Tag: Baseball

Red Sox spoil Wander Franco’s debut, battle back to defeat Rays, 9-5, in 11 innings; Hunter Renfroe homers, collects 3 RBI against former team

The Red Sox kicked off one of the most crucial stretches of their season with an action-packed, drama-filled 9-5 victory in 11 innings over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

Eduardo Rodriguez made his 14th start of the year for Boston and was immediately the recipient of some poor defense behind him.

Rafael Devers misplayed a groundball that allowed leadoff man Yandy Diaz to reach base on a fielding error to begin things in the first inning, while a Xander Bogaerts fielding error with the bases loaded resulted in two more Rays runs crossing the plate on what was originally a Francisco Mejia RBI single.

Rodriguez was able to settle in for a bit, however, and the Red Sox lineup backed him up by putting together a five-run rally in their half of the third.

Matched up against reliever Ryan Yarbrough, J.D. Martinez cleared the bases on a two-run double that was followed by a Bogaerts single, a Devers sacrifice fly, and a two-run home run off the bat off ex-Rays outfielder Hunter Renfroe — his ninth homer of the season.

With a brand new 5-2 lead to work with, Rodriguez strung together two more scoreless frames before running into more trouble in the fifth. There, the left-hander set the tone in a negative way by plunking the first batter he faced in Kevin Kiermaier.

A groundball single from Diaz advanced Kiermaier into scoring position and brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Wander Franco, the consensus top prospect in all of baseball who was making his big-league debut for Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

After drawing a walk in the first inning and flying out in the third inning, Franco certainly made this third at-bat of the night count, as he deposited a game-tying three-run home run to deep left field off a slider at his knees from Rodriguez.

Having his seen his side’s three-run lead disappear, Rodriguez did escape the fifth with some help from Christian Vazquez nabbing a runner at second and wrapped up his night by retiring the final three hitters he faced in the sixth to end things on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 90 (57 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler winds up allowing six runs — three of which were earned — on seven hits, one walk, one hit batsman, and seven strikeouts in the process of picking up the no-decision. His next start should come against the Yankees back at Fenway Park on Sunday.

By the time Rodriguez retired the final out of the sixth to send this contest to the seventh inning, the Red Sox offense had gone completely silent after putting up five runs in the third and remained that way for quite a while.

In the meantime, the Red Sox bullpen went to work with Josh Taylor tossing yet another scoreless inning of relief in the seventh, Adam Ottavino dancing his way around trouble in the eighth, and Matt Barnes preserving a 5-5 stalemate in the ninth, but not before issuing a leadoff walk to the potential winning run in Kiermaier and getting out of it on a force out at second base that Kiermaier interfered with since he intentionally knocked the ball out of Enrique Hernandez’s glove while advancing towards second.

Hirokazu Sawamura took over in the 10th, got the first two outs thanks to a bizarre base running decision from Brett Phillips, and made way for Darwinzon Hernandez, who got Brandon Lowe to ground out to second to retire the side.

After an eight-inning hiatus, the Boston bats came to life in the 11th, with catching prospect Connor Wong making his major-league debut pinch-running for Martinez at second base to begin the inning.

Wong would wind up playing a key role in the Sox’ comeback, as he advanced to third on a Bogaerts single and came into score the go-ahead run on another two-run double courtesy of Devers off Rays righty Pete Fairbanks.

Renfroe tacked on a much-needed insurance run by plating Devers on a hard-hit single to pick up his third RBI of the night, while Enrique Hernandez put his side up 9-5 with a sacrifice fly that scored Renfroe from third.

Darwinzon Hernandez remained in the game to close things out, and he did just that by tossing a 1-2-3 11th inning to notch his second win of the season as well as a 9-5 victory for the Sox.

With the win, their fourth of this current eight-game road trip, the Red Sox improve to 44-29 on the year while increasing their lead over the Rays, who have now dropped seven straight, for first place in the American League East to 1 1/2 games.

Some notes from the Red Sox’ 25th come-from-behind win of the season:

From NESN’s Tom Caron:

From Stats by STATS:

From Red Sox Notes:

Next up: Richards vs. Hill

The Red Sox will send right-hander Garrett Richards as they go for the series win over the Rays on Wednesday night.

The Rays will counter with veteran left-hander, former Sox hurler, and Milton, Mass. native Rich Hill as they look to avoid their eighth straight defeat.

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

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Hunter Renfroe: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

It certainly looks like the Red Sox would like to see Jack Leiter fall to them at No. 4 in next month’s draft

The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft may still be under three weeks away, but it certainly looks like the Red Sox have their sights set on a specific prospect.

After finishing with the fourth-worst record in baseball last year, Boston owns the No. 4 pick in next month’s draft, putting them in a rare spot to add a top-five talent for the first time since 1967 when they had the third overall selection.

In the time since the 2021 high school and college baseball seasons began in the spring, the Sox have been linked to a number of elite amateur prospects, including a pair of right-handers from the esteemed Vanderbilt University in Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter.

There have been moments these past few months where it seemed as though Rocker and Leiter could be the first two players taken off the board, but recently, Leiter in particular has been heavily linked to the No. 4 pick in this summer’s draft.

Last Monday, in their most recent mock draft, FanGraphs had Leiter falling to the Red Sox at No. 4, with former Astros executive Kevin Goldstein writing: “Word is Leiter is trying to price himself down to Boston and wants to land there. Word is that Boston would love that as well. Thus, a match made in heaven.”

Last Wednesday, in their most recent mock draft, MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo also had the Sox taking Leiter with their top pick. The same can be said for ESPN’s latest mock as well.

On Monday night, Vanderbilt took on North Carolina State in the second round of the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., with Leiter toeing the rubber for the Commodores.

Since the Red Sox had Monday off before opening up a three-game series against the Rays in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, manager Alex Cora had time to tune into ESPN2 to catch some of the highly-anticipated matchup in between catching up on the latest MLB action.

While Cora said he was mainly watching the game since his brother, Joey, attended Vanderbilt, he also caught a glimpse of Leiter’s outing and was asked Tuesday to compare the young righty to a former big-leaguer.

His choice? Former Astros ace right-hander Roy Oswalt, a veteran of 13 major-league seasons.

“Good fastball. I don’t know. I hate to compare guys,” Cora said of Leiter when speaking with reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo). “Maybe a stronger version of Roy Oswalt. Short — but he’s a little bit stronger — with a good fastball and a good breaking ball.”

Leiter, who turned 21 in April, allowed just one run while scattering four hits and one walk to go along with 15 strikeouts over eight dominant innings (123 pitches) on Monday night, though the ‘Dores ultimately fell to the Wolfpack by a final score of 1-0.

Monday’s start could be Leiter’s last for Vanderbilt, as the Commodores will face off against Stanford in an elimination game on Wednesday.

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The son of two-time All-Star Al Leiter, the 6-foot-1, 205 pound hurler is currently regarded by Baseball America as the third-ranked prospect in this year’s draft class, ranking first among amateur pitchers and college players in general.

In 17 regular and postseason starts for Vandy this year, the sophomore has posted a 2.08 ERA, a 0.84 WHIP, and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 171:42 over 104 total innings pitched.

Per his Baseball America scouting report, Leiter operates with a five-pitch mix that consists of a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a curveball, a slider, and a changeup.

“This spring, Leiter has primarily worked with a fastball, curveball, slider combination,” the righty’s scouting report reads. “His fastball has been up to 98 mph, but averages 93-95 mph, with excellent carry that generates plenty of whiffs in the zone and above it. Teams love the metrics on Leiter’s fastball, and the combination of his size, extension and carry on the pitch allow it to play up, even when he’s sitting in the 90-93 mph range. His curveball is his best secondary offering now, an upper-70s, 12-to-6 downer that he lands consistently in the zone when he wants but can also bury for a put-away pitch.

“Leiter throws a slider in the low 80s that has less depth but might wind up being a better out-of-the-zone chase offering and he also infrequently throws a mid-80s changeup that scouts loved out of high school and could become an above-average secondary with more reps. Durability was the one concern scouts had with Leiter, and while he did post most weeks throughout the season, he skipped one start to manage fatigue and at times was a bit homer-prone. While Leiter might not project as an ace, scouts see a pitcher who should fit in a No. 2 or No. 3 role and pitch in the big leagues for a long time.”

(Picture of Jack Leiter: George Walker IV/Tennessean.com 

How Red Sox plan on using rookie catcher Connor Wong in prospect’s first big-league stint

With Kevin Plawecki hitting the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain, the Red Sox recalled top catching prospect Connor Wong from Triple-A Worcester to fill in for the veteran backstop for the time being.

While Wong is not in Boston’s starting lineup for Tuesday night’s series opener against the Rays at Tropicana Field, the Sox are planning on using the young catcher while he is up with the big-league club.

As a matter of fact, Wong will make his first start behind the plate in Sunday’s series finale against the Yankees at Fenway Park, according to Red Sox manager Alex Cora — though he could see some playing time in the infield before then considering he has professional experience at both second and third base.

“We’ll use him just like Kevin [Plawecki],” Cora said of Wong. “The plan is for him to start on Sunday… Where we’re at, Christian [Arroyo], as you know, is banged up. We’ll stay away from him today, most likely. In case of an emergency, we’ll move him out there. He can pinch-run, he’s a right-handed bat. As of now, just kind of like Kevin. Use him that way.”

Wong, who turned 25 last month, was one of three players (Alex Verdugo and Jeter Downs being the other two) the Red Sox acquired from the Dodgers as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to Los Angeles last February.

Although he did not get the chance to display his skills in a truly competitive environment last year on account of the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the 2020 minor-league season, Wong did impress at the alternate training site, and he carried that over into his second big-league camp with the Sox this spring after being added to the club’s 40-man roster this past November.

“I do believe the people that saw him last year and the people that are working with him this year, they’re very comfortable with him. I’m very comfortable,” said Cora. “We talked a little bit in spring training. There’s just something about him. There’s a calm behind the plate. There’s not a lot of emotion, he just goes about his business. He’s a good athlete. His at-bats in spring training, he controlled the strike zone, which is very important. We’re very pleased with his progress.”

A former third-round draft selection of the Dodgers out of the University of Houston in 2017, the 6-foot-1, 181 pound backstop opened the 2021 minor-league season with Triple-A Pawtucket having only played 40 career games above the High-A level.

Due to a hamstring injury suffered in early May, however, Wong has been limited to just 16 games with the WooSox and is only slashing .148/.188/.245 with three doubles, one home run, seven RBI, five runs scored, three walks, and 19 strikeouts over his first 64 plate appearances at Triple-A. Those offensive struggles do not seem to concern Cora, though.

“He hasn’t swung the bat well since he came off the IL, but that doesn’t matter,” Cora said. “We like the player, we know what we can do. And hopefully here, working with [hitting coach Tim Hyers and assistant hitting coach Peter Fatse] — obviously with the feedback from [WooSox hitting coach Rich Gedman] down there — just working on the things that he has to work, and he’ll put together a good at-bat whenever we need him.”

Wong will become the second player in Red Sox history to don the No. 74, joining former left-hander Mike Kickham in doing so.

(Picture of Connor Wong: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox ace Chris Sale slated to face live hitters at Fenway Park this weekend

Red Sox ace Chris Sale is slated to take another important step on his road back from Tommy John surgery.

The left-hander is slated to face live hitters for the first time since undergoing the procedure this coming Saturday at Fenway Park, Sox manager Alex Cora announced prior to Tuesday’s game against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Sale, who was with the team during their latest homestand earlier this month, has been getting work in with some of the club’s affiliates since they hit the road last Monday.

On Friday, the 32-year-old hurler tossed a 45-pitch bullpen session at Triple-A Worcester’s Polar Park. On Tuesday, he threw another 45 pitches during a bullpen session on the mound at Double-A Portland’s Hadlock Field.

Per the Portland Press Herald’s Kevin Thomas, Sale threw to hitters, though they were not swinging, while mixing in all his pitches and topping out at 92 mph with his fastball over the course of two simulated innings.

Sale underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020 — his 31st birthday — so it goes without saying that the seven-time All-Star is inching closer and closer towards a rehab assignment, with him facing live hitters for the first time in well over a year being the next milestone to reach in this arduous process.

“He’s in a good position,” Cora said of Sale. “He feels great. I’ll get the feedback probably later on. I’ll talk to him tomorrow morning, and we’ll keep moving forward.”

(Picture of Chris Sale: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox call up top catching prospect Connor Wong from Triple-A Worcester, place Kevin Plawecki on injured list with left hamstring strain

Before opening up a three-game series against the Rays in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night, the Red Sox placed backup catcher Kevin Plawecki on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.

In a corresponding move, catching prospect Connor Wong has been called up from Triple-A Worcester, the team announced earlier Tuesday afternoon.

Plawecki suffered a hamstring strain in the third inning of Sunday’s loss to the Royals after chasing down an errant throw from center fielder Enrique Hernandez.

The 30-year-old backstop was able to remain in the game for the remainder of the inning, but was pinch-hit for by Christian Vazquez in Boston’s half of the fourth before later being diagnosed with left hamstring tightness.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora did make it seem as though Plawecki could be headed towards a stint on the injured list when speaking with reporters following Sunday’s contest, and that winds up being the case.

Since his stay on the IL was backdated to Monday, the earliest Plawecki could be activated is Thursday, July 1, when the Sox are slated to take on the Royals at Fenway Park.

As of this moment, the amount of time Plawecki will need to miss while recovering from his hamstring injury is unknown.

Wong, meanwhile, is one of three players the Red Sox acquired from the Dodgers last February in the blockbuster trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to Los Angeles.

A former third-round pick of the Dodgers out of the University of Houston in 2017, the 25-year-old opened the 2021 minor-league season with Triple-A Worcester as the No. 2 catching prospect in Boston’s farm system according to Baseball America.

Due to a hamstring injury, however, Wong has been limited to just 16 games with the WooSox thus far and has posted a .148/.188/.245 slash line to go along with three doubles, one home run, seven RBI, five runs scored, three walks, and 19 strikeouts over his first 64 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He has also spent some time on the Sox’ taxi squad.

Outside of Vazquez and Plawecki, the 6-foot-1, 181 pound backstop is one of two catchers on Boston’s 40-man roster alongside fellow prospect Ronaldo Hernandez, who is currently at Double-A Portland.

Because of this, it would appear that the Red Sox ultimately opted to go with Wong as opposed to a veteran with big-league experience — such as Chris Herrmann or Jett Bandy — in place of Plawecki so they would not need to make any additional room on their 40-man roster.

The expectation seems to be that Wong will be up with the Sox only for as long as Plawecki is on the injured list.

MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo was the first to report that the Red Sox would be calling up Wong and placing Plawecki on the IL.

(Picture of Connor Wong: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Red Sox injuries: Christian Arroyo (bone bruise), Kevin Plawecki (hamstring tightness) removed from Sunday’s series finale against Royals

The Red Sox received two potentially serious blows to their roster makeup in the process of falling to the Royals by a final score of 7-3 at Kauffmann Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

In the bottom of the fifth inning on a steamy day in Kansas City, Christian Arroyo needed to be removed from the game after colliding with center fielder Kiké Hernández while the two were going after a fly ball off the bat of Hunter Dozier that wound up going for a double.

In the process of trying to make an over-the-shoulder catch with his back towards the infield, the second baseman inadvertently bumped knees with Hernandez as he slid into the outfield grass.

As a result of the contact he made with Hernandez, Arroyo — who was in visible pain and seemingly could not put a ton of weight on his right knee — needed to be taken out and was replaced by Marwin Gonzalez at second base for the remainder of the contest.

Later diagnosed with a right shin bone bruise, X-rays on the 26-year-old’s knee did come back negative.

“Christian is sore,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith). “It’s right below the patellar. So he’ll be sore for a little bit. He had X-rays. Everything’s good. They moved his knee around. It seems like he’ll be OK. Obviously let’s see how it goes on the plane and when we get to Tampa.”

As noted by The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, the Sox were planning on batting Arroyo leadoff for all three of their upcoming games against the Rays this week with left-handers on the mound for Tampa Bay, so this bone bruise certainly puts those plans in jeopardy.

Hernandez, meanwhile, was able to remain in the game after the fifth-inning collision, and he later described what happened on the play from his point of view.

“The collision happened after the ball dropped. I was coming in for the ball. He was still going back for the ball,” he said. “I wasn’t able to get out of the way because I was trying to keep up with the ball. We just happened to hit each other.”

Plawecki exits in fourth inning

Two innings before the collision that forced Arroyo out of this contest early, Hernandez was also somewhat involved in another Red Sox injury.

With one out and a runner at second base in the bottom half of the third, Hernandez fielded a line-drive single off the bat of Salvador Perez and attempted to gun down the runner — Whit Merrifield — at home.

Hernandez’s throw was errant, however, and it forced backup catcher Kevin Plawecki to leave his post and chase after the ball before it hit the backstop. He came up limping in the process of doing so.

Able to remain in the game for the remainder of the inning, Plawecki was ultimately pinch-hit for by Christian Vazquez in the top half of the fourth and was later ruled out with left hamstring tightness.

Based off what Cora told reporters (including The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham) during his postgame media availability, it seems as though the Sox are optimistic that Arroyo will avoid a stint on the injured list; though the same cannot be said for Plawecki.

“With Kevin, we’ll wait a little bit,” Cora said of the 30-year-old backstop. “He wanted to grind it out. We’ll know more [Monday]. I talked to [athletic trainer] Brandon [Henry] and he feels like with that one, we should wait to see where we’re at during the week.”

The Red Sox have Monday off as they prepare to open a three-game series against the Rays in St. Petersburg.

If Plawecki’s status is still uncertain after that, then it’s likely Boston would need to place him on the injured list and, in turn, call up another catcher.

Besides Vazquez and Plawecki, prospects Connor Wong and Ronaldo Hernandez are the only other catchers on the Sox’ 40-man roster and neither have any big-league experience.

Veterans with major-league experience such as Chris Herrmann and Jett Bandy, however, are currently playing for the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, so that would likely be the move.

That being said, neither Bandy nor Herrmann are currently on Boston’s 40-man roster, so a corresponding transaction would need to be made in order for one of the two to be added to the big-league roster.

(Picture of Alex Cora and Christian Arroyo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Wander Franco, baseball’s top prospect, to be called up by Rays ahead of this week’s series against Red Sox

The top prospect in baseball will most likely be making his major-league debut against the Red Sox this week.

That’s right, the Tampa Bay Rays will be calling up infield prospect Wander Franco ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Sox at Tropicana Field, according to the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin.

Franco, 20, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 1 prospect in Major League Baseball and has been for the last two seasons.

Originally signing with the Rays out of the Dominican Republic for $3.85 million in the early stages of the 2017 international signing period, the switch-hitting infielder has since emerged as one of the game’s top young talents while being compared to the likes of the Indians’ Jose Ramirez and Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

This season alone, Franco has lit it up with Triple-A Durham, slashing .315/.367/.586 with 11 doubles, six triples, seven home runs, 35 RBI, 30 runs scored, 12 walks, 21 strikeouts, and five stolen bases over 39 games played (177 plate appearances).

Listed at 5-foot-10 and 190 pounds, Franco is a natural shortstop, but has also seen time at both second and third base with Durham this year and is likely to move around the infield when he joins the Rays as well.

Per his Baseball America scouting report, Franco “is an exceptionally advanced hitter for his age. The switch-hitter’s compact, level stroke and above-average bat speed from both sides of the plate grant him a controlled aggression most young hitters can’t match. His bat control allows him to make consistent hard contact while rarely striking out. He also has an innate ability to adjust his swing, leaving few holes for pitchers to attack. Franco stings the ball and has plus power potential, but his level swing leads to more line drives and ground balls than fly balls. He has shown in team competitions that he can put on a show in a home run derby. Franco’s body has already filled out. He is an average runner who will have to work to keep his speed with a thick, muscular lower half.

“Defensively, Franco’s soft hands, above-average arm and solid understanding of the game give him a shot to stay at shortstop, where he’s a potentially average defender. The Rays played him at second base and third base at the alternate site [last year] to help prepare for the possibility he could break into the majors at another spot. He has the tools to be an above-average or even plus defender at second or third.”

Assuming Franco, whose father and two older brothers played in the minors while two of his uncles — Erick and Willy Aybar — played in the majors, does make his big-league debut at the Trop this week, this will be the second time in four seasons the Rays have debuted one of their top prospects when going up against the Red Sox.

Back on May 22, 2018, shortstop Willy Adames, then Tampa Bay’s No. 2 overall prospect according to Baseball America, also made his major-league debut when the Sox were in town in St. Petersburg.

Adames, who is still just 25 years old, has since been dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers. That trade took place as recently as last month, with the Rays presumably making the move with the future of Franco in mind.

The Rays themselves have been on a bit of a tailspin of late, as they have dropped six straight to fall a half game back of the Red Sox for first place in the American League East.

Boston and Tampa Bay open up a three-game series in St. Pete on Tuesday night, and the likelihood of such a highly-touted prospect such as Franco making his long-awaited debut just adds more value to what should be a riveting week of baseball for both clubs.

(Picture of Wander Franco: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Tanner Houck tosses 3 scoreless, no-hit innings in return to mound for Triple-A Worcester

Red Sox pitching prospect Tanner Houck took an important step in his road t0wards making a return to the big-leagues on Thursday night.

Fresh off being activated from the injured list after being shut down for more than a month due to flexor muscle soreness, Houck shined in his first start with Triple-A Worcester since May 4.

Matched up against the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs with Chris Sale among those in attendance at Polar Park, the right-hander tossed three scoreless, no-hit innings while walking just one and recording six strikeouts.

Sitting between 95-96 mph with his fastball, Houck punched out a pair in each of his three frames of work in the process of retiring nine of the 10 hitters he faced. Of the 45 pitches he threw, 26 went for strikes.

“In terms of today, I threw all my pitches,” Houck said following the WooSox’ 3-2 victory over the Iron Pigs. “Threw the four-seam, two-seam, slider. Only threw one splitter, but it’s just part of it. It’s about continuing to grow, and I feel 100%. So, excited to keep moving forward and doing what I can.”

For Houck, tossing three scoreless innings without a problem while facing live hitters in a competitive environment for the first time in well over a month is certainly an encouraging sign, both for him and the Red Sox.

“I was just excited to show up today and be able to get to play in a game,” Houck said when asked about potential next steps in regards to his throwing program. “Being away for as long as I did, definitely a little stir-crazy at the end there. I wanted to get back out there and play. Getting to see this team compete on a day-to-day basis and how great they’ve been just makes me want to get out there even more.”

Prior to getting shut down in early May, the 24-year-old hurler was viewed as one of, if not the top rotation depth option available to the Red Sox at the minor-league level if one of their regular starters had to miss a significant period of time.

In six appearances (five starts) with Boston since making his major-league debut last September, Houck has posted a 1.98 ERA and 2.92 FIP over 27 1/3 total innings of work. Two of those five starts came in April.

Assuming he is a full-go for his next start with the WooSox, one would have to think Houck will be able to increase his workload as he continues to build up his strength and work his way back towards garnering big-league consideration once again.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Ashley Green/Telegram & Gazette)

Newly-acquired Yacksel Ríos earns win in Red Sox debut: ‘He’s a guy that from afar, he always intrigued me,’ Alex Cora says

Yacksel Rios’ Red Sox debut came just hours after the reliever arrived in Atlanta and was activated ahead of Wednesday night’s series finale against the Braves at Truist Park.

Acquired from the Mariners in exchange for cash considerations earlier in the week, it seemed as though the Sox were likely going to option Rios to Triple-A Worcester as opposed to keep him up in the majors.

That was not the case, though, as Boston instead optioned infielder Michael Chavis to the WooSox while keeping Rios on their 26-man roster.

Available out of the bullpen in his first game in a Red Sox uniform, the right-hander was called upon by manager Alex Cora in a rather crucial spot with two outs and runners at second and third in the sixth inning of a game his side was trailing, 7-6.

With two potential insurance runs in scoring position for Atlanta, Rios — donning the No. 75 — was tasked with getting out of the jam he inherited by going up against a formidable opponent in Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson.

Having faced Swanson four times prior to Wednesday, Rios, who was working with Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez for the first time, started out by peppering the outer half of the strike zone and initially falling behind in the count before getting a called strike to even things at 1-1.

His third pitch, a 97 mph heater, went for another called strike to get ahead in the count at 2-1. Two of the next three pitches were fouled off by Swanson, which put the right-handed hitter in a 2-2 count as the battle ensued.

On the seventh — and what would turn out to be the final — pitch of the at-bat, Rios delivered a low 88 mph slider that nearly wound up in the dirt and induced relatively weak contact off the bat of Swanson.

Rios was able to knock down Swanson’s 68 mph comebacker with ease and upon corralling the baseball, made the simple toss over to Bobby Dalbec at first base to record the putout and retire the side.

It was not much considering he threw all of seven pitches (five strikes) to end things in the sixth, but Rios’ effort would prove to be meaningful in the end, with the Red Sox coming back to defeat the Braves by a final score of 10-8 courtesy of a game-winning grand slam from Christian Arroyo in the top half of the seventh.

Because he was the last Boston pitcher on the mound before Arroyo came through in the clutch once more, Rios wound up picking up his his first win of the season in his Red Sox debut.

Of the seven pitches the 27-year-old threw on Wednesday night, four were four-seam fastballs and three were sliders. He sat around 95-96 mph with his four-seamer while topping out at 97.1 mph with it, and he also averaged 86.9 mph with his slider.

When speaking with reporters before Wednesday’s game, Red Sox manager Alex Cora acknowledged that Rios’ fastball was something that made him appealing to the Sox when he was designated for assignment by the Mariners earlier this month.

“He has a good fastball,” Cora said. “His fastball got better through the winter. He made some adjustments in spring training with the Rays. He went to Seattle. He gave up some runs and all that, but we believe that if we can use that fastball in certain spots, he should be OK. And the velocity is up, it just gives us another strong arm to our bullpen and that’s always good. So, we’ll see, we’ll see where it takes us.”

Rios, who turns 28 on June 27, was originally selected by the Phillies in the 12th round of the 2011 amateur draft out of high school. He made his major-league debut for Philadelphia in 2017 and has also spent time in the Pirates, Rays, and Mariners organizations.

After being let go by the Pirates over the winter and inking a minor-league pact with the Rays in February, Rios opened the 2021 season with Triple-A Durham, where he posted a 0.66 ERA and 2.31 FIP across 12 relief appearances spanning 13 2/3 innings pitched.

He was then dealt to the Mariners for cash on June 4, though his time in Seattle did not last long considering he gave up one run in each of his three outings with the club from June 5-10 and was later designated on June 11.

Like Cora, Rios hails from Caguas, Puerto Rico. And while the Sox manager might not know the righty all that well, he still has some familiarity with him dating back to the 2017 World Baseball Classic in which Cora served as Team Puerto Rico’s general manager.

“I know him, but I don’t know him that well,” said Cora. “But he’s a guy that from afar, he always intrigued me. We tried to actually add him to the roster in ’17 [for the World Baseball Classic], but he was trying to make a team with the Phillies at that time.

“But good kid, good fastball, good slider,” Cora added. “We’ll see where it takes us.”

Christian Arroyo comes through with game-winning grand slam as Red Sox finish off sweep of Braves with 10-8 victory

The month of Christian Arroyo continued for the Red Sox in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

With his side trailing 7-6 with two outs and the bases loaded in the top half of the seventh, Arroyo came off the bench and delivered in the clutch.

On a 1-2, 89 mph cutter at the bottom of the zone from Braves reliever A.J. Minter, Arroyo crushed his first career grand slam — and the Red Sox’ first grand slam of the season — 467 feet to left field.

Arroyo’s fourth homer of the year, all of which have come within the last 12 games, put Boston back up 10-7 and propelled them to a 10-8 victory to finish off a quick two-game sweep of Atlanta.

The Sox had initially gotten out to a 2-0 lead over the Braves on a two-run single off the bat of Hunter Renfroe right away in the first inning.

Garrett Richards, Wednesday’s starter for Boston, gave back one of those runs on an Abraham Almonte sacrifice fly in the second, but contributed to his own cause two innings later by following a Bobby Dalbec RBI single with a run-scoring knock of his own.

Matched up against his counterpart in Braves starter Ian Anderson, Richards laced a hard-hit double to right-center field for his first career hit that gave Dalbec more than enough time to score from first and make it a 4-1 contest.

Despite helping himself out, the veteran right-hander ran into some trouble in the latter half of the fourth when he issued a leadoff triple to Dansby Swanson. That would set the stage for the Braves to plate two more runs and cut the deficit back down to one at 4-3.

Xander Bogaerts coldly greeted Braves rookie reliever Kyle Muller in the fifth with an RBI double that drove in J.D. Martinez from first, and he, too, scored on a run-scoring base hit from Rafael Devers. 6-3 Boston.

Again given a sizable cushion to work with, Richards watched that three-run lead dissipate in an instant when he served up a game-tying, three-run home run to Swanson, which would simultaneously mark the end of his outing after failing to record an out in the fifth inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 84 (54 strikes), the 33-year-old did not throw a single curveball on Wednesday and instead operated with just his four-seam fastball and slider. While he did raise his ERA on the season to 4.36, Richards’ next start should come against the Rays back at Fenway Park next Wednesday.

Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in relief of Richards, and he was able to preserve the 6-6 stalemate going into the sixth inning by retiring the first three hitters he faced.

The bottom of the sixth, however, was a different story for Sawamura, as he allowed the then-go-ahead run to score on a solo homer from Freeman, which put the Braves up 7-6.

Recently-acquired Yacksel Rios would have to come on for the Japanese hurler, and he wound up picking up his first winning decision with the Red Sox by getting Swanson to line out to limit any further damage.

From there, the Braves turned to veteran reliever Shane Greene, who yielded a leadoff double to Bogaerts, a walk to Devers, and a one-out walk to Christian Vazquez to fill the bases for the Sox’ Nos. 8 and 9 hitters.

Danny Santana was originally going to hit in that No. 9 spot, which led Atlanta to bring in left-hander A.J. Minter. Red Sox manager Alex Cora countered by swapping Santana for the right-handed hitting Arroyo, and that move paid dividends to say the least.

Arroyo’s slam gave Boston a 10-7 advantage going into the late stages. Brandon Workman and Darwinzon Hernandez combined to keep it that way by tossing a scoreless seventh inning, while Josh Taylor did the same in the eighth.

That paved the way for Adam Ottavino, not Matt Barnes, to come on for the save in the ninth.

Ottavino did allow one run to score to narrow the lead to two runs, but he benefitted from Ronald Acuna Jr. running into an out at third base on the very same play the run scored, and followed that by punching out Freeman on four pitches to preserve the 10-8 victory and notch his fourth save of the year.

With the victory, not only do the Red Sox extend their winning streak to three and improve to 42-27 on the season; they also move to a game back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Vazquez removed due to stomach issue

Catcher Christian Vazquez needed to be removed from Wednesday’s game in the seventh inning due to what the Red Sox called a stomach illness. He was replaced by Kevin Plawecki.

Next up: First off day in quite a while

The Red Sox will enjoy a much-deserved off day on Thursday after completing a run of 17 games in 17 days without a break. They went 10-7 in that stretch.

Following the off day, the Sox will open up a three-game weekend series against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Friday night.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta is slated to get the ball for Boston in the opener, while fellow righty Jackson Kowar is lined up to do the same for Kansas City.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)