Tag: alex verdugo

Red Sox pound out 16 hits, take series from Mariners with 12-3 win

The Red Sox capped off a six-game homestand by scoring early and often in a series-clinching win over the Mariners on Wednesday night. Boston throttled Seattle by a final score of 12-3 at Fenway Park to improve to 24-20 on the season.

Nine of the 12 runs the Red Sox scored came within the first two innings of Wednesday’s contest. With Marco Gonzales starting for the Mariners, Justin Turner and Rob Refsnyder hit back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the first. Rafael Devers then opened the scoring by driving in Turner with a base hit of his own.

After Masataka Yoshida drew a five-pitch walk off Gonzales to fill the bases, newcomer Pablo Reyes came up to the plate with two outs and extended Boston’s lead to 3-0 by plating both Refsnyder and Devers on a two-run double off the Green Monster.

An inning later, Alex Verdugo reached base on a one-out double and Turner followed by crushing a 358-foot two-run shot over the Green Monster for his fifth home run of the season and his second in as many nights. Refsynder then drew a walk and advanced to third on a two-out single from Yoshida that was aided by a J.P. Crawford throwing error. Enrique Hernandez kept the line moving and knocked Gonzales out of the game by ripping an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

Following a Seattle pitching change that saw Trevor Gott take over for Gonzales, Reyes greeted the new reliever with his second two-run double of the night. Jarren Duran capped off the six-run frame by singling in Reyes, thus giving Boston a commanding 9-0 advantage.

Brayan Bello, meanwhile, was in the midst of his sixth start of the season for the Red Sox. Celebrating his 24th birthday on Wednesday, the right-hander surrendered just one earned run on three hits and five walks to go along with seven strikeouts over five innings of work.

Though command was somewhat of an issue, Bello took a no-hit bid into the fourth inning before giving up a leadoff double to Cal Raleigh. He retired the next two batters he faced, but allowed Raleigh to score on a two-out single off the bat of Jose Caballero. In the fifth, he escaped a bases-loaded jam to end his night on a positive note.

Finishing with a career-high 107 pitches (67 strikes), Bello induced 19 swings-and-misses, tying Braves ace Spencer Strider for the most in baseball on Wednesday. The young righty picked up the winning decision to improve to 3-1 and also lowered his ERA on the year to 4.45.

Shortly after Bello faced his final batter, the Red Sox lineup got back to work in the latter half of the fifth. With Turner and Refsnyder both singling off Gabe Speier, Devers drove in the former with an RBI double. Yoshida then plated Refsnyder on an RBI groundout before Hernandez pushed across Devers with a sacrifice fly to make it a 12-1 game.

The Mariners got two of those runs back off Joely Rodriguez in the top of the sixth. Rodriguez, making his Red Sox debut after missing the first seven weeks of the season due to a right oblique strain, filled the bases on two walks and a single with one out. The lefty then got Julio Rodriguez to hit a groundball to Hernandez at shortstop.

In an attempt to start an inning-ending double play, Hernandez made an underhanded flip to get the force out at second, but Reyes’ throw to Turner at first bounced in the dirt and went out of play, allowing two runs to score. Rodriguez, though, was only charged with one of those runs as Seattle cut the deficit to nine at 12-3.

From there, Chris Martin, Ryan Sherriff, and Justin Garza combined for three scoreless innings of relief to put the finishing touches on a rather convincing victory.

All told, the Red Sox tallied 16 hits as a team to tie a season-high in that category. Turner led the way with three hits while Refsnyder, Devers, Hernandez, and Reyes each had two.

Verdugo exits with groin tightness

Verdugo, who went 1-for-2 out of the leadoff spot, came out of the game in the third inning and was replaced in right field by Raimel Tapia. The Red Sox later described Verdugo’s departure “as a precaution due to left groin tightness.” He is expected to be available when they next play.

Next up: A long road trip out west

Coming off a 2-4 home swing, the Red Sox will enjoy an off day on Thursday before embarking upon a three-city, nine-game West Coast road trip that includes stops in San Diego, Anaheim, and Phoenix.

After Thursday’s off day, the Sox will open a three-game weekend set against Xander Bogaerts’ Padres on Friday night. James Paxton is slated to get the start for Boston in the series opener. San Diego will counter with fellow left-hander Blake Snell.

First pitch from Petco Park on Friday is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Pablo Reyes: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

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Nick Pivetta gets shelled for season-high 7 runs as Red Sox drop opener to Braves, 9-3

The Red Sox suffered their second straight defeat in a series-opening loss to the Braves on Tuesday night. Boston fell to Atlanta by a final score of 9-3 at Truist Park to drop to 21-16 on the season.

Nick Pivetta struggled in his seventh start of the year for the Sox. The right-hander went just four innings, allowing a season-high seven earned runs on eight hits, three walks, and one hit batsman to go along with two strikeouts.

The Braves got to Pivetta right away in the bottom of the first. Following a leadoff single from Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson opened the scoring by crushing a 426-foot two-run home run to deep right field. Pivetta then walked Austin Riley and plunked Sean Murphy before fanning Eddie Rosario.

A wild pitch allowed Riley and Murphy to advance an additional 90 feet. Ozzie Albies then drove in Riley with a run-scoring single through the right side of the infield before Marcell Ozuna gave Atlanta a 4-0 lead with an RBI groundout that brought in Murphy.

An inning later, Murphy singled in Acuna Jr. with two outs to extend the lead to five runs. The Red Sox got one of those runs back in the top of the third. After being held in check by Braves starter Charlie Morton to that point, Alex Verdugo ripped a leadoff double and took third base on a balk. Justin Turner then drove him in on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to four runs at 5-1.

Pivetta made quick work of the Braves in the bottom half of the frame, but ran into more trouble in the fourth. Orlando Arcia, Acuna Jr., and Olson all reached to fill the bases with no outs. Murphy then broke it open by plating both Arcia and Acuna Jr. on a two-run single to left field that put Atlanta back up, 7-1.

Though Pivetta did retire the final two batters he faced in the fourth, the damage had already been done. The 30-year-old hurler finished with 90 pitches (52 strikes) and induced 11 swings-and-misses. He was charged with the losing decision and his ERA on the season now sits at an unsightly 6.23.

In relief of Pivetta, Brennan Bernardino received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora. The lefty beaned Michael Harris II to put runners at first and second with no outs and then yielded an RBI ground-rule double to Arcia to give the Braves an 8-1 advantage.

Turner struck again in the sixth, this time taking Morton 389 feet deep to the opposite field for a leadoff home run (his third of the season). That was all the Red Sox could do off Morton, though, as the veteran righty allowed just two runs over six innings on exactly 100 pitches before being lifted for reliever Kirby Yates.

Following a pair of scoreless frames from Ryan Brasier and Zack Littell, Turner laced a one-out double off A.J. Minter in the top of the eighth for the 300th two-base hit of his career. He then moved up to third and scored his side’s third run of the night on a line-drive RBI single off the bat of Enrique Hernandez.

After Littell surrendered an RBI double to Murphy in the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox went down quietly in the ninth to end it. Masataka Yoshida grounded out for the final out of the game. He went 0-for-5 on the night, meaning his 16-game hitting streak has ended.

As a team, the Red Sox tallied eight hits and went 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position while leaving eight runners on base. Verdugo went 3-for-5 with a run scored and Turner went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored to lead the way offensively.

Next up: Bello gets the start in finale

The Red Sox will look to salvage a split in the finale of this quick two-game set against the Braves on Wednesday night. Right-hander Brayan Bello is slated to start for Boston while Atlanta will go with a bullpen game after placing projected starter Max Fried on the injured list.

First pitch from Truist Park is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Alex Verdugo regrets criticizing Alek Manoah in podcast interview

Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo made headlines last month for taking an unprompted shot at Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah. For the first time since that incident, the two are slated to face off against one another at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

Verdugo, though, told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo on Tuesday that he is not more excited about facing Manoah as opposed to any other pitcher. He added that he regrets taking his feelings towards Manoah public.

“I think for me, it’s just another game,” Verdugo said. “I regret saying what I did, at least to the media, because it’s something I think I should have just, man-to-man, said it to him. I feel like at some point now, I would like to have a conversation with him. I’d like to talk to him. Just me and him. Kind of clear out some air, just be professional about it.

“Obviously, he’s one of those guys who’s a good pitcher and he carries a chip on his shoulder,” continued Verdugo. “We’re just going to see what happens. For me, it’s not going to be to go up there and try to get emotional with it.”

Back on April 4, Verdugo appeared on Audacy’s “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. In a one-on-one conversation with WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford, Verdugo — seemingly out of the blue — went on somewhat of a tirade about the way Manoah carries himself on the mound.

More specifically, Verdugo referenced a Manoah start at Fenway Park last July in which the righty stared down and exchanged words with Franchy Cordero and Bobby Dalbec after striking each of them out.

“I’ll say it right now, I think Alek Manoah goes about it the wrong way, 100 percent I think he does,” Verdugo told Bradford. “You can find videos of him, footage of him in Triple-A going like this to hitters. Last year, telling Franchy and Bobby like ‘go sit’ and [expletive] like that while looking right at them.”

“So it’s like, [expletive] like that just pisses me off,” he added. “It’s not the way it should be played. It should be played like you’re celebrating it with your team, you’re not [expletive] disrespecting another player who is – at the end of the day we’re just trying to compete, man, that’s it.”

It did not take long for Manoah to respond to Verdugo’s comments. He told Rob Langley of The Toronto Sun that same night: “Coming from him? I don’t give a (expletive). My job is to pitch and get guys out.”

Earlier this week, Manoah told The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams that he had never spoken with Verdugo and has never had a problem with him. Verdugo, for his part, said on Tuesday that while he wouldn’t take back his comments, he does wish he went about it in a different way.

“It’s not necessarily that I take back what I said because he’s good, man. When you’re good like that, you don’t need to do some of the other antics stuff that he does sometimes,” said Verdugo. “We’ve had some bad blood here and there. There are some times when I felt like it was a little bit too much and crossing the line.

“I talked to a lot of Blue Jays, a lot of guys in general who all say he’s a good teammate, a good guy,” Verdugo added. “Just when he’s on the field, he’s a different person with a different mindset out there. Part of me, I can respect that and I understand that’s what he might need to get amped up. At the same time, this game is hard, man. This game will humble you. There are a lot of things and I feel like if you go about it more the right way, you’re going to get more respect, not only from fans but from opposing players.”

Verdugo has had success against Manoah — who finished third in American League Cy Young voting last season — in the past. The 26-year-old has gone 7-for-16 (.438) with two doubles, one home run, and three RBIs in 17 career plate appearances against the Blue Jays ace. He has never been hit by a Manoah pitch and expects things to remain that way on Wednesday.

“I really don’t care about getting hit,” Verdugo said. “(Getting) hit is just extra on-base percentage. I don’t think it’s going to get to that. I don’t think we’re at that kind of beef. I still expect everybody to be professional and to go about it the right way, for him to try to make his pitches and get me out.”

Regardless of how Wednesday’s contest plays out, Verdugo is hopeful that he will be able to talk to Manoah at some point before the Blue Jays leave town for Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

“I’m not going in there being like, ‘Oh, man, we’ve got this beef going’ because at the end of the day, I want to have a one-on-one and I want to talk to him and just kind of clear the air on my side,” Verdugo said. “If he wants to accept it, then we accept it. If not, then we can continue doing what we are. I ain’t got nothing against him as a person. It’s just more some of the antics that I’ve seen against us that have rubbed me the wrong way.”

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo continues to come through in the clutch, delivers with walk-off home run as Red Sox top Blue Jays, 6-5

The Red Sox squandered another late lead in Monday’s series opener against the Blue Jays, but it was not enough to hold them down. Thanks to some more late-game heroics from Alex Verdugo, Boston defeated Toronto by a final score of 6-5 at Fenway Park to improve to 16-14 on the season.

With Jose Berrios starting for the Jays, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first inning. Verdugo led off with a hard-hit double and immediately scored from second on another two-base hit from Masataka Yoshida. Justin Turner followed by plating Yoshida on an opposite-field RBI single to give his side a 2-0 lead right out of the gate.

It did not take long for Toronto to respond, though. As Corey Kluber made his sixth start of the season for Boston, Danny Jansen and Kevin Kiermaier drew a pair of walks to put runners at first and second with two outs in the top of the second. Bo Bichette then got his productive night at the plate started by crushing a 312-foot three-run home run over the Green Monster to put the Blue Jays up, 3-2.

While it appeared as though Kluber was about to have another rough go of it, he was able to settle in a bit after getting through the first. The veteran right-hander allowed just the three earned runs on five hits and four walks to go along with seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work.

After putting up zeroes from the top of the third through the middle of the fifth, Kluber came back out for the sixth and recorded the first out of the inning before issuing a five-pitch walk to Jansen. Having already thrown a season-high 104 pitches (59 strikes) to that point in the contest, the 37-year-old was given the hook in favor of Brennan Bernardino.

Bernardino ended things in the top of the sixth by retiring the only two batters he faced. Moments later, Jarren Duran led off the bottom of the sixth by taking Berrios 434 feet to dead center for his second home run of the year. The ball left Duran’s bat at a blistering 109.1 mph and pulled Boston back even with Toronto at three runs apiece.

The stalemate did not last long, however. After Triston Casas drew a one-out walk off Berrios, Enmanuel Valdez followed by launching a go-ahead, two-run shot 427 feet into the center field bleachers for the first home run of his big-league career. Valdez’s 106 mph blast gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead going into the seventh.

Chris Martin, making his first relief appearance since April 12 after being activated from the injured list on Sunday, took over for Bernardino and worked his way around a bases-loaded jam by getting the pinch-hitting Alejandro Kirk to ground out to himself for the final out of the inning.

Josh Winckowski came on for the eighth and got the first out by getting Jansen to ground out to Enrique Hernandez at short. Hernandez, who made a fantastic diving grab and throw from his knees in the left field grass to nab Jansen, them made two costly throwing errors.

Following a Cavan Biggio double, Hernandez fielded a grounder from Kiermaier but made a poor throw to Casas at first. Biggio scored as a result to cut Toronto’s deficit to one. Kiermaier moved up 90 feet on a Bichette single (his fifth hit of the night) to put runners at first and second for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero Jr. roped another grounder in the direction of Hernandez, who hustled over to second to get the force out but airmailed his throw to first in an attempt to finish off the double play. The ball sailed well over Casas’ head and landed in the Red Sox dugout. As a result, Kiermaier was able to score from second to tie the score at 5-5.

Winckowski, who was only charged with one of those two runs, got through the rest of the eighth unscathed and then retired the side in order in the top of the ninth. Jordan Romano took over for Nate Pearson out of the Blue Jays bullpen in the following half-inning, but he was not on the mound for long.

On the third pitch he saw from Romano to lead things off, Verdugo came through in the clutch yet again by lacing a 385-foot line-drive to right-center field that barely cleared the bullpen fence and lifted the Red Sox to a 6-5 walk-off victory.

Verdugo’s fifth home run was good for his third walk-off hit of the year and his second in Boston’s last three games. He finished the night going 2-for-5 with one RBI and two runs scored. On the flip side, Winckowski was credited with the winning decision.

Next up: Kikuchi vs. Houck

Winners of three straight and now at two games over .500 for the first time this season, the Red Sox will look to take the first two games of this four-game set from the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Right-hander Tanner Houck will get the start for Boston while left-hander Yusei Kikuchi is expected to do the same for Toronto.

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

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Chris Sale reaches 97.8 mph, Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong both homer as Red Sox take series from Guardians with 7-1 win

The Red Sox closed out the month of April with a series-clinching win over the Guardians. On a drizzly Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, Boston defeated Cleveland by a final score of 7-1 to improve to 15-14 on the season.

Starters Chris Sale and Logan Allen traded zeroes through the first four innings of Sunday’s series finale. The Sox then drew first blood in their half of the fifth, when Connor Wong led off with a groundball single.

Jarren Duran followed by blooping a ground-rule double down the left field line to put runners at second and third base. After Enmanuel Valdez struck out on five pitches, Alex Verdugo opened the scoring by plating both Wong and Duran on a a two-run single to left-center field off Allen to put Boston up, 2-0.

Cleveland got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth. After working his way out of a jam by striking out the side in the fifth inning, Sale gave up a leadoff double to Steven Kwan. Seven pitches later, Amed Rosario drove in Kwan with an opposite-field single to cut the deficit in half.

Rosario was able to advance to second on Verdugo’s errant throw home. He then moved up to third on a Jose Ramirez flyout, but Sale left him there by getting both Josh Bell and Oscar Gonzalez to ground out, thus limiting the damage to one run.

It did not take long for the Red Sox to respond. With reliever Nick Sandlin taking over for the Guardians, Christian Arroyo ripped a one-out single in the latter half of the sixth and Wong followed by crushing a 1-2, 91.8 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate 427 feet over the Green Monster for his first home run of the year.

Wong’s two-run blast left his bat at 111.8 mph. It also gave his side a 4-1 lead. Sale, meanwhile, came back out for the seventh and retired the final batter he faced by getting Andres Gimenez to line out to Duran — who made a nice sliding catch — in center field. Having already thrown 98 pitches (71 strikes) to that point in the contest, Sale was given the hook in favor of John Schreiber.

All told, Sale allowed just the one earned run on three hits, no walks, and one hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts over 6 1/3 strong innings of work. The 34-year-old hurler induced 11 swings-and-misses while averaging 94.1 mph and topping out at 97.8 mph with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 59 times. He picked up his second winning decision of the season and lowered his ERA to 6.75.

After Schreiber ended things in the top half of the seventh, the Sox lineup got back to work on the other side of the stretch. Verdugo greeted new Guardians reliever Peyton Battenfield by lacing a 107.9 mph leadoff home run 373 feet down the right field line for his fourth big fly of the year. Following back-to-back two-out walks from Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida, Arroyo extended Boston’s lead with a two-run double off the rightmost part of the Green Monster.

Both Devers and Yoshida scored on the play to make it a 7-1 contest. Arroyo then made a fantastic leaping grab in the top of the eighth to help out Richard Bleier and rob Kwan of a base hit that had an expected batting average of .810. Bleier got through the rest of the eighth unscathed, paving the way for Brennan Bernardino to come in for the ninth and secure a 7-1 victory with another 1-2-3 inning.

Sunday’s win took two hours and 32 minutes to complete. Verdugo, Arroyo, and Wong accounted for six of Boston’s nine hits and all seven RBIs. Yoshida, Duran, Arroyo, and Valdez all doubled.

Next up: Kluber vs. Berrios in first of four against Jays

Coming off a 15-13 April, the Red Sox will open the month of May by welcoming the Blue Jays into town for the first of a four-game series on Monday night. In the first meeting of the year between the two division rivals, Corey Kluber will get the start for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Jose Berrios for Toronto.

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

(Picture of Chris Sale: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo comes through with walk-off single as Red Sox overcome blown lead to defeat Guardians, 8-7, in extras

The Red Sox may have squandered a five-run lead against the Guardians on Saturday evening, but they still found a way to win in extras. Thanks to a walk-off single from Alex Verdugo, Boston defeated Cleveland in 10 innings by a final score of 8-7 at Fenway Park to get back to .500 at 14-14 on the season.

With Zach Plesac starting for the Guardians, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first. After Verdugo ripped a leadoff double on the very first pitch of the game, Masataka Yoshida drew a four-pitch walk and Justin Turner struck out. That brought Rafael Devers to the plate with one out and runners at first and second.

Devers wasted little time in getting the Red Sox on the board, as he cranked a 411-foot three-run blast deep to right field for his American League-leading 10th home run of the season. The ball left Devers’ bat at a blistering 114.1 mph and gave Boston an early 3-0 lead.

The Guardians were able to get one of those runs back off Brayan Bello in the top of the second, though. Josh Bell led things off by taking Bello 405 feet over the Green Monster to cut into the deficit and make it a 3-1 game. Bello and Plesac exchanged zeroes in the third before the Sox struck again in the fourth.

Back-to-back one-out doubles from Raimel Tapia and Enmanuel Valdez extended Boston’s lead to 4-1. Christian Arroyo then plated Valdez with an RBI single back up the middle and Connor Wong followed with a base hit of his own to knock Plesac out of the game after just 3 1/3 innings.

Bello, meanwhile, pitched well in his third start of the season for Boston and his first since being recalled from Triple-A Worcester on Friday to take the injured Garrett Whitlock’s spot in the rotation. Over five solid innings of work on Saturday, the young right-hander allowed just the one earned run on five hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts.

After giving up that solo shot to Bell in the second, Bello retired the next six hitters he faced before working out of a jam in the fourth. He did not issue his first walk until there were two outs in the top of the fifth. Due to a bloody fingernail on his right index finger, Bello received attention from a team trainer. He then walked his second straight batter to put runners at first and second, but he ended his outing by fielding a soft roller off the bat of Amed Rosario and making a strong throw to first base for the final out of the inning.

All told, Bello finished with 84 pitches (47 strikes). The 23-year-old hurler induced eight swings-and-misses while mixing in a 93-96 mph sinker, an 83-87 mph slider, an 86-89 mph changeup, and a 95-97 mph four-seam fastball. Though he did not factor into Saturday’s decision, Bello did lower his ERA on the season down to 6.57.

Following a scoreless inning of relief from Richard Bleier out of the bullpen, the Red Sox tacked on another run in the bottom of the sixth. Arroyo and Wong led off with back-to-back singles off Guardians reliever Xzavion Curry. A Verdugo lineout allowed Arroyo to advance up to third. With one out and Yoshida at the plate, Wong took off for second base. Catcher Mike Zunino attempted to throw his counterpart out, but he instead made an errant throw that wound up in center field.

As a result of Zunino’s throwing error, Wong was credited with a stolen base while Arroyo scored from third to put Boston up, 6-1. Bleier came back out for the seventh but immediately served up a solo homer to Andres Gimenez that panged off the top of Pesky’s Pole. The left-hander was then replaced by Ryan Brasier, who recorded the first two outs of the inning before issuing a four-pitch walk to Jose Ramirez to load the bases.

That sequence of events forced Red Sox manager Alex Cora to dip into his bullpen again, and in came John Schreiber. With one out to get and the bases full, Schreiber surrendered a bases-clearing, three-run double to Josh Naylor. Myles Straw, Steven Kwan, and Ramirez all scored as Boston’s five-run lead was suddenly trimmed to one.

Schreiber was able to avoid any further damage in the seventh and Josh Winckowski followed with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, thus paving the way for Kenley Jansen, who had yet to allow a run through his first eight appearances of the year, to come on for the ninth.

In uncharacteristic fashion, Jansen gave up back-to-back singles to Straw and Kwan out of the gate. After punching out Rosario, the veteran closer yielded a game-tying RBI single to Ramirez that knotted things up at six runs apiece. Jansen got through the rest of the inning unscathed, but he was clearly not himself and was charged with his first blown save of the season as a result.

A scoreless bottom of the ninth from the Red Sox pushed this one into extras. Lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino recorded two quick outs before allowing the automatic runner at second base to score on a hard-hit RBI single from Zunino in the top of the 10th.

Now trailing 7-6, Christian Arroyo led off the bottom of the 10th with a game-tying RBI single off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase that brought in Valdez from second. Arroyo then moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt from Wong and to third on a pitch that got past Zunino.

With the winning run just 90 feet away and the infield drawn in, Verdugo delivered by ripping a 88.9 mph single to left field. Arroyo came into score and Verdugo was credited with his second walk-off hit of the year and his fifth in a Red Sox uniform.

All nine members of Boston’s starting lineup registered at least one hit on Saturday. Arroyo and Wong led the way with three hits apiece while Verdugo, Devers, and Tapia each had two hits. On the flip side, Bernardino picked up the first winning decision of his big-league career.

Next up: Allen vs. Sale in rubber match

The Red Sox will go for a series win over the Guardians on Sunday afternoon. Chris Sale is slated to start for Boston while fellow southpaw Logan Allen is lined up to do the same for Cleveland.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN, though the forecast does not look particularly encouraging.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo homers again as Red Sox open series against Brewers with 5-3 win

Playing at American Family Field for the first time since 2017, the Red Sox kicked off their road trip with a series-opening win over the Brewers. Boston defeated Milwaukee by a final score of 5-3 on Friday night to get back over .500 and improve to 11-10 on the season.

Matched up against Freddy Peralta out of the gate, the Sox drew first blood against the Brewers in their half of the third inning. Jarren Duran led off with a hard-hit single and advanced to second on a successful sacrifice bunt from Yu Chang. As the lineup flipped over, Alex Verdugo delivered with a 366-foot two-run home run down the right field line.

Verdugo’s third homer of the season — and second in as many days — had an exit velocity of 98.3 mph. It also gave his side an early 2-0 lead as Nick Pivetta was in the midst of his fourth start of the year for Boston.

After stranding one runner, who Reese McGuire helped pick off, in the first and putting up another zero in the second, Pivetta ran into some trouble in the bottom of the third. There, the right-hander gave up a one-out single to Owen Miller, who stole second base and came into score from second on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Christian Yelich.

Milwaukee then leapfrogged Boston in the fourth. With one out in the inning, Pivetta served up a game-tying solo shot to noted Red Sox nemesis Rowdy Tellez. William Contreras followed by making some more hard contact in the form of a line-drive double. Two batters later, Brice Turang provided the Brewers with their first lead of the night by plating Contreras on a groundball single through the right side of the infield.

Despite falling behind, 3-2, the Sox were able to respond in the top of the sixth. Enrique Hernandez and Triston Casas drew back-to-back two-out walks to knock Peralta out of the game. With left-handed reliever Hoby Milner set to take over for the Brewers, Red Sox manager Alex Cora dipped into his bench by having the right-handed hitting Rob Refsnyder pinch-hit for McGuire, a left-handed hitter

Refsnyder made the most of the opportunity, as he greeted Milner by lofting a game-tying single to right field. Hernandez came into score from second to knot things up at three runs apiece. Moments later, Duran broke the tie by driving in Casas on a 100.4 mph liner that could not be handled cleanly by Miller.

As a result, the Red Sox went up, 4-3, going into the latter half of the sixth. Pivetta then recorded the first two outs of the inning before issuing a four-pitch walk to Brian Anderson, which marked the end of his night. The 30-year-old hurler wound up allowing just the three earned runs on seven hits and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work. He finished with exactly 100 pitches (65 strikes) and induced 12 swings-and-misses before ultimately picking up his first winning decision of the year.

In relief of Pivetta, Josh Winckowcki received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from Cora. The righty stranded the lone runner he inherited in the sixth by getting Turang to fly out to left fielder Masataka Yoshida. A half-inning later, Yoshida provided Boston with an important insurance run by pushing across Justin Turner on a 107.3 mph RBI double off Bryse Wilson.

Yoshida’s clutch two-base hit gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead at stretch time. Winckowski picked up where he left off by tossing a 1-2-3 seventh inning. The Brewers threatened in the eighth when Tellez drew a two-out walk and Contreras followed with a single to put runners on the corners, but Winckowski did not falter. Instead, he fanned Anderson on a 95.1 mph fastball to escape the jam.

That paved the way for Kenley Jansen to enter in the ninth. The veteran closer made quick work of the Brewers, punching out two and getting Joey Wiemer to pop out into foul territory to notch his fifth save of the season and secure the 5-3 victory.

Next up: Whitlock vs. Miley

Winners of six of their last eight games, the Red Sox will look to take this series from the Brewers on Saturday night. Right-hander Garrett Whitlock is slated to take the mound for Boston while former Sox left-hander Wade Miley is expected to do the same for Milwaukee.

First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Larry Radloff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Tanner Houck has career day, Alex Verdugo and Yu Chang both homer as Red Sox take series from Twins with 11-5 win

The Red Sox scored first and never looked back in a series-clinching win over the Twins on Thursday afternoon. Boston defeated Minnesota by a final score of 11-5 at Fenway Park to get back to .500 at 10-10 on the season.

With Kenta Maeda starting for the Twins, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first. On the third pitch he saw from his former Dodgers teammate, leadoff man Alex Verdugo drilled a 386-foot solo shot to right field for his third home run of the year and the first leadoff homer of his career. The ball left Verdugo’s bat at 101.2 mph and gave Boston an early 1-0 lead.

Two innings later, the Red Sox broke it open against Twins reliever Emilio Pagan, who took over for Maeda after Maeda left the game with a left ankle contusion. Verdugo reached base on a one-out single and immediately scored on an RBI double off the bat of Rafael Devers. Masataka Yoshida followed with a run-scoring hit of his own that scored Devers and snapped an 0-for-18 skid.

Back-to-back singles from Enrique Hernandez and Triston Casas loaded the bases for Connor Wong, who drove in two with a groundball single through the left side of the infield. Jarren Duran capped off the high-scoring frame by lacing a 395-foot two-run double to center field to plate both Casas and Wong and give his side a commanding 7-0 advantage.

The Twins got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth. To that point, Red Sox starter Tanner Houck had tossed four scoreless innings out of the gate. But the right-hander ran into a bit of trouble when he gave up back-to-back ground-out doubles to Willi Castro and Max Kepler to trim the deficit down to six runs.

Houck got through the rest of the inning unscathed and the Red Sox lineup responded in the latter half of the fifth. Hernandez led off with a single off Twins reliever Jorge Alcala and — following a Casas Walk — advanced to third on a Wong flyout. Duran then drove in Hernandez from third with a sacrifice fly to center field before Chang came through with a blistering two-run home run that cleared the Green Monster in 4.2 seconds.

Chang’s second homer of the season, which had an exit velocity of 109.7 mph, put Boston up, 10-1, going into the sixth. Houck continued on with yet another scoreless frame before running into more two-out trouble in the top of the seventh. With Jose Miranda already at first base following a leadoff single, Willi Castro clubbed a 413-foot two-run home run into the right field seats to make it a 10-3 game.

Despite the way his outing ended, it was still an impressive day on the mound for Houck. The 26-year-old hurler allowed just the three runs on six hits and one walk to go along with seven strikeouts over seven innings of work to set a new career high in that category. He finished with 96 pitches (63 strikes) and induced 16 swings-and-misses while improving to 3-0 and lowering his ERA on the season to 4.29.

In relief of Houck, Kaleb Ort struck out two in a scoreless top of the eighth. Boston then went up 11-3 over Minnesota in the latter half of the inning when Yoshida plated Christian Arroyo (who reached on a pinch-hit double) with his second RBI single of the afternoon.

Ryan Brasier grinded through a ninth inning in which he surrendered two runs on four hits and a walk. But he got out of a bases-loaded jam when Casas threw out Kepler at third base to end it, thus putting the finishing touches on an 11-5 victory.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Peralta in Milwaukee

On the heels of a 5-2 homestand, the Red Sox will now embark on a six-game road trip that begins in Milwaukee on Friday night. Nick Pivetta is slated to get the start for Boston in the series opener against the National League Central-leading Brewers opposite fellow right-hander Freddy Peralta.

First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN+. The other two games will begin at 7:10 p.m. and 2:10 p.m. eastern time, respectively.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Chris Sale strikes out 11, Alex Verdugo comes through with wonky walk-off single to seal comeback as Red Sox defeat Twins, 5-4, in extras

The Red Sox came back to walk off the Twins in wonky fashion on Tuesday night. Boston defeated Minnesota by a final score of 5-4 in 10 innings at Fenway Park to get back to .500 and improve to 9-9 on the season.

With Sonny Gray starting for the Twins, the Sox quickly drew first blood in their half of the first. Alex Verdugo led off with a line-drive double and then came into score the first run of the game on an RBI single from Rafael Devers.

Chris Sale, meanwhile, made his fourth start of the season for Boston. The veteran left-hander looked like his vintage self, as he allowed just one run on three hits, two walks, and two hit batsman to go along with 11 strikeouts over six strong innings of work.

After tossing four scoreless frames out of the gate, Sale ran into some trouble in the fifth. There, a walk, hit-by-pitch, and infield single filled the bases with no outs. Sale then struck out Donovan Solano, but Carlos Correa followed with a run-scoring sacrifice fly to pull the Twins back even with the Red Sox at 1-1.

Sale avoided any further damage and ended his night by stranding former battery mate Christian Vazquez in an otherwise clean sixth inning. The 34-year-old southpaw finished with 94 pitches (63 strikes), inducing 19 swings-and-misses and topping out at 96.1 mph with his four-seam fastball.

With Sale’s day done, Josh Winckowski received the first call out of the bullpen from Red Sox manager Alex Cora in the seventh. Right away, Winckowski was greeted by Max Kepler, who took a 1-0, 85 mph slider on the inner half of the plate and deposited it 385 feet into the visitor’s bullpen to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.

That is where the score would remain as Winckowski held Minnesota at two runs through the middle of the eighth. The latter half of the inning is where things started to get interesting.

Enrique Hernandez led off with a line-drive single off new Twins reliever Griffin Jax. After Triston Casas struck out for a fourth time, the pinch-hitting Reese McGuire reached base on a catcher’s interference. Hernandez was able to go from first to third on the play since the ball was technically live when McGuire grounded to third.

That bizarre sequence put runners on the corners with one out for Jarren Duran, who proceeded to hit a chopper to second baseman Nick Gordon. With his momentum carrying him in that direction, Gordon attempted to throw out Hernandez at home. Gordon’s throw, however, was mishandled by Vazquez at the plate, which allowed Hernandez to score the tying run.

Closers Kenley Jansen and Jhoan Duran exchanged 1-2-3 innings in the ninth, sending this one into extras. In the top of the 10th, John Schreiber plunked Solano and walked Correa to fill the bases with no outs. The Twins then pushed across two runs on a Byron Buxton sacrifice fly and Jose Miranda RBI groundout.

Trailing 4-2 going into the bottom of the 10th, Kutter Crawford (the pitcher) entered the game as the ghost runner at second base for the Red Sox. With a short bench due to Christian Arroyo’s hamstring injury, Cora was forced to use Crawford (who pitched 6 1/3 innings of relief on Monday) as a pinch-runner after making a double switch and burning his designated hitter earlier in the game.

Representing the tying run, Hernandez led off the 10th by striking out, but he reached first safely as a result of a wild pitch on strike three from Jovani Moran. Crawford advanced to the third on the play and Casas followed by drawing a six-pitch walk to fill the bases for McGuire.

McGuire came through with a game-tying, two-run single, plating both Crawford and Hernandez by roping a 188-foot base hit to left field. Duran then re-loaded the bases by ripping a groundball single back up the middle, but Rob Refsnyder followed by grounding into a 5-3 double play.

Down to their final out in the 10th, the game was fittingly in Verdugo’s hands. Verdugo delivered by lifting a 300-foot single down the right field line. Out of the box, Verdugo thought it was foul, but the ball barely landed in fair territory as it bounced off the portion of the right field wall in front of the Pesky Pole.

After a lengthy umpire review, it was determined that the ball did indeed land in fair territory. As a result, Verdugo was credited with the sixth walk-off RBI of his career and the Red Sox went home winners despite going 5-for-20 with runners in scoring position and leaving 13 runners on base as a team.

Next up: Ryan vs. Kluber

The Red Sox will look to secure a series victory over the Twins on Wednesday night. Corey Kluber will get the start for Boston while fellow right-hander Joe Ryan will do the same for Minnesota.

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

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Kutter Crawford shines out of bullpen, but Red Sox come up just short in rain-filled 5-4 loss to Angels

On a chilly and rain-soaked Marathon Monday at Fenway Park, the Red Sox were unable to complete a four-game sweep of the Angels. Boston fell to Los Angeles by a final score of 5-4 to drop back to under .500 on the season at 8-9.

After first pitch of the annual Patriots’ Day contest was pushed back from 11:10 a.m. to 12:06 p.m., Brayan Bello made his first start of the season for the Sox. The young right-hander showed signs of rust in his 2023 debut, allowing five earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings of work.

Bello ran into trouble right away in the top of the first. After yielding a one-out single to Shohei Ohtani and plunking Taylor Ward to put runners at first and second, the righty served up a 355-foot three-run homer to Hunter Renfroe that cleared the Green Monster and gave the Angels an early 3-0 lead.

The Red Sox were able to get one of those runs back in the latter half of the first. Matched up against Ohtani on the mound, Raimel Tapia drew a leadoff walk before taking second and third on a pair of wild pitches. He then scored from third on an RBI groundout off the bat of Rob Refsnyder.

The Angels responded in the top of the second, though, as Bello gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before yielding a run-scoring groundout to Renfroe to make it a 5-1 game. Bello came back out for the third and recorded the first outs. The skies then began to open up as a one hour and 25 minute rain delay commenced.

Since the delay lasted that long, Bello’s season debut was shorter than expected. The 23-year-old hurler finished with 72 pitches (48 strikes) and induced 10 swings-and-misses. He also averaged 95.4 and topped out at 96.9 mph with his sinker.

Once the tarpaulin was removed from the field for a second time, Kutter Crawford came on to pitch in relief of Bello. Crawford got the final out of the third and took over in an effort to preserve the rest of the Red Sox bullpen. Over 6 1/3 scoreless frames, the 27-year-old gave up just one hit and no walks while striking out five of the 21 batters he faced.

While Crawford was in the process of shutting down Angels hitters, the Red Sox struggled to get anything going offensively on the other side of the delay. In the bottom of the fourth, for instance, Rafael Devers led off with a double and Masataka Yoshida and Triston Casas filled the bases by drawing back-to-back one-out walks off lefty Tucker Davidson.

Davidson, however, did not give in. Instead, he got Enrique Hernandez to line out and Reese McGuire to fly out to escape the jam. An inning later, Jarren Duran reached base on a one-out double but was left at second after Tapia fanned and Devers grounded out to extinguish the threat.

After Crawford worked his way around a pair of throwing errors in the top of the sixth, Boston finally broke through in the bottom half of the inning. Refsnyder led off with a double and Casas ripped a one-out double off new Angels reliever Aaron Loup. Hernandez then plated Refsnyder on a sacrifice fly before McGuire drove in Casas by beating out an infield single on a feet-first slide into first base.

That sequence of events trimmed Los Angeles’ lead down to two runs at 5-3. In the seventh, Duran drew a leadoff walk off Matt Moore and immediately stole second base. Again, though, Duran was stranded in scoring position as Tapia, Devers, and Refsnyder were all retired.

Following two more scoreless innings from Crawford, the Red Sox were down to their final three outs and still trailing by two runs in the bottom of the ninth. With Carlos Estevez pitching for the Angels, Alex Verdugo came off the bench and led off with a pinch-hit single. A one-out walk from Tapia put runners at first and second for Devers, who scored Verdugo by lacing a 112.1 mph RBI single to right field.

Estevez then got Refsnyder to strike out and Yoshida to pop out to end the rally there. All told, the Red Sox went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left nine runners on base as a team in Monday’s 5-4 loss, which technically took five hours and 24 minutes to complete.

McGuire throws out base stealer

With one out and runners on the corners in the top of the sixth inning, Reese McGuire threw out Shohei Ohtani at second base for his first caught stealing in 16 attempts to begin the year.

Duran’s 2023 debut

While Brayan Bello’s 2023 debut did not go according to plan,the same cannot be said for Jarren Duran. Batting out of the nine-hole and starting in center field, the speedy left-handed hitter went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base.

Next up: Gray vs. Sale

The Red Sox will welcome the first-place, 10-6 Twins into town for the first of a three-game series on Tuesday night. Left-hander Chris Sale is slated to get the start for Boston opposite Minnesota right-hander Sonny Gray.

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

(Picture of Kutter Crawford: Paul Rutherford/Getty Images)