Michael Gettys took to Instagram on Thursday to announce that he is going to have surgery to repair a herniated disc in his lower back.

“If you know me, for the past six years I’ve made comments or complained about my lower back always being tight (jokingly sometimes),” Gettys wrote. “Since the middle of 2016 I have been playing and living with a herniated disc in my lower back. Only few people know how bad it really bothered me. I’ve had extreme muscle spasms, referred pain into my hip and groin, and extreme nerve pain radiating from my low back down my leg (sciatica). I haven’t been able to tie my shoes properly, bend over or sit for long periods of time without nerve pain. I’ve pushed and pushed. Now is the time to get it fixed as it has affected my quality of life and career.

“Only a handful of times in the past few years have I really felt like myself physically,” he continued. “I will be getting surgery to remove the herniation that is constantly on my nerve. I am at peace with it because I know I will be pain-free in my daily life and my playing career. I’ve always been a man of faith, I give God control of it all. I have always been resilient and I’ve never quit anything. I plan to come back better than ever in my personal life and playing career!”

Gettys first joined the Red Sox organization as a minor-league free agent in November 2020. At that point in time, the 27-year-old was an outfielder and former second-round draft selection of the Padres in 2014 who spent the first six years of his professional career in San Diego’s farm system.

A right-handed hitter, Gettys opened the 2021 minor-league season with Triple-A Worcester and saw playing time at all three outfield positions for the WooSox before being placed on the development in early August. Later that same month, Gettys had successfully been converted into a pitcher and was working as a reliever with the rookie-level Florida Complex League Red Sox down in Fort Myers.

Boston first re-signed Gettys to a minor-league deal that November. Between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland last season, the righty pitched to a 2.23 ERA and 4.21 FIP with 31 strikeouts to 15 walks over 40 relief appearances spanning 48 1/3 innings of work. As a member of the Sea Dogs bullpen, he forged an ERA of 0.48 (4.00 FIP) with eight strikeouts to eight walks across 18 outings and 18 2/3 innings.

Gettys was expected to return to Portland for the start of the 2023 campaign after re-signing with the Red Sox last November, but he was placed on the 7-day injured list earlier this month because of back issues. Those back issues have now progressed to the point where the 6-foot-1, 217-pound hurler will go under the knife in hopes of getting them resolved.

With that, it seems unlikely that Gettys — who turns 28 in October — will be able to pitch this season, though his timetable has not yet been determined. Taking that into consideration, it is worth mentioning that the Georgia native can once again become eligible for minor-league free agency at the end of the year.

(Picture of Michael Gettys: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Tanner Houck has career day, Alex Verdugo and Yu Chang both homer as Red Sox take series from Twins with 11-5 win

The Red Sox scored first and never looked back in a series-clinching win over the Twins on Thursday afternoon. Boston defeated Minnesota by a final score of 11-5 at Fenway Park to get back to .500 at 10-10 on the season.

With Kenta Maeda starting for the Twins, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first. On the third pitch he saw from his former Dodgers teammate, leadoff man Alex Verdugo drilled a 386-foot solo shot to right field for his third home run of the year and the first leadoff homer of his career. The ball left Verdugo’s bat at 101.2 mph and gave Boston an early 1-0 lead.

Two innings later, the Red Sox broke it open against Twins reliever Emilio Pagan, who took over for Maeda after Maeda left the game with a left ankle contusion. Verdugo reached base on a one-out single and immediately scored on an RBI double off the bat of Rafael Devers. Masataka Yoshida followed with a run-scoring hit of his own that scored Devers and snapped an 0-for-18 skid.

Back-to-back singles from Enrique Hernandez and Triston Casas loaded the bases for Connor Wong, who drove in two with a groundball single through the left side of the infield. Jarren Duran capped off the high-scoring frame by lacing a 395-foot two-run double to center field to plate both Casas and Wong and give his side a commanding 7-0 advantage.

The Twins got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth. To that point, Red Sox starter Tanner Houck had tossed four scoreless innings out of the gate. But the right-hander ran into a bit of trouble when he gave up back-to-back ground-out doubles to Willi Castro and Max Kepler to trim the deficit down to six runs.

Houck got through the rest of the inning unscathed and the Red Sox lineup responded in the latter half of the fifth. Hernandez led off with a single off Twins reliever Jorge Alcala and — following a Casas Walk — advanced to third on a Wong flyout. Duran then drove in Hernandez from third with a sacrifice fly to center field before Chang came through with a blistering two-run home run that cleared the Green Monster in 4.2 seconds.

Chang’s second homer of the season, which had an exit velocity of 109.7 mph, put Boston up, 10-1, going into the sixth. Houck continued on with yet another scoreless frame before running into more two-out trouble in the top of the seventh. With Jose Miranda already at first base following a leadoff single, Willi Castro clubbed a 413-foot two-run home run into the right field seats to make it a 10-3 game.

Despite the way his outing ended, it was still an impressive day on the mound for Houck. The 26-year-old hurler allowed just the three runs on six hits and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts over seven innings of work to set a new career high in that category. He finished with 96 pitches (63 strikes) and induced 16 swings-and-misses while improving to 3-0 and lowering his ERA on the season to 4.29.

In relief of Houck, Kaleb Ort struck out two in a scoreless top of the eighth. Boston then went up 11-3 over Minnesota in the latter half of the inning when Yoshida plated Christian Arroyo (who reached on a pinch-hit double) with his second RBI single of the afternoon.

Ryan Brasier grinded through a ninth inning in which he surrendered two runs on four hits and a walk. But he got out of a bases-loaded jam when Casas threw out Kepler at third base to end it, thus putting the finishing touches on an 11-5 victory.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Peralta in Milwaukee

On the heels of a 5-2 homestand, the Red Sox will now embark on a six-game road trip that begins in Milwaukee on Friday night. Nick Pivetta is slated to get the start for Boston in the series opener against the National League Central-leading Brewers opposite fellow right-hander Freddy Peralta.

First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN+. The other two games will begin at 7:10 p.m. and 2:10 p.m. eastern time, respectively.

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

Red Sox reinstate Yu Chang from paternity list, option Enmanuel Valdez to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have reinstated infielder Yu Chang from the paternity leave list, the club announced prior to Thursday’s series finale against the Twins at Fenway Park. In order to make room for Chang on the active roster, infielder/outfielder Enmanuel Valdez was optioned to Triple-A Worcester.

Chang returns from the paternity list after spending less than one full day on it. The 27-year-old could not make it home in time to be with his wife, Ling, for the birth of their second child in Taiwan. And so he remained in Boston to attend to her via FaceTime.

In 12 games with the Red Sox this season, the right-handed hitting Chang has gone just 2-for-26 (.077) at the plate with one home run, four RBIs, two runs scored, one walk, and nine strikeouts. Both of those hits and all four of those RBIs came in last Saturday’s 9-7 win over the Angels.

Chang will be starting at shortstop and batting ninth for Boston in Thursday’s series finale against Minnesota (first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time). The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder has logged 50 innings at the position thus far and has been worth one out above average, per Baseball Savant.

Valdez, meanwhile, made his major-league debut after getting called up for the first time in place of Chang on Wednesday night. Batting ninth and starting at second base, the 24-year-old went 2-for-4 with a pair of hard-hit opposite-field singles and a strikeout. He also committed a fielding error by letting a shallow fly ball fall in the outfield in the fifth inning of a 10-4 loss.

This probably won’t be the last we see of Valdez in Boston this season, but he will nonetheless return to Worcester for the time being. In his first 11 games with the WooSox this year, the left-handed hitting Valdez has batted .179 (7-for-39) with three doubles, one home run, six RBIs, three runs scored, one stolen base, six walks, and 15 strikeouts in 45 plate appearances while seeing all of his playing time come at second base.

Acquired from the Astros alongside outfield prospect Wilyer Abreu in last Augusts’s Christian Vazquez trade, Valdez — a Dominican Republic native — is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 19 prospect in the Red Sox’ farm system.

(Picture of Yu Chang: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)