Tag: alex cora

Red Sox select high school shortstop Nazzan Zanetello with second pick in 2023 MLB Draft

The Red Sox have selected Christian Brothers College High School (St. Louis, Mo.) shortstop Nazzan Zanetello with their second-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft at No. 50 overall.

Zanetello, 18, was regarded by Baseball America as the No. 110 prospect in this year’s draft class. The Missouri native is currently committed to play college baseball at Arkansas.

A right-handed hitter, Zanetello batted .413/.537/.809 with six doubles, two triples, five home runs, 16 RBIs, 25 runs scored, 11 stolen bases, 15 walks, and 12 strikeouts in 22 games (82 plate appearances) as a senior for Christian Brothers this spring, per his MaxPreps page.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, Zanetello has room to add muscle to his frame. According to his Baseball America scouting report, Zanetello “has an impressive tool set to play in the middle of the field” and has “plenty of upside” on account of possessing “some of the best pure athleticism” in this year’s class.

To go along with five-tool potential, Zanetello “has shown better zone control than pure contact ability. He rarely chases out of the zone but also has shown swing-and-miss tendencies on pitches in the zone. He sets up with an even stance and gets his swing started with a small leg kick, and his bat path can get lengthy at times. He does drive the ball with authority when he connects, and his physical projection indicates exciting power upside to come.”

Elsewhere, Zanetello is “a plus runner who looks strong in center field, where he reads the ball off the bat with good range and a strong arm, and has also done a nice job at shortstop, where he’s shown an ability to make difficult, body control plays with arm strength that works on the infield as well.”

When speaking with reporters (including The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier) on Sunday night, Red Sox amateur scouting director Devin Pearson indicated that the club plans on having Zanetello play both shortstop and the outfield as he begins his professional career.

“He’s one of the best athletes in the draft, in my opinion,” Pearson said of Zanetello on a Zoom call. “He’s explosive, he’s got speed, he’s got the ability to play a really good shortstop. Athletic enough to play a really good center field. He’s just a box of tools and a great kid we’re really excited to add to the organization.”

Assuming Zanetello — who is in Seattle for the draft with his family — signs with Boston by the July 25 deadline, he will presumably head to Fort Myers and break in with the rookie-level Florida Complex League Red Sox. The slot value for the 50th overall pick in this year’s draft is $1,698,000.

Zanetello, who does not turn 19 until next May, represents the second and final selection the Red Sox will be making on Day 1 of the draft. Boston took the reigning ACC Player of the Year in Virginia catcher Kyle Teel with its first-round (14th overall) pick.

Day 2 of the draft will consist of rounds 3-10 and will get underway at 2 p.m. eastern time on Monday afternoon. The Red Sox will be making 10 selections (Nos. 83, 115, 132, 133, 151, 178, 208, 238, 268, and 298). They received the 132nd and 133rd picks in the draft as compensation for losing Xander Bogaerts (Padres) and Nathan Eovaldi (Rangers) in free agency.

(Picture of Nazzan Zanetello: Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Red Sox relief prospect Luis Guerrero selected to participate in All-Star Futures Game

Red Sox pitching prospect Luis Guerrero has been selected to participate in next weekend’s All-Star Futures Game in Seattle, Major League Baseball announced on Friday.

Guerrero, one of the top young relievers in Boston’s farm system, will replace fellow Red Sox pitching prospect Shane Drohan, who left his start for Triple-A Worcester this past Sunday with a calf cramp. Drohan was pushed back for precautionary reasons but is expected to pitch next week, according to SoxProspects.com’s Chris Hatfield.

Guerrero, 22, will join infielders Marcelo Mayer and Nick Yorke in representing the Red Sox and suiting up for the American League at T-Mobile Park on July 8. The hard-throwing right-hander is currently regarded by Baseball America as Boston’s No. 30 prospect, which ranks 10th among pitchers in the organization.

In 26 appearances for Double-A Portland this season, Guerrero has posted a 1.19 ERA and 3.82 FIP with 27 strikeouts to 18 walks over 30 1/3 innings of work. He has put up those numbers while recording 13 saves in 15 opportunities and holding opposing hitters to a miniscule .147 batting average against.

A native of the Dominican Republic, Guerrero underwent surgery on his right knee as an infant and now walks with a limp as a result. He told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier earlier this spring that he has limited mobility in his knee since the muscles in that area did not grow like the others.

“[But] for pitching, you just need to bend [the back knee] a little bit,” Guerrero explained. “My knee bends just as much as I need it to.”

Guerrero moved to the Boston-area as a child and then to Miami, Fla. for his senior year of high school. He was selected by the Red Sox in the 17th round of the 2021 amateur draft out of Chipola College and signed with the club for $122,500.

After not making his professional debut until last June, Guerrero made his way to High-A Greenville before the 2022 season came to a close. He was expected to return to Greenville for the start of the 2023 campaign, but he showed increased fastball velocity and wound up breaking camp with Portland as a result.

Prior to leaving Fort Myers, though, Guerrero appeared in five Grapefruit League spring training games as a minor-league call-up and left an impression on Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

“It’s impressive what he can do on a mound. Impressive,” Cora said of Guerrero when speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Blue Jays in Toronto. “He has his limitations and for him to throw 100 (mph) with that split (is impressive). I saw him in spring training walking around one day after a workout. And I didn’t know the whole story. I saw him walking and I was like, ‘Are you OK?’ And then he told me what happened.

“I felt so bad because I didn’t know,” Cora added. “But then it’s like a lot of respect for him because he was the first one in the gym when we were there and he didn’t have to. He was always available when we brought him in as a backup pitcher.”

As Cora alluded to, Guerrero regularly throws in the upper-90s and can reach triple digits with his fastball. The 6-foot, 215-pound righty also features a mid-80s, whiff-inducing splitter as well as an 88-91 mph slider.

“I have a lot of respect for him,” said Cora. “For him to have the stuff that he has, you have to have not only the ability but you’ve got to have the heart and the courage to overcome what he has overcome and be a guy in that platform.”

Guerrero, who turns 23 in August, will presumably be a candidate to make the jump from Portland to Worcester on the other side of the All-Star break.

(Picture of Luis Guerrero: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Costly errors come back to bite Red Sox in rain-soaked 4-3 loss to Rockies

The Red Sox opened a three-game series against the Rockies in disappointing fashion on Monday night. Boston fell to Colorado by a final score of 4-3 in a rain-filled 10 innings at Fenway Park to drop below .500 on the season at 33-34.

With old friend Connor Seabold starting for the Rockies, the Red Sox had a golden opportunity to strike first in the first inning. Jarren Duran, Alex Verdugo, and Justin Turner led off the bottom half of the frame with three consecutive singles to fill the bases with no outs.

Though it already appeared as if they had Seabold on the ropes, the Red Sox got nothing out of it. Rafael Devers grounded into a 1-2-3 double play chasing a first-pitch changeup and tapping a comebacker back to Seabold, who then fanned Adam Duvall on five pitches to escape the jam unscathed.

Seabold continued to put up zeroes from there, as did his counterpart in James Paxton. Making his sixth start of the season for the Sox, Paxton allowed just one unearned run on four hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts over six-plus strong innings of work.

After giving up a leadoff double to the very first batter he faced in Jurickson Profar, Paxton settled into a nice groove. The veteran left-hander stranded Profar at third base and then retired seven straight Rockies before yielding a one-out double to Ryan McMahon in the top of the fourth.

With two outs in the inning, it seemed like Paxton was going to strand another runner in scoring position when he got Randal Grichuk to hit a routine grounder to shortstop Enrique Hernandez. Hernandez, however, bounced his throw to first and the ball got past Triston Casas, which allowed McMahon to score all the way from second to put the Rockies up, 1-0.

For Hernandez, it was his major-league-leading 14th error of the season, with 12 of those coming on throws. Paxton proved to be unaffected by the sloppy play, however, as that was the only run he surrendered in yet another impressive performance.

Finishing with 98 pitches (70 strikes), Paxton induced 16 swings-and-misses while mixing in a 94-98 mph four-seam fastball as well as a curveball, cutter, and changeup. The 34-year-old southpaw did not factor into Monday’s decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 3.09.

With Paxton’s night done, the Boston bats finally got to Seabold in the latter half of the sixth. After drawing a one-out walk, Verdugo came in to score all the way from first on a hard-hit, RBI double off the bat of Turner to knot the score at 1-1. Despite having a runner in scoring position with only one out in the inning, both Devers (strikeout) and Duvall (groundout) were retired to extinguish the threat.

Following a scoreless top of the seventh from Josh Winckowski, Christian Arroyo quickly untied the contest by taking lefty reliever Brent Suter 376 feet over the Green Monster for his second home run of the season. The Red Sox took a 2-1 lead on Arroyo’s solo shot, but the Rockies responded in the eighth by tagging Winckowski for a crucial run when Profar ripped a one-out double and — after a two-out walk — scored from second on a game-tying single from Elias Diaz.

The two sides were deadlocked at 2-2 going into the bottom of the eighth. Turner drew a two-out walk off Pierce Johnson to put the go-ahead run on base for Devers, who promptly laced a 105.8 mph line drive that appeared to be headed towards the Red Sox bullpen. But Rockies right fielder Nolan Jones made a sensational leaping catch against the fence to rob Devers of a potential two-run homer.

According to Baseball Savant, Devers’ blast had an expected batting average of .870 and would have been a home run in seven of 30 MLB ballparks, including Fenway Park had Jones not robbed him. Alas, that is what happened and the score remained tied heading into the ninth. Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless top half, and Daniel Bard — making his first-ever appearance at Fenway as a visiting pitcher — followed suit in the bottom half to send this one into extras.

Nick Pivetta came on for the 10th and recorded two quick outs before intentionally walking McMahaon to put runners at first and second. He then unintentionally walked Diaz to fill the bases and issued a five-pitch free pass to Grichuk, allowing the automatic runner (Mike Moustakas) to score.

That sequence of events prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora to pull Pivetta in favor of lefty Joe Jacques, who was making his big-league debut. Jacques, in turn, induced what had the makings to be an inning-ending groundout to Jones. But Casas could not field the ball cleanly and was late with his throw to first. As a result, Jones reached base safely while McMahon scored an important insurance run on Casas’ fielding error.

At that point, the skies above Fenway began to open and an 89-minute rain delay commenced. On the other side of the lengthy break, the Red Sox got one of those runs back when Connor Wong scored on a Rob Refsnyder groundout. That was as close as they would get, though, as Verdugo grounded into a game-ending, 5-6-3 double play.

Next up: Crawford vs. Anderson

The Red Sox will look to even the series against the Rockies on Tuesday night. Kutter Crawford is slated to get the start for Boston while Colorado will counter with fellow righty Chase Anderson.

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

(Picture of Triston Casas: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández comes through with game-winning RBI single as Red Sox take series from Yankees with 3-2 victory in extras

The Red Sox ended their first series of the season against the Yankees the same way they started it: with a 3-2 win. In need of a victory to avoid dropping a fourth straight series, Boston scratched and clawed its way to a hard-fought, one-run triumph over New York on Sunday night to get back to .500 at 33-33 on the season.

With over 46,000 on hand at Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox drew first blood against Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt in the second inning. To lead off the top half of the frame, Justin Turner took Schmidt 373 feet to right-center field for his eighth home run of the year.

Despite falling behind by a run early on, it did not take the Yankees long to respond. Brayan Bello, making his 10th start of the season for the Sox, worked a 1-2-3 first inning but ran into some trouble in the bottom of the second by issuing a leadoff walk to Josh Donaldson and a two-out ground-rule double to Billy McKinney.

Jose Trevino came to the plate with two outs and runners at second and third. Bello got Trevino to hit what looked to be a routine grounder up the middle, but the ball actually deflected off the second-base bag, eluding an awaiting Enrique Hernandez and rolling all the way to shallow center field. As a result, both Donaldson and McKinney scored to give New York its first lead of the night at 2-1.

A half-inning later, more weirdness occurred on the base paths. After reaching base via a one-out single, Jarren Duran was prepared to take off for second when Alex Verdugo ripped a groundball to the right side of the infield. Incidentally, the ball struck Duran on his way to second base and he was ruled out as a result.

Bello, meanwhile, settled in after a somewhat rocky second inning. The right-hander retired 14 of the final 17 final batters he faced and wound up allowing just the two runs on three hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts over seven strong innings of work.

Finishing with 98 pitches (63 strikes), Bello induced seven swings-and-misses while averaging 93.8 mph and topping out at 96.7 mph with his four-seam fastball. The 24-year-old did not factor into Sunday’s decision, but he did lower his ERA on the season to 3.78.

With Bello’s night done, the Red Sox lineup went back to work in the top of the eighth. Opposed by Yankees reliever Michael King, Hernandez led off with a single to left field and immediately advanced to second after second baseman Gleyber Torres got careless and let the throw back to the infield get by him.

Hernandez took advantage of the error by moving up into scoring position and Reese McGuire followed by drawing a five-pitch walk. Pablo Reyes then laid down a nicely-placed sacrifice bunt to advance both runners an additional 90 feet and set the stage for Duran, who knotted things up at 2-2 by plating Hernandez from third on an RBI groundout to the right side.

Following scoreless innings out of the bullpen from Nick Pivetta and Kenley Jansen, the Red Sox found themselves in extras for the first time since April 29. To lead off the top of the 10th, Triston Casas advanced the pinch-running Adam Duvall up to third base on a hard-hit groundout off Ron Marinaccio.

With the possible go-ahead run just 90 feet away and the Yankees infield playing in, Hernandez delivered by lacing a 103.3 mph single past an outstretched Anthony Volpe at shortstop. Duvall easily scored from third to put the Sox back up, 3-2, going into the bottom of the 10th.

Having already used Jansen, Red Sox manager Alex Cora tasked Chris Martin with getting the three most important outs of the night. Martin, in turn, allowed the potential tying run to move up to third on a fly out before punching out both Trevino and Volpe to notch his first save of 2023.

Next up: Back home to host the Rockies

On the heels of a 3-3 road trip, the Red Sox will return home and welcome the Colorado Rockies into town for the start of six-game homestand at Fenway Park.

In Monday night’s series opener, veteran left-hander James Paxton will get the start for Boston while Colorado will counter by sending former Red Sox farmhand Connor Seabold to the hill against his old team.

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

(Picture of Enrique Hernandez: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Tanner Houck fires 6 strong innings, but Red Sox go down quietly in 3-1 loss to Yankees

The Red Sox received a strong outing from Tanner Houck, but were held to just one run and dropped the middle game of their three-game set against the Yankees as a result. Boston fell to New York by a final score of 3-1 at Yankee Stadium to drop back to under .500 at 32-33 on the season.

Houck pitched well in his 12th start of the year for the Sox. The right-hander allowed two earned runs on three hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with six strikeouts over six innings of work.

After retiring the first nine batters he faced, though, Houck surrendered a leadoff home run to Gleyber Torres, who laced a first-pitch sinker 359 feet into the right field seats to open the scoring for the Yankees.

It took until the sixth inning for the Red Sox to respond. After leaving six runners on base through the first five frames, Rafael Devers led off the top of the sixth by taking Yankees starter Domingo German 417 feet deep to right-center field for his 15th home run of the season and his second in as many nights.

Devers’ 108.4 mph blast tied the score at 1-1. Adam Duvall followed with a single — his first hit since returning from the injured list on Friday — and stolen base, but he, too, was stranded in scoring position as Triston Casas and Christian Arroyo both struck out while Reese McGuire flew out to extinguish the threat.

Houck came back out for the latter half of the sixth and induced two quick outs before serving up a go-ahead solo shot to Willie Calhoun on a 1-2, 88.7 mph splitter at the bottom of the zone. Calhoun’s homer barely cleared the right-field fence, but it travelled far enough to put the Yankees back up, 2-1, heading into the seventh.

Finishing with 93 pitches (56 strikes), Houck induced 14 swings-and-misses while mixing in his slider, sinker, splitter, four-seamer, and cutter. Despite lowering his ERA on the season down to 5.23 on Saturday, the 26-year-old hurler was charged with the losing decision.

With Houck’s night done, Brennan Bernardino received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora. Bernardino gave up a leadoff single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who moved up to second base on a groundout. Josh Winckowski was then brought in to face Kyle Higashioka with two outs in the inning.

On the first pitch he saw from Winckowski, Higashioka ripped a sharp groundball up the middle. Arroyo, the second baseman, attempted to field the ball by diving for it, but it instead nicked off his glove and rolled away. As a result, Kiner-Falefa was able to score all the way from second since Arroyo’s throw back towards home plate did not have much behind it.

That sequence of events provided New York with some valuable insurance in the form of a 3-1 lead. Duvall led off the eighth by getting plunked by Tommy Kahnle, but he failed to move past first.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Alex Verdugo laced a one-out single off Yankees closer Clay Holmes to bring the tying run to the plate. Masataka Yoshida then punched out before Justin Turner grounded out to end it in two hours and 29 minutes.

All told, the Red Sox went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Saturday and left 11 runners on base as a team. They have won two of their last eight games and are averaging 2.38 runs per game over that stretch.

Devers passes Williams

Devers’ sixth-inning homer was the 21st of his career against the Yankees. With it, the 26-year-old slugger broke a tie with Ted Williams for the most against New York by a Red Sox player before turning 27.

Next up: Bello gets ball in rubber match

As the Red Sox look to avoid falling two games under .500 for the first time since April 14, they will send Brayan Bello to the mound in Sunday night’s series finale. The Yankees will counter with fellow right-hander Clarke Schmidt.

First pitch from Yankee Stadium is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on ESPN.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Red Sox officially call up Matt Dermody, option Chris Murphy to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have officially selected the contract of left-hander Matt Dermody from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced prior to Thursday’s series finale against the Guardians. In a corresponding move, fellow lefty Chris Murphy was optioned to Worcester following Wednesday’s 5-2 loss at Progressive Field.

Dermody, who will wear the No. 67, will make the first start of his major-league career on Thursday night. The 32-year-old hurler originally signed a minor-league contract with Boston in January and has posted a 4.50 ERA (4.06 FIP) with 47 strikeouts to nine walks in nine appearances (eight starts) spanning 44 innings of work for the WooSox.

Prior to joining the Red Sox organization over the winter, Dermody had spent parts of four seasons in the big-leagues. The Iowa product forged a 5.33 ERA in 28 relief appearances for the Blue Jays from 2016-2017 and appeared in two games with the Cubs from 2020-2022.

Dermody’s promotion has been met with a heavy amount of criticism after it was revealed that the southpaw posted — and eventually deleted — a homophobic tweet in 2021.

On June 26, 2021, Dermody tweeted: “#PrideMonth. Homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God. They will go to hell. This is not my opinion, but the #Truth. Read 1 Corinthians 6:9. May we all examine our hearts, ask Jesus to forgive us and repent of all our sins. I love you all in Christ Jesus!”

As noted by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, manager Alex Cora was asked on Thursday if he is OK with the Red Sox giving Dermody a start given the circumstances and that it is Pride Month.

“He’s going to pitch and he’s here,” Cora said of Dermody. “Obviously as an organization, we made this decision as an organization. We’ve done a lot of stuff to educate our players on the subject. I don’t know how many organizations … do it with their employees and their players as far as like educating them about being inclusive and obviously accepting everybody in the clubhouse and your work environment.

“Obviously not too many people agree with the tweet of Matt. I’m not here to tell him what to say or what to do,” added Cora. “But one thing is for sure, when you put this uniform (on), what we want is for people to be inclusive. I think the clubhouse is a reflection of the world if you think about it. We’ve got people from different races, different beliefs, not only religious beliefs but politics. My job as a leader of the group in here is to maintain that clubhouse as close as possible respecting everybody’s thoughts. I think at the end of the day, what I want is for them to get along together and respect each other. And obviously compete for the same thing that I want to compete for, which is winning a World Series.”

Murphy, meanwhile, made his major-league debut out of the bullpen on Wednesday night. The 25-year-old pitched well, scattering two hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings of relief in which he induced seven swings-and-misses.

While the Red Sox needed to option Murphy to create a spot on the 26-man roster for Dermody, they already had an opening on the 40-man roster after designating outfielder Raimel Tapia for assignment on Monday.

(Picture of Matt Dermody: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Alex Verdugo benched for lack of hustle in Wednesday’s loss to Guardians

Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo was removed from Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Guardians after not hustling out a play in the top of the seventh inning, according to The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.

With two outs and Verdugo on first base after reaching on a fielder’s choice, Masataka Yoshida hit a slow tapper to the right side of the infield. First baseman Josh Naylor had to charge on the ball in order to field it, leaving him with only a force play attempt at second.

Naylor made an off-balance throw to shortstop Amed Rosario, who remained on the second-base bag long enough to record the final out of the inning. Upon further review, it appeared as though Verdugo stopped in his tracks to see where the ball was as he was going from first to second base.

Had he been running at full speed, Verdugo may have reached base safely to put runners at first and second with two outs for Justin Turner. He instead yelled in anger after the play and was removed from the contest in the bottom of the eighth. In his place, Jarren Duran slid over from center to right field, Enrique Hernandez moved from shortstop to center, Pablo Reyes shifted from second to short, and Christian Arroyo took over at second while taking Verdugo’s spot in the order.

As a result of Wednesday’s lack of effort, Verdugo is not in the starting lineup for Thursday’s series finale at Progressive Field. Rob Refsnyder will get the start in right field in his place and bat sixth as the 31-31 Red Sox look to avoid falling below .500 for the first time since April 28.

Verdugo, 27, is in the midst of his fourth season with Boston. The left-handed hitter currently leads the team in both bWAR (2.3) and fWAR (2.0) and is batting .286/.364/.450 (122 wRC+) with 19 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 24 RBIs, 42 runs scored, three stolen bases, 25 walks, and 35 strikeouts in 59 games (261 plate appearances). He has put up those numbers while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense in right field as well.

To that end, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) that Verdugo will be back in the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Yankees in the Bronx.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández, Connor Wong both homer as Red Sox avoid sweep with 8-2 win over Reds; Chris Sale leaves game with shoulder soreness

Behind a six-run eighth inning, the Red Sox avoided a sweep at the hands of the Reds on Thursday night. Boston salvaged the series and put an end to a three-game losing streak by defeating Cincinnati by a final score of 8-2 at Fenway Park to improve to 29-27 on the season.

Chris Sale, making his 11th start of the year for the Sox, came out firing out of the gate. Facing the Reds for the first time in his career, the veteran left-hander struck out six of the first eight batters he faced over two scoreless innings before running into some trouble in the top of the third.

With one out and the bases empty, Sale surrendered back-to-back doubles to Curt Casali and Kevin Newman, allowing the Reds to open the scoring. Though he managed to strand Newman in the third, Sale once again gave up back-to-back doubles to Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson to lead off the fourth.

That sequence of events put runners at second and third for Stuart Fairchild, who flew out to Alex Verdugo in right field. Steer attempted to tag up from third on the play, but he was instead gunned down by Verdugo, who made an accurate throw to home and picked up his fourth outfield assist of the season after the Reds unsuccessfully challenged the call on the field.

With two outs and Nick Senzel at the plate, Sale fell behind in the count at 3-1, which prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora and assistant athletic trainer Masai Takahashi to pay him a visit on the mound. The lefty talked his way into staying in the game, but he then walked Senzel on six pitches and was removed from the contest after being visited by Cora and Takahashi yet again.

Sale, who was later diagnosed with left shoulder soreness, will undergo an MRI on Friday to determine just how severe the issue is. The 34-year-old left the mound on Thursday having allowed one earned run on five hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of work. He threw 59 pitches (40 strikes) and did not factor into the decision.

Justin Garza took over for Sale out of the Boston bullpen and recorded the final out in the top of the fourth. The Red Sox lineup then got to Reds starter Hunter Greene in the bottom half of the frame after the talented righty had fanned seven of the first 10 Boston hitters he faced.

Rafael Devers led things off by lofting a 348-foot fly ball that center fielder Jose Barrero lost in the lights. Devers, who was credited with a double after moving up to second, then came into the score the tying run on a groundball RBI single off the bat of Justin Turner.

Following three scoreless innings of relief from Garza, Josh Winckowski, and Nick Pivetta, the Red Sox broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh. With new reliever Ian Gibaut in the game for the Reds, Enrique Hernandez crushed a go-ahead, 411-foot solo shot over the Green Monster for his fifth home run of the year.

Hernandez’s 103.5 mph blast gave Boston its first lead of the night at 2-1, but Cincinnati wasted no time in retaliating. Chris Martin, who did not yield a single run in eight May appearances, got the call for the eighth inning and immediately lost the lead by serving up a leadoff double to Newman and a game-tying single to Matt McLain.

Martin avoided any further damage by inducing a 5-4-3 double play and a flyout, paving the way for the Red Sox to get back to work in the latter half of the eighth. After Verdugo drew a leadoff walk off Reds righty Kevin Herget, Devers immediately drove him in by lacing a 106.5 mph go-ahead RBI double into the triangle.

Following a Turner single, the Reds elected to intentionally walk Jarren Duran. Herget then balked with the bases loaded to put the Sox up, 4-2. Hernandez tacked on two more with a two-run single through the right side of the infield before Connor Wong broke it open by depositing a 401-foot two-run homer into the first row of Monster seats.

Wong’s sixth big fly of the season gave the Red Sox a commanding 8-2 lead going into the final frame. Kenley Jansen then slammed the door on the Reds in a non-save opportunity by working his way around a two-out walk in an otherwise clean top of the ninth.

Next up: Rays in for four

After picking up their first home win against a National League Central opponent this season, the Red Sox will next welcome the division rival Rays into town for a four-game weekend series beginning Friday night. The set includes a scheduled day-night doubleheader on Saturday.

In Friday’s series opener, Garrett Whitlock will get the start for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Tyler Glasnow for Tampa Bay. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Connor Wong and Enrique Hernandez: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Jorge Alfaro opts out of minor-league deal with Red Sox

Veteran catcher Jorge Alfaro has opted out of his minor-league contract with the Red Sox and intends to test free agency, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The club now has 48 hours to decide whether to block the 29-year-old backstop’s opt-out by adding him to the active roster.

Alfaro, who turns 30 later this month, joined the Red Sox on a minors pact in January after being non-tendered by the Padres last November. Though the right-handed hitter did not make Boston’s Opening Day out of spring training, he elected to remain in the organization and has since torn it up with Triple-A Worcester.

Entering Thursday, Alfaro has batted a stout .320/.366/.520 with 13 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 30 RBIs, 22 runs scored, four stolen bases, nine walks, and 43 strikeouts in 43 games (191 plate appearances) with the WooSox. Defensively, the native Colombian has allowed six passed balls and has thrown out five of 35 would-be base stealers while splitting time behind the plate with Caleb Hamilton and Ronaldo Hernandez. He has also made two starts at first base.

Despite the strong offensive performance, it does not appear as though the Red Sox are keen on adding Alfaro to their 26-man group. That being the case because they are comfortable with the tandem of Connor Wong and Reese McGuire and do not intend on carrying a third catcher at this time.

When speaking with reporters (including Cotillo) prior to Wednesday’s loss to the Reds at Fenway Park, Red Sox manager Alex Cora acknowledged that Alfaro would be a tough fit on the roster as things stand now.

“He’s swinging the bat well,” Cora said. “We’ll see where we’re at. Obviously, right now, we’re very comfortable with Reese and Wong. There’s (another) 29 teams out there. They might have a chance or not. In a selfish way, hopefully, nobody wants him. As a person and a player, I would love him to be in the big-leagues, either with us or somebody else. It’s where we’re at right now. We’re very comfortable with these two guys. I’ll repeat myself.”

As noted by Cotillo, the Red Sox will presumably wait until the 48-hour deadline to make their official decision on Alfaro. That way, they can protect themselves in the event that either Wong or McGuire suffer some sort of injury in the interim.

If Alfaro does indeed leave the organization, though, Hamilton and Hernandez would emerge as the top two catching options for the WooSox while Stephen Scott and Nathan Hickey are right behind them at Double-A Portland.

(Picture of Jorge Alfaro: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

James Paxton’s 8 strikeouts not enough as Red Sox blow late lead in 5-4 loss to Reds; Masataka Yoshida, Enmanuel Valdez homer

For the second night in a row, the Red Sox fell short of a comeback win over the Reds in the process of suffering their second straight one-run loss and their third straight loss overall.

Despite receiving a strong performance from James Paxton and leading after six innings, Boston fell to Cincinnati by a final score of 5-4 at Fenway Park on Wednesday to drop back to one game of .500 at 28-27 on the season.

With right-hander Luke Weaver starting for the Reds, the Red Sox opened the scoring when Masataka Yoshida belted a 359-foot solo shot down the right field line to lead off the bottom half of the second inning. Yoshida’s seventh home run of the year, and first since May 4, left his bat at 97.8 mph.

An inning later, Connor Wong extended his hitting streak to seven by reaching base on a one-out single. He then moved up to second on an Alex Verdugo groundout before coming into score on an opposite-field RBI double from Rafael Devers. The run-scoring knock was the 200th two-base hit of Devers’ career, but he was left at second as Justin Turner grounded out to end the third.

Boston would maintain a two-run lead through four innings. Paxton, who to that point had experienced very little turbulence in his fourth start of the season for the Sox, then ran into some trouble in the fifth. After recording the first two outs of the frame via strikeout, the veteran left-hander issued a four-pitch walk to Jose Barrero.

Luke Maile, Cincinnati’s No. 9 hitter, wasted no time in making Paxton pay for the free pass by driving in Barrero all the way from first on a towering RBI double off the Green Monster. Maile then advanced to third on a Kevin Newman single, but Paxton stranded the runners on the corners by fanning the final batter he faced in Matt McLain.

All told, Paxton allowed just the one earned run on four hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts over five solid innings of work. The 34-year-old finished with exactly 100 pitches (68 strikes) and induced 22 swings-and-misses, the most of any big-league pitcher on Wednesday. He also lowered his ERA on the season to 4.26.

With Paxton’s night done, the Red Sox got that run right back in the bottom of the fifth when rookie Enmanuel Valdez took Weaver 356 feet over the Green Monster for his fourth homer of the year. The 99.1 mph blast put Boston back up, 3-1, going into the sixth.

Kutter Crawford received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from manager Alex Cora. Making his first appearance since tweaking his right ankle in Arizona this past Saturday, Crawford immediately issued back-to-back walks out of the gate. The righty then retired Tyler Stephenson and the pinch-hitting Jake Fraley on a pair of flyouts, but he could not escape the jam entirely.

Instead, Crawford extended the inning by giving up an RBI single to Nick Senzel that cut Boston’s lead down to one at 3-2. Josh Winckowski came on to record the final out of the sixth but he, too, was not his usual self in the top of the seventh.

After Maile reached on a Devers throwing error to lead off the inning, Newman and McClain delivered back-to-back singles to fill the bases with no outs. Winckowski then got Jonathan India to ground into a a 6-4-3 double play, but it was enough to allow the pinch-running Will Benson to score from third to knot things up at three runs apiece.

Just moments after they tied the game, Spencer Steer gave the Reds their first lead of the night by crushing a go-ahead, two-run home run into the Monster seats off Winckowski, who was ultimately charged with a blown save as well as the losing decision.

Trailing 5-3 now, the Red Sox had a golden opportunity to respond in the latter half of the inning. Valdez, Verdugo, and Devers all reached to fill the bases with two outs. But lefty reliever Alex Young got Turner to ground out to short to extinguish the threat.

Following a 1-2-3 top of the eighth from Chris Martin, Yoshida led off the bottom half with a hard-hit double off new Reds reliever Lucas Sims. Jarren Duran then drove in Yoshida from second with a two-base hit of his own. Alas, the potential tying run was left on base as the pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia (lineout) and Valdez were each retired by Sims.

Like Martin, Nick Pivetta put up a zero in the top of the ninth to give the Red Sox one more shot in the latter half. With two outs and the bases empty, Devers lifted a 104.6 mph line drive to center field off Buck Farmer, but it fell well short of the bleachers and was caught by Senzel on the warning track for the final out.

Next up: Sale gets ball in series finale

On the heels of a 13-13 May, the Red Sox will look to open the month of June by putting an end to this three-game losing streak and avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Reds in Thursday’s series finale. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the start for Boston while Cincinnati will counter with hard-throwing right-hander Hunter Greene.

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

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