Tag: Baseball

Xander Bogaerts hits third homer in 4 games, drives in 3 runs as Red Sox hold on to defeat Mariners, 6-5; J.D. Martinez also homers

Xander Bogaerts joked earlier this week about how he had yet to hit a homer this season.

Following the Red Sox’ 6-5 victory over the Mariners at Fenway Park on Friday night, the star shortstop has now hit three home runs in his last four games.

Bogaerts’ third big fly of the 2021 campaign came right away in the bottom half of the first inning, when after his side fell behind early, the right-handed hitter crushed an 0-1, 82 MPH slider from M’s starter Yusei Kikuchi 409 feet to deep left field to score himself as well as Alex Verdugo to put the Sox up 2-1.

J.D. Martinez followed suit in the third, as the vaunted slugger picked up his team-leading seventh home run of the season — this one being a solo shot — by depositing another Kikuchi slider 343 feet to the opposite field. 3-1.

After the Mariners got a run back in the fourth, the Red Sox put the pressure on by loading the bases with the first three batters who reached base off Kikuchi to lead off the fifth, but could only get two runs out of it when Martinez grounded into a run-scoring double play and Bogaerts collected his third RBI on a hard-hit single that drove in Enrique Hernandez.

Verdugo scored another run for the Sox in the seventh following a leadoff single off Mariners reliever Ljay Newsome. Another base hit from Martinez advanced the outfielder to second, and he then came around to score on a fielding error to make it a 6-2 contest.

Verdugo records third outfield assist of season

In addition to enjoying a 3-for-5 day at the plate with two runs scored out of the two-hole, Verdugo also notched his third outfield assist of the season already on Friday.

Starting in left field, the 24-year-old recorded the final out of the top half of the fifth inning by gunning down Kyle Seager at third base to preserve what was then a 3-2 lead for Boston.

Perez can’t make it through four innings

Making his fourth start of the season for the Red Sox in this one was Martin Perez.

The veteran left-hander dealt with his fair share of control issues in the process of surrendering two runs on four hits, four walks, and three strikeouts over just 3 2/3 innings of work. Only 46 of the 83 pitches Perez threw on Friday went for strikes.

Although he was not involved in the decision, Perez did see his ERA on the season drop from 5.93 to 5.71. His next start should come against the Rangers sometime next week.

Red Sox bullpen sees it through

With Perez unable to go deep into Friday’s contest, the Red Sox bullpen was put to the test beginning in the fourth inning.

Hirokazu Sawamura took over for Perez, recorded the final out of the fourth by fanning Mitch Haniger, then picked up two more strikeouts in a scoreless fifth which would later result in him notching his first winning decision in the majors.

Garrett Whitlock took over from there, and the Rule 5 pick continued to impress by hurling 2 1/3 scoreless frames of relief while scattering two hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts before getting the hook with one out and two runners in scoring position in the eighth.

Adam Ottavino was the one who got the call to take over for Whitlock, and the veteran reliever escaped the jam by punching out the only two Mariners he faced to retire the side.

With a 6-2 lead to protect going into the ninth, Red Sox closer Matt Barnes took over and was fortunate enough that he had a four-run cushion to work with.

That being the case because after walking J.P. Crawford — Seattle’s No. 9 hitter — and giving up a one-out single to Ty France, Barnes proceeded to serve up a three-run bomb to Seager, which cut the Mariners’ deficit from four runs to just one.

Barnes did manage to retire the next two hitters he faced in relatively simple fashion, and the Sox were able to come away with a 6-5 home victory and improve to 13-8 on the season because of it.

Next up: Flexen vs. Eovaldi

Saturday’s pitching matchup will feature a pair of right-handers, with Chris Flexen getting the ball for Seattle and Nathan Eovaldi doing the same for Boston.

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

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta takes no-hitter into sixth inning, but Red Sox still fall to Mariners, 7-3, in extras

Despite giving up just three hits over 10 innings, the Red Sox’ struggles at Fenway Park continued on Thursday with a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Seattle Mariners.

The Sox are now 12-8 on the season, 6-7 at home, and 3-5 in their last eight games coming off that nine-game winning streak earlier this month.

Nick Pivetta is not to blame for Boston’s second consecutive defeat. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and retired 16 of the first 17 hitters he faced Thursday before issuing a pair of two-out walks to J.P. Crawford and Mitch Haniger in the top half of the sixth.

Moments after walking Haniger, Pivetta surrendered his first hit — a two-run double off the bat of Ty France that appeared catchable for left fielder Franchy Cordero — and saw the Mariners take a 2-0 lead before France was tagged out between second and third base.

That would turn out to be Pivetta’s final inning. So over six frames of work in total, the 28-year-old yielded two runs on one hit, three walks, and four strikeouts. 55 of the 86 pitches he threw went for strikes.

His next start should come against the Mets in Queens on Wednesday.

Ottavino charged with blown save

After Matt Andriese tossed a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Pivetta, Adam Ottavino got the call for the top half of the eighth with a 3-2 lead to protect.

The veteran righty put the first two Mariners he faced in Luis Torrens and a pinch-hitting Jose Marmolejos on base via a pair of free passes.

Crawford, Seattle’s No. 9 hitter, followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt towards the left side of the infield. Ottavino fielded the ball rather quickly and attempted to make the throw to the third to get the lead runner out.

The throw instead got away from Ottavino, which allowed Sam Haggerty (pinch-running for Torrens) to score from third base and knot things up at three runs a piece.

Hernandez gives up three-run bomb in extras

Matt Barnes managed to hold the M’s at three runs and needed all of 12 pitches to toss a 1-2-3 top half of the ninth. But even after getting through that portion of the game rather effortlessly, Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned to Darwinzon Hernandez rather than Barnes for the 10th.

Hernandez, in turn, allowed the runner who starts each extra inning at second base to score on a sac bunt and an RBI double from Haggerty, then proceeded to walk Crawford with two outs as the Mariners lineup flipped back over.

As the adage goes, “walks will haunt.” And the walk to Crawford did indeed haunt Hernandez when he served up a three-run home run to Haniger moments later.

That three-run blast from Haniger put the Mariners up 7-3 and would prove to be the final dagger in this one.

Devers homers, but team’s offensive struggles continue

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Mariners right-hander Justin Dunn, who pitched at Boston College from 2014-2016 before getting drafted by the Mets.

Rafael Devers greeted Dunn by crushing a 427-foot solo home run to lead off the second inning to give the Sox a 1-0 advantage. His sixth homer of the season left his bat at 108.2 mph.

In the fourth, Devers would again prove to be the catalyst for more offensive production, as he led things off with a single and would later come in to score on an RBI knock off the bat of Hunter Renfroe.

Enrique Hernandez tacked on his side’s third run of the night when he led off the bottom of the seventh with a hard-hit triple off the Green Monster and scored from third on a wild pitch from Mariners reliever Casey Sadler.

At the time, Seattle’s blunder put the Sox up 3-2, but the Boston bats were unable to do anything from that point forward and wound up recording nine consecutive outs from the eighth inning on.

All in all, the Red Sox went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position Thursday.

Next up: Kikuchi vs. Perez

Friday’s pitching matchup between the Mariners and Red Sox will feature a pair of foreign-born southpaws.

Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi will be getting the ball for Seattle, and he will be opposed by Venezuelan left-hander Martin Perez for Boston.

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

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

Red Sox prospects Triston Casas, Jarren Duran to play for Team USA in Olympic qualifying event

Two of the top prospects in the Red Sox farm system will be suiting up for Team USA in an Olympic qualifying event next month.

According to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, both infield prospect Triston Casas and outfield prospect Jarren Duran will be playing for top-ranked Team USA in the WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier, which will run from May 31 through June 5 in southeast Florida.

Casas, 21, is regarded by Baseball America as the top prospect in Boston’s farm system. The 6-foot-5, 250 pound first baseman was selected by the Sox in the first round of the 2018 amateur draft and is currently partaking in minor-league spring training in Fort Myers.

Duran, 24, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 4 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking tops among outfielders in the organization. The 6-foot-2, 202 pound speedy outfielder was selected by the Sox in the seventh round of that same draft and is currently at the team’s alternate training site in Worcester.

Team USA — one of eight teams in the tournament along with Canada, Cuba, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela — will be managed by longtime Angels skipper Mike Scioscia.

Darren Fenster, a minor-league outfield and base-running coordinator for the Red Sox who has been with the organization since 2012, will serve as Scioscia’s third base coach.

Per Abraham, the winner of the tournament will earn a trip to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, while the second- and the third-place teams will move on to another qualifying tournament in June.

The Red Sox have been plenty involved in Team USA’s efforts to qualify for the 2020 Summer Games to this point in time.

Bobby Dalbec, Tanner Houck, and Noah Song — as well as former prospect C.J. Chatham — all represented their country in the WBSC Premier12 tournament in November 2019.

Team USA wound up finishing fourth in that qualifying event, leading to their participation in the upcoming WBSC Baseball Americas Qualifier.

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Garrett Richards issues 6 walks as Red Sox fall to Blue Jays, 6-3

On a rainy Wednesday night at Fenway Park that caused first pitch of their game to be pushed back by about 31 minutes, the Red Sox fell short of their pursuit of another come-from-behind-victory and were instead beaten by the Blue Jays, 6-3, to drop to 12-7 on the season.

Garrett Richards struggled mightily and battled control issues in his fourth start of the year for Boston in this one.

Over 4 2/3 innings of work, the veteran right-hander yielded four runs — all of which were earned — on four hits, one hit batsman, and a season-high six walks to go along with two strikeouts on the night.

Richards put the first three Blue Jays he faced — Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — on base on a walk, a HBP, and an RBI single off the bat of Guerrero Jr.

He managed to escape the top half of the first having just given up the one run, but more trouble arose for Richards in the second when he surrendered an additional three runs in an inning that included three hits, two walks, a sacrifice fly and run-scoring groundout, and a wild pitch.

After recording the final out of the second, Richards did string together a decent stretch in which he retired eight out of 10 Toronto hitters at one point, but a two-out walk of Marcus Semien in the fifth that put runners on first and second would mark the end of his day.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 92 — only 48 of which were strikes, the 32-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 72% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing just two swings-and-misses while topping out at 95.7 mph with the pitch.

Falling to 0-2 on the year while seeing his ERA inflate to 6.48, Richards will look to bounce back in his next time out, which should come against the Mets in Queens next Tuesday.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura came on with two outs and two runners on in the top half of the fifth, recorded the final out of the frame, then faced the minimum three batters in a scoreless sixth inning.

From there, Phillips Valdez continued his impressive season-opening run by punching out two in a perfect top of the seventh, Austin Brice danced his way around traffic while keeping the Jays off the board in the eighth, and Josh Taylor got rocked for two runs on two hits and three walks in the ninth, which resulted in Toronto going from having a 4-3 lead to a 6-3 lead.

Taylor now owns a 10.80 ERA through his first eight appearances of the season.

On the other side of things, a Red Sox lineup that welcomed back the likes of Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers was matched up against Blue Jays right-hander Trent Thornton to begin things on Wednesday.

After falling behind 4-0 early on, Devers got the scoring started for his side in the fourth inning by driving in J.D. Martinez from third on an RBI groundout to short off reliever Tommy Milone.

A double and single from Marwin Gonzalez and Bobby Dalbec to lead off the fifth put the Sox in a prime position to score, and they did so when Enrique Hernandez greeted David Phelps and drilled a one-out, run-scoring double down the left field line that brought in Gonzalez from second.

Now trailing by just two runs with one out and runners in scoring position, Boston appeared ready to turn this game on its head with the meat of their lineup due to hit.

Instead of that happening, though, Verdugo was called out on strikes, Martinez walked to fill the bases, and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to retire the side and thus extinguish the threat.

Bogaerts was able to cut into the deficit by crushing his second home run in as many days in the bottom of the eighth, but three runs is all the Red Sox could manage offensively in what would go down as a 6-3 defeat.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday.

The Red Sox are 11-4 in games not started by Garrett Richards.

The Red Sox are 6-6 at Fenway Park and 6-1 away from Fenway Park.

After winning nine in a row from April 5-14, the Red Sox are 3-4 in their last seven games.

—

The Red Sox — after settling for a series-split against the Jays — will welcome the Mariners into town for a four-game weekend series that begins Thursday night.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta will be getting the ball for Boston, and he will be opposed by fellow righty Justin Dunn for Seattle.

Dunn, a former first-round pick of the Mets back in 2016, spent three years at Boston College from 2014-2016.

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

(Picture of Garrett Richards: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Could Red Sox take overpowering pitching prospect Kumar Rocker with No. 4 pick in 2021 MLB Draft?

It wasn’t too long ago that it seemed like the Red Sox landing Kumar Rocker with the fourth overall pick in this summer’s draft was a pipe dream at best.

The Vanderbilt University right-hander came into the 2021 season regarded by many as the consensus top amateur prospect ahead of the July draft and was projected to go to the Pirates at No. 1 overall.

Since Vanderbilt’s season began in late February, Rocker has seen his stock fall to some degree, while his fellow rotation mate, Jack Leiter, has seen his stock rise.

Rocker, a 21-year-old junior, has posted a 1.64 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP to go along with 81 strikeouts and 15 walks through his first nine starts and 55 innings pitched this year.

Leiter, meanwhile, turned 21 on Wednesday and is a draft-eligible sophomore. The son and nephew of former big-leaguers, Leiter has produced a miniscule 0.98 ERA and 0.70 WHIP while striking out 94 and walking 22 over nine starts and 55 1/3 innings of work. He threw a no-hitter against South Carolina on March 20.

The pair of Commodores are undoubtedly the top amateur pitching prospects in the country, but the two hurlers have seen their draft projections shift in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo ran through a 20-pick mock draft on the latest installment of the Pipeline Podcast, and the two will publish a list of their top 150 draft prospects later this week.

Alternating between picks, Callis had the Pirates taking Leiter with the top overall pick, writing, “It feels like a four-man race to go No. 1 right now, but give me the guy who’s dominating the Southeastern Conference and can pitch off his fastball like few can.”

After high school shortstops Jordan Lawlar and Marcelo Mayer were taken off the board by the Rangers and Tigers at picks Nos. 2 and 3, it was Mayo’s turn to pick for the Red Sox at No. 4. He went with Rocker.

“No way I was going to let Rocker go further than this,” Mayo wrote while explaining his pick, “not with that ridiculous fastball-slider combination that comes from his intimidating 6-foot-5 frame.”

Per his MLB Pipeline scouting report, Rocker “is a physical right-hander who can overpower hitters with his fastball and slider. He usually operates at 93-96 mph with his heater, which can reach 99 and features some run and sink but also can get flat at times. He notched all 19 of his whiffs in his no-hitter with his slider, a mid-80s beast with power and depth that grades as plus-plus at its best. 

“Rocker hasn’t used his changeup much, and while his third offering has average potential and some sink, it gets too firm at times. He throws strikes but has just average command, and he’ll need more finesse for days when he doesn’t have his top-notch stuff. He has the makings of a frontline starter but isn’t a finished product and scouts would like to see him dominate more consistently this spring.”

Because the Red Sox will be picking so early in this year’s draft, the club has been able to hone in on a select group of prospects they may be interested in drafting “and scout those players really, really hard,” as amateur scouting director Paul Toboni told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier in March.

Rocker and Leiter are surely two of the players the Sox have been monitoring closely this spring, and area scout Danny Watkins — who covers Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee for the team — recently provided some insight into what makes each of them so intriguing.

“Both of those guys are phenomenal talents,” Watkins explained last month on Podding the Red Sox: A BloggingtheRedSox.com Podcast. “[They] have many differences, but they’re so similar in some ways as well. We’re sitting there at No. 4 in this year’s draft and the thought of having one of them available at 4 is pretty nice.”

At the moment, the Red Sox taking either one of Rocker or Leiter at No. 4 would be pretty nice. But, as MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith notes, the 2021 Draft is not slated to begin until July 11, so there is still plenty of time for rankings and projections to change between now and then.

(Picture of Kumar Rocker: Peter Aiken/Getty Images)

New Podding the Red Sox episode: Boston Balling host Gabby Hurlbut joins the show

On this week’s installment of Podding the Red Sox: A BloggingtheRedSox.com Podcast, I am joined by Gabby Hurlbut, host of the Boston Balling podcast.

Among the topics Gabby and I discussed are how she got her start in sports media, how she got her foot in the door at ESPN, the lessons she took away from her time at ESPN, what led to her starting her own podcast, how she feels about the Red Sox after their 12-6 start to the season, the Red Sox’ City Connect jerseys, Tanner Houck and Bobby Dalbec’s development, and much more!

The episode is available to listen to on iTunes and Spotify, among other platforms.

Thanks to Gabby for taking some time out of her busy schedule to have a conversation with me. You can follow Gabby on Twitter (@gabbyhurlbut10) by clicking here. You can check out the Boston Balling podcast by clicking here.

Thank you for listening and we will see you next time! Please make sure to subscribe and leave a five-star review if you can!

(Picture of Fenway Park: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Alex Cora predicted Xander Bogaerts would hit first home run of season Tuesday night: ‘You talking about me hitting a home run? I don’t have a home run at all’

Xander Bogaerts’ first home run of the season proved to be the difference maker in the Red Sox’ 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

With no outs and two runners on in the bottom half of the fourth, Bogaerts came to the plate for a second time after already doubling in his first at-bat against tough left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu two innings prior.

That double was actually more of a gift than anything considering the way it was played by Blue Jays left field Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but Bogaerts made sure to make his second hit of the night count.

On a 1-2, 91 mph slider from Ryu that was on the inner half of the plate, the 28-year-old was able to get his hands in front of the ball and wound up depositing said pitch 408 feet into the second row of Green Monster seats in left-center field. Per Baseball Savant, the ball left Bogaerts’ bat at a blistering 102.1 mph.

Bogaerts’ three-run blast put the Sox up 3-1 and would prove to be instrumental in the club’s 4-2 win over Toronto to improve to 12-6 on the young season.

“They needed a shutdown inning. They didn’t get it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said in regards to the impact of Bogaerts’ homer. “It was a good swing. That was a good effort against a good pitcher. That guy, he’s very tough. He’s got a good breaking ball, a good changeup. But we hung in there with him and we were able to score some runs.”

The fact that Bogaerts was able to hit a home run on a pitch that was relatively up and in was impressive. There’s no doubt about that. With that being said, though, that ability is something the three-time Silver Slugger Award winner has regularly put on display over the years. Just ask his longtime teammate — and Tuesday’s starter — Eduardo Rodriguez.

“I’ve been here, what? Like six seasons, I think. And I’ve been seeing him hitting balls like nobody can hit it,” Rodriguez said of the Aruban-born shortstop. “I know he’s a really special guy. I can’t even explain to you how good he is. I’ve been watching him too much. Hitting balls out of the ballpark, both sides of the field, middle of the field. I know every time he steps up to the plate something good is going to happen. That’s how special he is.

“I love the way he plays all the time, the way he goes up there,” added Rodriguez. “After he hit that homer, he comes to me and says, ‘I got you. Go out there now and do your thing.’ That’s something that I really appreciate from him every time I’m pitching and he’s doing things like that.”

Rodriguez said he expects 35 home runs out of Bogaerts this season, but Bogaerts himself was just happy to get the first one out of the way, which is something Cora actually foresaw moments before it happened in the bottom of the fourth on Tuesday.

“I think that whole inning, Alex Cora predicted, to be honest with you,” Bogaerts recalled during his postgame media availability. “I remember him saying that the guy’s going to get a hit, J.D. [Martinez] is going to get a hit, and I’m going to hit a two-run homer. So he kind of predicted that whole inning to be honest. You guys got to see what’s up with AC and those predictions with his mind and stuff like that.

“I was like, ‘You talking about me hitting a home run? I don’t have a home run at all,'” joked Bogaerts. “And he’s talking about me hitting a homer.”

Following a 2-for-4 showing at the plate with two extra-base hits on Tuesday, Bogaerts is now slashing a scorching .393/.439/.557 to go along with that one homer and seven RBI through his first 16 games of the year.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Xander Bogaerts hits first home run of season, Eduardo Rodríguez punches out 6 in return to Fenway Park as Red Sox top Blue Jays, 4-2

For the second consecutive day, the Red Sox were matched up against one of the top pitchers in the American League. And for the second consecutive day, the Red Sox needed just one inning to get the best of that pitcher.

They did so in the first inning of Monday’s 11-4 win over the White Sox by getting to Lucas Giolito for six runs. They did so in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Blue Jays by getting to Hyun-Jin Ryu for all four of their runs.

Facing off against one of the toughest left-handed pitchers in baseball to kick off a quick two-game series at Fenway Park, the Sox lineup went down quietly the first time through the order, but eventually got to Ryu in their half of the fourth.

There, back-to-back singles off the bats of Christian Arroyo and J.D. Martinez to lead off the frame set the stage for Xander Bogaerts, who — on a 1-2, 91 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate from Ryu — crushed his first home run of the season 408 feet over the Green Monster.

Not only did Bogaerts club his first homer of the year in the fourth inning, but Marwin Gonzalez also collected his first double with one out.

Bobby Dalbec, meanwhile, hit the first triple of his big-league career on a 101.3 mph scorcher that traveled 408 feet to deep center field and brought in Gonzalez from second to make it a 4-1 game.

That would be all the scoring the Sox would need in this one, but it should not be ignored that Arroyo went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored while batting out of the two-hole Tuesday.

Rodriguez shines in return to Fenway

Eduardo Rodriguez made his third start of the season for the Red Sox on Tuesday, marking the first time he had started a game at Fenway Park since the final day of the 2019 season.

In his return to Fenway, the left-hander was impressive as he held the Blue Jays to just two runs on three hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over six-plus innings of work.

Both runs Rodriguez gave up came by way of the long ball, with Bo Bichette taking the southpaw deep to lead off the top half of the fourth and Randal Grichuk doing the very same thing three innings later.

Rodriguez serving up a solo shot to Grichuk would mark the end of his night, but his homecoming of sorts was a triumphant one to say the least.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 90 (62 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 33% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing six swings-and-misses while topping out at 94.8 mph with the pitch.

Able to improve to 3-0 on the young season while lowering his ERA to 3.38, Rodriguez’s next start should come against the Seattle Mariners in the final game of the Sox’ homestand on Sunday.

Andriese, Ottavino, and Barnes close things out

In relief of Rodriguez, Matt Andriese got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen for what was essentially a clean top half of the seventh inning. The right-hander retired the only three hitters he faced and capped off his outing by punching out noted Red Sox killer Rowdy Tellez on five pitches.

From there, Adam Ottavino maneuvered his way around a two-out walk and a throwing error committed by Christian Vazquez in an otherwise perfect eighth inning, while Matt Barnes notched his third save of the season and preserved the 4-2 victory for his side by working a scoreless ninth inning.

The Red Sox are now 12-6.

Next up: Richards vs. Thornton

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the finale of this two-game set against the Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will be making his fourth start of the season for Boston, and he will be opposed by fellow right-hander Trent Thornton for Toronto.

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

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox manager Alex Cora cleared to manage Tuesday’s game against Blue Jays after passing COVID-19 protocols

UPDATE: Cora has been cleared to manage Tuesday’s game after making it through MLB’s COVID-19 protocols. He is already at Fenway Park, per The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s status for Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park had been in question due to COVID-19 protocols, he told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) on Tuesday afternoon.

Cora, who just recently arrived at Fenway Park for Tuesday night’s contest against Toronto, “[was] optimistic he will be cleared to join the team before game time,” per Cotillo.

That being the case because the Sox skipper took a COVID-19 test over the weekend — or maybe even on Monday — that came back positive, but has since been ruled a false or non-infectious positive test.

“Some testing didn’t go the way it should have gone,” Cora said Tuesday. “I’ve been tested for the last 24 hours and things are trending in the right direction. One more hurdle and everything should be fine. I can tell you right now, I’m not sick.”

Cora received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine right before the Red Sox departed Fort Myers for Boston late last month. He is slated to get the second dose of the vaccine on Wednesday, while other players and coaches will be receiving their first dose.

Had Cora not been cleared in time to manage Tuesday’s game at Fenway, that responsibility would have fallen to bench coach Will Venable. But again, Cora had been confident that he would be given the all-clear before 7:10 p.m. eastern time, and he was.

“I’m good. We’re just waiting for one more step on protocol,” said Cora. “I’m healthy. I’m not sick. There was a situation last night so we have to go through the whole thing. We’re just waiting for one more step and hopefully, I can be at Fenway.”

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

Phillips Valdéz off to strong start in second season with Red Sox

It’s still early, but Phillips Valdez’s second season with the Red Sox is off to a strong start.

Coming into the week, the lanky right-hander has posted a 2.25 ERA and .258 OPS against to go along with five strikeouts and two walks through his first six appearances and eight innings pitched of the year.

Five of the six outings Valdez has made this month have been scoreless ones, with the only blip thus far coming when he surrendered two runs against the Orioles on April 11.

Besides that, the 29-year-old has just about been perfect, and he showed how valuable he can be to Boston’s bullpen in Sunday’s doubleheader against the White Sox at Fenway Park.

In Game 1 of the twin bill, Valdez worked two scoreless frames of relief while striking out two of the six hitters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings — his second multi-inning relief appearance of the season already.

A few hours later, the Dominican native was once again called into action to work the top half of the seventh of Game 2.

Again, Valdez needed all of 15 pitches — 10 of which were strikes — to retire Chicago’s Nos. 3, 4, and 5 hitters (Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, Yermin Mercedes) in order, which is no simple task.

The Red Sox may have dropped both games of their doubleheader against the White Sox on Sunday, but Valdez proved to be effective nonetheless.

“If you have an MVP of a doubleheader that you got swept, it was Phillips Valdez,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said during his pregame media availability Monday morning. “He was the MVP of the day yesterday. For him to pitch in both games and save the bullpen, it was huge for us.”

Per Baseball Savant, Valdez’s early success this year goes beyond statistics like ERA and WHIP.

The 6-foot-3, 173 pound hurler is currently in the 96th percentile in regards to average exit velocity, the 89th percentile in regards to max exit velocity, the 99th percentile in regards to hard-hit percentage, the 97th percentile in regards to expected weighted on-base average, the 97th percentile in regards to expected ERA, the 93rd percentile in regards to expected batting average, the 97th percentile in regards to expected slugging percentage, and the 83rd percentile in regards to barrel percentage.

To put it simply, Valdez has done a quality job of limiting hard contact throughout the first month of the 2021 campaign by effectively utilizing his pitch mix, which consists of a changeup, a slider, and a sinker.

The fact that he has emerged as such a solid relief option is somewhat surprising considering that he was A. claimed off waivers last February and B. was not a lock to make Boston’s Opening Day roster this year after struggling in spring training.

Since making his Red Sox debut last July — five months after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners, Valdez owns a 3.05 ERA and 4.01 FIP across 30 appearances spanning 38 1/3 innings of work at the big-league level.

If Valdez continues to impress out of the Sox bullpen moving forward, it should be interesting to see if there is any change in the way Cora uses him, with the possibility of being deployed in higher leverage situations always an option.

(Picture of Phillips Valdez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)