Tag: alex verdugo

Chris Sale strikes out 8 over 5 solid innings in triumphant return to mound as Red Sox cruise past Orioles, 16-2

The Red Sox certainly made sure to give Chris Sale plenty of run support in his return to the mound at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon, as they came away with a 15-2 blowout victory over the lowly Orioles to clinch their first series win in over two weeks.

Sale, making his first major-league start in over two years and first since undergoing Tommy John surgery last March, showed flashes of what makes him so special in his 2021 debut.

Over five solid innings of work, the ace left-hander yielded just two runs — both of which were earned — on six hits and zero walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

Both runs Sale surrendered came by way of the home run ball, as he served up pair of back-to-back solo shots to Austin Hays and Trey Mancini with two outs in the top half of the third after retiring eight of the first nine hitters he faced.

Still, even with that tough sequence that saw Baltimore net their first and only two runs of the day, Sale was able to settle in, as he got the final out of the third before working his way around some traffic in a scoreless fourth inning.

In his fifth and final frame, Sale issued a leadoff single to Richie Martin and another single to Austin Wynns that was hit to Hunter Renfroe in right field. Renfroe, however, put his arm strength on full display by gunning down Martin at third base for his league-leading 14th outfield assist of the season.

That turned a potential situation in which there would have been runners on the corners with no outs to a situation where there was one out and just one runner on first, and Sale took full advantage of that by fittingly sitting down the final two batters he faced — Hays and Mancini — to end his outing on an extremely encouraging note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (60 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler induced 16 total swings and misses while topping out at 96 mph and averaging 93.3 mph with his four-seam fastball.

Able to pick up his first win in his first start of the year, Sale is slated to pitch again against the Rangers back at Fenway Park next Friday.

While Sale was in the process of putting together his five impressive frames in his season debut, the Red Sox lineup was busy piling it on against Sale’s counterpart in Orioles starter Jorge Lopez.

Right from the jump, the Boston bats provided Sale with a sizable cushion by compiling four runs in their half of the first inning alone.

Enrique Hernandez kicked things off with a leadoff single, while Alex Verdugo got his productive day at the plate started with a single of his own. Lopez then drilled Xander Bogaerts on the wrist to load the bases having yet to record an out.

A wild pitch from Lopez allowed Hernandez to score easily from third for his side’s first run of the contest, and Rafael Devers followed by emptying the bases on a 424-foot three-run shot to right field that left his bat at a sizzling 107.7 mph.

Devers’ team-leading 29th home run of the year gave the Sox a commanding 4-0 lead early on, and they tacked on two more an inning later with Bogaerts and Verdugo each drilling run-scoring hits to make it a 6-0 contest.

Though Baltimore cut the deficit down to four with two runs of their own in their half of third, Boston got one of those runs back an inning later when Devers greeted newly-inserted reliever Paul Fry by lacing a bases-loaded RBI single to left field.

Going up 7-2 on Devers’ base knock, the Sox offense opted to double their run total to that point in their half of the fifth.

There, moments after Sale’s evening had come to a close, Renfroe led the inning off by drawing a leadoff walk off Orioles reliever Adam Plutko, though he did not remain on first base for long since Jarren Duran promptly brought him in on an RBI triple into the triangle in center field.

Another Red Sox rookie got in on the action a few moments later, as Bobby Dalbec stayed hot and crushed a two-run big fly 373 feet over the Green Monster.

Dalbec’s first of two home runs on the day added on to the Sox’ lead and also flipped the lineup back over for Hernandez, who drew another walk, moved up to third on a Verdugo single, and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Bogaerts.

After Devers struck out for the second out of the fifth, J.D. Martinez came through by depositing a three-run blast 424 feet to left-center field.

Martinez’s 22nd homer of the year put Boston up 14-2 and also capped off an explosive seven-run inning.

Dalbec’s second homer of the afternoon in the sixth and Renfroe’s first in the eighth (off Wynns, a catcher) gave the Red Sox a 16-2 lead.

At that point, Hirokazu Sawamura, Hansel Robles, and Austin Davis already provided three scoreless innings of relief out of the Red Sox bullpen to follow up Sale’s impressive performance, and Martin Perez closed things out by shutting the door on the O’s in the ninth to preserve the 16-2 victory for his side.

With the win, the Red Sox have now won two consecutive games for the first since July 25-26 to earn the series victory over the Orioles. They also improved to 68-51 on the season to move 4 1/2 games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Akin

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound as they go for the three-game sweep over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon. The Orioles will counter with fellow southpaw Keegan Akin as they look to prevent that from happening.

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

(Picture of Chris Sale: Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

Red Sox activate Alex Verdugo from paternity leave list, option Tanner Houck to Triple-A Worcester

In addition to activating first baseman/outfielder Kyle Schwarber from the injured list and designating utility man Marwin Gonzalez for assignment, the Red Sox also activated outfielder Alex Verdugo from the paternity leave list ahead of Friday night’s series opener against the Orioles at Fenway Park.

In order to make room for Verdugo on the 26-man roster, right-hander Tanner Houck, as expected, has been optioned to Triple-A Worcester, Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) earlier Friday afternoon.

Verdugo had been held out of action since last Sunday on account of being placed on the paternity list while the Red Sox were in Toronto.

The 25-year-old flew to Los Angeles for the birth of his son, A.J., and returned to Boston on Thursday night, though the Sox were forced to move him to the restricted list since he was away from the club for more than three days.

At the time he left the Red Sox to be with his family in Southern California, Verdugo was heating up at the plate, slashing a scorching .500/.500/.833 with three doubles, one home run, two RBI, and two runs scored over his last five games (20 plate appearances) dating back to August 4.

On the 2021 campaign — his second with the Sox — as a whole, the 6-foot, 192 pound left-handed hitter has posted a .278/.344/.428 slash line to go along with 24 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs, 41 RBI, 66 runs scored, five stolen bases, 38 walks, and 65 strikeouts across 105 total games (439 plate appearances) in which he has played all three outfield positions.

As he makes his return to the Red Sox for the first of three games against the Orioles, Verdugo will be starting in left field and batting out of the two-hole Friday night.

Houck, meanwhile, was optioned to Worcester to make room for Verdugo on the major-league roster, though his stay with the WooSox is expected to be temporary.

This is the case because, as Cora explained on Thursday, Houck will be back with the big-league club “soon.”

Put another way, the 25-year-old hurler made his last start for Boston in Thursday’s loss to the Rays. Assuming he remains on a normal schedule, he would be in line to pitch again on Tuesday, when the Red Sox will be taking on the Yankees in a split doubleheader against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

By optioning Houck to Worcester now, the Sox will be able to call him up as the 27th man for Tuesday’s twin bill in the Bronx and start him on regular rest.

Through eight appearances (six starts) across five stints with Boston so far this season, Houck has pitched to the tune of a 2.93 ERA and 1.84 FIP to go along with 44 strikeouts and just seven walks over 30 2/3 total innings of work dating back to April 3.

Tuesday would mark the third time this year Houck has served as the club’s 27th man for a doubleheader, as he previously started one of two games against the White Sox on April 18 and one of two games against the Blue Jays on August 7.

Update: The roster moves have been made official.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Martín Pérez allows 3 runs in just 1 1/3 innings as Red Sox get blown out by Tigers, 8-1, in series finale

Any good vibes the Red Sox accumulated while snapping their five-game losing streak on Wednesday night were immediately wiped off the board in Thursday’s series finale against the Tigers at Comerica Park.

The Sox fell to the Tigers by a final score of 8-1, dropping the three-game series in the process of getting hit with their sixth loss in their last seven games.

Martin Perez, making his 21st start of the season for Boston, was hit hard in what was his shortest outing of the year to date.

Managing to record just four outs, the veteran left-hander surrendered three runs — all of which were earned — on five hits, zero walks, and one hit batsman to go along with two strikeouts over his 1 1/3 innings of work.

Right out of the gate, Perez was rudely greeted by Detroit, as he served up a leadoff home run to Robbie Grossman to begin things in the very first inning.

More leadoff trouble did Perez in in the second, with Victor Reyes leading off with a triple and Zack Short following with a sacrifice fly to give his side the early 2-0 lead.

After yielding back-to-back singles to the Tigers’ No. 8 and No. 9 hitters, Perez plunked Grossman on a 90 mph cutter that subsequently ended his day much sooner than expected.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 37 (25 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler raised his ERA on the season to 4.77 in what could very well be one of — if not his last start in a Red Sox uniform for the time being.

In relief of Perez, Phillips Valdez got the first call from manager Alex Cora out of the Boston bullpen, and he inherited quite a mess with the bases loaded and two outs to get in the second.

Valdez officially closed the book on Perez’s start by allowing one of those inherited runners to score on a groundout, making it a 3-0 game in favor of Detroit. He did, however, fan Miguel Cabrera to get out of the second inning before tossing two more scoreless frames.

From there, Hansel Robles got roughed up for the first time since being traded to the Red Sox, as he served up a two-run, ground-rule double to Jeimer Candelario in the fifth that was followed by an RBI triple off the bat of Reyes. Both back-breaking hits came with two outs in the inning.

Fellow deadline acquisition Austin Davis did not fare much better over the next two innings, with the lefty issuing a run-scoring base hit to Jonathan Schhop in the sixth as well as an RBI groundout to Reyes in the seventh that put Detroit up 8-0.

Yacksel Rios took over for Davis with two outs in the seventh, and he ended the inning while also striking out one in a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, though it did not make much of a difference in the end.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Tigers rookie left-hander Tarik Skubal, making his first ever start against Boston.

Dealt a 3-0 deficit after just two innings, the Sox really were not able to get much going against Skubal.

They had an early opportunity in their half of the third, with Enrique Hernandez reaching base via a one-out walk and Rafael Devers following with an infield single. Both runners advanced an additional 90 feet on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, but J.D. Martinez was called out on strikes and Xander Bogaerts lined out to extinguish the threat.

All in all, the Boston bats went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position against Skubal and three Detroit relievers, with Alex Verdugo taking responsibility for his side’s lone run of the afternoon with a sacrifice fly that brought in Franchy Cordero from third base.

That cut the Sox’ deficit down to seven runs at 8-1, which would go on to be Thursday’s final score.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 64-46 on the season while dropping to 1 1/2 games back of an idle Tampa Bay Rays team for first place in the American League East.

Next up: On to Canada

The Red Sox will board a flight to Toronto as they head north of the border for the first time in nearly two full years for the start of what has the makings to be a pivotal four-game weekend series against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday night.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for Boston in the opener, and he will be matched up against fellow righty Alek Manoah for Toronto.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Red Sox need to turn things around quickly.

(Picture of Martin Perez: Nic Antaya/Getty Images)

Red Sox swept by Rays following 3-2 defeat; Boston extends losing streak to season-high 4 straight games

After Xander Bogaerts essentially described Sunday night’s series finale against the Rays as a must-win, the Red Sox came up short at Tropicana Field and were unable to avoid a three-game series sweep at the hands of their division rivals by a final score of 3-2.

Nick Pivetta, making his 21st start of the season for the Sox, took a perfect game into the third inning after sitting down each of the first eight batters he faced in order.

A two-out walk to the Rays’ No. 9 hitter in the bottom of the third, however, altered the course for Pivetta, as he saw his no-hit bid come to an end moments later by serving up a two-run home run to Brandon Lowe on a 3-2, 85 mph slider that was grooved down the heart of the plate.

Lowe’s blast put Tampa Bay up 2-0, but the Boston bats were able to cut that deficit in half in the top of the fourth. There, when matched up against tough Rays starter Shane McClanahan, ex-Rays outfielder Hunter Renfroe put a charge into his 16th big fly of the year.

Renfroe turned around a 2-2, 97 mph fastball from McClanahan and deposited it 427 feet to deep center field. The solo shot, which had an exit velocity of 104 mph, made it a 2-1 game in favor of the Rays.

The Sox had a chance to do more damage in the inning, with Christian Vazquez ripping a one-out single and Alex Verdugo advancing him into scoring position by drawing a walk, but McClanahan rallied by getting Kevin Plawecki to fly out and Bobby Dalbec to strike out to escape the jam.

Pivetta, meanwhile, got through a scoreless fourth inning unscathed, but ran into more trouble in the fifth when he yielded a leadoff single to rookie phenom Wander Franco.

A wild pitch from the right-hander allowed Franco to move up to second base, and old friend Manuel Margot took full advantage of that miscue by lacing a run-scoring single to right field to bring in Franco and make it a 3-1 contest in favor of his side.

Following that sequence, Pivetta was able to record the first two outs of the fifth, but his night ended then and there when Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave him the hook with the left-handed hitting Lowe due up next for the Rays.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 76 (54 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler wound up surrendering three earned runs on three hits, one walk, and six strikeouts.

In relief of Pivetta, left-hander Josh Taylor was called upon to face Lowe, and he won that particular matchup by getting him to pop out into foul territory to retire the side.

From there, recently-acquired reliever Hansel Robles made his Red Sox debut in the sixth inning, and he maneuvered his way around a leadoff single by inducing a fielder’s choice out and 3-6-3 double play in his lone scoreless frame of work.

The Rays turned to their bullpen starting in the seventh after McClanahan had given them six strong innings, and Verdugo greeted their first reliever of the night — Drew Rasmussen — by lining a scorching 111 mph double down the right field line to lead things off.

Verdugo moved up to third on a Plawecki fly out and scored on a wild pitch while Kiké Hernández, but even after Hernández himself singled and Rafael Devers drew a walk with two outs, a slumping J.D. Martinez was unable to bring in either runner and instead grounded into a force out to leave things at 3-2 in favor of Tampa Bay.

Following two scoreless innings of relief from Garrett Whitlock in which he scattered three total hits thanks to some stellar defense behind him out of the bullpen, the Red Sox were down to their final three outs going into their half of the ninth inning.

With righty reliever Matt Wisler on the mound for the Rays, Plawecki and Jarren Duran (pinch-hitting for Dalbec) grounded out and punched out, respectively. But Hernández provided a spark by reaching base on a two-out single.

The pinch-running Jonathan Arauz took over for Hernández as the base runner at first base, and Devers was able to advance him all the way up to third on another base hit to center field, leaving things in the hands of Martinez.

Very much in need of a hit, Martinez got ahead in the count against Wisler at 3-1, but swung at an outside pitch that likely would have been a ball before putting an 81 mph slider that was down and away in play.

Unfortunately for Martinez, the ball left his bat at just 71 mph and traveled a mere 226 feet before landing in the glove of Margot for the third and final out of the ninth, thus sealing a 3-2 defeat for the Sox.

In the process of getting swept by the Rays on Sunday night, the Red Sox went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while leaving 10 men on base as a team.

Sunday’s loss also extends Boston’s losing streak to a season-high four consecutive games, dropping them to 63-44 on the year. They now trail Tampa Bay by 1 1/2 games for first place in the American League East after what was undoubtedly a crushing weekend.

That said, the Red Sox will be off on Monday as they prepare to embark upon the next portion of this three-city road trip in Detroit against a surprising 51-57 Tigers team led by Cora’s former colleague in A.J. Hinch.

Boston previously bested Detroit by taking the opening and concluding games of a three-game set at Fenway Park back in early May. The Sox outscored the Tigers, 28-22, in the process of doing so.

This time around, right-hander Garrett Richards will get the ball for Boston in Tuesday’s series opener at Comerica Park. He will be opposed by fellow righty Wily Peralta for Detroit.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Red Sox will be looking to snap this four-game skid.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo and Hunter Renfroe: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Alex Verdugo’s clutch two-run homer lifts Red Sox to 5-4 comeback victory over Blue Jays

Alex Verdugo certainly made his first home run since June 15 count on a hazy Monday night at Fenway Park.

With the Red Sox trailing the Blue Jays, 4-3, in the late stages of the eighth inning, Verdugo came to the plate representing the potential go-ahead run with one out and a runner on first in the form of Hunter Renfroe.

Matched up against Jays reliever Trevor Richards, the left-handed hitter got ahead in the count at 3-1 before taking the fifth pitch he saw — an 85 mph changeup over the outer half of the plate — and depositing it 414 feet over everything in right field.

Verdugo’s 10th homer of the season, which left his bat with an exit velocity of 101.1 mph, was quite a dramatic one, as it allowed Boston to pick up a 5-4 win over Toronto, marking the club’s 33rd comeback victory of the year.

Before Verdugo’s late-game heroics, it was Nick Pivetta who made his 20th start of the season for the Sox on Monday.

As has been the case since right before the All-Star break, Pivetta certainly was not at his best in this one. Over 4 2/3 innings of work, the right-hander surrendered four runs — all of which were earned on six hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts on the night.

Pivetta was gifted an early two-run lead, as Verdugo and Michael Chavis got the Sox on the board first with an RBI single and RBI groundout off Blue Jays starter Thomas Hatch in the bottom of the second, but he gave up that lead by issuing back-to-back run-scoring base hits to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien a half inning later.

Rafael Devers pushed Boston back in front by a run by crushing his 27th big fly of the year — a 392-foot solo shot — off Hatch in the third, and Pivetta nearly got through five innings before running into some two-out trouble.

After giving up a leadoff ground-rule double to George Springer in the fifth, Pivetta responded by recording the first two outs of the inning rather quickly.

Just one out away from stranding a runner in scoring position, Pivetta served up a two-run homer to Bo Bichette on a 1-1, 89 mph changeup on the inner half of the plate that he sent over the Green Monster to put his side up a run at 4-3.

That would turn out be how Pivetta’s night came to a close, as Red Sox manager Alex Cora quickly exited the dugout to give him the hook. The 28-year-old finished with a final pitch count of 92 (59 strikes) in the process of raising his ERA on the season to 4.51.

In relief of Pivetta, Phillips Valdez got the first call out of the Boston bullpen and picked up where he left off on Friday by getting through the fifth, tossing a 1-2-3 sixth, and stranding a pair in a scoreless seventh inning to keep the deficit at just one run.

From there, Adam Ottavino maneuvered his way around a one-out double in an otherwise clean eighth inning, setting up the Red Sox lineup to strike in their half of the frame.

By drawing a one-out walk off Richards, Renfroe broke up a string of nine straight Red Sox hitters to be retired by Blue Jays relievers, and Verdugo followed by delivering in the clutch with his two-run, go-ahead homer.

Given a one-run lead to protect all of the sudden, Red Sox closer Matt Barnes was deployed for the ninth and slammed the door on the Jays to notch his 22nd second save of the season as well as a 5-4 victory for his side.

With the win, the Sox improve to 62-39 on the year while also moving to 1 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Ray vs. Richards

Tuesday’s starting pitching matchup between the Blue Jays and Red Sox will feature a pair of veteran hurlers going at it, with left-hander Robbie Ray toeing the rubber for Toronto and right-hander Garrett Richards will be doing the same for Boston.

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

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Red Sox storm back with 5-run 8th inning to take series from Yankees in dramatic 5-4 victory

After figuratively getting their hearts ripped out in a 4-3 loss on Saturday, it appeared as though the Red Sox were well on their way to dropping their second straight to the Yankees at Fenway Park on Sunday.

Yankees starter Domingo German absolutely dominated the Sox lineup through the first seven innings of Sunday’s contest, as he failed to yield a single hit while only allowing a pair of base runners on a walk and passed ball on a strikeout.

In addition to not being able to get anything done offensively, Boston found themselves in a four-run hole through the first 7 1/2 innings in their series finale against New York.

Red Sox starter Martin Perez had pitched well enough opposite German, giving up three runs on six hits, two walks, and six strikeouts over six solid innings of work thanks to a pair of double plays.

In relief of Perez, however, Yacksel Rios came on in the seventh and struggled mightily with his control, as he walked two batters and plunked another to load the bases before Josh Taylor was deployed and got through the rest of the innins unscathed.

Brandon Workman, meanwhile, saw the Yankees’ three-run lead increase to four in the eighth by serving up a leadoff triple to Gary Sanchez that was followed by an RBI single off the bat of Gleyber Torres.

So, there the Red Sox were, trailing by four runs with just nine more outs to work with against an opposing pitcher they had yet to record a hit off of.

Somehow, someway, Boston’s fortunes changed in their half of the eighth, as Alex Verdugo led things off with a hard-hit double to right field that saw German’s no-hit bid end and his day subsequently come to a close.

Matched up against Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga now, Hunter Renfroe put an end to New York’s attempt at a shutout, as he laced another line-drive double that brought in Verdugo from second to make it a 4-1 game.

Christian Vazquez kept the line moving, plating Renfroe on an RBI single to right field and moving into scoring position on another base hit courtesy of Franchy Cordero.

Following a brief mound visit as the Boston lineup flipped back over, Kiké Hernández got ahead in the count against Loaisiga at 2-0 and took full advantage of that by ripping a run-scoring double down the left field line that drove in Vazquez, cutting the deficit down to one run at 4-3.

With the Yankees opting to go with left-hander Zack Britton out of the bullpen in place of Loaisiga, Red Sox manager Alex Cora countered by pinch-hitting Kevin Plawecki for the left-handed hitting Jarren Duran.

Plawecki answered the call accordingly, scoring Cordero from third on a game-tying RBI groundout that also advanced Hernández up to third base, though he did not stay there long.

Yes, with a sacrifice fly hit just deep enough to right field, Xander Bogaerts was able to drive in a sliding Hernández from third to give his side their first lead of the afternoon at 5-4.

Given the fact that there was now a one-run lead to protect, Matt Barnes got the call for the ninth inning and promptly slammed the door on the Yankees to seal the comeback 5-4 victory for the Red Sox as well as his 21st save of the season.

With the win, their 32nd of the come-from-behind variety, the Red Sox secured a series victory and the season series with the Yankees to improve to 61-39 on the season. They also regained a one-game lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Bring on the Blue Jays

The Red Sox will next welcome the Blue Jays into town for a four-game series that begins on Monday night.

Canadian-born right-hander Nick Pivetta is slated to get the ball for Boston in the opener, while Toronto has yet to name a starter.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Kiké Hernández and Rafael Devers: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox shake up lineup ahead of series opener against Blue Jays in Buffalo

The Red Sox have scored a grand total of six runs over their last 24 innings since returning from the All-Star break, and those offensive struggles have prompted manager Alex Cora to shake up his lineup ahead of a three-game series against the Blue Jays in Buffalo that begins on Monday night.

While Kiké Hernández will remain in the leadoff spot for Monday’s series opener, Jarren Duran has been bumped up to the No. 2 spot, resulting in Alex Verdugo dropping down to sixth in the order.

Verdugo, who has hit second in all 82 of his previous starts this season, has cooled off at the plate as of late. The 25-year-old outfielder comes into play Monday sporting an unsightly .218/.315/.269 slash line to go along with just four extra-base hits (all doubles) over his last 20 games (89 plate appearances) dating back to June 22).

Duran, meanwhile, has batted sixth and seventh in his first two starts with the Red Sox after getting called up from Triple-A Worcester on Friday. The speedy outfield prospect hit leadoff 44 times and and third two times for the WooSox, but never hit out of the two-hole.

With the lineup maneuvering that essentially sees Duran and Verdugo switch places, the most dangerous part of Boston’s order has shifted as well, with Xander Bogaerts batting third, Rafael Devers batting cleanup, and J.D. Martinez batting fifth.

Bogaerts will hit out of the three-hole for just the eighth time this season, as he has primarily been used by Cora out of the cleanup spot. In his previous seven starts as the Sox’ No. 3 hitter, the 28-year-0ld went 7-for-25 (.280) at the plate with one double, three RBI, four runs scored, six walks, and six strikeouts.

Devers will bat cleanup for just the 12th time this season, as he has primarily been used as the Red Sox’ No. 5 hitter behind Martinez and Bogaerts. The 24-year-old has batted .286/.362/.452 as Boston’s cleanup hitter so far in 2021.

Martinez will bat fifth for the very first time this season after the vast majority of his plate appearances to this point in the season have come as the Sox’ cleanup hitter.

With Duran in center and Martinez serving as designated hitter, Verdugo — batting sixth — will get the start in left field, while Hunter Renfroe — batting seventh — will get the start in right field.

Danny Santana, who is expected to be activated from the 10-day injured list on Monday after missing nearly two weeks with a left quadriceps strain, is slated to hit seventh and start at first base.

Kevin Plawecki will round out the Red Sox lineup, as he gets the start behind the plate in place of a banged-up Christian Vazquez. He will be catching right-hander Nick Pivetta, who will be making his 19th start of the season for Boston.

The Blue Jays, in turn, will send fellow righty Ross Stripling to the mound for Monday’s series-opening contest at Sahlen Field.

Stripling, 31, has surrendered 10 earned runs on 13 hits (four home runs), two walks, and nine strikeouts in his previous two starts against the Red Sox this season, though this will be his first against them in Buffalo.

First pitch between the Red Sox (56-38) and Blue Jays (48-42) Monday is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Boston is looking to halt a two-game losing streak.

(Picture of Alex Cora: Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ rain-shortened 3-1 loss to Yankees overshadowed by fan throwing baseball at Alex Verdugo

Well, after two days of waiting, Jarren Duran’s highly-anticipated major-league debut was certainly an eventful one.

The Red Sox ultimately fell to the Yankees by a final score of 3-1 in a rain-shortened, six-inning contest at Yankee Stadium on Saturday night, but not before two rain delays, two ejections, one player getting hit in the back by a baseball thrown by a fan, and a period of time where baseball was being played in an absolute downpour.

Still, Boston saw their unbeaten run against their division rivals come to a close on Saturday, as they are now 7-1 this year when facing off against New York.

Nathan Eovaldi made his 19th start of the season for the Sox, and he was once again solid while going up against his former team.

Over five strong innings of work, the veteran right-hander yielded just one earned run on two hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with seven strikeouts on the night.

While Eovaldi was rolling early on, the Red Sox lineup backed him up in their half of the second inning.

There, with one out and the bases empty, Duran stepped up to the plate for the very first time in his big-league career with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on the mound waiting for him.

On the very first pitch he saw from Cole, a 95 mph fastball on the lower half of the plate, Duran ripped a line-drive single to center field for his first career hit.

The speedy outfield prospect would not be on first base for long though, as he advanced to second on a groundout before coming in to score on an RBI single off the bat of Christian Arroyo that gave the Red Sox their first lead of the night at 1-0.

From there, Eovaldi continued to sit down Yankees hitters left and right — and even took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before yielding a two-out double to Greg Allen to break up the no-hit bid.

Allen, known for his speed, was driven in on a game-tying RBI base knock from D.J. LeMahieu moments later, which resulted in Eovaldi’s outing coming to a close as soon as he recorded the final out of the fifth.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 94 (66 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler did not factor into Saturday’s decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season down to 3.57. His next start should come against this same Yankees team back at Fenway Park next Friday.

Venable, Plawecki ejected for arguing strikes

In the top half of the sixth, the Red Sox failed to score off Cole, though they certainly had a golden opportunity to do so.

A two-out walk drawn by Rafael Devers followed by a Hunter Renfroe single and Duran free pass filled the bases for Christian Vazquez, who fell behind in the count at 0-2 before offering a half-hearted swing on a slider that was well outside.

While the argument can be made that Vazquez did not break the plane in his swing attempt, the veteran backstop was called out on strikes anyway, prompting a bit of an eruption from the Red Sox dugout in protest of the call.

Because of said reaction, bench coach Will Venable and backup catcher Kevin Plawecki were ejected from the contest, which — in theory — left the Red Sox with only one catcher.

Chaos in the bottom of the sixth

As Hirokazu Sawamura prepared to take over Eovaldi out of the Red Sox bullpen, rain continued to pour in the Bronx-area.

Before a pitch could even be thrown in the sixth inning, pandemonium ensued when a Yankees fan in the left field bleachers threw a baseball at Alex Verdugo that struck the outfielder on the back.

That sequence, which came as a result of Verdugo attempting to throw the ball he was playing catch with to a Red Sox fan in the stands, led Verdugo to become visibly upset, as he began to charge towards the left field wall in search of the fan who hit him.

Duran and some Red Sox coaches were able to hold Verdugo back, but manager Alex Cora opted to pull his team off the field until things cooled down a bit.

By the time Boston had retaken the field and Sawamura was ready to go, Gary Sanchez greeted the right-handed reliever by crushing a solo home run that just snuck over the right field fence to give New York a 2-1 edge.

Gleyber Torres followed suit by clubbing another solo shot to right field, and the Yankees went up 3-1 over the Red Sox because of it.

Left-hander Josh Taylor was deployed after Sawamura gave up his second homer of the night, and he was able to escape the sixth without giving anything else up.

At that point, though, the volume at which the rain was falling from the sky truly began to pick up, and that led to the tarp coming on the field and another rain delay.

Approximately 52 minutes into said rain delay, the game was called, resulting in a 3-1 win for the Yankees in six innings.

With the loss, the Red Sox drop to 56-37 on the season, though they remain 1 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Duran’s debut

In his major-league debut, Duran — starting in center field and batting out of the six-hole — went 1-for-2 with a single, a walk, a strikeout, and one run scored.

Next up: Perez vs. Taillon

The Red Sox will go for the series win over the Yankees in the rubber match of this three-game set on Sunday night.

Left-hander Martin Perez will get the ball for Boston in the finale, while right-hander Jameson Taillon will do the same for New York.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. eastern time on ESPN.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo named All-Star finalists

Four Red Sox have advanced into the final stage of All-Star voting, Major League Baseball announced earlier Sunday afternoon.

Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo were all named as American League All-Star finalists, which means they all move onto the next phase of voting and all have a chance to start in this season’s Midsummer Classic in Denver.

Bogaerts came into Sunday ranking first among qualified American League shortstops in batting average (.327), second in on-base percentage (.399), first in slugging percentage (.554), second in weighted on-base average (.401), second in weighted runs created plus (153), and second in fWAR (3.6), per FanGraphs.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, the 28-year-old led all American League shortstops in total votes with 1,570,467.

Toronto’s Bo Bichette and Houston’s Carlos Correa finished second and third behind Bogaerts and join the Red Sox star as All-Star finalists.

Devers, meanwhile, also led all American League third basemen in votes, tallying 1,569,381 of them to finish ahead of Houston’s Alex Bregman and Chicago’s Yoan Moncada.

As of Sunday morning, the 24-year-old slugger was leading qualified AL third basemen in hits (76), doubles (23), home runs (18), runs scored (51), runs driven (60), slugging percentage (.564), OPS (.908), isolated power (.287), wOBA (.379), and wRC+ (139).

Martinez received 755,663 votes to finish second among American League designated hitters, trailing only Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani while finishing ahead of Yordan Alvarez of the Astros.

Verdugo on the other hand, just made the cut, as the 25-year-old finished eighth among nine AL outfield finalists in phase one of voting by receiving 702,560 votes.

With finalists determined for each defensive position (excluding pitcher) in both leagues, the second phase of All-Star voting will commence at 12 pm eastern time on Monday. That will last until 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, at which point starters will be announced later that night on ESPN.

Per MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, the rest of the 2021 All-Star rosters will be unveiled on July 4, with the 91st installment of the MLB All-Star Game taking place at Coors Field on July 13.

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

Alex Verdugo comes through with game-winning 3-run homer as Red Sox hold off Braves, 10-8

Alex Cora’s Red Sox certainly seem to have a flair for the dramatic, especially when it comes to playing games against the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Brandon Phillips provided the Sox with one of their standout moments in 2018 by crushing a game-winning homer in September of that season. On Tuesday, Alex Verdugo may have done the same for the 2021 Red Sox.

With two outs in the top of the eighth and runners at second and third in what was at the time a 7-7 contest, Verdugo came through in the clutch yet again.

On a 2-0, 86 mph changeup at the top of the zone from Braves reliever Chris Martin, Verdugo demolished a go-ahead, three-run home run 409 feet to left-center field.

While celebrating his ninth homer of the year by pounding chest and pointing to his teammates in the visitor’s dugout, Verdugo put the Sox up. 10-7 late.

The fact that the Red Sox reached such a crucial point on Tuesday was somewhat surprising when considering they had leads of 5-0 and 7-4 over Atlanta, but the late-game dramatics were necessary nonetheless.

Devers notches 500th career hit in first inning

Matched up against Braves rookie left-hander Tucker Davidson to begin things on Tuesday, Rafael Devers got the scoring started for the Sox by reaching a significant career milestone.

Coming into the day with 499 career hits under his belt, Devers certainly made No. 500 count when he took Davidson 435 feet deep to dead center field for a three-run home run that got his side on the board first.

Hunter Renfroe followed with a big fly of his own, and Devers tacked on another on an RBI single in the second to make it a 5-0 contest early.

Rodriguez’s struggles continue

Eduardo Rodriguez, making his 13th start of the season for Boston, was rewarded for tossing two scoreless innings to begin his outing by being given a five-run lead to work with going into the third.

Alas, over his next two frames of work, Rodriguez saw that five-run edge trimmed down to just one as he surrendered a total of four runs on an RBI single from Freddie Freeman in the third and a pair of run-scoring doubles from Abraham Almonte and Ronald Acuna Jr. in the fourth.

The left-hander was able to punch out Freeman to limit any further damage, but that would mark the end of his outing since he had already given up four runs on six hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts over four innings.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 80 (53 strikes), Rodriguez raised his ERA on the season to 6.21 while getting hit with the no-decision. The 28-year-old’s next start should come against the Rays in Tampa Bay next Tuesday.

Bogaerts joins in on the home run action

The Red Sox were able to add to their 5-4 lead in their half of the fifth inning, when Xander Bogaerts deposited a solo shot to left field and Hunter Renfroe later drove in Rafael Devers on a run-scoring single off Braves reliever Edgar Santana.

Costly errors lead to three Braves runs

Garrett Whitlock was the first reliever the Sox turned to on Tuesday, and he delivered by tossing a scoreless fifth inning in addition to picking up his first career big-league hit in the top of the sixth.

Called back out for the bottom half of that frame, Whitlock walked the first batter he faced in Abraham Almonte before falling victim to some sloppy defense behind him, though he was not alone in that respect.

An Enrique Hernandez fielding error and Hunter Renfroe throwing error led to one Braves run crossing the board. 7-5.

After getting the first out of the sixth, Whitlock was replaced by left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez, who subsequently saw Atlanta’s sixth run of the night come into score on a passed ball that eluded Christian Vazquez behind the plate.

That same passed ball allowed Guillermo Heredia to advance to third base, and he came into score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Freddie Freeman, which knotted things back up at seven runs apiece.

Eighth-inning rally

Following a scoreless frame courtesy of Hirokazu Sawamura in the seventh, Christian Vazquez and Bobby Dalbec led off their half of the eighth with a pair of back-to-back singles off Chris Martin.

Both runners advanced into scoring position on a well-placed bunt from the pinch-hitting Marwin Gonzalez, which paved the way for Alex Verdugo to deliver the moment of the night: a go-ahead, game-winning three-run blast.

Ottavino and Barnes close it out

Adam Ottavino took over in the bottom half of the eighth, and he needed all of 14 pitches to toss yet an shutout inning.

Sox closer Matt Barnes, meanwhile, made things interesting by yielding a run, but he was ultimately able to hold the Braves off to preserve the 10-8 victory as well as his 15th save of the year.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 41-27 on the season and move to two games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Richards vs. Anderson

The Red Sox will send right-hander Garrett Richards to the mound as they go for the quick two-game sweep over the Braves on Wednesday.

The Braves will send fellow righty Ian Anderson to the hill as they look to prevent that from happening.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)