Tag: 2022 season

Red Sox’ Rich Hill will make start on Marathon Monday after his father, Lloyd, passed away last week

Red Sox left-hander Rich Hill lost his father, Lloyd Hill Sr., at the age of 94 on Friday.

Shortly before his father’s passing, Hill left the Red Sox while they were in Detroit this past Wednesday in order to spend more time with his family. Despite the loss, the 42-year-old will still make his next start as scheduled against the Twins at Fenway Park on Monday.

“He’s in a good place,” Cora said in regards to Hill on Sunday. “Obviously, you know, thoughts and prayers with his family. It’s tough, but he’s in a good place. He’s going to go out there and pitch. I know it means a lot to him, his family, and to us.”

It is quite fitting that Hill will be making his first home start of the season on Marathon Monday, as his late father ran in 37 Boston Marathons.

“I can’t describe how kind he was towards everybody and the way he treated everyone. But also running 37 Boston Marathons was an amazing feat,” Hill told WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche. “We just found that out the other day. I always thought it was in the 20s and then I asked him. And he said, ‘No, we started in 1958.'”

Lloyd Hill Sr., a native of Milton, Mass., was a captain and All-American tackle for the Brown University football team. He was a veteran of the Korean War who later coached and served as a high school principal in Quincy.

Rich Hill, who went 4 1/3 innings against the Tigers in his first start back with the Red Sox last Tuesday, will be thinking of his father when he takes the mound at Fenway on Monday morning.

“There’s going to be a lot of emotion tomorrow, but at the same time, there’s a job that has to be done,” Hill said to Roche. “I know that the task at hand is extremely important. And for my dad, that’s how he would appreciate and what he would want.”

(Picture of Rich Hill: Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Tanner Houck says he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, meaning he will not be eligible to pitch in Toronto

Red Sox starter Tanner Houck revealed to The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams on Sunday that he is not yet vaccinated against COVID-19. As a result, the right-hander will not be eligible to pitch against the Blue Jays in Toronto.

The Red Sox will visit Rogers Centre for the first time this season later this month. Houck was in line to start the second of that four-game series on April 26, but will instead miss it due to his vaccination status.

“I think it’s a personal choice for everyone whether they get it or not,” Houck told McWilliams earlier Sunday morning. “So, that’s all I really got to say on it.”

Any individual traveling to Canada must be vaccinated against COVID-19. The Canadian government defines this individual as someone who has received at least two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Travelers must have received the second dose of Moderna/Pfizer or first dose of Johnson and Johnson at least 14 calendar days prior to entering the country.

For the Red Sox, these guidelines apply to their series against the Blue Jays in Toronto from April 25-28, June 27-June 29, and September 30 through October 2.

Besides Houck, it is already known that fellow Boston starter Chris Sale is not vaccinated against the virus. The left-hander is currently on the 60-day injured list as he continues to recover from a stress fracture in his right rib cage, so he was not going to be able to pitch in next week’s series north of the border anyway.

Still, unless either pitcher gets vaccinated or the Canadian government changes its rules, Houck and Sale will not be eligible to travel to or play in Toronto this season.

In Houck’s case, the 25-year-old hurler will be placed on the restricted list during the Sox’ series in Toronto. While away from the team, Houck will be placed on the restricted list and will not receive any pay or service time for the games he misses.

The Red Sox will, however, have the ability to replace Houck on the active roster while he is on the restricted list. Although the club has yet to announce who will take Houck’s turn in the starting rotation on April 26, it would not be surprising if that responsibility fell to Garrett Whitlock, who pitched in relief of Houck on Saturday.

“We knew it beforehand,” Sox manager Alex Cora said following Sunday’s 8-1 win over the Twins. “So, we’ll plan accordingly.”

As noted by McWilliams, Cora also indicated that Houck will not be the only player Boston places on the restricted list for their trip to Toronto. According to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, “the identities of the others are unknown.”

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox ride strong start from Michael Wacha, 6-run eighth inning to 8-1 win over Twins

Powered by strong starting pitching and a late rally, the Red Sox won their second straight over the Twins at Fenway Park on Sunday by a final score of 8-1. Boston has now won three of its last four games to improve to 5-4 on the season.

Michael Wacha, making his second start of the year for the Sox, thoroughly impressed while donning the yellow and blue City Connect uniforms for the first time. Over five scoreless innings of work, the veteran right-hander yielded just one hit and two walks to go along with five strikeouts on the afternoon.

Wacha took a perfect game bid into the third inning by retiring each of the first seven Minnesota batters he faced. He then issued a one-out walk to Miguel Sano in the top of the third, but stranded Sano there before taking a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

To lead things off in the fifth, Gio Urshela greeted Wacha by roping a single to center field. Once more, though, Wacha did not let things escalate and instead sat down each of the final three Twins he faced to end his day on a solid note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 79 (52 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler featured a healthy mix of changeups, four-seam fastballs, and cutters on Sunday. Those three offerings accounted for 80% of Wacha’s workload, though he also threw eight sinkers and eight curveballs while inducing a total of seven swings-and-misses altogether.

In relief of Wacha, Matt Strahm received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from manager Alex Cora in the top of the sixth inning. The left-hander needed all of 13 pitches to retire the side there.

To that point in the contest, the Sox themselves had been stymied by Twins starter Bailey Ober. After mustering just three singles and a walk through five innings, the Boston bats finally got something going against Ober in their half of the sixth.

Rafael Devers led the inning off by reaching on a fielding error committed by Sano. He then advanced all the way to third on a hard-hit double off the bat of Xander Bogaerts. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from J.D. Martinez and Alex Verdugo gave the Red Sox their first lead of the day at 2-0.

Strahm came back out for the seventh but was pulled after yielding a one-out single to Max Kepler. Ryan Brasier was dispatched and allowed the lone runner he inherited to score on a Trevor Larnach sacrifice fly. The righty then loaded the bases with two outs, but escaped the jam by getting Kyle Garlick to fan on a 93 mph fastball that was up and in.

After Jake Diekman struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, the Sox really blew things open in their half of the inning. With reliever Caleb Thielbar on the mound for the Twins, Enrique Hernandez, Devers, and Bogaerts hit three consecutive singles. Bogaerts plated Hernandez on his 44-foot base hit, then Martinez scored Devers on an RBI double off the Green Monster.

The 300th double of Martinez’s career made it a 4-1 game in favor of Boston. Trevor Story added on to that by lacing a two-run single that scored both Bogaerts and Martinez. After Story advanced to second on a Bobby Dalbec base hit, Jackie Bradley Jr. came through with an RBI single of his own. Kevin Plawecki plated the Sox’ eighth and final run (Dalbec) on a sacrifice fly.

With a sizable seven-run cushion to work with, Austin Davis got the call for the ninth and closed things out quickly to secure an 8-1 victory on Easter.

Some notes from this win:

In his last four games, Jackie Bradley Jr. has batted .385 (5-for-13) with three doubles, four RBIs, two runs scored, and two walks.

With runners in scoring position this season, J.D. Martinez is batting .333/.364/.667 with four RBIs.

Rafael Devers has recorded two or more hits in four of his last six games and is now hitting .368 with an OPS of .990 on the season.

Next up: Bundy vs. Hill

The Red and Twins will close out this four-game weekend series on Marathon Monday. Left-hander Rich Hill is slated to get the ball for Boston while right-hander Dylan Bundy is in line to do the same for Minnesota.

First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Michael Wacha: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Gabriel Jackson needs just 44 pitches to toss 4 scoreless innings in second start of season for Low-A Salem

Red Sox pitching prospect Gabriel Jackson was extremely efficient in his second start of the minor-league season for Low-A Salem on Saturday night.

Going up against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros affiliate) at SEGRA Stadium in North Carolina, Jackson tossed four scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and no walks to go along with four strikeouts.

Both hits allowed by the right-hander came in the bottom of the third, but he escaped that jam and proceeded to retire each of the final five batters he faced before making way for Blake Loubier in the middle of the fifth. The Salem Red Sox ultimately defeated the Woodpeckers by a final score of 5-3.

Of the 44 pitches Jackson threw on Saturday, 34 went for strikes. Through two starts with Salem now, the 20-year-old has yet to allow a run and is holding opponents to a .130 batting average against over his first seven innings of work this season.

The Red Sox originally signed Jackson for $350,000 as an international free agent out coming out of the Dominican Republic in July 2018. At that time, Baseball America’s Ben Badler noted that the Samana native was “a strong, thick-boned pitcher” who featured heavy life on a fastball that reached 93 mph.

Upon signing with Boston in 2018, Jackson made his professional debut the following year in the Dominican Summer League, where he posted a 3.49 ERA and 3.97 FIP with 38 strikeouts to 27 walks across 14 starts spanning 59 1/3 innings pitched.

While the 2020 minor-league season was derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackson was at least able to participate in the Sox’ fall instructional league in Fort Myers. He spent the entirety of the 2021 campaign in the rookie-level Florida Complex League and produced a 3.57 ERA, 4.83 FIP, and 17:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 appearances (two starts) and 17 2/3 innings of work.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Jackson still has some room to grow physically and developmentally since he is still just 20 years old and does not turn 21 until September. Per his SoxProspects.com scouting report, the righty currently works with three different pitches: a 90-94 mph fastball that tops out at 95 mph, an 84-88 mph slider, and an 87-89 mph changeup.

Although he is not yet and may never be regarded as one of the top pitching prospects in the Red Sox farm system, Jackson will undoubtedly get to pitch plenty with Salem this season. Boston’s director of player development, Brian Abraham, said as much in a recent conversation with The Athletic’s Chad Jennings.

More specifically, Abraham told Jennings that Jackson and fellow right-hander Tyler Uberstine will get “a lot of innings as piggyback starters coming out of the bullpen and making occasional starts of their own.”

As previously mentioned, Jackson’s first two appearances of 2022 have come in the form of starts. With that, it should be interesting to see how long it will be until the Dominican-born hurler is used by Salem as a multi-inning or bulk reliever out of the bullpen.

(Picture of Gabriel Jackson: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Alex Verdugo and Xander Bogaerts both homer, Tanner Houck twirls 5 2/3 scoreless innings as Red Sox blank Twins, 4-0

The Red Sox used the power of the long ball to defeat the Twins at Fenway Park on Saturday evening. Wearing their marathon-inspired City Connect uniforms for the first time in 2022, Boston bested Minnesota by a final score of 4-0 to improve to 4-4 on the year.

Matched up against Twins starter Sonny Gray to begin things in the second of this four-game series, Alex Verdugo kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the second inning.

Moments after J.D. Martinez drew a leadoff walk, Verdugo swung at a 2-2, 92 mph sinker from Gray and deposited it 437 feet over the Sox’ bullpen and into the right field bleachers for his third home run of the season.

Verdugo’s two-run blast, which left his bat at a blistering 108.6 mph, gave Boston an early 2-0 lead. An inning later, with Josh Winder now pitching for Minnesota, Enrique Hernandez reached base via a one-out double down the left field line. After Rafael Devers grounded out to advance Hernandez to third base, Xander Bogaerts came through with a two-run shot of his own.

Coming into play Saturday in the midst of a 2-for-18 rut at the plate, Bogaerts broke out of his slump by unloading on an 0-1, 94 mph fastball from Winder and sent it exactly 400 feet over the Green Monster for his first big fly of 2022.

Bogaerts’ two-run homer put the Sox up, 4-0. While the Boston lineup was busy establishing that lead, Tanner Houck was putting together a solid outing on the mound.

Houck, making his second start of the season, kept Minnesota off the board while scattering just two hits and three walks to go along with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 impressive innings of work.

The right-hander struggled with his command early on, but — with the help of some double plays — was able to settle into a groove and retire nine of the final 11 batters he faced. With two outs in the top half of the sixth, Houck issued a four-pitch walk to Luis Arraez, which is how his day came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (50 strikes), Houck relied on his four-seam fastball 34% of the time he was on the mound Saturday and averaged 94.5 mph with the pitch. The 25-year-old also earned his first winning decision of the season.

Matt Strahm got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from manager Alex Cora and stranded the lone runner he inherited by getting Jorge Polanco to fly out to Jackie Bradley Jr. in right field. The lefty also recorded the first two outs of the seventh before yielding a hard-hit double to Trevor Larnach.

At that point, Cora opted to turn things over to Garrett Whitlock, as he did in Detroit this past Tuesday. This time around, Whitlock was once again efficient. The righty reliever ended the seventh by fanning Gio Urshela on three pitches, struck out the side while stranding two runners in the eighth, and worked his way around a two-out hit in the ninth to close out a 4-0 shutout victory.

Some notes from this win:

Red Sox second baseman Trevor Story went 1-for-3 on Saturday. His lone hit, a fourth-inning single, came off Josh Winder and had an exit velocity of over 103 mph.

The Red Sox recorded three double plays on Saturday: Tanner Houck struck out Carlos Correa for the second out of the first inning, then Christian Vazquez gunned down Jorge Polanco at second base for the third and final out. In the third inning, Ryan Jeffers grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. And in the fifth, Gio Urshela grounded into a 6-4-3 twin killing.

Garrett Whitlock working on three days rest on Saturday: 2 1/3 innings pitched, 2 hits, 0 runs, one walk, and five strikeouts on 30 pitches (23 strikes). He topped out at 97.3 mph with his four-seam fastball.

Next up: Ober vs. Wacha

The Red Sox will rock their City Connect uniforms once again and go for their second straight win over the Twins on Sunday afternoon. Michael Wacha will get the ball for Boston and he will be opposed by fellow right-hander Bailey Ober for Minnesota.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor set to begin rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Sunday

The Red Sox bullpen could soon be receiving a boost. Josh Taylor is expected to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Sunday, manager Alex Cora said ahead of Saturday’s game against the Twins at Fenway Park. The left-hander began the season on the 10-day injured list due to a low back strain.

“He threw a live BP yesterday and obviously we have to wait for today to see how he feels,” Cora said of Taylor. “But there’s a good chance his rehab assignment starts tomorrow.”

Cora added that Taylor will likely need five or six outings with the WooSox before being activated from the injured list. He is in line to make his 2022 debut in Worcester’s series finale against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs at Polar Park on Sunday afternoon.

Taylor, 29, is coming off a strong 2021 season in which he posted a 3.40 ERA and 2.83 FIP to go along with 60 strikeouts to 23 walks over 61 relief appearances spanning 47 2/3 innings of work.

The Arizona-born southpaw first experienced back discomfort last September and spent time on the injured list because of it. He returned in time for the postseason, but wound up receiving an epidural injection during the off-season.

Those back issues lingered into spring training, but Taylor is now at a point where he is ready to pitch in a game, as he explained to MLB.com’s Ian Browne on Saturday.

“I’m good. The body feels great,” Taylor said. “I had another live [batting practice] yesterday and bounced back well today. I don’t think I’ve had any setbacks. The body feels good. I have a rehab outing tomorrow in Worcester so that will be my first one and I’m looking forward to that. I definitely think I’m ready for that right now.”

(Picture of Josh Taylor: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Should the Red Sox consider trading Austin Davis?

Seven games into the 2022 season, the two Red Sox relievers who are tied for the team lead in appearances with four apiece are Ryan Brasier and Austin Davis.

Both Brasier and Davis were used by manager Alex Cora out of the bullpen in Friday’s 8-4 loss to the Twins at Fenway Park. The former struck out the side in a scoreless seventh inning. The latter allowed two runners to reach base but also fanned three in a scoreless eighth inning.

In Davis’ case, the left-hander has now yielded three earned runs on five hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts over his first three innings pitched this year.

Put another way, Davis has posted a 9.00 ERA, a 2.33 WHIP, an OPS against of .945, a strikeout rate of 29.4%, and a walk rate of 11.7% so far this season. Two of his four outings have been scoreless, though Friday’s performance was undoubtedly his best work to this point.

Of the 21 pitches Davis threw in Friday’s loss to Minnesota, 13 went for strikes. The 29-year-old southpaw induced a total of seven swings-and-misses; three on his slider and changeup and one on his four-seam fastball.

In regards to his four-seamer, Davis averaged 93.6 mph with the pitch across 26 1/3 innings between the Pirates and Red Sox in 2021. On Friday, he averaged 95.6 mph with his heater and topped out at 97 mph with it, per Baseball Savant. For his big-league career, which dates back to June 2018, Davis had only thrown a pitch 97 mph or faster on two separate occasions prior to Friday’s outing.

Since the Red Sox acquired Davis from the Pirates for infielder Michael Chavis last July, the lefty has been one of Cora’s more frequently-used relievers. From the time he debuted for Boston on July 31 of last season, Davis has now made 24 relief appearances for the Sox. The only other hurlers who have seen more action over that stretch are Adam Ottavino (24 appearances), who is no longer with the team, and Hansel Robles (30 appearances).

Despite a career ERA of 5.49 in a Red Sox uniform, it would appear as though the club likes what they have in Davis. With that being said, though, it is worth wondering if Davis’ spot in Boston’s bullpen could be on the line sometime in the near future.

As a result of a shortened spring training, major-league teams were permitted to carry 28 players on their active roster. This, for instance, allowed the Red Sox to carry 10 relievers on their Opening Day squad.

On May 2, however, teams will be required to trim their rosters back down to the traditional size of 26 active players. When that time comes, the Sox will have no other choice but to carry no more than 13 pitchers on their active roster.

The way things stand now, Davis is one of three lefties in Boston’s bullpen alongside the likes of Jake Diekman and Matt Strahm. Josh Taylor, who began the season on the injured list due to a low back strain, could be nearing a minor-league rehab assignment.

With Diekman and Strahm being new free-agent additions and Taylor already earning the trust of Cora last season, would the Red Sox still entertain the idea of carrying four left-handed relievers on their 26-man roster beginning next month?

If Davis is deemed the odd man out once rosters shrink and Taylor returns from the injured list, the Red Sox could not simply option him to Triple-A Worcester, for the Arizona native is out of minor-league options. Because of this, Boston would need to expose Davis to waivers if they wanted to retain his services as a non-40-man roster player in the minors.

Taking that into account and assuming that Taylor will be back before long, what would be stopping the Red Sox from trading Davis away for a prospect who is not on a 40-man roster at some point between now and May 2? Why risk losing Davis for nothing when you could get something back in return?

Under chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox have made similar moves in the past, with the Yoan Aybar-for-Christian Koss swap probably sticking out the most. Davis, of course, is far more established than Aybar and could fetch an intriguing return since he is still under club control for three more seasons after 2022.

At the end of the day, do the Red Sox need to trade Davis? No. Even with Taylor on his way back, perhaps the club still believes Davis can play an important role out of the bullpen this season. If not, though, then perhaps it would be in Boston’s best interest to explore their options now before running into a roster crunch in a few weeks.

(Picture of Austin Davis: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

3-run eighth inning not enough as Red Sox fall to Twins, 8-4, in home opener at Fenway Park

The Red Sox opened the home slate of their 2022 schedule with an 8-4 loss at the hands of the Twins at Fenway Park on Friday afternoon. Boston’s two-game winning streak has come to an end and they have fallen to 3-4 on the young season.

Nick Pivetta, making his second start of the year for the Sox, lasted just two innings and allowed four runs (all earned) on five hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. The right-hander ran into trouble right out of the gate when Alex Verdugo lost a ball off the bat of Byron Buxton in the sun that would go down as a leadoff double.

Luis Arraez drove in the first run of the day on a line-drive RBI single, and Minnesota was on the board without yet recording an out in the top of the first. An inning later, Pivetta gave up three additional runs by serving up a two-run home run to Twins slugger Miguel Sano and RBI double to Arraez that put Boston in an early 4-0 hole.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 54 (32 strikes), Pivetta threw his four-seam fastball 44% of the time he was on the mound Friday. The 29-year-old hurler averaged 92.5 mph with the pitch, down 2.3 mph from where he was sitting with it last week.

Shortly after Pivetta’s day came to a close, the Red Sox lineup got something going against Twins rookie starter Joe Ryan. With one out and the bases empty in the bottom of the second, Alex Verdugo launched a 410-foot solo shot to the right field bleachers on the very first pitch he saw: a 94 mph heater down the heart of the plate.

Verdugo’s second homer of the season left the outfielder’s bat at 109.6 mph and trimmed the Sox’ deficit down to three runs at 4-1 heading into the third. Phillips Valdez got the first call out of the Boston bullpen in relief of Pivetta and turned in a quality outing by fanning four of the eight batters he faced over two scoreless frames of work.

In the fifth, Hirokazu Sawamura came on for Valdez and immediately issued a leadoff walk to Carlos Correa. Jorge Polanco followed by ripping a ground-rule double to right field to put runners at second and third with no outs. Former Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez plated both runs on a two-run single that got past a sprawling Xander Bogaerts.

Now trailing 6-1, Sawamura managed to get through the rest of the fifth and faced the minimum in the sixth after Christian Vazquez gunned down Arraez (who reached base via a two-out walk) at second base to end the inning.

Ryan Brasier was next up for the seventh, and he needed 18 pitches to punch out the side. Austin Davis stranded one runner in an otherwise clean eighth inning.

Offensively, the Red Sox were limited in what they could do against Ryan on Friday. After Verdugo homered in the second, Boston failed to push across another run.

Their best chance to score off Ryan came in the bottom of the fourth, when Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez reached base on a pair of singles to put runners at the corners with one out. Verdugo, however, grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In the fifth, Trevor Stroy notched his first hit at home as a member of the Red Sox and Jackie Bradley Jr. followed with a bunt single of his own that put runners at first and second with one out. Once more, though, Vazquez flew out and leadoff man Enrique Hernandez flew out to extinguish the threat.

After Ryan completed his six innings of one-run ball, the Boston got back on track against Minnesota’s bullpen. Jhoan Duran, equipped with a 101-102 mph fastball, made quick work of Verdugo, Story, and Bobby Dalbec in the seventh, but yielded a leadoff double to Bradley Jr. to begin the eighth.

Vazquez was unable to advance Bradley Jr., but Hernandez did by lacing an RBI double down the left field line to plate Bradley Jr. and make it a 6-2 game. Devers made things more interesting by golfing a 1-1, down-and-in fastball that wasn’t even a strike 363 feet to right field.

Devers’ two-run shot — his second big fly of the season — had an exit velocity of over 103 mph and pulled the Red Sox to within two runs of the Twins at 6-4. Duran got through the rest of the eighth by punching out Bogaerts and Martinez.

After pushing across three runs to make it a two-run game, Matt Barnes struggled with is command of the strike zone in the ninth. The veteran reliever issued two straight one-out walks before surrendering a back-breaking RBI single to Max Kepler.

Barnes then plunked Sanchez in the wrist to load the bases before Trevor Larnach scored Polanco from third on a softly-hit groundout to first base. That increased the Twins’ lead to four runs at 8-4.

Down to their final three outs and now trailing by four in their half of the ninth, the Sox went down quietly against Emilio Pagan. Verdugo flew out and Story and Dalbec both struck out to kill any shot of a rally.

Some notes from this loss on Jackie Robinson Day:

Six different Red Sox pitchers (Pivetta, Valdez, Sawamura, Brasier, Davis, and Barnes) combined to walk eight and plunk two Twins batters on Friday.

The Red Sox went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Friday and left three runners on base as a team.

Next up: Gray vs. Houck

The Red Sox, wearing their Boston Marathon-inspired City Connect uniforms, will look to even this four-game series at 1-1 on Saturday afternoon. Tanner Houck is slated to get the ball for Boston and he will be opposed by fellow right-hander Sonny Gray for Minnesota.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Chris Sale resumes throwing: ‘We’re in a good spot’

Red Sox ace Chris Sale threw at Fenway Park on Friday morning ahead of Boston’s home opener against the Minnesota Twins. When speaking with reporters afterwards, the left-hander estimated it was the fifth time he has thrown in the last week.

Prior to that, Sale had been shut down for an extended period of time after suffering a stress fracture in his right rib cage in late February. Since he has been able to get back to throwing, the 33-year-old is in better spirits than he was seven weeks ago.

“We’re in a good spot, obviously,” Sale said. “The worst part of it is time. The build back up is going to take a little bit of time just because I’ve got to get some innings and get my arm stretched out. We’re on the right path.”

The Red Sox placed Sale on the 60-day injured list before the regular season started, meaning he would not be eligible to pitch in a major-league game until June 6 at the earliest.

“The initial blow of this sucked but I’ve got to get over it and start getting back to what I do,” said Sale. “And that’s having fun, getting work in, and being a good teammate.”

Sale made the trip from Fort Myers to Boston to be with his teammates for Opening Day at Fenway Park. He is now pain-free, but understands the importance of exhibiting patience during this recovery period.

“For instance, I went out there and threw today and I feel like I could throw in a game,” Sale said. “But that doesn’t really make a lot of sense. That’s just me being a little overconfident or just being myself, honestly. I like playing. But I understand with this comes a certain level of work that has to be done before. You can’t just go run a couple of sprints and then be like, alright, we have to go run a marathon. I’ve got to get some practice in, I’ve got to get stretched out.”

Sale said he does not yet know when he will begin throwing bullpen sessions. And while the lanky lefty is still a ways away from returning to the mound with the Red Sox, he is undoubtedly excited to be back in Boston for now.

“I love this. I love playing baseball. I love being a member of a team,” said Sale. “It’s something that we’re fighting together for. These guys give me life, man. I’ve got more pep in my step today than I would have if I was down at JetBlue doing that. no offense to the guys down there. Love you guys. It’s just different. We have something going on here. It’s fun, talking trash, catching up with everybody, having some fun, and we’re at Fenway Park. Beautiful day out there. I love being around these guys. They help me.”

Information from The Boston Herald, MassLive, and MLB.com was used in this story.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Bryan Mata nearing return from Tommy John surgery

Red Sox pitching prospect is nearing his return to the mound and will soon start throwing live batting practice, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Mata, who turns 23 next month, underwent Tommy John surgery last April after slightly tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during spring training. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

Originally signed out of Venezuela for just $25,000 as an international free agent in 2016, Mata comes into the 2022 season regarded by Baseball America as the No. 8 prospect in the Red Sox’ farm system, ranking second among pitchers in the organization behind only Brayan Bello.

While continuing to rehab from Tommy John surgery this spring, Mata was seen throwing off flat ground and going through drills on the back fields of the Fenway South complex in Fort Myers.

As noted by Speier, Mata is expected to join Triple-A Worcester’s starting rotation at some point this season. The right-hander is already a member of Boston’s 40-man roster, so him contributing at the big-league level later in the year is not out of the picture, either.

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 229 pounds, Mata operates with a five-pitch mix that consists of a 94-96 mph four-seam fastball, a 91-93 mph two-seam fastball, an 86-90 mph slider, a 78-80 mph curveball, and an 84-86 changeup, per his SoxProspects.com scouting report.

That, of course, was before Mata underwent elbow reconstruction one year ago. If he can retain that arsenal to some degree, the righty — as Speier writes — could “could emerge as a mid- to late-year bullpen option” for the Red Sox.

(Picture of Bryan Mata: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)