Tag: alex cora

Alex Verdugo delivers with walk-off single as Red Sox extend winning streak to four straight with 4-3 victory over Indians

In the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that could ravage other teams’ postseason aspirations, the Red Sox are proving that they should still be taken seriously despite having placed nine players on the COVID-related injured list.

Saturday was just the latest instance of this resilience, as the Sox fought their way to a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Indians at Fenway Park to push their winning streak to four consecutive games.

Tanner Houck, making his 10th start and 12th overall appearance of the season for Boston, laid out the groundwork for his team’s fourth straight win by keeping Cleveland off the scoreboard while scattering just three hits, zero walks, and seven strikeouts over five strong innings of work.

Having just faced off the Indians on the road last weekend, Houck proved to be much more in control this time around by demonstrating better command on the mound.

The right-hander dealt with some traffic on the base paths, such as a leadoff single in the first inning or leadoff double in the third inning, but was otherwise solid as he retired the final nine batters he faced in order through the end of the fifth.

At that moment in time, Houck’s pitch count was relatively low, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora did not want him to go up against the Indians lineup for a third time, so his night promptly came to an end there.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 68 (47 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler did not factor into Saturday’s decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 3.26.

In relief of Houck, left-hander Austin Davis got the first call out of the bullpen in the sixth inning of a scoreless contest and immediately surrendered a leadoff double to Andres Gimenez to put the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.

Davis did manage to get the next two outs, but did so while allowing Gimenez to steal third before intentionally walking the dangerous Jose Ramirez and issuing another free pass to Bobby Bradley.

That sequence led to the Indians loading the bases with two outs in the sixth, and it led to Cora turning to Hansel Robles to get out of the jam.

Robles, in turn, got Harold Ramirez to rip a 97.2 mph grounder back up the middle that deflected off his foot and rolled over to Bobby Dalbec at first base in time to get the final out.

Phillips Valdez followed in Robles’ footsteps by tossing a scoreless top of the seventh, granting the Red Sox lineup to put something together in their half of the frame.

To that point, the Boston bats had been stymied by Indians starter Eli Morgan, but were able to get it going once the Cleveland bullpen took over.

Christian Vazquez led off against Nick Wittgren by lacing a hard-hit single to center field. Jack Lopez followed by moving Vazquez up to second on a successful sacrifice bunt, while Jonathan Arauz followed suit by advancing to Vazquez to third on a groundout.

Those two productive outs put the Sox in a promising position as the lineup flipped back over for Kyle Schwarber, who greeted new Indians reliever Blake Parker by drawing a five-pitch walk to put runners at the corners for Rafael Devers.

After working a full count on the first five pitches he saw from Parker, Devers took the sixth pitch — a juicy 92 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate — and came through with the clutchest hit of the ballgame to that point by clubbing a 419-foot three-run homer well over the Green Monster.

Not only did Devers’ 33rd home run of the season set a new career-high for the young All-Star and bring him up to 100 RBI on the year, it also gave the Red Sox their first lead of the night at 3-0.

Valdez, after retiring the side in order in the seventh, did the very same in the eighth, meaning the Sox were just three outs away from securing a series win over the Indians.

Adam Ottavino, however, had different plans, as he gave up a leadoff single to Ramirez to begin things in the ninth before yielding an RBI double to Bradley, making it a 3-1 game in favor of Boston.

The veteran reliever did get the first two outs of the ninth and was one strike away from retiring the pinch-hitting Franmil Reyes, but instead served up a game-tying, two-run home run to Reyes, thus knotting things up at three runs apiece.

To their credit, the Red Sox did not waver even after seeing their three-run lead come off the board. Travis Shaw, pinch-hitting for Lopez, led off the bottom of the ninth off Indians reliever Bryan Shaw by reaching base via an infield single.

Shaw was then replaced by the pinch-running Taylor Motter, who moved up to second on yet another sacrifice bunt from Arauz.

Schwarber then flew out to center field against Alex Young, while Devers drew a five-pitch walk off the newly-inserted Cleveland reliever.

J.D. Martinez got ahead in the count at 2-0, and was promptly intentionally walked to fill the bases with two outs for Alex Verdugo.

Verdugo, motivated by the Indians intentionally walking to get to Martinez since they had a left-hander in Young on the mound, made Cleveland pay for their decision by drilling a walk-off, run-scoring single over the head of Daniel Johnson in right field.

Motter was able to easily score from third on Verdugo’s late-game heroics, and the Sox came away with a 4-3 victory as a result.

By extending their winning streak to four straight games on Saturday, the Red Sox improved to 79-59 on the season and are once again 20 games over .500 for the first time since July 31.

With the Yankees and Athletics both losing on Saturday, Boston now has a four-game lead over Oakland for the second American League Wild Card spot and only trail New York by 1/2 a game for the first American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Plesac

The Red Sox will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound as they look to complete the three-game sweep of the Indians on Sunday afternoon.

Pivetta will be going up against fellow righty Zach Plesac, who will be making his 21st start of the season for the Indians.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and TBS.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran tests positive for COVID-19

Jarren Duran has tested positive for COVID-19, Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced following Friday night’s 8-5 win over the Indians at Fenway Park.

Leading up to Friday’s series opener, Duran had been penciled in to bat seventh and start in center field for the Sox, but the top prospect was scratched from Boston’s lineup a few hours before first pitch on account of exhibiting COVID-like symptoms.

Later placed on the COVID-19 related injured list so that catcher Connor Wong could be recalled from Triple-A Worcester, it turns out Duran has indeed tested positive for coronavirus.

“He’ll be out for a while,” Cora said Friday night in regards to the rookie outfielder.

Duran, who turns 25 on Sunday, becomes the ninth player the Red Sox have had to place on the COVID-related IL since last Friday as well as the eighth player to test positive.

Enrique Hernandez and Christian Arroyo tested positive for COVID-19 while the Sox were in Cleveland, and Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, Hirokazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor, Xander Bogaerts, and Yairo Munoz all tested positive while the team was in Tampa Bay.

On top of that, quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose have also returned positive results, while Josh Taylor and first base coach Tom Goodwin are quarantining since they were identified as close contacts.

Because he tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, Duran will be forced to quarantine for the next 10 days, meaning the soonest the speedster could return to action would be Monday September 13.

Of course, it remains to be seen if Duran will be able to come back after the minimum 10 days, or if he will require more time. We will have to wait and see on that.

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox mash 4 homers, hold on to 8-5 victory over Indians for third straight win

It was no simple task, but the Red Sox kicked off Labor Day weekend in style with a series-opening, 8-5 victory over the Indians at Fenway Park on Friday night to extend their winning streak to three consecutive games.

Matched up against Indians starter Cal Quantrill to begin things on Friday, the Sox received an immediate boost from leadoff man Kyle Schwarber, who crushed a 428-foot solo shot to dead center field on just the second pitch he saw in the bottom half of the first inning.

Schwarber’s 29th home run of the season, which left his bat at 106.8 mph, gave Boston an early 1-0 lead.

Kevin Plawecki doubled his side’s advantage an inning later, as he, too, took Quantrill deep by drilling a 390-foot solo homer over the Green Monster to make it a 2-0 contest.

Those two home runs took some off the pressure off Nathan Eovaldi out of the gate, and that proved to be quite beneficial.

Eovaldi, making his 27th start of the season for Boston, was — for the most part — exceptional on Friday night, allowing a total of three runs on six hits and two walks to go along with nine strikeouts over 6 1/3 solid innings of work.

The veteran right-hander began his evening by retiring nine of the first 11 Indians he faced, but saw his shutout bid come to an end when he served up a leadoff home run to the dangerous Jose Ramirez in the top of the fourth.

The Red Sox offense, however, returned the favor in the bottom half of the fourth, as Jonathan Arauz clubbed his second big fly of the year — both of which have come against the Indians — to right field off a Quantrill sinker, thus allowing his side to maintain its two-run lead.

After giving up the home run to Ramirez, Eovaldi responded by putting together another impressive run in which he strung together two more scoreless frames, but ran into some trouble with one out in the seventh.

At that point, Eovaldi had given up a one-out single to Bobby Bradley which was promptly followed by a game-tying, two-run blast off the bat of Austin Hedges moments later.

Having seen a 3-1 lead become a 3-3 stalemate, Eovaldi’s night came to a close after he yielded another base hit to Andres Gimenez, which led to him getting the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 98 (66 strikes), the 31-year-old did raise his ERA on the season to 3.73, though he did not factor into Friday’s decision.

In relief of Eovaldi, Adam Ottavino got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and — after allowing Jimenez to steal second base — he stranded the lone runner he inherited by punching out Myles Straw and Amed Rosario back-to-back to end the inning.

While the Sox did lose hold of their lead over the Indians momentarily, they quickly got it back in their half of the seventh, and it all started when the pinch-hitting Travis Shaw drew a leadoff walk off Quantrill.

Arauz followed by lacing double to center field that put runners at second and third base with no outs for Schwarber, who greeted new Indians reliever Trevor Stephan by ripping a two-run double to the right-center field gap.

With an exit velocity of nearly 109 mph, Schwarber’s second run-scoring hit of the night put the Red Sox back in front at 5-3.

Stephan did manage to get the first two outs of the frame by punching out Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez, but Cleveland opted to intentionally walk the left-handed Alex Verdugo so that their right-handed reliever could face Hunter Renfroe.

The right-handed hitting Renfroe made the Tribe pay dearly for that decision, as he worked a nine-pitch at-bat and — on the ninth and final pitch he saw — deposited a 2-2, 84 mph slider on the outer half of the plate a nice 369 feet over everything in left field.

Renfroe’s 26th homer of the year gave the Sox a commanding 8-3 lead going into the eighth, and it gave Ryan Brasier a comfortable cushion to work with as well.

Brasier, making his 2021 debut on Friday after dealing with a plethora of injuries, got the first two outs of the eighth inning rather quickly, but allowed the next three batters he faced to reach base, with the third and final one — Bradley — lifting an RBI single to left field to cut Boston’s lead down to four runs.

That set the stage for rookie sensation Garrett Whitlock to come on in an attempt to get the final out of the eighth, and he did just that by getting Hedges to fly out to right field.

Coming back out for the ninth, Whitlock did surrender a run that made things even more interesting, but ultimately slammed the door on the Indians with two clutch strikeouts to notch his second save of the year while also securing an 8-5 victory for the Sox.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 78-59 on the season as their lead over the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot increases to three games.

Brasier’s 2021 debut

Of the 21 pitchers Brasier threw in his season debut on Friday, 11 went for strikes. The right-hander turned to his four-seam fastball 71% of the time he was on the mound in the eighth inning and averaged 94.4 mph with the pitch.

Lopez’s first major-league hit

Since making his big-league debut earlier this week, infielder Jack Lopez had been hitless in eight plate appearances leading into Friday. The 28-year-old rookie came through in the second inning, though, as he picked up his first career hit — a 370-foot double — with two outs in the frame.

A first for Devers at second

After Shaw pinch-hit for Lopez to lead off the seventh inning, Danny Santana was inserted as a pinch-runner once Shaw reached base upon drawing a six-pitch walk.

As a result of that substitution, Santana took over for Bobby Dalbec at first base and Dalbec slid over to third base, leading Devers to fill in for Lopez at second base.

That being said, Friday night marked Devers’ professional debut at second base, as he had never played the position at the minor- or major-league level beforehand.

Next up: Houck vs. Morgan

The Red Sox will turn to right-hander Tanner Houck as they go for the series win over the Indians on Saturday afternoon.

The Indians, meanwhile, will hand the ball to fellow rookie righty Eli Morgan as they look to prevent that from happening.

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

(Picture of Kyle Schwarber, Alex Verdugo, and Hunter Renfroe: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox place Jarren Duran on COVID-19 related injured list, recall Connor Wong from Triple-A Worcester

Before opening up a three-game weekend series against the Indians at Fenway Park on Friday night, the Red Sox placed outfielder Jarren Duran on the COVID-19 related injured list.

In a corresponding move, catcher Connor Wong was recalled from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced earlier Friday evening.

Duran, who turns 25 on Sunday, was originally slated to bat seventh and start in center field for the Sox in Friday’s series opener, but was later scratched on account of his feeling under the weather.

“Duran is not feeling well, so he’s going through with his testing,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said when speaking with reporters. “Obviously, he won’t be here with us today. We’ll know more hopefully later today or in the third inning, I guess, you know? We’ll know. But he doesn’t feel great, so we’ll go through the process.”

The speedy top prospect previously spent time on the COVID-19 related injured list when the Sox were in Toronto last month, but did not test positive for the virus. He was also optioned to Worcester last Tuesday, though he was quickly recalled when fellow outfielder Hunter Renfroe was placed on the bereavement list.

At the moment, it is not yet known if Duran has tested positive for coronavirus this time around. If that is the case, however, the 24-year-old would be forced into a mandatory quarantine that would keep him out of action for a minimum of 10 days.

Regardless, Duran becomes the ninth player the Red Sox have had to place on the COVID-related IL since last Friday, as he joins the likes of Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, Hirokazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor, Xander Bogaerts, and Yairo Munoz.

Hernandez, Arroyo, Perez, Barnes, Sawamura, Bogaerts, and Munoz — as well as quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose — have all tested positive, while Taylor and first base coach Tom Goodwin have been away from the team since they were identified as close contacts.

Wong, on the other hand, will join the Red Sox for the sixth time this season and for the first time since mid-August.

While up with Boston on several occasions this season, Wong has gone 4-for-13 (.308) at the plate with one triple, one RBI, three runs scored, one walk, and seven strikeouts over six games (14 plate appearances) dating back to June 22.

In a torrid month of August with the WooSox, the 25-year-old backstop slashed an impressive .372/.386/.651 (174 wRC+) to go along with three home runs and 11 RBI in 11 games spanning 44 trips to the plate.

Regarded by Baseball America as the No. 19 prospect in Boston’s farm system, Wong becomes the third catcher on the Red Sox’ 28-man major-league roster behind Christian Vazquez and Kevin Plawecki.

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox scratch pitching prospects Kutter Crawford, Connor Seabold from starts with Triple-A Worcester amid club’s COVID-19 issues: ‘We got to be prepared,’ Alex Cora says

Two of the top pitching prospects in the Red Sox farm system have each been scratched from their respective starts for Triple-A Worcester within the last two days.

Kutter Crawford had been slated to make his sixth start of the season for Worcester in their contest against the Rochester Red Wings on Thursday night, while Connor Seabold was in line to do make his eighth start on Friday.

Instead, the pair of right-handers have been pulled aside as somewhat of a contingency plan in the event that a shorthanded Red Sox team finds themselves in need of more pitching depth if additional COVID-19-related issues arise.

Since last Friday, Boston has placed four pitchers on the COVID-19 related injured list, as Matt Barnes, Martin Perez, and Hirokazu Sawamura have all recently tested positive for the virus while Josh Taylor was identified as a close contact.

Because of all those hurlers being sidelined at the moment, the Sox have had to call up the likes of Raynel Espinal, Stephen Gonsalves, John Schreiber, and Brad Peacock — who was recently acquired from the Indians for cash considerations — within the last week in order to stabilize its starting rotation and bullpen depth.

That being said, the reinforcements from the minor-league side may not stop there, as both Crawford and Seabold have essentially been put on standby for the time being.

“We got to be prepared,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday when asked about the reasoning behind the two prospects being scratched from their starts. “We got to be prepared. Yes.”

Crawford, 25, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 22 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking 11th among pitchers in the organization.

The former 16th-round draft selection out of Florida Gulf Coast University initially began the 2021 season at Double-A Portland, but earned a promotion to Worcester in late July.

Since that time, Crawford has posted a 5.52 ERA and 3.80 xFIP to go along with 39 strikeouts to eight walks over six appearances (five starts) and 29 1/3 innings of work for the WooSox.

Seabold, on the other hand, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 12 prospect in Boston’s farm system, placing 10 spots above Crawford.

Unlike Crawford, the 25-year-old righty is on the Red Sox’ 40-man roster after being added to it last November in order to receive protection from the Rule 5 Draft.

One of two right-handers (the other being Nick Pivetta) the Sox acquired from the Phillies in exchange for relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree last August, Seabold missed the first several weeks of the 2021 campaign due to elbow inflammation.

After rehabbing in the Florida Complex League debut for a spell, the former third-round draft pick out of Cal State Fullerton made his highly-anticipated WooSox debut on July 23.

In seven starts with Worcester, Seabold has pitched to the tune of a 4.29 ERA and 4.62 xFIP while striking out 26.5% of the batters he has faced and walking just 6.6% of them over 35 2/3 innings pitched.

Between the two of them, Seabold has more experience as a reliever, though five of his six career relief appearances in the minors came in 2017.

Earlier this week, Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) that the club has not discussed promoting Seabold to use him as a multi-inning reliever, though they have been impressed with what he’s done with Worcester.

“We have talked about him,” Cora said on Wednesday. “We know he’s very talented. He’s throwing the ball well. I do believe that September is going to be very interesting as far as like maneuvering our roster and trying to maximize our roster. It’s only two more spots. It’s not a few years ago when you could go up to 40.

As noted by Smith, major-league rosters now expand from 26 to 28 players at the beginning of September — not all the way up to 40 as they did previously.

“He’s throwing the ball well,” added Cora. “We know that probably he can contribute. How? We’ll talk about it and when/if we need him. But as of now, he’s still down there (in Worcester). He’s still getting better. And we’re very happy that he’s performing the way he’s performing.”

(Picture of Kutter Crawford: Katie Morrison/MassLive)

Jarren Duran scratched from Red Sox lineup after exhibiting COVID-like symptoms

Jarren Duran was originally batting seventh and starting in center field in Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s lineup for the team’s series opener against the Indians at Fenway Park on Friday night, but has since been scratched.

The reason being, Duran is feeling under the weather — as he is experiencing COVID-19-like symptoms and has subsequently been sent home while the Red Sox await his test results.

“Duran is not feeling well, so he’s going through with his testing,” Cora said when speaking with reporters earlier Friday evening. “Obviously, he won’t be here with us today. We’ll know more hopefully later today or in the third inning, I guess, you know? We’ll know. But he doesn’t feel great, so we’ll go through the process.”

Duran, who was most recently recalled from Triple-A Worcester last Thursday to take fellow outfielder Hunter Renfroe’s spot on Boston’s major-league roster, previously spent two days on the COVID-19 related injured list in early August.

At that time, the soon-to-be 25-year-old top prospect had been exhibiting COVID-like symptoms while the Sox were in Toronto, but did not test positive for the virus.

If Duran were to test positive for COVID-19 this time around, though, he would become the eighth Red Sox player to do since last Friday.

Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, Hirokazu Sawamura, Xander Bogaerts, and Yairo Munoz are all currently on the COVID-19 related injured list on account of testing positive, while Josh Taylor is on there since he was identified as a close contact.

Additionally, quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose  both netted positive test results, while first base coach Tom Goodwin — like Taylor — is quarantining as a close contact.

With Duran being removed from Boston’s starting lineup on Friday, Alex Verdugo has moved from left field to center field, Kyle Schwarber has moved from first base to left field, and Bobby Dalbec has taken over at first base.

Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up behind right-hander Nathan Eovaldi as they look to kick off the long weekend by extending their winning streak to three consecutive games.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez twirls 6 scoreless frames, Bobby Dalbec stays hot with 2-RBI night as Red Sox earn series split by blanking Rays, 4-0

For everything they went through over the last week in regards to placing eight players on the COVID-19 related injured list, the Red Sox were able to cap off a hellish seven game-road trip with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Thursday.

Matched up against a tough opponent in Rays starter Shane McClanahan, the shorthanded Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Tuesday right out of the gate.

Bobby Dalbec, having just earned American League Rookie of the Month honors for what he did in August, got his month of September off to a solid start by driving in Hunter Renfroe on a two-out, sharply-hit RBI single in the top half of the first inning.

Renfroe, on the other hand, delivered with a two-out RBI base hit of his own an inning later, as he plated Danny Santana from second base on a line-drive single to left field, thus giving his side an early two-run advantage.

Eduardo Rodriguez, making his 26th start of the season for Boston, took that two-run lead and essentially ran away with it in yet another strong outing.

Over six-plus scoreless innings of work, Rodriguez kept Tampa Bay off the scoreboard while scattering just four hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts on the night.

After taking a perfect game into the third inning, the left-hander managed to face the minimum of 12 batters through his first four frames.

In the fifth, the Red Sox lineup tacked on two more runs of McClanahan, and No. 9 hitter Jonathan Arauz got the mini-rally started by drawing an 11-pitch leadoff walk.

That impressive display of patience and plate discipline flipped the lineup back over, as Kyle Schwarber moved Arauz up to second on another hard-hit single. J.D. Martinez drove Arauz in on a sharply-hit RBI single of his own, while a red-hot Dalbec made it a 4-0 contest by pushing across Schwarber on a run-scoring base knock to center field.

With that brand-new four-run cushion to work with, Rodriguez continued to dominate, stranding a pair of base runners in the fifth and sixth innings, though he did run into some trouble in the seventh.

There, after issuing a leadoff walk to rookie sensation Wander Franco that was followed by a Yandy Diaz single, Rodriguez was put in his first true jam of the night, and he got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora as a result.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 94 (56 strikes), the 28-year-old southpaw turned to his four-seam fastball 46% of the time he was on the mound Thursday, inducing nine swings-and-misses while topping out at 95.6 mph with the pitch. He also later improved to 11-7 on the season and lowered his ERA to 4.88 in the process of doing so.

In relief of Rodriguez, Garrett Richards got the first — and only — call out of the Boston bullpen, and he continued to show how effective he can be as a reliever.

Inheriting a bit of a mess with three outs still to get in the seventh, Richards proceeded to retire the first three Rays he faced (two by way of the strikeout) to officially close the book on Rodriguez’s night before tossing two more shutout innings to pick up his second save of the season and secure a 4-0 victory for the Red Sox.

Since moving to the bullpen on August 13, Richards has allowed a total of one earned run over 13 1/3 innings of relief. That’s good for an ERA of 0.68.

With the win, the Sox were able to salvage a split in their four-game series with the Rays while also improving to 77-59 on the season. They picked up 1/2 a game on an idle Yankees team for the first American League Wild Card spot in addition to maintaining a two-game lead over the Athletics for the second Wild Card spot.

Next up: Welcoming in the Indians

The Red Sox will happily board a flight to Boston and open up a three-game weekend series against the Indians that begins at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is slated to get the ball for Boston in the series opener, while fellow righty Cal Quantrill is expected to do the same for Cleveland.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Bobby Dalbec named American League Rookie of the Month after posting 1.205 OPS in August

The month of August continues to treat Red Sox first baseman extremely well.

After making his major-league debut last August, Dalbec was named the American League Rookie of the Month for what he did this August earlier Thursday evening.

In 24 games this month, the 26-year-old slugger slashed an impressive .339/.431/.774 to go along with four doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 21 RBI, and 12 runs scored across 72 trips to the plate.

Two of his seven homers and seven of his 21 RBI came in one game against the Twins on August 26 — a Thursday night at Fenway Park in which he racked up three hits to tie a season-high.

Among all American League position players who accrued at least 70 plate appearances in the month of August, Dalbec ranked ninth in batting average, second in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, first in OPS (1.205), first in isolated power (.435), first in weighted on-base average (.491), and first in wRC+ (214), per FanGraphs.

One thing that has aided the right-handed hitter as of late has been an increase in awareness at the plate, or — to put it simply — plate discipline.

As of July 31, Dalbec carried with him a strikeout rate of 37.5% and walk rate of just 4.4%, both of which were among the worst marks in all of baseball at that point in the season.

Once the calendar flipped to August, however, the former top prospect demonstrated a much more patient approach at the plate, as he cut his punchout rate down to 25% while bumping up his walk rate to 11.1%.

Dalbec’s improved performance at the plate over the last four weeks or so certainly comes at interesting time, as the Red Sox activated trade deadline acquisition Kyle Schwarber from the injured list with the intention of having him play some first base on August 13 and subsequently claimed corner infielder Travis Shaw off waivers on August 15.

In being named American League Rookie of the Month, Dalbec becomes the first Red Sox rookie to receive the honor since former teammate Michael Chavis did so in May 2019.

As he looks to build off a successful month of August in his first appearance of September, Dalbec will be batting fifth and getting the start at first base for the Red Sox in Thursday’s series finale against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Jarren Duran comes through with game-winning RBI single as Red Sox halt skid with 3-2 victory over Rays

After wrapping up their first losing month of the season on Tuesday, the Red Sox were able to open the month of September with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night.

Chris Sale, making his fourth start of the season and fourth since returning from Tommy John surgery, was not at his sharpest while going up against his toughest opponent to date, but was still effective nonetheless.

Over six solid innings of work to set a new season-high in that category, Sale surrendered just two runs — both of which were earned on six hits, two walks, and two hit batsman to go along with three strikeouts on the evening.

In addition to that, the Sox gave Sale an early lead to work with in the top half of the second.

Matched up against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, Alex Verdugo ripped a one-out triple to center field and was promptly driven in on an RBI single off the bat of Christian Vazquez.

Both runs Sale gave up, meanwhile, came on one swing of the bat an inning later, as the veteran left-hander served up a two-run home run to Wander Franco with two outs in the inning.

Besides that one blunder that put Boston in a 2-1 hole, Sale managed to maneuver his way around some traffic on the base paths to the point where he kept the Tampa Bay offense off the board over his final three innings pitched.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 95 (57 strikes) to set another season-high, the 32-year-old hurler did not factor into Wednesday’s decision, though this particular outing may be his most encouraging of the season thus far.

Moments after Sale’s outing came to an end, Vazquez continued to build on his productive night at the plate by demolishing a one-out, 389-foot solo shot off Rays reliever and former teammate Collin McHugh on the very first pitch he saw in the top of the seventh.

Vazquez’s sixth big fly of the season pulled the Red Sox even with the Rays at two runs apiece, and the score would remain that way for quite some time.

In relief of Sale, Garrett Whitlock got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to begin things in the seventh and immediately gave up a leadoff double to Joey Wendle.

Wendle proceeded to advance to third on a fly out to center field, but also attempted to score from third on a sharply-hit ground ball to the left side of the infield off the bat of Randy Arozarena.

Rafael Devers, however, had different plans, as he — with the help from Vazquez behind the plate — gunned down Wendle at home to preserve the stalemate.

In the eighth, Whitlock was put into just about the exact same situation when he yielded another leadoff double to Franco, who moved up to third on a groundout.

Once more, though, the Rays’ base running bailed out the Red Sox, as Franco attempted to score on a grounder from Manuel Margot, but was instead thrown out at home by shortstop Jonathan Arauz.

Having halted Tampa Bay’s momentum in two consecutive innings, the Boston bats broke out in their half of the ninth, where Devers proved to be the catalyst by lacing a leadoff single off Pete Fairbanks.

Devers was able to move up into scoring position on an infield single from a hustling Verdugo, ultimately putting the potential go-ahead run at second base with two outs for Jarren Duran.

Duran, at that point, was 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts, but came through when it mattered most by sneaking an RBI single through the right side of the infield to bring in Devers from second to make it a 3-2 game.

Given a brand-new one-run lead to protect, Adam Ottavino got the call for the ninth, and he shut the door on the Rays by retiring the side in order to notch his 11th save of the season and secure the 3-2 victory for the Sox.

With the win, the Red Sox snap their three-game losing streak to improve to 76-59 on the season as well as 4-0 in games started by Sale. Their lead over the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot also increased to two full games.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. McClanahan

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound on Thursday as they look to head back to Boston having secured a four-game series split with their division rivals.

The Rays, meanwhile, will turn to fellow southpaw Shane McClanahan, who will be making his 21st start of the season for Tampa Bay.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Red Sox roster moves: Xander Bogaerts, Yairo Muñoz placed on COVID-19 related injured list; Jack López, John Schreiber selected from Triple-A Worcester; Ryan Brasier, Danny Santana activated from injured list

In the midst of navigating through a COVID-19 outbreak that has affected at least 11 members of the organization this past week, the Red Sox made yet another flurry of roster moves before they take on the Rays at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night.

First off, shortstop Xander Bogaerts and infielder/outfielder Yairo Munoz were placed on the COVID-19 related injured lists after both recently tested positive for the virus.

Secondly, infielder Jack Lopez and right-hander John Schreiber were both selected from Triple-A Worcester to take Bogaerts and Munoz’s spots on the major-league roster.

Finally, with rosters expanding from 26 to 28 players on Wednesday, right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier was reinstated from the 60-day injured list, while infielder/outfielder Danny Santana was activated from the 10-day injured list.

The Red Sox made all of these transactions official earlier Wednesday evening.

There is plenty to digest here, so let’s start with the two players who are headed to the COVID-19 related injured list.

Bogaerts had tested positive for the virus on Tuesday and was pulled in the second inning of the Red Sox’ game against the Rays as a result. Munoz, meanwhile, tested positive on Wednesday morning.

The pair of infielders become the seventh and eighth Sox players to be placed on the COVID IL since Friday, as they join the likes of Enrique Hernandez, Christian Arroyo, Martin Perez, Matt Barnes, Josh Taylor, and Hirokazu Sawamura.

Of those eight, Hernandez, Arroyo, Perez, Barnes, Sawamura, Bogaerts, and Munoz — as well as quality control coach Ramon Vazquez and strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose — have all tested positive.

Taylor and first base coach Tom Goodwin, on the other hand, are away from the team and in quarantine since they were identified as close contacts.

With Bogaerts and Munoz both forced out of action for the foreseeable future on account of their positive tests, the Red Sox were able to add two players to their major-league roster without making any sort of corresponding moves . Those two players, of course, are Lopez and Schreiber.

Lopez, 28, originally inked a minor-league deal with Boston back in January. He began the 2021 season at Double-A Portland but later earned a promotion to Worcester on May 11.

In 58 games (219 plate appearances) with the WooSox, the Puerto Rican-born right-handed hitter has slashed .260/.321/.378 (87 wRC+) with 12 doubles, one triple, three home runs, 30 RBI, 24 runs scored, 11 stolen bases, 15 walks, and 50 strikeouts while seeing time at second base, third base, shortstop, and center field.

On top of that, Lopez earned himself a silver medal while playing for Team USA in this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. The 5-foot-10, 160 pounder will start at second base and bat eighth in his major-league debut on Wednesday.

Schreiber, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from the Tigers back in February, but last his spot on the Sox’ 40-man roster when he was designated for assignment shortly before Opening Day.

The 27-year-old righty did clear waivers, however, and was subsequently outrighted to Worcester in early April before opening the 2021 campaign in the affiliate’s bullpen.

Across 28 appearances (eight starts) with the WooSox, Schreiber has pitched well, putting up a 3.10 ERA and 3.73 xFIP to go along with 57 strikeouts to 21 walks in 58 innings of work this year.

While Lopez and Schreiber will take the place of Bogaerts and Munoz on Boston’s major-league roster, the club was also able to add two more players with rosters expanding to 28 players on Wednesday.

With that, Brasier was activated from the 60-day injured list while Santana was activated from the 10-day injured list.

Brasier, who recently turned 34, had missed the entirety of the 2021 season up to this point due to a multitude of injuries, including a left calf strain and concussion.

Santana, on the other hand, has dealt with his fair share of injuries this year, as he has missed extended periods of time on two separate occasions due to a left groin and left quad strain.

Following Wednesday’s series of moves, the Red Sox now have a full 28 players (15 pitchers, 13 position players) on their major-league roster and 38 active players on their 40-man roster.

(Picture of Jack Lopez: Yuichi Masuda/Getty Images)