Tag: 2021 season

Red Sox’ Nick Pivetta works 10-pitch at-bat against Mets ace Jacob deGrom: ‘That probably changed the complexion of the game,’ Alex Cora says

During his weekly call-in appearance on WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni, and Fauria on Wednesday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora teased that starting pitcher Nick Pivetta was a “sneaky good” hitter.

“He’s facing [Jacob] deGrom, but he has nine hits,” Cora said. “Pivetta. Nine hits. Yeah.”

Pivetta, Boston’s starter for their series finale against the Mets at Citi Field on Wednesday, came into the day with nine career hits in 120 career plate appearances from the 3 1/2 seasons he spent with the Phillies.

He had never faced off against deGrom before the third inning of Wednesday’s contest.

There, the 28-year-old led things off by putting together an at-bat that resulted in a strikeout, but was still impressive considering the fact that against a two-time Cy Young Award winner, he got ahead in the count at 2-1 before fouling off six consecutive pitches — four of which were 99-plus mph fastballs.

On the 10th pitch he saw from deGrom, Pivetta whiffed at a 91 mph slider to go down by way of the K. But by the time that happened, the right-handed hitter had raised deGrom’s pitch count from 32 to 42 with just one out in the top half of the third inning.

deGrom, who was fresh off a complete game shutout in his last time out against the Nationals, was only able to go six innings deep in his start against the Red Sox, and it’s safe to say Pivetta’s lengthy at-bat played a role in that.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Cora said following his team’s 1-0 victory over the Mets. “It’s a team sport, right? And everybody has to do their part. If you are hitting in a National League park, you have to do your job. And he helped himself. That was a great at-bat.”

Before his first at-bat on Wednesday, the last time Pivetta had faced any live pitching came on September 28, 2019 in a game against the Marlins. So for deGrom to be the first pitcher he sees in 19 months, that was surely no simple task.

“I was just trying to compete against him, do the best I could, trying to wear down his pitches as much as I could,” Pivetta said during his postgame media availability. “Luckily, it worked out in my favor. Just trying to compete right there. I know that I’m probably not going to get a hit there, it’s deGrom. But, if I can foul off a couple pitches, make him throw a couple balls here and there, and just wear down his pitch count, that’s probably the biggest thing for me in that start. Just wearing him down, and doing the best I can with the job that I have.”

While Pivetta was in the process of making deGrom grind for the first out of the third, Cora and the rest of the Red Sox dugout enjoyed what they were seeing from the lifetime .083/.107/.092 hitter.

“It was great,” said the Sox skipper. “Everybody knew how important that at-bat was. We kept saying, ‘Just foul off five more. Five more pitches.’ I know he wanted to get a hit, but that at-bat probably changed the complexion of the game… It was fun to watch him compete against [deGrom].”

One of those in Boston’s dugout who cheered on Pivetta was Christian Vazquez, who also caught the right-hander on Wednesday.

“That’s a hit for us,” said Vazquez. “That’s a great at-bat. He took like eight pitches, nine pitches, and it was fun. A lot of foul balls.”

Upon returning to his post for the latter half of the third, though, the veteran backstop was told by deGrom himself that the Mets ace was hoping to do to Pivetta what Pivetta did to him at the plate.

“And deGrom, the first at-bat, he told me, ‘I got to do the same thing to him,'” Vazquez recalled with a chuckle. “So it was fun to see that.”

deGrom, who entered Wednesday having gone 6-for-his-first 11 at the plate to start the season, saw a total of 11 pitches in the process of going 0-for-2 against Pivetta.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta outduels Jacob deGrom as Red Sox defeat Mets, 1-0, to finish off series sweep

Going into their series finale against the Mets on Wednesday, the Red Sox knew runs would be come to hard by with ace right-hander Jacob deGrom on the hill for New York.

Taking that into consideration, the Sox were also aware that they would not to put forth their best pitching effort to have a chance on Wednesday, and that’s just what they did en route to a 1-0 shutout victory over the Mets at Citi Field to secure the two-game series sweep.

The one run the Boston bats managed to score off deGrom came in the top half of the second inning, when Xander Bogaerts led things off with a hard-hit double and came into score moments later on a one-out RBI double off the bat of Christian Vazquez.

Vazquez’s seventh RBI of the season would prove to be all the scoring the Red Sox would need in this one as Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock, Adam Ottavino, and Matt Barnes combined to toss a two-hit shutout.

Pivetta, making his fifth start of the season, held the Mets to just one hit over five strong innings of work to go along with three walks, one hit batsman, and seven strikeouts on the night. He also worked a 10-pitch at-bat against deGrom in the third.

Whitlock, making his sixth appearance of the season, scattered one hit and one walk while fanning four hitters in the sixth and seventh innings, which led to Ottavino working a 1-2-3 bottom half of the eighth.

Barnes, meanwhile, came on for his second save opportunity in as many days in yet another one-run game and shut the door on the Mets by sitting down Michael Conforto, J.D. Davis, and Dominic Smith on just 12 pitches to preserve the 1-0 victory for his side.

Gonzalez makes leaping play at second

While Ottavino may have faced the minimum three batters in his lone inning of work, he certainly got some defensive help from his second baseman in Marwin Gonzalez.

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Francisco Lindor laced a 96 mph line drive towards left field that would have put the tying run on base had it gone for a hit.

Instead, Gonzalez, who was playing in the shift and on the outer edge of the infield dirt, left his feet and came up with a dazzling, off-balanced catch to rob Lindor of what could have been an important hit for the Mets.

Next up: On to Texas

After taking both games of this quick interleague-set from the Mets to improve to 16-9 on the season, the Red Sox will head to Globe Life Field inTexas to open up a four-game series against the Rangers that starts on Thursday night.

Left-hander Martin Perez is slated to get the ball for Boston, and he will be opposed by a former teammate in the form of right-hander Kyle Gibson for Texas.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Red Sox will be going for their fourth straight win.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo (hamstring) returns to Red Sox lineup for finale against Jacob deGrom, Mets

After not starting each of his team’s last two games, Alex Verdugo is back in the Red Sox’ lineup for their series finale against the Mets at Citi Field on Wednesday night.

The 24-year-old gets the start in right field — alongside center fielder Kiké Hernández and left fielder J.D. Martinez — and will bat out of the two-hole, per usual.

Despite not starting Sunday’s game against the Mariners or Tuesday’s contest against the Mets, Verdugo was used as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of Boston’s 2-1 win over New York.

Verdugo’s brief absence stems from a hamstring cramp he suffered in the fourth inning of Saturday’s loss to Seattle at Fenway Park.

On a line drive off the bat of Sam Haggerty, Verdugo ran in from center field to catch the ball on what looked like a pretty routine play.

Upon catching the ball, though, the young outfielder appeared to be in some discomfort as he gripped the back of his left leg while going back to his position.

He was able to finish Sunday’s game — and even went 2-for-4 with a double — but had not been able to return to Boston’s starting lineup until Wednesday.

“It was actually a very weird play,” Verdugo recalled over the weekend. “Just shuffled my feet, felt something grab a little bit, and just had to make sure that I kept that in mind and loosened it up throughout the game. But no problem.”

The Red Sox will be matched up against an extremely tough opponent in Verdugo’s return to the lineup in the form of Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom.

Through four starts this season, the two-time Cy Young Award winner has posted a miniscule 0.31 ERA and .426 OPS against to go along with a 50:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 29 innings pitched.

In three career starts against the Red Sox, deGrom owns a lifetime 3.32 ERA and .513 OPS against over 19 total innings of work. His most recent start against Boston came last July, an outing in which he yielded two runs over six innings in a game the Mets lost by a final score of 6-5.

Verdugo, meanwhile, has faced off against deGrom six times before in his young career and is 0-for-6 against him.

On the 2021 campaign as a whole, the left-handed hitter comes into play Wednesday sporting a .325/.371/.538 slash line to go along with three home runs and 13 RBI through 22 games and 89 plate appearances.

Here is how the rest of the 15-9 Red Sox will be lining up against deGrom and the 9-9 Mets:

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: David Berding/Getty Images)

Former Red Sox right-hander Mike Shawaryn signs minor-league deal with Royals

Former Red Sox right-hander Mike Shawaryn has signed a minor-league deal with the Royals, the team announced Tuesday.

Shawaryn, 26, was originally selected by the Sox in the fifth round of the 2016 amateur draft out of the University of Maryland.

In his time with the organization, the New Jersey native emerged as one of the top pitching prospects the club had to offer before he made his big-league debut in June 2019.

Over 14 appearances spanning two separate stints with the Red Sox in ’19, Shawaryn posted a 9.74 ERA and .978 OPS against while accruing 20 1/3 innings of work.

On the surface, those numbers were far from encouraging, but Shawaryn’s first exposure to the major-leagues was really a tale of two seasons.

From June 7 through June 18, the former Terrapin yielded just one earned run on four hits, five walks, and 15 strikeouts over his first six outings and 10 innings pitched. That’s good for an ERA of 0.90.

From June 22 through September 26, he surrendered a whopping 21 earned runs on 22 hits, eight walks, and 14 strikeouts over his final eight outings and 10 1/3 innings pitched. That’s good for an ERA of 18.29.

Despite those struggles, Shawaryn was still invited to the Sox’ alternate training site last July, though he was ultimately designated for assignment and outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster the following month.

Going into the 2021 season, the 6-foot-2, 240 pound hurler did not receive an invite to big-league spring training but was still included on the Red Sox’ initial alternate site roster.

It’s unclear how much work Shawaryn got while in Worcester, but he was apparently released by the Red Sox on April 25 and has since joined the Royals on a minor-league pact.

Kansas City should already be quite familiar with Shawaryn, as they originally drafted the righty out of Gloucester Catholic High School (N.J.) in 2013, but he chose to honor his commitment to Maryland instead.

Equipped with a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, sinker, and changeup, Shawaryn has been assigned to the Royals’ alternate training site in Northwest Arkansas and will presumably begin the minor-league season with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, Neb.

(Picture of Mike Shawaryn: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Garrett Richards fans 10 over 7 strong innings, Bobby Dalbec hits first home run of season as Red Sox top Mets, 2-1

Garrett Richards had said last week that his “delivery was off a little bit” following an erratic outing against the Blue Jays in which he walked six batters while only 48 of his 92 pitches went for strikes.

“I just think the delivery was off a little bit tonight,” he had said. “I was kind of fighting it the whole night. And then obviously, couldn’t get my release point under control. Just kind of a combination of things. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

On Tuesday, Richards put the adjustments he made over the past six days into action and had his best start as a member of the Red Sox to this point as a result.

Over seven strong innings of work against the Mets at Citi Field, the veteran right-hander yielded just one earned run on seven hits and no walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts on the night.

The lone run Richards gave up came in the bottom of the second, when with two outs he served up a solo home run to Jeff McNeil on a heater down the heart of the plate.

Outside of that, Richards was thoroughly impressive in spite of dealing with a fair amount of traffic on the base paths. He did wrap up his evening by retiring the final three Mets he faced in a scoreless seventh inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 93 — 70 of which were strikes — the 23-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 35% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing 11 swings-and-misses and topping out at 95.8 mph with the pitch.

Able to pick up his first winning decision as a member of the Sox, Richards will go for win No. 2 in his next time out, which should come against the the Rangers in Arlington on Sunday.

Martinez records outfield assist, Vazquez thwarts steal attempt

While Richards was in the process of tossing seven innings of one-run ball Tuesday, he got a boost from his defense on two occasions in his fifth frame of work.

There, Mets catcher James McCann led things off by ripping a line drive to left field.

J.D. Martinez, starting in place of Alex Verdugo (hamstring) in left, fielded the ball on a run and with a quick throw to second base, snuffed out McCann while he was trying to extend a leadoff single into a leadoff double. Marwin Gonzalez, Boston’s second baseman on Tuesday, also made a nice effort to get the tag on McCann in the first place.

After punching out Mets starting pitcher David Peterson for the second out of the inning, Richards surrendered a single to old friend Kevin Pillar. But like McCann, Pillar did not last long on the base paths thanks to Christian Vazquez throwing him out attempting to steal second base.

Andriese and Barnes close it out

In relief of Richards, Matt Andriese — not Adam Ottavino — got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the middle of the eighth, and he needed all of 16 pitches to sit down Pillar, Francisco Lindor, and Dominic Smith in order.

From there, Matt Barnes came on for the ninth and fanned two of the three hitters he faced in a perfect inning of relief to notch his fifth save of the year and preserve the 2-1 victory for his side.

Dalbec hits long-awaited first home run of season

While Richards and Co. did an effective job of keeping the Mets off the board, the Red Sox did not find themselves in many scoring situations on Tuesday, but they took advantage of the opportunities they had.

One of those opportunities arose in the top half of the third inning, when Bobby Dalbec led things off by crushing his first home run of the season 390 feet to right-center field off Peterson.

Fast forward to the sixth, and the top of the lineup got the job done this time when Enrique Hernandez led the inning off with a double and came in to score on a Rafael Devers bloop RBI single moments later.

Devers’ 19th RBI of the season gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead, which would go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

Next up: Pivetta vs. deGrom

Things will not get any easier for the 15-9 Red Sox on Wednesday, as they will be matched up against two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, who struck out 15 in a two-hit, complete game shutout bid in his last time out for the Mets against the Nationals.

Nick Pivetta will be tasked with opposing deGrom for Boston. The 28-year-old righty took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his last start against the Blue Jays, but wound up allowing two runs in a game the Red Sox lost 7-3.

First pitch for Wednesday’s series finale is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Prep shortstops Brady House, Jordan Lawlar linked to Red Sox in MLB Pipeline’s latest 2021 mock draft

In his latest mock draft for MLB Pipeline, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has the Red Sox selecting Eastlake High School (Calif.) shortstop Marcelo Mayer with the fourth overall pick in this summer’s draft come July 11.

That much is not surprising given the fact that Mayer has previously been linked to the Red Sox.

What is surprising, though, is that Mayo links the Red Sox to two other prep shortstops in Jordan Lawlar, who he has going to the Rangers at No. 2 (in between Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker), and Brady House, who he has going to the Orioles at No. 5.

On Lawlar, Mayo writes “the Red Sox would love one of those top three to be here, particularly Leiter or Lawlar, which could easily happen if Mayer goes above.”

Lawlar, who turns 19 in July, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the third-ranked prospect in this year’s draft class, which is tops among high schoolers and all position players.

The 6-foot-2, 185 pound shortstop throws with his right hand, hits from the right side of the plate, and is committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University.

Through 28 games played for Dallas Jesuit High School this spring, Lawlar — a Texas native — is slashing a gaudy .425/.552/.713 with four home runs and 31 RBI over 105 plate appearances.

As a Dallas-area native, Lawlar has drawn comparisons to Royals top prospect Bobby Witt Jr., who the club selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Per his MLB Pipeline scouting report, Lawlar is “a legitimate candidate” to go the Pirates at No. 1 if it’s not Leiter or Rocker.

“Lawlar is a more polished hitter than Witt was at the same stage with a quick, compact right-handed swing and a mature, patient approach, though he has struck out more than expected as a senior,” his scouting report reads. “He focuses on working the gaps and has a knack for inside-outing balls to right field. With his bat speed and the projectable strength in his 6-foot-2 frame, he should develop solid power once he adds strength and starts turning on more pitches.

“Lawlar’s plus speed plays well on the bases and in the field, and he’ll even clock some well-above-average run times on occasion. The Vanderbilt recruit is a no-doubt shortstop with plenty of range, quick hands and a strong arm, though like most youngsters he needs to improve his defensive consistency. There isn’t much to quibble with his game, though teams with age-based models won’t like that he’ll turn 19 a week after the Draft.”

—

Turning to House now, Mayo writes that the shortstop he projects to go to Baltimore at No. 5 “had entered last summer as the front-runner top pick, had an up-and-down showing, but righted the ship this spring, with his name starting to pop up at least as high as right above this pick.”

House, who turns 18 in June, is at the moment regarded by Baseball America as the No. 12 draft-eligible prospect in this year’s class, which ranks fourth among high schoolers behind Lawlar, Mayer, and IMG Academy (Fla.) outfielder James Wood.

Like Lawlar, House — listed at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds — throws with his right hand and bats from the right side of the plate. The Georgia native is committed to play college baseball for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Currently wrapping up his senior year at Winder-Barrow High School in Winder, Ga., the young shortstop is slashing .573/.685/1.012 to go along with eight home runs and 19 RBI over 27 games played for the Bulldoggs, per MaxPreps.

According to his Baseball America scouting report, House “has an exciting combination of a high-level track record and a gaudy toolset to go along with it. The offensive tools are the loudest with House. He has terrific bat speed and natural strength, to go along with an advanced approach that allows him to track velocity and offspeed stuff with consistency. Scouts with history on House believe he has the ability to develop into a plus hitter, and his raw power should develop into 70-grade juice as he continues to develop. He’s already a physical and imposing hitter now, with plenty of impact to all fields and plus raw power, but there’s more to be had in the future.

“Defensively, House has easy plus arm strength — he can reach 96 mph on the mound — that could be an asset on the infield, where he has a good chance to stick. He doesn’t look like a typical pro shortstop, but evaluators have been impressed with his hands, reactions, internal clock and body control. Some believe he would be a better fit at third base, where he has all the tools to turn into an above-average defender.”

—

Because they own the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft, the Red Sox will have approximately $6.664 million in recommended slot value to spend on said pick.

Last year, in Chaim Bloom’s first draft as Red Sox chief baseball officer, Boston took Nick Yorke — another prep infielder out of California — with their top pick at No. 17 overall.

Between Yorke, Triston Casas, Jeter Downs, Brainer Bonaci, Hudson Potts, Blaze Jordan, etc., you could say that the Sox’ farm system is chockfull of infielders. So why would they draft another infielder so early to add to that crowded mix?

To put it simply, the Red Sox will not be drafting for need by the time they are on the clock in less than three months. They will instead be going after the best player available regardless of position. Whether that be a pitcher, catcher, infielder, or outfielder has yet to be determined.

Again, the draft is still three months away, so who the Sox will be taking at No. 4 really hasn’t come into focus yet.

As Mayo put it, the names linked to the Red Sox thus far are names “that make some sense and are feasible” for the club to draft. That’s it.

(Picture of Chaim Bloom and Alex Cora: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández makes impressive shoestring catch, Marwin González starts double play with glove-hand flip as part of Red Sox’ win over Mariners

The Red Sox got a defensive boost from two of their newest, most versatile position players in Sunday’s 5-3 victory over the Mariners at Fenway Park.

In the top half of the third inning, Kyle Seager laced a fly ball off Eduardo Rodriguez that traveled 370 feet off his bat to right-center field.

Kiké Hernández, who started in center field for Boston on Sunday, had been playing Seager pretty straight up and started headed towards the triangle as if that is where the ball was going to end up.

Instead, a strong gust forced Hernández to make a quick adjustment while he was tracking the ball.

Rather than continue towards the triangle, he took a sharp right turn in front of the Red Sox bullpen and made a shoestring catch by the JetBlue sign in right-center for the final out of the inning.

“It’s very windy at the ballpark,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of the conditions at Fenway during his postgame media availability. “It’s playing different than two years ago or three years ago. It feels so windy out there. When he hit that ball, Kiké said that ball was going toward the triangle and it just stopped in the air and he had to reroute and make the play.”

Hernandez, who made his 15th start of the season in center for Boston on Sunday, was originally slated to start at second base in Cora’s initial lineup.

Alex Verdugo was to start in center field in the series finale, but he was scratched by Cora about an hour before first pitch on account of the hamstring cramp he sustained on Saturday and the wet conditions on a rainy Sunday.

Because of that, Hernandez moved from second base to center field in Cora’s lineup, while Christian Arroyo got the start at second.

The 29-year-old went 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs run scored out of the leadoff spot for the Sox to close out the weekend. He is currently slashing .250/.295/.432 with three home runs and eight RBI through 22 games played thus far.

—

In the top half of the eighth inning, right-hander Adam Ottavino took over for Rodriguez and walked the first man he faced in Mitch Haniger with his team up two runs at 5-3.

On his very next pitch, though, Ottavino got out of a potentially-binding jam by inducing soft contact off the bat of Ty France.

France dribbled a grounder to the left side of the infield and while playing the ball on a bounce, Marwin Gonzalez ran in, fielded the ball with his glove-hand, and nonchalantly flipped said ball with his glove-hand to Arroyo at second base to start an impressive 6-4-3 double play.

“Marwin played excellent shortstop,” Cora said.

Of the 18 starts Gonzalez has made so far this season, only three have come at shortstop. The other 15 have come at first base (six), second base (four), third base (two), left field (two), and right field (one).

On the play in which Gonzalez was involved in his ninth twin killing of the year, Cora also liked what he saw from the second baseman who helped turn it in Arroyo.

“Not an easy play for the second baseman because you don’t expect that flip,” said the Sox skipper. “He stayed with it and was able to turn it.”

The fact that Arroyo was still playing after getting drilled in the left hand by a 93.8 mph fastball in the first inning was a somewhat awe-inspiring feat on its own.

The 25-year-old was clearly in discomfort after taking that heater off his glove hand, but he remained in the game until its conclusion. The X-rays he got on his hand came back negative.

“I told him just don’t worry about your at-bats,” Cora said. “If you can play defense, just grind it out, and he did.”

(Picture of Kiké Hernández: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Christian Arroyo hit by pitch: X-rays on Red Sox infielder’s left hand come back negative

In the first inning of the Red Sox’ 5-3 victory over the Mariners on Sunday, a scary moment arose with Christian Arroyo at the plate.

With one out and the bases loaded in a 4-1 game, Arroyo took a 1-2, 93.8 mph fastball from Drew Steckenrider off his left hand.

After pausing for a moment, the right-handed hitting infielder was clearly in pain as he shouted out and eventually went to a knee to assess the damage upon removing one of his batting gloves.

The fact Arroyo was experiencing that much discomfort prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora and assistant athletic trainer Masai Takahashi to pay him a visit on the field.

Arroyo was able to remain in the game at second base, but it was apparent his left hand was still bothering him throughout the afternoon given how often he looked at it and was flexing it to evaluate his situation.

As soon as Sunday’s contest came to a close, the 25-year-old got X-rays on his hand, and those X-rays have since come back negative.

“[It] hurt pretty bad. But he was able to play defense,” Cora said of Arroyo during his postgame media availability. “I told him just, ‘Don’t worry about your at-bats. If you can play defense, just grind it out.’ And he did.”

Arroyo, who the Sox claimed off waivers from the Indians last August, does have a history of hand issues.

In 2017, when he was still a top prospect in the Giants organization, the Florida native missed the final two months of the minor-league season after sustaining a fractured left hand on a hit-by-pitch.

Taking that point into consideration, the Red Sox will likely want to see how Arroyo is holding up on Monday (an off day), and again on Tuesday before determining if he will be available for Tuesday night’s series opener against the Mets in Flushing.

The former first-round draft pick has been solid in his first full season in Boston, slashing .296/.345/.426 with seven doubles and four RBI over 17 games while primarily playing second base.

As noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, Arroyo wasn’t even in Cora’s original starting lineup for Sunday’s finale against the Mariners.

Alex Verdugo was initially going to start in center while Enrique Hernandez was going to start at second, but due to wet conditions on a rainy day in the Fenway area, Verdugo was scratched approximately one hour before first pitch on account of the hamstring cramp he had sustained on Saturday.

“He was in the lineup but then obviously the conditions weren’t perfect,” said Cora in regards to Verdugo. “(Head trainer) Brad (Pearson) came down and talked to me a little bit about it. So I decided to scratch him.”

With Verdugo scratched, Hernandez moved to center, which led to Arroyo getting the unexpected start at second.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodríguez punches out 8, improves to 4-0 on season as Red Sox split series with Mariners following 5-3 win

On a day where it looked like it would be difficult for baseball to be played in the Boston area due to rainy conditions, the Red Sox closed out their longest homestand of the season on Sunday with a 5-3 victory over the Mariners at Fenway Park.

Rodriguez fans eight over seven solid frames

Eduardo Rodriguez made his fourth start of the season for Boston in Sunday’s series finale and proved to be effective once again even without his best stuff.

Over seven steady innings of work, the left-hander yielded just three runs — all of which were earned — on six hits and and no walks to go along with a season-high eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

While he ultimately put together yet another strong outing, Rodriguez did not get off to the best starts Sunday by surrendering back-to-back doubles to Mitch Haniger and Ty France out of the gate in the top half of the first. That gave the Mariners an early 1-0 lead.

Rodriguez was able to settle into a groove from there, as he sat down 12 of the next 13 hitters he faced before running into some trouble in the fifth.

There, the bottom-third of the Mariners’ lineup got the best of the southpaw, with Sam Haggerty leading the inning off with a single before back-to-back run-scoring doubles off the bats of Tom Murphy and J.P. Crawford cut Boston’s deficit down to two runs at 5-3.

Again faced with some adversity, Rodriguez did not back down and instead ended his day by retiring the final nine Mariners he faced in order leading into the middle of the seventh.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 98 (71 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler threw 36 changeups, 34 four-seam fastballs, 12 cutters, eight sinkers, and eight sliders. He averaged just 91.1 mph with his heater, but still managed to induce seven swings-and-misses with it anyway.

Ultimately improving to 4-0 while raising his ERA on the year from 3.38 to 3.52, Rodriguez will look for win No. 5 in his next time out, which should come against the Rangers in Arlington on Saturday.

Ottavino gets some help from Gonzalez, Barnes notches save

In relief of Rodriguez, right-hander Adam Ottavino got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to work the eighth inning of what was a 5-3 game in favor of his side.

The veteran reliever issued a leadoff walk to Haniger to bring the tying run to the plate almost immediately, but then got some help from Marwin Gonzalez when he got Ty France to hit a grounder towards the left side of the infield.

Gonzalez, who started at shortstop on Sunday, fielded France’s softly-hit grounder on a hop with his glove and instead of transferring the ball to his throwing hand, flipped the ball to Christian Arroyo — who was covering second — to start an impactful 6-4-3 twin killing.

Ottavino then punched out Kyle Seager to retire the side, which paved the way for Matt Barnes to come on for the ninth.

After a rocky outing in his last time out on Friday, Barnes needed all of 16 pitches on Sunday to toss a 1-2-3 ninth inning, notch his fourth save of the season, and preserve a 5-3 victory for the Sox.

Walks lead to early scoring for Red Sox

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against left-hander Nick Margevicius for the Mariners, who came into Sunday averaging 2.3 walks per nine innings through his first four appearances (two starts) of the season.

That being said, Margevicius walked four of the first seven Red Sox he faced in this one and could only record one out before getting the hook because of it.

Enrique Hernandez led things off with a single, moved up to second on a Rafael Devers walk, moved up to third on a J.D. Martinez walk, and scored on a one-out RBI single off the bat of Christian Vazquez.

Hunter Renfroe plated Devers by drawing yet another free pass of the Mariners starter, and Gonzalez drove in Martinez by doing the very same.

Margevicius would then make way for reliever Drew Steckenrider, who plunked the very first hitter he faced — Arroyo — on the left wrist to bring in yet another Red Sox run.

In the second, walks came back to bite the Mariners once more, as Steckenrider put on Hernandez and Devers via ball four before Bogaerts drove in Hernandez on an RBI double to left field.

Bogaerts’ eighth double of the year put Boston up 5-1, which would prove to be enough in an eventual 5-3 win.

Some notes from this victory:

From Red Sox Notes:

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

From Red Sox Stats:

—

The Red Sox wrap up their longest homestand of the season with a 5-5 record, which takes them to 13-9 on the year overall.

After an off day on Monday, the Sox will embark on a two-city, six-game road trip that starts with a two-game interleague tilt against the Mets in Flushing on Tuesday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards is slated to get the start for Boston in Tuesday’s series opener at Citi Field. He will be opposed by left-hander Drew Peterson for New York.

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

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

What do Franchy Cordero and Hunter Renfroe’s offensive woes mean for Red Sox’ outfield picture?

22 games into the 2021 season, it’s fair to say the Red Sox are not getting the results they had hoped for from two significant outfield additions they made over the winter.

Those two additions would be a pair of former Padres outfielders in Hunter Renfroe and Franchy Cordero.

Renfroe, who signed a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Boston back in December, did not play in the Sox’ 8-2 loss at the hands of the Mariners on Saturday afternoon.

Through 14 games this season, the 29-year-old is slashing a dismal .188/.241/.271 with just one home run and seven RBI over 54 plate appearances.

What Renfroe has lacked in offensive production, he has made up for it with his glove thus far as he came into play Saturday ranked seventh among qualified American League outfielders in ultimate zone rate per 150 games (22.7).

The same cannot be said for Cordero, whom the Sox acquired from the Royals as part of the trade that sent Andrew Benintendi to Kansas City back in February.

Cordero did play in Saturday’s loss to the M’s while starting in left field and batting out of the eight-hole, but struck out swinging in all three of his trips to the plate.

The 26-year-old out of the Dominican has now punched out 23 times in 49 plate appearances this season while watching his slash line dip to an underwhelming .200/.265/.244 with just two extra-base hits and five RBI to his name so far.

While he has yet to put his power on full display in Boston, Red Sox manager Alex Cora attributed Cordero’s early struggles and high strikeout rate to the notion that the left-handed hitter was trying to make too much contact rather than stay within himself at the plate.

“I do believe he’s actually trying too much to make contact instead of staying on his swing,” Cora said of Cordero prior to Saturday’s loss. “Instead of recognizing your pitch and put a good swing on it, he’s not actually doing that. He’s late on the fastball. Now he’s out in front of offspeed pitches.”

Despite an 0-for-3 showing with three strikeouts in Saturday’s contest, Cora still remains confident that Cordero will be able to turn things around and prove to be a valuable member of this Red Sox team.

“You’ve got to keep coaching the player and giving him confidence,” said Cora. “He’s working on his craft every day with (hitting coaches) Timmy (Hyers) and Peter (Fatse). He’s in a bad stretch right now. But this is a guy that we trust and we believe he’s going to make contact. And when he makes contact, good things happen.”

Prior to being dealt to Boston in February, Cordero accrued 315 plate appearances with the Padres and Royals from 2016-2019. He crushed 12 total home runs in those 315 plate appearances, but — as previously mentioned — has yet to hit a homer in a Red Sox uniform.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom described Cordero as someone who “hits the ball about as hard as anyone in the big-leagues,” upon acquiring him from Kansas City this winter.

So far this season, the 6-foot-3, 232 pound pound outfielder has yet to barrel a ball and is averaging an exit velocity of just 87.8 mph on the balls he has put in play, per FanGraphs.

It should be said that the Red Sox invested in both Cordero and Renfroe with the idea that they could prove to quintessential low-risk, high reward players.

Besides Renfroe’s fine defense, there really has not been much of a reward from either outfielder thus far. Again, it’s still relatively early on in the season, but that point begs the question: How long will the Red Sox wait before making a significant change in the outfield?

And by make a significant change, I mean call up Jarren Duran.

Duran, 24, is regarded by Baseball America as the top outfield prospect in Boston’s farm system and is currently waiting in the wings at the club’s alternate training site in Worcester.

With the 2020 minor-league season being cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the former seventh-round draft pick has not played in a competitive (non-spring training game) since 2019 and has yet to play above Double-A.

The Red Sox initially drafted Duran as a second baseman out of Long Beach State, but converted him to an outfielder on account of his speed and power potential.

This spring, the left-handed hitter clubbed three home runs, collected seven RBI, and slashed .340/.367/.702 across 47 Grapefruit League appearances.

While he has provided that much offensive firepower at spring training, the Puerto Rican winter league, and the alternate training site this year and last, the Sox still feel as though Duran can improve upon his defense in center field, which is understandable given the fact he is still relatively new to the position.

Bloom has said before that the Red Sox do not want to skip any steps in a prospect’s development, which would certainly seem to indicate that Duran is bound to see playing time for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox before garnering any big-league consideration.

On top of that, Duran — who turns 25 in September — has yet to be added to Boston’s 40-man roster, which as you might expect is full at the moment.

The California native needs to be added to the Sox’ 40-man roster before November 20 in order to avoid eligibility for the Rule 5 Draft, but that is yet another obstacle in the way.

Still, Duran is undoubtedly one of the more exciting prospects the Red Sox have to offer. He seems to be more big-league ready than the likes of outfielders Jeisson Rosario or Marcus Wilson (both of whom are on the 40-man roster), too.

So, if Cordero and Renfroe continue to sputter along, it would not be surprising to see the Red Sox give Duran a crack in the outfield sooner rather than later.

His time is coming, and maybe it will come sooner than expected.

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe, Franchy Cordero, and Alex Verdugo: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)