Tag: alex cora

Red Sox ace Chris Sale’s MRI shows ‘some healing,’ Alex Cora says

Red Sox ace Chris Sale underwent an MRI on Thursday to evaluate how he is recovering from the stress fracture in his right rib cage. On Friday, Sox manager Alex Cora revealed that Sale’s MRI showed “some healing” when speaking with reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) at Charlotte Sports Park.

While there has been “some healing,” Cora also noted that there is still no timetable for when Sale could start throwing again. Rather than establishing a timetable, the next step will be to see how Sale feels symptom-wise in the coming days. From there, the Red Sox can then determine when exactly the veteran left-hander can get back on the mound.

Sale, who turned 33 on Wednesday, has been sidelined since suffering the rib injury while throwing at his alma mater, Florida Gulf Coast University, on February 24.

When speaking with reporters at the Fenway South complex on Tuesday, Sale indicated that he was in better spirits and was hopeful that he could begin his throwing program at some point next week.

“I think they want to get me past a certain point numbers-wise with weeks because with bones, it’s probably scheduled out,” Sale said. “I think they want to get me to a certain number before I start doing that just to really give it some time.”

Regardless of when Sale starts throwing again, the southpaw will still need a considerable amount of time to build back up before he is deemed ready to pitch at the major-league level.

With that, it might not be until May or later when Sale takes the mound for the Red Sox again. There are still plenty of hurdles he needs to clear before that can happen.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Rich Hill gets shelled, Kevin Plawecki homers as Red Sox fall to Rays, 9-3

The Red Sox fell to 9-6 in Grapefruit League play on Friday following a 9-3 loss to the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park.

Despite losing by six runs, it was actually the Sox who got on the board first in their half of the third inning. With starter Ryan Yarbrough on the mound for the Rays, Rob Refsnyder led off with a single, advanced to second base on a Jonathan Arauz walk, and advanced to third on a Christian Arroyo groundout.

Trevor Story, who made the trip to Port Charlotte for Friday’s contest, then drove in Refsnyder on a sacrifice fly to left field. Story’s second RBI of the spring gave Boston an early 1-0 lead, though it did not last long.

Red Sox starter Rich Hill began his afternoon by retiring each of the six batters he faced, but immediately ran into trouble in the bottom of the third when he issued a leadoff single to Taylor Walls. A double from Brett Phillips to follow put runners at second and third for Harold Ramirez, who put the Rays up 2-1 on a two-run single to left field.

Wander Franco moved Ramirez up to second base with another single and both runners scored on back-to-back run-scoring hits from Brandon Lowe and Manuel Margot to make it a 4-1 game.

Having recorded just one out in the third, Hill was temporarily pulled in favor of Jacob Wallace out of the Red Sox bullpen. Wallace, in turn, allowed both runners he inherited to score on a two-run double off the bat of Austin Meadows.

After getting through the third, Wallace made way for Hill once more. The veteran left-hander rebounded by facing the minimum three batters in the fourth, but got shelled for three more runs on three more hits in the fifth.

All told, Hill surrendered nine runs — all of which were earned — on 11 hits and no walks to go along with one strikeout over 3 2/3 total innings of work. The 42-year-old southpaw should be making one more start before the regular season begins.

In relief of Hill, Brendan Nail came on for Hill in the fifth and recorded the final two outs of the frame via swinging strikeout. From there, Jake Diekman maneuvered his way around a hit batsman and walk in a scoreless sixth, Austin Davis sat down the side in order in the seventh, and Tyler Danish did the same in the eighth.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Nick Sogard led the inning off by reaching first base on a fielding error. Kevin Plawecki then took Rays reliever Christopher Gau deep to left-center field for his first home run of the spring.

Plawecki’s two-run blast made it a 9-3 game in favor of Tampa Bay, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss:

Rafael Devers went 1-for-1 with a double and was also hit by a pitch. He is now batting .450 this spring.

Franchy Cordero doubled in his only at-bat of the day after being used as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning. He is now batting .476 this spring.

Top prospect Marcelo Mayer came on as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and went 0-for-1 with the game-ending flyout.

Next up: Brubaker vs. Eovaldi

The Red Sox return to Fort Myers to take on the Pirates at JetBlue Park on Saturday afternoon. Nathan Eovaldi will be making one final tune-up before Opening Day and he will be opposed by fellow right-hander J.T. Brubaker.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised on NESN.

(Picture of Kevin Plawecki: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Kutter Crawford in the mix for spot in Red Sox bullpen, Alex Cora says: ‘Stuff-wise, he’s one of the best that we have’

Although the Red Sox have optioned a number of their top prospects to the minor-leagues in recent days, Kutter Crawford remains at major-league camp and in the mix for an Opening Day bullpen spot, manager Alex Cora said Wednesday.

Crawford, who turns 26 on Friday, enters the 2022 season regarded by Baseball America as the No. 15 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks eighth among pitchers in the organization.

A former 16th-round draft pick out of Florida Gulf Coast University in 2017, Crawford made his major-league debut under unique circumstances with the Red Sox last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Nick Pivetta was scratched from his start against the Guardians on September 5, Crawford was called up and started in his place. The right-hander had a forgettable debut, allowing five runs in two-plus innings.

The Red Sox removed Crawford from their 40-man roster and returned him to Triple-A Worcester the following day. Since he was filling in for a player on the COVID-19 related injured list, though, they did not have to expose him to waivers.

After closing out his 2021 season with the WooSox, Crawford was added to Boston’s 40-man roster in November in order to receive protection from the Rule 5 Draft, which wound up getting cancelled due to the lockout. He then spent part of his off-season pitching in the Dominican Winter League and posted a 0.42 ERA in five starts (21 1/3 innings pitched) for Estrellas Orientales.

Coming into the spring with his first invite to major-league camp in tow, Crawford has made the most of his time in Fort Myers thus far by pitching to the tune of a 2.25 ERA and striking out eight of the 16 batters he has faced over three Grapefruit League appearances.

In the Red Sox’ 6-2 loss to the Pirates in Bradenton on Tuesday, Crawford offered a glimpse of what could make him effective as a reliever at the big-league level. Over two scoreless innings of relief, the 25-year-old righty scattered just one hit and one walk while recording five strikeouts. Of the 38 pitches he threw, 24 went for strikes with his four-seam fastball hovering around 95-97 mph.

“He has good stuff,” Cora said. “He’s throwing 97 mph with a good cutter, good split. He’s in the mix.”

Crawford has primarily been a starter throughout his pro career; only one of his 67 appearances in the minors have been in relief. The Sox, however, believe Crawford can make the transition from starting rotation to the bullpen because of the arsenal he has.

“We’re trying to win ballgames, right?” said Cora. “And we’re going to try to take the best 28 [players] that fit the program right now. Let’s put it that way because, as you guys know, this isn’t the final product.”

With just over a week to go until Opening Day on April 7, Crawford still has some work to do before knowing if he will be traveling with the Red Sox to the Bronx or meeting up with the WooSox in Jacksonville for their first series of the season.

“We do believe that he’s good, really good,” Cora said. “Last year, that outing, he was ahead in the count 0-2 a lot of times and it just happened. But, stuff-wise, he’s one of the best that we have. So, we still have a week, he still has a few innings, and we’ll make decisions when we have to.”

(Picture of Kutter Crawford: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Hansel Robles set to join Red Sox on Thursday; veteran reliever could make Boston’s Opening Day roster, Alex Cora says

Nearly two weeks after signing a minor-league deal to return to the Red Sox, Hansel Robles could finally be joining the team in Fort Myers as soon as Thursday night.

Robles, 31, inked a minors pact with Boston that included an invite to major-league spring training on March 19. Due to visa issues, however, the right-handed reliever has yet to report to camp and has instead been stuck in the Dominican Republic.

When speaking with reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) at JetBlue Park on Wednesday, Sox manager Alex Cora indicated that Robles could make the club’s Opening Day roster by saying he “wouldn’t assume anything.”

The Red Sox originally acquired Robles from the Twins in exchange for pitching prospect Alex Scherff before last year’s trade deadline. After a shaky start, the Dominican-born righty settled in and became one of Cora’s most trusted options out of the bullpen.

From the time he made his Red Sox debut on August 1 through the end of the regular season, Robles led the team in relief appearances (27) while posting a 3.60 ERA and 3.37 FIP to go along with 33 strikeouts to 13 walks over 25 innings of work. He also produced a 5.06 ERA (6.73 FIP) in the postseason, though four of his six outings were scoreless.

Since he gained Cora’s trust so quickly last year, it would be interesting to see if Robles could earn a spot on Boston’s Opening Day roster. If Robles does indeed arrive at the Fenway South complex on Thursday night, he would have less than a full week to prepare for the Sox’ season opener against the Yankees in the Bronx on April 7.

That being said, Cora seems to be confident in Robles’ abilities. On top of that, the Red Sox — as noted by Browne — are lacking in right-handed bullpen depth as things stand now.

“We’ll see where he’s at,” Cora said of Robles. “One thing about him, he’s a workaholic. He gets here hopefully Thursday, and maybe you’ll see him [throw live] on Saturday. He’ll let us know where he’s at physically and stuff-wise.”

(Picture of Hansel Robles: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox crush 3 home runs, top Braves, 10-7, in Trevor Story’s Grapefruit League debut

The Red Sox improved to 8-5 in Grapefruit League play on Wednesday afternoon with a 10-7 victory over the Braves at JetBlue Park.

Using a lineup that is likely to mirror the one they feature on Opening Day, the Sox got things going right away against Braves starter Ian Anderson. Before recording an out in the first inning, Enrique Hernandez drew a leadoff walk and Rafael Devers clubbed a towering two-run homer over the Fenway South Green Monster.

Devers’ fourth home run of the spring jolted Boston to an early 2-0 lead, but they were not done there. Not with Alex Verdugo ripping a two-out double off Anderson, advancing to third to load the bases, and scoring from third when Jackie Bradley Jr. was hit by a pitch to make it a 3-0 game.

An inning later, the top of the Red Sox lineup struck once more when Hernandez led off with an infield single and scored on a one-out RBI single off the bat of J.D. Martinez.

Christian Vazquez added on to his side’s lead in the bottom of the third. Following a leadoff double from Bobby Dalbec, Vazquez crushed a two-run shot to left field off Anderson. The veteran backstop’s first big fly of the spring made it a 6-0 game in favor of Boston.

That sequence provided Sox starter Tanner Houck with a sizable cushion to operate with out of the gate. Making his third start of the Grapefruit League campaign, the right-hander began his day by retiring eight of the first 13 batters he faced heading into the fourth inning.

That is where things began to get a bit shaky for Houck. The 25-year-old yielded back-to-back singles to Ozzie Albies and Eddie Rosario to begin the frame before spiking a wild pitch that allowed both runners to advance an additional 90 feet.

A sacrifice fly from Alex Dickerson brought in Albies from third for the Braves’ first run of the afternoon. Houck then plunked Guillermo Heredia, but escaped any further damage by fanning Dansby Swanson, who would turn out to be the last hitter he would face on Wednesday.

All told, Houck allowed just one earned run on five hits, no walks, and three hit batsman to go along with four strikeouts over four erratic innings of work. He should be in line to make one more start before the regular season begins.

Shortly after Houck recorded the final out in the top half of the fourth, the Boston bats continued to pound Atlanta pitching in the bottom half of the frame.

With reliever Dylan Lee on the mound for the Braves, Jonathan Arauz provided some more leadoff pop by mashing his first home run of the spring. A J.D. Martinez walk and opposite-field double for Franchy Cordero then put runners at second and third for Trevor Story, who came through with a line-drive RBI single to plate Martinez. Cordero himself scored on another RBI base hit courtesy of Bobby Dalbec.

Despite having a commanding 9-1 lead going into the fifth, the Red Sox bullpen struggled a bit in relief of Houck. Kaleb Ort received the first call from manager Alex Cora and proceeded to serve up a solo homer to Travis d’Arnaud and a three-run blast to Adam Duvall while only managing to record two outs.

Ryan Fernandez then came on for Ort and surrendered a solo home run of his own to Dickerson, though he was able to end the inning with Boston still in possession of a three-run lead at 9-6.

It did not take long for the Sox to get one of those runs back, though, as Yolmer Sanchez followed up a scoreless sixth inning from Hirokazu Sawamura by plating the pinch-running Christin Stewart on a sacrifice fly to right field off Allan Winans.

From there, Ryan Brasier got himself in and out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, Matt Barnes gave up one run on two hits and one walk in the eighth, and newcomer Matt Strahm closed things out by stranding a pair of base runners in a shutout ninth inning.

Some notes from this win:

In his Grapefruit League debut, Trevor Story went 1-for-2 with an RBI single, a walk, and a strikeout. The 29-year-old started at second base, batted out of the six-hole, and was pinch-ran for by Yolmer Sanchez in the fourth inning.

Franchy Cordero replaced Alex Verdugo in left field in the third inning. He went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, one RBI, and one strikeout.

Through seven games this spring, Rafael Devers is slashing .389/.400/1.056 with four home runs, eight RBIs, six runs scored, one walk, and six strikeouts over 20 plate appearances.

Next up: Bundy vs. Hill

The Red Sox will take on the Twins at JetBlue Park on Thursday afternoon, with the race for the 2022 Chairman’s Cup currently tied at two games apiece.

Rich Hill is slated to get the start for Boston and Garrett Whitlock will also pitch. Hill will be opposed by right-hander Dylan Bundy for Minnesota.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will not be televised.

(Picture of Trevor Story: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock tosses 3 scoreless innings in first start of spring, but Red Sox fall to Twins, 6-3

The Red Sox fell to 7-4 in Grapefruit League play on Sunday afternoon following a 6-3 loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium. The race for the 2022 Chairman’s Cup is now tied at two games apiece.

Garrett Whitlock made his first-ever start for Boston in his second appearance of the spring on Sunday. The right-hander allowed just one hit and one walk to go along with two strikeouts over three scoreless innings of work.

Of the 47 pitches Whitlock threw, 33 went for strikes. The 25-year-old hurler also sat around 95.1 mph with his four-seam fastball while topping out at 95.5 mph with the pitch.

In relief of Whitlock, Jake Diekman received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen. Coming off a rough spring debut last week, the veteran left-hander’s struggles continued on Sunday. Despite recording the first two outs of the fourth rather easily, Diekman proceeded to load the bases on one hit and two walks before walking in a run by issuing another free pass to Gio Urshela.

That sequence gave the Twins their first lead of the day at 1-0, and it also promoted Sox manager Alex Cora to give Diekman the hook in favor of Darin Gillies, who punched out the lone batter he faced to retire the side in the fourth.

Rich Hill took over for Gillies beginning in the middle of the fifth. Like Whitlock, the seasoned southpaw turned in a solid three-inning outing in which he kept Minnesota off the scoreboard while yielding just one hit, no walks, and three strikeouts on 42 pitches (27 strikes).

The Boston bats picked up Hill in their half of the sixth, with Jonathan Arauz ripping a leadoff single off Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar to kick off the inning. Arauz then advanced all the way to third base when center fielder Derek Fisher was unable to come up with a sharply-hit flyball off the bat of Enrique Hernandez.

Hernandez took second base because of the error and was pinch-ran for by the speedy Jarren Duran, who showed off his elite speed immediately when Rafael Devers lifted a 376-foot fly ball to center field. Fisher was able to come up with the ball this time around, but his momentum carried him away from the infield, which subsequently allowed Arauz to score from third and Duran to score all the way from second.

Devers’ rare, two-run sacrifice fly put the Sox up 2-1 as Hill continued to impress through the end of the seventh before being replaced by Hirokazu Sawamura an inning later.

Sawamura, on the other hand, struggled to find the strike zone on Sunday with only 16 of his 30 pitches going for strikes. The Japanese-born righty issued a leadoff walk to Daniel Robertson, which preceded a hard-hit double from Curtis Terry and RBI single for Jose Godoy to tie things back up at 2-2.

Another walk for Sawamura led to more runs crossing the plate, as Jose Miranda plated Terry on a softly-hit groundout and Trevor Larnach scored everyone by depositing a three-run home run 400 feet to give his side a commanding 6-2 lead.

After surrendering that towering shot, Sawamura was given the hook in favor of Brandon Nail, who got Fisher to fly out to Christian Arroyo — yes, Christian Arrouo — in right field for the final out of the frame.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Rob Refsnyder made things somewhat interesting by crushing his first home run of the spring off Twins reliever Jorge Alcala.

That cut Minnesota’s lead down to three runs at 6-3, but that would go on to be Sunday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss:

Christian Arroyo played three innings of right field on Sunday after coming on as a defensive replacement for Jackie Bradley Jr. in the middle of the sixth inning.

Red Sox pitchers were responsible for 50 of the 51 hardest-thrown pitches on Sunday, per Baseball Savant.

Next up: A day off

The Red Sox will enjoy their first off day of the spring on Monday. They will then travel to Bradenton to take on the Pirates at LECOM Park on Tuesday afternoon.

Boston has yet to name a starter for that contest, though right-hander Mitch Keller is slated to get the starting nod for Pittsburgh.

First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised, but only on AT&T SportsNet.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Tanner Houck struggles with command, walks 5 as Red Sox drop third straight in 6-3 loss to Braves

The Red Sox dropped their third straight Grapefruit League contest on Friday afternoon with a 6-3 loss to the Braves at CoolToday Park in North Port, Fla. After winning six games in a row out of the gate, Boston is now 6-3 this spring.

Tanner Houck made his second start of the spring for the Sox. The right-hander allowed three earned runs on two hits and five walks to go along with four strikeouts over just 2 1/3 innings of work.

Following a 1-2-3 first inning to begin his day, Houck first ran into some command-related trouble when he issued back-to-back one-out one walks in the bottom of the second. The 25-year-old escaped without giving anything up, but immediately walked Dansby Swanson to lead things off in the third.

That leadoff walk would prove costly for Houck, as Swanson advanced to third on a flyball double off the bat of Eddie Rosario and scored on an RBI groundout from new Braves first baseman Matt Olson. Rosario himself came into score on an Austin Riley RBI single that gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Houck then walked the final two batters he faced in Marcell Ozuna and Alex Dickerson, which loaded the bases for the Braves and prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora to pull his starter in favor of Jacob Wallace.

Wallace allowed one of the runners he inherited to score on a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Albies, but otherwise limited the damage to keep the score at 3-0. Fellow UCONN product Matt Barnes took over in the fourth and turned in a solid performance by striking out the side (Travis d’Arnaud, Swanson, and Rosario) in order.

In the fifth, the Red Sox lineup finally got on the board themselves when Ryan Fitzgerald drew a two-out walk off former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen and scored all the way from first on a Christian Arroyo single that was botched by Rosario in right field.

Austin Davis was dispatched for the bottom half of the fifth in relief of Barnes. The left-hander worked his way around a one-out walk in an otherwise clean frame before making way for fellow southpaw Darwinzon Hernandez in the sixth.

Hernandez, in turn, loaded the bases with two outs, then served up a two-run single to John Nogowski and one-run single to old friend Brock Holt to give the Braves a commanding 6-1 edge. Hernandez got through the sixth and recorded the first out of the seventh before Franklin German took over for him.

German retired the only two Braves he faced in the seventh, while top pitching prospect Brayan Bello worked a perfect eighth inning and struck out one.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Connor Wong and Pedro Castellanos led things off with back-to-back singles off Braves reliever Kyle Muller. A lineout off the bat of Tyreque Reed allowed Wong to advance to third and a line-drive single courtesy of Tyler Dearden allowed him to score from third.

A wild pitch from Muller led to another run-scoring opportunity for Christian Koss, who played Castellanos on a groundout to shortstop Pat Valaika. The Braves then swapped Muller for Nolan Kingham, who retired David Hamilton for the third and final out of the afternoon.

Some notes from this loss:

Tanner Houck walked five of the 14 batters he faced on Friday.

The Red Sox went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base as a team.

Next up: Wacha vs. Kluber

The Red Sox return to Fort Myers on Saturday afternoon to take on the Rays at JetBlue Park. Saturday’s starting pitching matchup will feature a pair of seasoned right-handers going at it, with Michael Wacha getting the ball for Boston and Corey Kluber doing the same for Tampa Bay.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised on NESN+.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Trevor Story leaves spring training for birth of first child

Trevor Story’s Grapefruit League debut will have to wait.

Fresh off officially signing a six-year, $140 million c0ntract with the Red Sox on Wednesday, Story was slated to see his first action of the spring this Saturday against the Rays at JetBlue Park.

The 29-year-old second baseman did get into a Single-A game on the back fields of Fenway South on Thursday and had registered plate appearances. He was in line to get back on the field this weekend but will now be away from the team for an important reason: the birth of his first child.

Earlier Friday morning, Red Sox manager Alex Cora informed reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) that Story had left Fort Myers to fly home to Texas and be with his wife Mallie as they welcome the newest addition to their family.

“He went home. So now we’re just hoping that everything goes well and he gets there on time and we’ll see,” Cora said of Story. “He went home this morning. So now it’s just waiting to see if everything goes well and then we’ll decide when he comes back and all that, but right now, I think baseball is on the back burner. What a week.”

Given that his free agency was prolonged by the lockout, Story was already at somewhat of a disadvantage when he first arrived to Red Sox camp on Wednesday. Not only is the two-time All-Star trying to get acclimated with a new organization, but he is doing so while learning a relatively new position after spending the first six years of his big-league career at shortstop for the Rockies.

That being said, Cora does not seem all that concerned about Story’s absence, noting that the Red Sox organization itself is “very happy” for one of its newest members.

“We don’t take Trevor’s situation as a setback,” said Cora. “It’s the other way around. We’re very happy for him. But we’re going to have to map it out with him, what are we going to do for the rest of the spring?”

When Story does return to Fort Myers in the coming days, he will have less than two weeks to prepare for Opening Day. The Red Sox, of course, open their season against the Yankees in the Bronx on April 7.

(Picture of Trevor Story: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red S0x)

Nick Pivetta allows two homers in second start of spring as Red Sox fall to Orioles, 8-5

The Red Sox fell to 6-2 in Grapefruit League on Thursday night following an 8-5 loss to the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. Their six-game winning streak has been met with a two-game losing streak.

Enrique Hernandez was one of the few regulars who made the trek to Sarasota for Thursday’s contest, and he made his impact felt right away by crushing a leadoff home run off Orioles starter Bruce Zimmermann to begin things in the first inning.

Hernandez’s first homer of the spring provided Sox starter Nick Pivetta with an early 1-0 lead. A red-hot Ryan Fitzgerald added on to that by clubbing a two-run shot off Zimmermann an inning later.

Fitzgerald’s team-leading fourth big fly of the spring gave Pivetta an even bigger lead to work with, but the right-hander ran into some trouble in the bottom of the second.

After retiring the side in order in the first, Pivetta — to no fault of his own — allowed the first batter he faced in the second in Anthony Santander to reach base via a throwing error committed by Fitzgerald. Pivetta then issued a one-out walk to Ramon Urias before surrendering two runs on a pair of RBI knocks off the bats of Jorge Mateo and Kelvin Gutierrez.

An inning later, Baltimore knotted things back up at three runs apiece when Ryan Mountcastle took Pivetta deep to right-center field for a solo homer. Urias did the very same in the fourth to give the O’s their first lead of the evening at 4-3.

Pivetta, in turn, recorded the first two outs of the fourth before making way for fellow righty Joan Martinez. The 29-year-old finished his day having given up four runs (two earned) on four hits, two walks, and six strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of work.

In relief of Pivetta, Martinez came on and got the final out of the fourth. Moments later, Alex Binelas (one of two prospects acquired in the Jackie Bradley Jr. trade) led off the top of the fifth with a ground-ball single and was pinch ran for by the speedy Ceddanne Rafaela, who proceeded to steal second base and score on an RBI single from Kevin Plawecki.

That sequence allowed the Red Sox to tie things back up at 4-4, and it also prompted manager Alex Cora to have Jake Diekman make his spring debut out of the bullpen in the fifth inning.

Diekman, however, was not at his sharpest. The veteran lefty yielded a one-out single and walk before serving up a three-run blast to New Hampshire native Ryan McKenna that made it a 7-4 game in favor of Baltimore.

Fellow newcomer Matt Strahm was deployed for the sixth inning. The southpaw plunked one batter and walked another, but got through the frame unscathed.

From there, Hirokazu Sawamura tossed a scoreless seventh inning. Power-hitting infield prospect Nick Northcut then mashed a booming home run to dead center field off old friend Travis Lakins with two outs and the bases empty in the eighth.

The Orioles got that run back off Kutter Crawford in their half of the eighth, though, and Marcos Diplan closed things out by retiring the likes of Nick Yorke, Rafaela, and Marcelo Mayer in order in the ninth.

Some notes from this loss:

Mayer, arguably Boston’s top prospect, came off the bench as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning and went 0-for-1 with a walk and strikeout.

Yorke, on the other hand, went 0-for-2 with a punchout after pinch-hitting for Fitzgerald in the sixth inning as well.

Next up: Houck vs. Anderson

The Red Sox will travel to North Port to take on the Braves at CoolToday Park on Friday afternoon. Tanner Houck is slated to get the ball for Boston and fellow right-hander Ian Anderson is lined up to the same for Atlanta.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised, but only on Bally Sports South.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor unlikely to be ready for Opening Day due to back issue

Red Sox reliever Josh Taylor may not be available for the start of the 2022 season due to back issue, manager Alex Cora revealed on Monday.

“The only guy that is behind pitching-wise is JT,” Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) earlier Monday morning. “He has a back issue. So he fell behind. Not sure how it works out for us for the start of the season but he’s one guy that’s behind in his progression.”

When asked if Taylor will be ready for Opening Day in the Bronx on April 7, Cora responded by saying: “I don’t want to say it’s doubtful, but he has some catching up to do.”

Taylor spent time on the injured list last September due to a low back strain. The left-hander returned in time for the postseason and pitched well in his six appearances, but he did so while still dealing with discomfort in his lower back.

In a recent conversation with The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier and Pete Abraham, Taylor explained that he received an epidural injection last fall and could have undergone off-season surgery to repair a herniated disk. He instead opted to rehab from the injury through the winter and is now behind other pitchers as a result.

“It’s a little leftover from last year,” Taylor said. “I had that back issue and it’s still kind of lingering. We’re just progressing a little slower right now to try and get me back right. It’s not bad. It’s definitely way better than it was. I did a lot of work in the offseason to get it right. It’s a bit more strengthening right now to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Taylor also told Speier and Abraham that he has yet to throw off a mound this spring, but he will do so for the first time in a pair of bullpen sessions at the Fenway South complex this week.

The 29-year-old southpaw is coming off a 2021 season in which he emerged as one of Cora’s most trusted options out of the Boston bullpen. In 61 relief appearances (second-highest on the team) last year, Taylor posted a 3.40 ERA and 2.83 FIP with 60 strikeouts to 23 walks over 47 2/3 innings pitched.

With Taylor likely starting the year on the injured list, the Red Sox do have other left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster they can turn to in Austin Davis, Jake Diekman, Darwinzon Hernandez, and Matt Strahm. They also recently signed veteran lefty Derek Holland to a minor-league deal that includes an invite to major-league spring training.

(Picture of Josh Taylor: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)