Tag: alex cora

Red Sox place Chris Martin on 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, transfer Wyatt Mills to 60-day injured list

Before taking on the Angels at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox placed veteran reliever Chris Martin on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

To take Martin’s place on the big-league roster, Jake Faria had his contract selected from Triple-A Worcester. In order to make room for Faria on the 40-man roster, fellow right-hander Wyatt Mills was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list.

Martin, who last pitched against the Rays this past Wednesday, underwent an MRI after reporting arm discomfort earlier in the week. The MRI revealed only inflammation as opposed to any structural damage. Because of that diagnosis, the Red Sox are optimistic that the 36-year-old’s stint on the injured list (which was backdated to April 13) will last the minimum 15 days.

“He’s a little bit banged up. It started with the bicep, now the shoulder,” manager Alex Cora said of Martin when speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo). “So we have to stay away from him. Actually, he’s getting checked by the doctor. There’s a good chance he’ll go on the IL. It’s nothing serious, serious. But it’s something we have to take into consideration. So we were talking about it and we’ll see what we do.”

Martin, for his part, told The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham: “It’s something I’ve had before early in the season. It’s just inflammation, nothing structural. We can knock it out.”

Boston signed Martin to a two-year, $17.5 million deal back in December to serve as a setup man in the back of the bullpen. The righty has allowed just two runs through his first seven appearances (seven innings) of the season, but he has struggled to miss bats and has a 5.08 FIP to show for it.

Faria signed a minor-league pact with the Red Sox back in February and broke camp with Worcester last month. In three relief appearances for the WooSox thus far, the 29-year-old has yielded six earned runs on four hits, six walks, and five strikeouts over five innings of work.

The Red Sox did not need Faria to defeat the Angels on Sunday, as Garrett Whitlock, Kaleb Ort, and Ryan Brasier combined for nine innings of one-run ball in the 2-1 win. Considering that the club will need to make a corresponding move in order to activate Brayan Bello from the injured list for his start on Monday, it seems likely that Faria could be designated for assignment since he is out of minor-league options and is a candidate to go through waivers unclaimed.

Mills, meanwhile, was acquired from the Royals in exchange for relief prospect Jacob Wallace back in December. The 28-year-old began his first season in Boston on the 15-day injured list after being shut down with elbow discomfort at the end of spring training. Though he has resumed throwing, Mills will not be eligible to be activated (and pitch in the majors) until late May at the earliest.

Following Sunday’s series of roster moves, the Red Sox now have four players on the 60-day injured list in Mills, Zack Kelly, Adalberto Mondesi, and Trevor Story.

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

Yu Chang ends hitless drought with homer, go-ahead single as Red Sox come back to defeat Angels, 9-7

The Red Sox overcame a pair of deficits to pick up their second consecutive win over the Angels on Saturday afternoon. Boston defeated Los Angeles by a final score of 9-7 at Fenway Park to improve to 7-8 on the season.

Nick Pivetta, making his third start of the year for the Sox, was not at his sharpest. The right-hander surrendered six earned runs on five hits, three walks, and one hit batsman to go along with four strikeouts over four-plus innings of work.

Four of those runs came on one swing of the bat in the top of the first. After loading the bases with a pair of two-out walks, Pivetta served up a 385-foot grand slam to Gio Urshela to put the Red Sox in an early 4-0 hole.

Boston quickly responded in the latter half of the first. With Tyler Anderson starting for Los Angeles, Rob Refsnyder reached base on a two-out double to deep center field that was just out of Mike Trout’s reach. That brought Rafael Devers to the plate for the first time, and he came through by clubbing a two-run shot over the Green Monster for his seventh home run of the season already.

Devers’ 410-foot blast cut the deficit in half at 4-2. Two innings later, Justin Turner made it a one-run game by scoring from third when Devers grounded into a 6-3 double play. In the fourth, the Red Sox were able to leapfrog the Angels in somewhat surprising fashion.

Connor Wong ignited the two-out rally by ripping a 100.2 mph double off the Monster. Yu Chang — who was 0-for-17 at the plate to begin the season coming into the fourth inning — followed by taking a 1-0, 88.9 mph fastball from Anderson and depositing it off the DraftKings sign in left field for his first home run in a Red Sox uniform.

Chang’s go-ahead, two-run shot put Boston up, 5-4. After Anderson put Alex Verdugo (single) and Turner (walk on base), Refsnyder added to the lead with an RBI single that drove in Verdugo from second to make it a 6-4 contest going into the fifth.

To that point, it appeared as though Pivetta had settled in by tossing three straight scoreless frames. But the righty ran into more trouble in the top of the fifth by giving up a leadoff double to the vaunted Trout. Shohei Ohtani moved Trout over to third with a single and Anthony Rendon plated him with a base hit of his own.

With his pitch count already at 99 (57 strikes), Pivetta was given the hook by manager Alex Cora in favor of Kaleb Ort out of the bullpen. Ort fanned Hunter Renfroe for the first out before giving up a softly-hit game-tying RBI single to Urshela. He escaped any further damage by retiring the next two batters he faced.

Richard Bleier took over for Ort in the sixth and immediately plunked the first batter he faced in Matt Thaiss. The lefty then got Taylor Ward to ground into a force out at second base. Ward, however, reached base safely and — after advancing to second on a wild pitch — came into score on a two-out RBI single from Ohtani.

The Angels took a 7-6 lead on Ohtani’s second hit of the day and that is where the score would remain after John Schreiber and Ryan Brasier each worked a scoreless inning of relief. The bottom of the eighth is where things got interesting.

Matched up against veteran reliever Ryan Tepera, Enrique Hernandez led off with a groundball single. The pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia then appeared to line out to left for what would have been the first out of the frame, but he was instead awarded first base after home plate umpire Cory Blaser ruled that Tapia’s bat made contact with the glove of Thaiss behind the plate.

Two batters later, catcher’s interference was called again while the pinch-hitting Reese McGuire was at the plate. That unique sequence of events filled the bases with one out for Chang, who delivered yet again with a go-ahead, two-run single through the left side of the infield. Both Hernandez and Tapia scored on the play. Refsnyder provided some added insurance later in the inning by drawing a bases-loaded walk.

Taking a two-run lead into the ninth, Kenley Jansen sealed the 9-7 victory for the Red Sox by recording his second save of the series and his fourth of the season overall.

Next up: Detmers vs. Whitlock

The Red Sox will look to take this four-game series from the Angels with another win on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Garrett Whitlock will get the start for Boston opposite left-hander Reid Detmers for Los Angeles.

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

(Picture of Yu Chang: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Rafael Devers homers, Kenley Jansen records first save at Fenway Park as Red Sox snap skid with 5-3 win over Angels

Five hits is all the Red Sox needed to pick up a series-opening win over the Angels on Friday night. Donning the yellow City Connect uniforms for the first time in 2023, Boston defeated Los Angeles by a final score of 5-3 at Fenway Park to put an end to a four-game losing streak and improve to 6-8 on the season.

Tanner Houck, making his third start of the year, for the Sox, allowed two earned runs on four hits and four walks to go along with six strikeouts over just four innings of work.

Both of those Angels runs came right away in the top of the first. After putting Shohei Ohtani (walk) and Anthony Rendon (single) on base with two outs, Houck surrendered a two-run double to former teammate Hunter Renfroe that was inches away from clearing the Green Monster in left field.

Despite the early struggles that put the Angels up 2-0, Houck was at least able to settle in a bit, though he did deal with his fair share of traffic on the base paths. After Connor Wong threw out Luis Rengifo at second to end the second and Renfroe grounded into a force out to end the third, the right-hander stranded two more runners in the fourth by retiring the final three batters he faced.

Because he had already thrown 90 pitches (56 strikes) to that point, though, Houck was done after four, meaning a Red Sox starter has still yet to pitch into the sixth inning of a game this season. The 26-year-old hurler did not factor into Friday’s decision as his ERA on the year remained at 4.50.

With Houck’s day done, the Red Sox got on the board in their half of the fourth. Still opposed by Angels starter Patrick Sandoval, Rafael Devers led off by reaching on Rengifo fielding error. He then took second on a wild pitch before coming into score on opposite-field RBI double off the bat of Enrique Hernandez.

Three batters later, Wong prolonged the inning by drawing a two-out walk off Sandoval to put runners at first and second for Yu Chang. Chang, in turn, hit a groundball towards Rendon at third base. Rendon fielded the ball cleanly, but he made a poor throw that got past first baseman Jake Lamb. As a result of the throwing error, Hernandez scored from second to knot things up at two runs apiece.

Josh Winckowski received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from manager Alex Cora as he took over for Houck in the fifth. The righty began his outing by putting two runners on with one out before getting Renfroe to ground into an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play.

In the bottom of the fifth, Devers broke the tie by crushing a one-out solo shot to right field off Angels reliever Jimmy Herget. Devers’ sixth home run of the season already had an exit velocity of 106.6 mph and travelled 349 feet off his bat. It also gave the Red Sox their first lead of the night at 3-2.

An inning later, the Red Sox again took advantage of some sloppy defense from the Angels infield. With two outs and two runners (Chang and Wong) at second and third, Rendon committed yet another throwing error on a Rob Refsnyder groundball. Devers then drew a walk off lefty reliever Aaron Loup, which filled the bases for Hernandez.

Hernandez, however, did not need to do anything, as Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe could not corral a first-pitch changeup in the dirt, which allowed Chang to come in to score from third and give the Red Sox a 5-2 advantage heading into the seventh.

Los Angeles did get one of those runs back in the seventh, as Winckowski yielded an RBI groundout to Rendon after putting runners at second and third with one out. Still, it was a productive outing for Winckowski, who allowed just the one run over three innings of relief and was later credited with his first winning decision of the year.

From there, John Schreiber worked a scoreless eighth inning to pave the way for Kenley Jansen, who recorded his first career save at Fenway Park by striking out three of the four batters he faced.

The veteran closer made it a bit interesting by giving up a two-out single to Rendon, which brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Renfroe. But Jansen did not falter and instead responded by getting Renfroe to whiff on a nasty 87 mph slider to end it.

With the victory, the Red Sox pick up their first win in a night game this season while improving to 3-4 at home.

Next up: Anderson vs. Pivetta

The Red Sox will go for their second straight win over the Angels on Saturday (Jackie Robinson Day) afternoon. Right-hander Nick Pivetta will get the start for Boston while left-hander Tyler Anderson will do the same for Los Angeles.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida remains out of Red Sox lineup, will be available off bench in series opener against Angels

Outfielder Masataka Yoshida will be available off the bench for the Red Sox in Friday night’s series opener against the Angels, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) at Fenway Park.

Yoshida is out of Boston’s starting lineup for a third straight game after originally being scratched with right hamstring tightness before Wednesday’s contest against the Rays in St. Petersburg.

While the Red Sox were initially optimistic that Yoshida would be back in time for Friday’s date with the Angels, Cora now says the 29-year-old will return to the lineup for the second game of this four-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon.

Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston over the winter after spending the first seven years of his professional career in Japan, has started in 10 of the Sox’ first 13 games this season. The left-handed hitter is currently batting .216/.356/.324 with one double, one home run, six RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, seven walks, and three strikeouts in 45 plate appearances.

With Yoshida out of the lineup yet again, Rob Refsnyder will start in left field and bat third. Enrique Hernandez will start in center and Alex Verdugo will start in right while Yu Chang — who is hitless in his first 13 at-bats of the season — will round out the lineup and start at shortstop.

Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up on Friday against Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval. Right-hander Tanner Houck will be making his third start of the year for Boston.

  1. Verdugo RF
  2. Turner DH
  3. Refsnyder LF
  4. Devers 3B
  5. K. Hernández CF
  6. Arroyo 2B
  7. Casas 1B
  8. Wong C
  9. Chang SS

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time. The game will be broadcasted exclusively on Apple TV+ as part of the platform’s 2023 ‘Friday Night Baseball’ lineup.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Paul Rutherford/Getty Images)

Red Sox overpowered, swept by Rays as 7-run inning leads to 9-3 loss

Despite all the struggles they endured this week, the Red Sox had a chance to secure a winning road trip with a victory over the Rays on Thursday. Boston instead fell to Tampa Bay by a final score of 9-3 and were swept in four games as a result.

With the loss, their 13th straight at Tropicana Field, the Red Sox drop to 5-8 on the season. The unbeaten Rays, meanwhile, improve to a perfect 13-0, matching the 1982 Braves and 1987 Brewers for the best start to a season in major-league history.

Thursday’s series finale actually started in positive fashion for Boston. With old friend Jeffrey Springs starting for Tampa Bay, Rob Refsnyder gave the Red Sox an early 1-0 lead in the first inning by taking the lefty 409 feet deep to left field for his first home run of the year.

The Rays quickly responded, though, as Yandy Diaz crushed a leadoff home run off Red Sox starter Corey Kluber to begin things in the bottom of the first. Kluber would settle in, however, and Boston got back on the board in the top of the fourth.

After Springs was forced to exit with ulnar neuritis, Justin Turner greeted new Rays reliever Garrett Cleavinger by ripping a leadoff double to left field. Turner stole third base and then came into score on an Enrique Hernandez force out to put the Red Sox up 2-1. An inning later, Turner struck again, this time plating Christian Arroyo on an RBI single to make it a 3-1 game heading into the bottom of the fifth.

That is where things began to unravel for Boston. Kluber, who retired each of the last nine batters he had faced, yielded a leadoff double to Harold Ramirez. After issuing a one-out walk to Josh Lowe to put runners on the corners, Kluber gave up an RBI single to Francisco Mejia to cut the lead to one run at 3-2.

With two outs, Red Sox manager Alex Cora opted to pull Kluber for left-hander Richard Bleier. Bleier, in turn, allowed the then-game-tying run to cross the plate on an RBI single from Brandon Lowe that was just out of the reach of Arroyo. Randy Arozarena then gave the Rays their first lead of the afternoon with a groundball single of his own.

After plunking Wander Franco to fill the bases, the pinch-hitting Manuel Margot laid down a perfectly-executed bunt off Bleier to push across Lowe. Ramirez then broke it open with a bases-clearing, three-run double down the left field line to cap off a seven-run fifth inning and give the Rays a commanding 8-3 edge.

Kluber was charged with three of those seven runs. All together, the veteran right-hander surrendered four earned runs on four hits and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings of work. He was hit with the losing decision and is now 0-3 with a 6.92 ERA through three starts.

Bleier, on the other hand, was charged with the other four runs that crossed the plate in the fifth. Kutter Crawford, who was just recalled from Triple-A Worcester, took over the lefty and served up a solo homer to Brandon Lowe in the seventh. Besides that one blemish, the righty was effective in his three frames of relief.

Offensively, the Red Sox did not have a response for the Rays bullpen after the fifth inning. They went 1-2-3 against Kevin Kelly in the sixth, stranded a runner at scoring position in a hitless seventh inning, and then went down quietly against Braden Bristo in the eighth and ninth. In total, Boston had just four hits as a team while going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Casas’ 14-pitch walk

With one out and one runner on in the fourth inning, Triston Casas fouled off seven consecutive pitches in the process of working a 14-pitch walk off Rays reliever Garrett Cleavinger. Upon taking ball four, Casas flipped his bat and let out an emphatic yell towards the Red Sox dugout.

According to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the last at-bat by a Red Sox hitter that lasted longer than 14 pitches came on April 25, 2012, when Adrian Gonzalez had a 15-pitch groundout against Liam Hendriks, who was then starting for the Twins.

Next up: Sandoval vs. Houck in first of four against Angels

On the heels of a 3-4 road trip, the Red Sox will head home and open a four-game weekend series against the Angels on Friday night. Right-hander Tanner Houck is slated to get the ball for Boston in the opener while left-hander Patrick Sandoval is expected to do the same for Los Angeles.

First pitch from Fenway Park on Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time. The game will be broadcasted exclusively on Apple TV+.

(Picture of Corey Kluber: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly emotional after leaving game with elbow injury

Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly left Wednesday’s game against the Rays with what appeared to be serious arm injury.

Kelly, who took over for starter Chris Sale in the fifth inning, had allowed two runs on two hits and a walk before facing Yandy Diaz with two outs. The right-hander plunked the Rays’ leadoff hitter with a 2-2, 81 mph changeup — the 23rd pitch of his outing.

While Diaz was in the process of taking his base, Kelly removed his glove and began grabbing at his right elbow. He then went into a crouch and became emotional as Red Sox manager Alex Cora and a member of the team’s training staff rushed to the pitcher’s mound to see what was wrong.

With tears in his eyes, Kelly left the field under his own power and made his way back towards the visitor’s clubhouse alongside Cora and a trainer. The Red Sox later described Kelly’s injury as “right elbow pain” but could not provide a more specific diagnosis.

When speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) following the Red Sox’ 9-7 loss to the Rays on Wednesday night, Cora indicated that Kelly would undergo further testing back in Boston on Friday. Until then, there will be uncertainty surrounding the 28-year-old’s status for the rest of the season.

“It’s the elbow, he had surgery a few years ago,” Cora said. “Tough to see. Hopefully, there’s nothing wrong.”

Kelly, who first joined the Red Sox organization as a minor-league free agent in January 2021, previously underwent elbow surgery in May 2020. More specifically, he had an internal bracing procedure done in lieu of Tommy John surgery after tearing the UCL (ulnar collateral ligament) in his right arm.

Fast forward nearly three years since then, and Kelly said on Wednesday that he felt pain throughout the fifth inning. That pain only got worse and intensified to the point where he could not continue pitching. He did not feel a pop in his elbow, however.

“The last five or six pitches I threw, I felt it a little bit more,” said Kelly. “hat one, I just started turning the changeup over and didn’t really feel like I could turn it over like I’m used to.

“I told (Cora) after, I just tried to get through the inning and didn’t want to quick-start anybody in the bullpen,” he added. “Unfortunately, I just couldn’t do it.”

When asked about what led to him crying on the mound, Kelly responded by saying that his previous elbow injury and his unique journey to the major-leagues were both on his mind at that time.

“I was definitely emotional for two reasons,” he said. “One, because I care. I care about this game, these guys and I enjoy doing this. Two, just all the shit I went through to get here. It’s just a lot. Whenever something like that happens, you get emotional about it.”

A former undrafted free agent out of Division II Newberry College, Kelly made his big-league debut for Boston last August at the age of 27. He posted a 3.95 ERA in 13 appearances (13 2/3 innings) down the stretch and then made his first career Opening Day roster this spring.

Coming into play on Wednesday, Kelly had allowed just one earned run on four hits, five walks, and five strikeouts through his first five outings (6 2/3 innings) of the season. The Virginia native is now expected to be placed on the injured list ahead of Thursday’s series finale against Tampa Bay.

“I don’t want to assume the worst,” Kelly said. “I just want to wait until we get some imaging done and we’ll figure it out from there.”

The Red Sox will need to call up another pitcher to take Kelly’s spot on the roster. Fellow righty Kutter Crawford, who was recently optioned to Triple-A Worcester, is a logical choice under the pretense that he is still with the club.

UPDATE: Kelly was indeed placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation on Thursday. Crawford was called up to take his place on the roster.

(Picture of Zack Kelly: Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida scratched from Red Sox lineup due to right hamstring tightness

Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida has been scratched from Wednesday’s starting lineup against the Rays due to right hamstring tightness, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe) at Tropicana Field.

Yoshida was originally starting in left field and batting cleanup for Boston in the second game of this four-game series in St. Petersburg. Now that he has been taken out of the lineup on account of a tight hamstring, Raimel Tapia will move from center to left field while Enrique Hernandez will shift from shortstop to center field and play there for the first time this season.

Bobby Dalbec was not in the original lineup. He will now start at short in Hernandez’s place and bat sixth as the Red Sox go up against Rays rookie right-hander Taj Bradley, who will be making his major-league debut. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

“We had to make some arrangements,” Cora said, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

According to Cora, the Red Sox do not believe Yoshida’s hamstring tightness is a serious issue. The 29-year-old is unlikely to play on Thursday as well, but the hope is he will be able to return to the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Angels at Fenway Park.

“He showed up here, tried to run,” said Cora. “Obviously, if it’s later in the season, we’d push him to do it and he’d be OK to do it, but it doesn’t make sense to play him tonight.”

Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston in December after spending the first seven years of his professional career in Japan, has started 10 of the Red Sox’ first 11 games this season. The left-handed hitter is currently batting .216/.356/.324 with one double, one home run, six RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, seven walks, and three strikeouts in 45 plate appearances.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Adam Duvall will not require surgery on fractured left wrist, Alex Cora says

Red Sox outfielder Adam Duvall will not require surgery on his fractured left wrist, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) following Monday’s 1-0 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field.

“Just a fracture, that’s it,” Cora said. “No surgery. Just put a cast on it and let it heal, and he’ll be back whenever he’s ready.”

Duvall was diagnosed with a distal radius fracture in his left wrist one day after injuring said wrist in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Tigers in Detroit. To lead off the bottom half of the frame, Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen got Spencer Torkelson to lift a 244-foot flyball to shallow center field. Duvall ran in and attempted to make a sliding catch to rob Torkelson of a base hit, but he instead landed awkwardly on his wrist and was immediately taken out of the game as a result.

After having X-rays taken at Comerica Park, Duvall flew back to Boston and was evaluated by a hand specialist on Monday. The Red Sox then received word that the 34-year-old would not need to go under the knife.

According to Browne, Duvall could be back in action within the next six to eight weeks since he avoided surgery. Had a surgical procedure been required, the former All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner could have been sidelined for eight to 10 weeks, if not longer.

“It’s great,” said Cora. “We don’t want to go that [surgery] route, of course. I’m glad that this is the worst news for him. He’s going to be back at some point. We just have to be patient, and whenever he’s ready, he’s ready.”

This is the second time within the last year that Duvall has seriously injured his left wrist. While with the Braves last July, he jammed it against the outfield wall at Truist Park and ultimately underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn tendon sheath. Fortunately, this latest injury happened on the other side of the same wrist and is unrelated to last year’s tear.

“It’s on the other side [of the wrist],” Cora said earlier Monday afternoon. “For everything I hear with the procedure he had last year, nothing [related] happened.”

Back in January, Duvall signed a one-year, $7 million deal with the Red Sox to serve as the club’s everyday center fielder. The right-handed hitting slugger quickly made his impact felt by batting 455/.514/1.030 with five doubles, one triple, four home runs, 14 RBIs, 11 runs scored, three walks, and five strikeouts in his first eight games (37 plate appearances) with Boston. He earned American League Player of the Week honors for his efforts last Monday.

“It’s interesting because a few weeks ago, not too many people thought it was going to be a big blow. But obviously, the guy is a good player,” said Cora. “We knew when we signed him that he was going to be a good defender and that he was going to put a good at-bat. He worked so hard on a few things with [hitting coach Pete Fatse] to drive the ball to left field.

It’s a big blow but at the same time, somebody has to step up. It’s still early in the season,” he added. “We’ve got time to do our thing, keep playing good baseball like we did this past weekend. Somebody else has to step up. That’s the nature of the business.”

Because Duvall will be out of commission for a while, the Red Sox will need to temporarily fill the void he left behind in center field. To that effect, Cora indicated that Enrique Hernandez, Rob Refsnyder, and Raimel Tapia will all see more playing time in center moving forward.

Since Hernandez is slated to return to center, Christian Arroyo, Yu Chang, and Bobby Dalbec will all get more reps at shortstop. Dalbec, who was recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Monday to take Duvall’s spot on the roster, could also see some playing time in the outfield corners alongside Masataka Yoshida and Alex Verdugo.

All things considered, the Red Sox may have the depth to cover for him, but they will nonetheless be tested offensively while Duvall is out of the lineup. They found out that much on Monday night, as they were held to just three hits in a series-opening shutout loss to the unbeaten Rays.

(Picture of Adam Duvall: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Despite strong start from Nick Pivetta, Red Sox squander late scoring opportunity and fall to unbeaten Rays, 1-0

The Red Sox battled in an effort to hand the Rays their first loss of the season on Monday night, but ultimately came up short. Boston fell to Tampa Bay by a final score of 1-0 in the opener of this four-game series at Tropicana Field.

Nick Pivetta put forth a valiant effort in his second start of the season for the Sox. The right-hander scattered just three hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts over five scoreless innings of work.

The Rays threatened by putting one runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but Pivetta did not falter. With one out and runners at first and second the bottom of the third, center fielder Rob Refsnyder robbed Randy Arozarena of extra bases by making a fantastic sliding grab on the warning track to snag a 99.1 mph line drive.

Pivetta got through the rest of the third unscathed by getting Wander Franco to ground out. He then proceeded to retire six of the last seven batters he faced from the middle of the fourth through the end of the fifth. The 30-year-old hurler finished with 83 pitches (53 strikes) and induced 14 swings-and-misses while lowering his ERA on the season to 0.90.

In relief of Pivetta, Josh Winckowski got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from manager Alex Cora. Winckowski made quick work of the Rays’ 3-4-5 hitters in the sixth and put up another zero in the seventh.

Heading into the eighth still deadlocked in a 0-0 tie, the Red Sox put together their best scoring opportunity of the night. Having already been held in check by Jalen Beeks, Josh Fleming, and Garrett Cleavinger, Alex Verdugo led off the inning by drawing a five-pitch walk off Rays lefty Colin Poche. A pinch-hit single from Bobby Dalbec and two-out walk from Enrique Hernandez loaded the bases for Rafael Devers.

Devers, in turn, fouled off two of the first three pitches he saw before Poche froze him on an 0-2, 93 mph four-seamer down and away to end the inning and extinguish the threat.

Chris Martin, who had yet to give up a run through his first five appearances of the season, was responsible for the latter half of the eighth. He got the first out of the inning before serving up a go-ahead solo home run to Brandon Lowe on a 3-2, 96 mph heater at the top of the zone.

Lowe’s homer, which came on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, had an exit velocity of 107.9 mph and travelled 404 feet into the right field seats. It also put Tampa Bay up, 1-0, going into the ninth. Pete Fairbanks, the first righty the Rays used all night, struck out Justin Turner before getting both Masataka Yoshida and the pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia to ground out to end it.

All told, the Red Sox went just 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and left five runners on base as a team in Monday’s loss. At two hours and six minutes, the game was Boston’s fastest of the season by 26 minutes

With the loss, Boston falls back to .500 at 5-5. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, remains unbeaten and improves to 10-0 to start the year, becoming the first team to accomplish that feat since the 1987 Brewers.

Next up: Whitlock’s 2023 debut on tap

The Red Sox will look to bounce back against the Rays on Tuesday night. Right-hander Garrett Whitlock will come off the injured list and make his season debut for Boston. Tampa Bay will counter with left-hander Shane McClanahan.

In order to activate Whitlock, the Red Sox will need to send someone down to make room on the 26-man roster.

First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN+.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Red Sox recall Bobby Dalbec from Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have officially recalled infielder Bobby Dalbec from Triple-A Worcester, the club announced prior to Monday’s series opener against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Dalbec will take the roster spot of outfielder Adam Duvall, who was placed on the 10-day injured list with a distal radius fracture in his left wrist. The 27-year-old flew from Buffalo to St. Petersburg to to join the Red Sox after Duvall suffered the injury in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Tigers in Detroit.

Dalbec was optioned to Worcester before the start of the season after failing to make Boston’s Opening Day roster out of spring training. In his first seven games with the WooSox, though, the right-handed hitter went 6-for-23 (.261) with one double, one triple, one home run, five RBIs, six runs scored, four walks, and 10 strikeouts. He put up those numbers while making three starts at first base, one start at third base, and two starts at shortstop.

Because they are slated to face a plethora of left-handed starters in their next two series against the Rays and Angels, the Red Sox elected to call up Dalbec as opposed to the left-handed hitting Jarren Duran even though Duran would have filled a need in the outfield.

“He’s a right-handed hitter and we can use him at first base, at third base,” manager Alex Cora said of Dalbec. “We’re here in Tampa with this turf, you know, so maybe we can give Raffy (Devers) a day (off) at third base and just use (Dalbec) that way.”

Cora added that Dalbec will get some reps at shortstop alongside Christian Arroyo and Yu Chang since Enrique Hernandez will start playing more center field in Duvall’s absence. The 6-foot-4, 227-pounder could also see some time in the outfield, something he has never done before in his professional career.

“I mean, just come here and be ready,” Cora said in regards to the message he sent to Dalbec. “There’s a few things that we’re doing that we want to continue doing. It starts in the clubhouse and preparation in the dugout and all that and be ready. He’s always ready.

“He was swinging the bat well the last few days down there (in Worcester),” added Cora. “Hopefully whenever he gets a chance, he can just keep doing the things he was doing.”

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)