Tag: alex cora

Red Sox’ Christian Arroyo among American League’s top defensive second basemen this season

Christian Arroyo had it lined up perfectly.

With the game on the line with two outs in the bottom half of the ninth inning against the Angels on Monday night, Arroyo positioned himself in shallow right field as the dangerous left-handed hitting Shohei Ohtani stepped up to the plate.

In a contest in which Boston was barely clinging on to a one-run lead, Adam Ottavino found himself in one hell of a spot after already allowing a run to score in the last half of the ninth.

With Sox closer Matt Barnes unavailable, it was up to Ottavino to take on Ohtani with runners at first and second, meaning the game was very much in the right-hander’s hands.

After falling behind in the count at 3-1, Ottavino delivered an 80 mph slider to Ohtani that hung out over the heart of the plate. Ohtani, in response, laced a 101.3 mph grounder that had an expected batting average of .910, would have made it into right field, and at the very least scored the tying run if the Red Sox infield was playing traditional defense.

Instead, Arroyo — the second baseman — was playing Ohtani to pull the ball, and that move paid off when the two-way phenom’s screamer was hit right to him on a hop.

Arroyo needed all of a fraction of a second to corral the ball and make the throw over to an awaiting Bobby Dalbec at first base, which in turn secured a 5-4 series-opening win for the Sox at Angel Stadium.

“I knew he was over there,” Ottavino said of Arroyo Monday night. “I always check the shifts, but part of the reason why I wanted to stay breaking ball there is so that if anything, he would pull it, because I knew all our guys were over there. And Christian’s really good at those plays. That’s a tough ball, it’s hit hard with topspin. I was like, ‘Just stop it.’ And he did, so it was beautiful.”

Arroyo’s game-saving play on Monday is just the latest instance of how well he has handled things at second base since the start of the season.

The 26-year-old infielder came into play Thursday having logged 321 innings at second base across 46 games so far this year.

Among the 15 American League second basemen who have played at least 300 innings at the position in 2021, Arroyo — as of Thursday morning — ranks third in Defensive Runs Saved (3), second in Ultimate Zone Rating (2.1), first in Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games (9.4), and third in Defense (2.7), according to FanGraphs.

While Baseball Savant may not exactly favor Arroyo’s defensive efforts (0 Outs Above Average), it goes without saying that the 6-foot-1, 217 pound right-handed thrower has provided the Sox with a reliable presence at second base in his first full season with the club.

Arroyo flourishing in the infield has also benefitted Boston in other areas, as Kiké Hernández — who originally signed with the intentions of being the team’s everyday second baseman — has emerged as one of the more productive defensive centerfielders in the American League.

That being the case because Hernández came into play Thursday, an off day for the Red Sox, having recorded the most outfield assists among all AL centerfielders (5) while putting up 9 Defensive Runs Saved, which is the second-highest amount among outfielders in the AL behind only the Rays’ Brett Phillips, who has 11.

“We always said that when we had the lead, he was going to end up playing second base. It’s just that the other guys stepped up at that base,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said in regards to Hernández on Monday. “That play by Christian (Arroyo) at the end was great. We’ve been able to turn double plays with Marwin (Gonzalez), Christian (Arroyo), and Michael (Chavis), so we’re very comfortable with them at second base. The way he has been playing center field, it’s above average.

“The fact they have to respect their arms, all of them out there, we can shut the running game down just because of who they are. It’s a plus for us,” added Cora.

On paper, the Red Sox may be one of the worst defensive teams in Major League Baseball in terms number of errors committed (60) and fielding percentage (.981), but the fact of the matter is that they are still getting key contributions from a plethora of players in the infield and outfield, including both Arroyo and Hernández.

Red Sox’ Danny Santana removed from Tuesday’s game against Angels due to left quad injury: ‘We’re going to be very careful,’ Alex Cora says

Red Sox utility man Danny Santana was forced to exit Tuesday night’s game against the Angels in the seventh inning due to a left quad injury, manager Alex Cora said.

Santana, who started at first base for Boston in Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to Los Angeles, sustained the injury while running out a ground ball he hit to second base off Angels starter Shohei Ohtani.

In the process of trying to beat the throw to first, however, Santana came up limp, resulting in Bobby Dalbec taking over for him at first base.

When asked about how the veteran utility man was holding up during his postgame media availability, Cora hinted that a stint on the injured list could be possible.

“It’s his left quad, you saw him limping towards the end,” Cora said over Zoom. “Hopefully, he slowed down enough that it wasn’t that bad. Obviously, he’s getting treatment. It will come back tomorrow and see how he feels.”

Santana, who came into play Tuesday hitting .286 (8-for-28)/.310/.429 over his last seven games, is known for his speed, as evidenced by his 74 career stolen bases at the major-league level.

The 30-year-old switch-hitter also has a history when it comes to issues pertaining to his left quad, as he missed a significant portion of the 2017 season with the Braves due to a left quadriceps strain that ultimately required a stay on the 60-day IL.

“With him, obviously, speed is part of his game, and moving in the outfield and all that,” said Cora. “So we’re going to be very careful. He has past history with that. We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow and we’ll decide what we do.”

Santana being removed from Tuesday’s game because of injury comes one day after fellow utility man Marwin Gonzalez was forced to leave Monday’s contest at Angel Stadium on account of right hamstring tightness.

Cora had been hopeful that Gonzalez would be ready to return to action for Wednesday’s series finale against the Angels, but the possibility that he is not would put the Sox in a tough position with a short bench.

Calling up someone — like Michael Chavis or Franchy Cordero, for instance –from Triple-A Worcester would be a feasible option in this scenario were it not for the fact that the WooSox are currently taking on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Allentown, Pa., which is approximately 2,690 miles Northeast of Anaheim.

“That’s what we were talking about,” Cora said. “There’s not too many bodies around here, and I don’t think they’re going to make it on time if we have to bring in somebody from outside.”

Backup catcher Kevin Plawecki, who has been on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain since June 22, has been traveling and working out with the team during this West Coast road trip.

With that in mind, the 30-year-old backstop could be activated off the IL before Wednesday’s game in the event that Boston would need a fresh body available off the bench in place of Santana and/or Gonzalez.

“Kevin is probably available,” said Cora. “If that’s the case, maybe. He ran the bases today, he’s been hitting. Tomorrow, he was going to have a heavy load of workouts behind the plate, throwing the bases and all that. If that goes well and we have to make a move, most likely it’s going to be Kevin. To have a body with Connor (Wong), who we can move around and Christian (Arroyo), too. So we feel comfortable if that’s the case.”

The Red Sox close out their three-game series against the Angels on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Danny Santana: Theoron W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Red Sox held in check by Shohei Ohtani, fall to Angels, 5-3

The Red Sox fell victim to the Shohei Ohtani experience and saw their mini two-game winning streak come to a close with a 5-3 loss at the hands of the Angels in Anaheim on Tuesday night.

In a starting pitching matchup that featured two first-time All-Stars in the middle game of this three-game series, it was Ohtani who came out on top against Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.

Los Angeles’ two-way phenom held the Boston offense in check, limiting a typically-potent offense to just two runs on five hits, zero walks, and four strikeouts in seven strong innings of work.

Eovaldi, meanwhile, lasted just 5 2/3 innings, surrendering five runs — all of which were earned on nine hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with nine punchouts on the night at Angel Stadium.

The Sox actually jumped on Ohtani early, with J.D. Martinez bringing in Enrique Hernandez on a sacrifice fly to give his side an early 1-0 lead right away in the first inning.

Alas, Eovaldi gave that run back and then some in his first frame of work, as Ohtani helped his own cause with a game-tying RBI double that was followed by a two-run home run off the bat of Angels catcher Max Stassi with two outs in the inning.

Eovaldi and Ohtani then proceeded to exchange scoreless frames from the beginning of the second up until the start of the sixth, at which point Martinez struck again by driving in Connor Wong, who led off with a hard-hit double for his first career extra-base hit, on a run-scoring single to right field.

That cut the Halos’ lead down to one run at 3-2, and Xander Bogaerts nearly erased that entirely by hitting a deep fly ball to right-center field with two outs that appeared destined to go over the fence, but was instead caught by a leaping Juan Lagares to rob the shortstop of a potentially game-altering two-run homer.

The Angels were able to capitalize on Lagares’ run-saving play in their half of the sixth, as hits from Phil Gosselin and Stassi followed by an RBI groundout from old friend Jose Iglesias made it a 4-2 game.

Eovaldi was chased shortly after that, but the book on his night was not closed until Brandon Workman allowed an inherited runner to score on a Fletcher RBI single, putting the Angels ahead 5-2.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 104 (71 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler end the first half of his 2021 campaign on a sour note by falling to 9-5 on the year while raising his ERA to 3.66.

After Workman recorded the final out of the sixth, the righty also tossed a shutout seventh inning before Yacksel Rios did the same in the eighth.

Down to their final strike with two outs in the ninth, Hunter Renfroe provided the Sox with a little bit of life by crushing his 13th big fly of the year off Angels closer Raisel Iglesias, but Iglesias rebounded by fanning Christian Arroyo to end things with a final score of 5-3.

With the loss, the Red Sox fell to 54-43 on the season and 3-2 on their West Coast Road trip. They currently have a four-game lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Santana removed with left quad injury

Danny Santana, who started at first base for Boston on Tuesday, had to be removed in the seventh inning after he came up limping while running out a ground ball. He was replaced by Bobby Dalbec.

After the game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said there is a 50/50 chance Santana winds up going on the injured list after he revealed the utility man suffered a left quad injury.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Heaney

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill on Wednesday afternoon as they go for the series win over the Angels, who will counter with fellow southpaw Andrew Heaney.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Shohei Ohtani: Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Chris Sale on cusp of rehab assignment after latest simulated game goes well

Red Sox ace Chris Sale took another positive step towards his highly-anticipated return to the major-league mound this week.

Sale threw a two-inning simulated game at the Sox’ spring training complex in Fort Myers on Monday and is slated to do so again on Saturday, according to manager Alex Cora.

If all is well with Sale come Sunday, the next step in the process would be for the Red Sox to send the veteran left-hander out on a rehab assignment, though it’s not yet known which affiliate he would report to and how many starts he would make with said affiliate.

“Everything went well,” Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) in Anaheim earlier Tuesday afternoon. “The next one will be Saturday. It’s one more simulated game. This is probably the last one before a rehab start. Obviously, it all depends on how he feels on Sunday but it feels that way. He’s excited. He felt great today. Just stay the course.”

Sale, who last pitched in a big-league game on August 13, 2019, underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, his 31st birthday.

Since that time, the now-32-year-old hurler has worked his way back to a point where he has faced live hitters on multiple occasions within the last few weeks and is seemingly on the cusp of getting into actual, competitive games again, albeit at the minor-league level.

As noted by Cotillo, the Red Sox would like to keep Sale close to Boston so he has easy access to the team’s medical staff if needed. Because of this, he will likely only be rehabbing in Portland and Worcester.

Considering that he last pitched on July 5 and is slated to do so again on July 10, it’s safe to assume that Sale is on a consistent schedule where he is on the mound every five days.

With that in mind, it appears as though the lanky southpaw’s first rehab appearance — and first in-game action in nearly two years — could come for the WooSox when they take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the fourth game of a seven-game series at Polar Park on July 15.

Again, this all depends on how Sale is feeling after his next sim game on Saturday, but it certainly seems like there is plenty to be optimistic about when it comes to the seven-time All-Stars impending return to Boston’s starting rotation later this summer.

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

Red Sox’ J.D. Martinez earns MLB Play of the Week honors for clutch double play against Athletics

J.D. Martinez may be known more for what he does with a bat in his hands as opposed to what he does in the outfield, but the slugger was recently recognized for his defensive work.

Earlier Tuesday, Martinez earned Major League Baseball’s Play of the Week award for the week of June 28 through July 4 for what he did against the Athletics at Oakland Coliseum this past Saturday.

With one out in the bottom half of the 10th inning of that particular contest, the Sox and A’s were deadlocked at four runs apiece, though Oakland was threatening with the bases loaded, meaning the winning run was just 90 feet away from home in the form of Sean Murphy.

On a 1-1, 91 mph fastball from Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman, Elvis Andrus laced a 260-foot, 101 mph screamer to Martinez in left field that had an expected batting average of .730.

Murphy — who ranks 26th among major-league catchers in sprint speed (26.1 feet per second) according to Baseball Savant — took off for home plate at the moment the ball landed in Martinez’s glove.

Wasting no time as his momentum carried him, Martinez gathered himself, cocked back, and unleashed a dart towards an awaiting Christian Vazquez at home plate that arrived in plenty of time for the backstop to snuff out Murphy and complete the inning-ending 7-2 double play.

Per MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, Martinez had a 40% chance of catching Andrus’ waist-high line drive, making it a four-star play based off catch probability.

In nabbing Murphy at home plate, the 33-year-old recorded his third outfield assist of the season already. He notched a total of seven in his first three seasons with the Red Sox from 2018-2020.

While Martinez, who has primarily served as Boston’s designated hitter, is by no means on a Gold Glove sort of run, he has had quite a productive year in the outfield for his standards, particularly on the left side.

In addition to his three assists, Martinez has accrued one Defensive Run Saved over 132 1/3 innings as a left fielder while putting up an Ultimate Zone Rating of 2.0, which translates to an Ultimate Zone Rating of 29.1 over 150 defensive games, per FanGraphs.

Among American League left fielders who have played at least 130 innings at the position so far this season, Martinez ranks 11th in Defensive Runs Saved, third in Ultimate Zone Rating, and first in Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora had said this spring that he believed Martinez would benefit from seeing more playing time in left field this season, and that school of thought has certainly paid off for both sides up to this point in the year.

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Christian Arroyo makes impact felt in return as Red Sox hold on to top Angels, 5-4, in dramatic fashion

Christian Arroyo certainly made his impact felt in his first game back with the Red Sox since June 20.

Just hours after being activated from the injured list, Arroyo crushed a solo home run off Angels starter Jose Suarez in his first big-league at-bat in over two weeks.

Arroyo’s fifth homer of the season — a 431-foot blast to left-center field — provided the Sox with the early boost they would need to both spoil Shohei Ohtani’s 27th birthday and secure a series-opening 5-4 victory over the Halos at Angel Stadium on Monday night.

With the win, Boston improves to 54-42 on the campaignand 3-1 on their current West Coast road trip. They, again, remain 4 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Devers stays hot with fifth 3-hit game of season

Rafael Devers recently lost two RBI on account of a scoring change made by Major League baseball, but he wasted no time in getting them back on Monday, with interest.

Moments after Arroyo got the Sox on the board first, Devers followed by doubling his side’s early lead with a run-scoring single that brought in Marwin Gonzalez and made it a 2-0 game.

Fast forward to the fourth, and the slugging third baseman struck again, this time taking Angels reliever Dylan Bundy 405 feet deep to right-center field on a towering two-run shot that put Boston ahead 4-1.

Devers, whose fourth-inning homer was his 21st of the year, also singled in the eighth to bring his batting average on the season up to .290.

Santana’s fine fifth inning on both sides of the ball

Danny Santana was not originally in the Sox’ starting lineup on Monday, but he was forced into action when left fielder Marwin Gonzalez exited with right hamstring tightness in the third inning.

Put on the spot right away, Santana came through in his second trip to the plate in the top of the fifth, as he greeted newly-inserted reliever Tony Watson by ripping an RBI single up the middle that brought in Xander Bogaerts from second and made it a 5-1 contest.

After delivering with the run-scoring knock in the top half of the inning, Santana showed off his arm strength in the bottom half by gunning down Jose Rojas at home plate to prevent the Angels from scoring their second run of the frame off Sox starter Martin Perez.

More outfield assists for the best team in baseball in that department

The Red Sox came into the week leading all of baseball in total outfield assists with 26 of them on the season. Even with that number — and what happened in the fifth inning — in mind, the Angels still tried to run on the likes of Santana, Enrique Hernandez, and Hunter Renfroe, and it cost them.

Following Santana’s defensive display, Hernandez followed suit in the sixth when he snuffed out Max Stassi, who was trying to turn a single into a double, at second base for the second out of the inning.

With Santana and Hernandez tacking on two more, the Red Sox have now tallied 28 outfield assists this season to add on to their league lead in that particular category.

Perez the beneficiary of some outstanding defense

Not only did Martin Perez benefit from the arm strength of his outfielders, he also benefitted from their agility as well.

Making his his 17th start of the season for Boston on Monday, Perez ran into some trouble out of the gate by issuing a one-out walk and one-out single in the second inning that resulted in Los Angeles’ first run of the night crossing the plate on a sacrifice fly.

Things would have been worse for Perez were it not for Enrique Hernandez, who robbed Luis Rengifo of a two-run home run by making a leaping grab at the wall in deep center field for the final out of the inning.

The veteran left-hander settled in a bit from there, stringing together two scoreless frames before putting himself in a jam in the bottom half of the fifth.

There, with one out and one run having already scored, Danny Santana prevented the Angels from pushing anything else across by throwing out Jose Rojas at home.

Hernandez proceeded to do the same in the sixth, as he recorded the second out of the frame by gunning down Max Stassi at second, at which point Perez was given the hook by Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 79 (56 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler wound up surrendering two runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work. He did not factor into the decision, but did lower his ERA on the season to 3.89.

Red Sox bullpen holds on

In relief of Perez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he got out of the sixth by recording the final two outs of the frame in quick fashion.

Sawamura also came back out for the seventh and got the first two outs there, but not before serving up a solo home run to Rojas that trimmed the Angels’ deficit down to two runs at 5-3.

Josh Taylor was next to be dispatched, and the left-hander got Ohtani to fly out to retire the side and punched out a pair in a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth as well to extend his scoreless appearances streak to 26 consecutive games.

Ottavino vs. Ohtani

With Matt Barnes unavailable, Cora had to turn to right-hander Adam Ottavino to lock things down in the ninth.

A leadoff walk issued to old friend Jose Igleasias would come back to bite Ottavino, as he allowed the speedster to score on an RBI single off the bat of Rojas.

David Fletcher singled to advance the potential tying run into scoring position, and that brought the vaunted Ohtani up to the plate in a pivotal spot.

Ottavino, who infamously once said he would ‘strike out Babe Ruth every time’ he faced him, was tasked with going up against the modern-day Ruth in the form of the two-way phenom that is Ohtani.

After falling behind in the count at 3-1, Ottavino got Ohtani to sharply ground out to a perfectly-positioned Arroyo in shallow right field to preserve the 5-4 victory for his side while also notching his seventh save of the year.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Ohtani

Tuesday’s pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Angels will feature a pair of All-Stars going at it, with right-hander Nathan Eovaldi getting the ball for Boston and Ohtani, also a right-hander, doing the same for Los Angeles.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Shohei Ohtani and Christian Arroyo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Red Sox pitching prospect Brayan Bello added to American League’s All-Star Futures Game roster

Red Sox pitching prospect Brayan Bello has been added to the American League’s All-Star Futures Game roster as an injury replacement, according to Baseball Americs’s J.J. Cooper.

Per Cooper, Bello will be replacing top Mariners pitching prospect Emerson Hancock, who suffered an apparent non-structural arm injury within the last few days.

Bello, 22, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 20 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking ninth among pitchers in the organization.

The young right-hander initially opened the 2021 minor-league season with High-A Greenville, where he went 5-0 across six starts and posted a 2.27 ERA and 2.62 xFIP to go along with 45 strikeouts to just seven walks over 31 2/3 innings of work.

Those consistently strong performances throughout May and into early June resulted in Bello getting promoted to Double-A Portland on June 8.

In the four weeks since that move, the lanky 6-foot-1, 170 pound hurler has pitched to the tune of a 3.45 ERA and 3.89 xFIP in four starts spanning 15 2/3 total innings for the Sea Dogs. He struck out a season-high of 10 batters in his second outing with Portland back on June 18.

“I saw through social media that he was dominant and then I saw the report today,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bello’s performance the following day while the team was in Kansas City (via MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith). “I haven’t seen video (of him). Just got the report and he’s been very good so far this season. Yesterday was eye-opening. The report said he was very aggressive, very efficient and with good stuff. So I should probably start watching video and see what we have in him.”

Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic for $28,000 during the 2017 international signing period, Bello’s pitch mix consists of a high-octane fastball that has reached triple digits this season, a plus changeup, and an improving slider, per Smith.

In being selected to play this weekend’s All-Star Futures Game, which takes place at Coors Field on July 11, Bello joins fellow prospect Jeter Downs as the two players who will be representing the Red Sox in the seven-inning exhibition.

The showcase certainly represents an enticing opportunity for Bello, as he will have the chance to show the baseball world what he is capable of ahead of what has the makings to be an extremely important offseason for the righty.

That is the case because Bello, who does not turn 23 until next May, can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career this December if he is not added to the Sox’ 40-man roster by the November 20 deadline.

As has been written on here before, that is definitely something worth keeping in mind as the minor-league season continues.

(Picture of Brayan Bello: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox activate Christian Arroyo from injured list, option Michael Chavis to Triple-A Worcester

Before opening up a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim on Monday night, the Red Sox activated infielder Christian Arroyo from the 10-day injured list.

In a corresponding move, infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

Arroyo returns to the Sox after missing a little more than two weeks with a right shin bone bruise that he sustained on a collision with center fielder Enrique Hernandez in Kansas City back on June 20.

He will start at second base and bat seventh in Boston’s series-opening game against the Angels Monday night.

The 26-year-old was placed on the 10-day injured list with what the team described as a right knee contusion on June 24, and he was later sent out on a rehab assignment with the WooSox last Thursday.

While inclement weather in the vicinity of Polar Park limited him to just two games in his most recent rehab stint, Arroyo did go 1-for-5 (.200) at the plate with a single and one run scored while DH’ing on Friday and playing seven innings of second base in Sunday’s contest against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Prior to hitting the shelf last month, Arroyo was proving to be quite the clutch hitter in addition to providing Boston with consistently solid defense at second base.

On the 2021 campaign — his first full season with the Red Sox — as a whole, the right-handed hitter is slashing .264/.324/.432 (105 wRC+) with four home runs, nine doubles, 19 RBI, one stolen base, five walks, and 38 strikeouts over 41 games (138 plate appearances) thus far.

Among American League second basemen who have played at least 250 innings at the position this year, Arroyo, who has played 296 innings at second, ranks second in Defensive Runs Saved (3), first in Ultimate Zone Rating (2.0), and first in Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games (8.4), according to FanGraphs.

Chavis, meanwhile, was optioned back down to the WooSox after spending approximately 11 days with the big-league club.

The 25-year-old was initially recalled from Worcester at the same time Arroyo was placed on the IL on June 24. In nine games (seven starts) between then and July 4, he hit just .120/.179/.120 with three singles, four runs scored, two RBI, one stolen base, one walk, and nine strikeouts.

Taking that stretch into consideration, Chavis is now slashing .207/.230/.328 to go along with one homer, four RBI, one walk, and 22 strikeouts across four stints with the Red Sox so far this season.

“I think he’s batting right now,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Chavis on Saturday. “He has done some good things for us, especially defensively. But offensively, kind of like still expanding the (strike) zone, obviously. I think he’s done a better job not expanding up, but I think now it’s east-west. So, keep working with him, keep him upbeat, and we’ll see what happens.”

While Chavis will not be able to work on those things at the major-league level, he will be able to do so in Worcester, where his currently hitting .263/.327/.474 with six homers and 17 RBI over 24 total games.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta punches out 10 over 7 strong innings as Red Sox take series from Athletics with 1-0 victory

This year’s version of the Red Sox seem to have a knack for not letting tough losses get to them.

After getting blown out by the Blue Jays, 18-4, on June 13, they came back the next night to walk off Toronto, 2-1. After falling to the Rays, 1-0, in heartbreaking fashion on June 24, they bounced back by topping the Yankees, 5-3, on June 25 for what would be the start of an eight-game winning streak.

That same winning streak was snapped in Saturday night’s soul-crushing 7-6 loss to the Athletics in 12 innings at Oakland Coliseum, but the Sox again showed just how resilient they are in Sunday’s series finale against the A’s, which also served as a rubber match between the two teams.

Nick Pivetta made his 17th start of the season for Boston, and he, too, rebounded from his worst outing of the year in his last time out against the Royals.

That being the case because over seven dominant innings, the right-hander kept Oakland off the scoreboard while scattering just two hits and two walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts on the afternoon.

Pivetta was put in a tough spot out of the gate, as he issued a two-out walk and two-out single to the dangerous duo of Matt Olson and Matt Chapman in the bottom half of the first, but he escaped the early jam by fanning Jed Lowrie on seven pitches.

From there, Pivetta proceeded to retire 18 of the next 20 hitters he faced, and his day came to a close when he got Seth Brown to fly out to center field for the final out of the seventh inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 101 (65 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler ultimately improved to 7-3 on the season while lowering his ERA to 4.09. His next start should come against his former team in the Phillies back at Fenway Park next Saturday.

While Pivetta was in the process of stringing together seven scoreless frames, the Red Sox lineup was having a difficult time in scoring themselves with right-hander James Kaprielian on the mound for the A’s.

It took until the top half of the sixth inning, but a leadoff double off the bat of Alex Verdugo followed by a hard-hit single by J.D. Martinez put runners at the corners with no outs for Rafael Devers, who came through by grounding into a run-scoring double play that brought in Verdugo from third to make it a 1-0 game.

Even though Devers was not credited with an RBI on that particular play, what he did was good enough to give the Sox the only lead they would need.

After Pivetta recorded the final out of the seventh, Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned to rookie Garrett Whitlock for the eighth since Adam Ottavino was unavailable.

Whitlock, working in a rare one-inning role, put the potential tying run on base and allowed that runner to advance into scoring position on a wild pitch, but maneuvered around that by getting Tony Kemp and Elvis Andrus to pop out for the final two outs of the frame.

That paved the way for first-time All-Star Matt Barnes to get the call for the ninth in a 1-0 game, and he also played with fire a bit by yielding a leadoff single to Olson and a one-out walk to Jed Lowrie to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Barnes was able to recover, though, as he got Ramon Laureano to ground into a force out before fanning Brown on three straight knee-buckling knuckle-curveballs.

When all was said and done, Barnes needed 33 pitches to get through the ninth, but he did secure the 1-0 victory for his side while also notching his 19th save of the year.

With the win, not only do the Red Sox take the three-game weekend series from the A’s, but they also improve to 53-32 on the season and remain 4 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

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Next up for the Red Sox, they will head south for Orange County to open up a three-game set against the 42-41 Los Angeles Angels that begins on Monday night.

Left-hander Martin Perez is slated to get the ball for Boston in the series opener, and he will be opposed by fellow Venezuelan southpaw Jose Suarez for Los Angeles.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Theoron W. Henderson)

Red Sox blow pair of late 2-run leads, see 8-game winning streak snapped in 7-6 loss to Athletics in 12 innings

The Red Sox began their eight-game winning streak the night after a soul-crushing 1-0 loss to the Rays on June 24.

After stringing together eight consecutive victories from June 25 through July 2, it just so happened that the Sox’ winning ways were abrupted by yet another back-breaking defat at the hands of the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night, though this one came in the form of a 7-6 loss in 12 innings.

Garrett Richards made his 17th start of the season for Boston to begin things on Saturday, and he stumbled out of the gate a bit by walking and beaming the first two hitters he faced before yielding a run-scoring triple to Sean Murphy an inning later.

The Red Sox offense was able to pick up Richards, however, and they did so on account of some sloppy defense from the Athletics.

Matched up against Oakland starter Cole Irvin, Xander Bogaerts proved to be the catalyst for a two-run top of the fourth by reaching base on a fielding error committed by second baseman Tony Kemp.

Bogaerts advanced up to second on a hard-hit single from Rafael Devers and was also able to score all the way from there on a throwing error on a failed pickoff move from catcher Sean Murphy.

That same miscue allowed Devers to move up to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hunter Renfroe to give Boston their first lead of the night at 2-1.

The Sox and A’s traded blows over the next few innings, with J.D. Martinez ripping an RBI single in the fifth, and Richards serving up a pair of hits to the first two hitters he faced in the sixth, resulting in Frank Schwindel driving in Matt Chapman and Red Sox manager Alex Cora giving the right-hander the hook.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 92 (60 strikes), Richards wound up surrendering two earned runs on five hits, three walks, and just two strikeouts over five-plus innings of work. The 33-year-old hurler did not factor into the decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 4.88.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura was inserted into somewhat of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, but he escaped said jam on just 12 pitches.

From there, Kiké Hernández provided what at the time was much-needed insurance in the seventh when he clubbed a solo home run — his 10th of the season — off Irvin to put Boston ahead at 4-2.

The Athletics countered with two runs of their own in the eighth, though, as they took advantage of the fact that the Red Sox were without two of their high-leverage relievers in Garrett Whitlock and Matt Barnes.

Instead, after Josh Taylor tossed a scoreless seventh inning to extend his scoreless appearances streak to 25 straight games, Yacksel Rios got the call for the eighth, and he allowed a run to score while also put the tying run on base on a pair of hits before getting pulled in favor of Darwninzon Hernandez.

Hernandez issued a one-out walk to Kemp, which brought Elvis Andrus to the plate in a prime scoring spot, and he did just that by plating the tying run in Seth Brown on a line-drive single to right field. 4-4.

Boston threatened in their half of the ninth when the pinch-hitting Marwin Gonzalez reached base on a one-out walk off Oakland reliever Lou Trivino, but he — representing the potential go-ahead run — was gunned down at second base by Murphy on a failed stolen base attempt.

With no Barnes, Adam Ottavino was responsible for the ninth. The veteran right-hander did allow the winning run to reach base on a leadoff single from Chapman, but retired the next three A’s he faced in 1-2-3 fashion to strand that all important runner and send this one to extras.

In extras, Danny Santana represented the go-ahead run for the Sox in the 10th since he recorded the final out of ninth. Like Gonzalez, Santana had the chance to create offense with his legs, but he was instead thrown out while trying to swipe third base.

The A’s ran into an out themselves in the 10th, however, as Brandon Workman first put himself in a bases loaded jam before recording the first out of the frame on a poorly-executed bunt from Kemp.

Workman proceeded to get Andrus to line out to Martinez in left field, and the runner at third (Murphy) made a poor decision in taking off for home since he was thrown out at the plate by Martinez, who was doing his best (Kiké) Hernández impression in notching his team’s league-leading 26th outfield assist of the season.

That clutch double play sent this one to the 11th, where the Boston bats went down in order and Workman again maneuvered his way around a sticky situation by inducing two fly outs and a ground out.

Gonzalez made up for his baserunning blunder in his side’s half of the 12th, as he plated Devers from second on a then go-ahead single off A’s reliever and former Red Sox farmhand J.B. Wendelken before scoring himself on another RBI single courtesy of Hernández.

Again, the Red Sox found themselves in possession of a two-run lead at 6-4, but they were unable to hang on to said lead while simultaneously being down to their last available reliever in Matt Andriese.

Andriese failed to record a single out in the bottom half of the 12th, as the veteran righty yielded three straight hits to the likes of Murphy, Brown, and old friend Jed Lowrie to knot things up at six runs apiece.

He then got Kemp to fly out to center field, but despite Hernández’s best efforts, the ball was hit deep enough to bring in Brown from third base and give the A’s a 7-6 come-from-behind win in 12 innings.

Andriese was charged with the loss and blown save while also inflating his ERA on the year to 5.70.

With the crushing loss, the Red Sox see their eight-game winning streak come to an end and fall to 52-32 on the season, though they remain four games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

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Next up for the Red Sox, they will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound on Sunday afternoon as they go for the series win over the A’s, who will counter with fellow righty James Kaprielian.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Tony Kemp: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)