Tag: Baseball

Red Sox’ Alex Verdugo benched for lack of hustle in Wednesday’s loss to Guardians

Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo was removed from Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Guardians after not hustling out a play in the top of the seventh inning, according to The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams.

With two outs and Verdugo on first base after reaching on a fielder’s choice, Masataka Yoshida hit a slow tapper to the right side of the infield. First baseman Josh Naylor had to charge on the ball in order to field it, leaving him with only a force play attempt at second.

Naylor made an off-balance throw to shortstop Amed Rosario, who remained on the second-base bag long enough to record the final out of the inning. Upon further review, it appeared as though Verdugo stopped in his tracks to see where the ball was as he was going from first to second base.

Had he been running at full speed, Verdugo may have reached base safely to put runners at first and second with two outs for Justin Turner. He instead yelled in anger after the play and was removed from the contest in the bottom of the eighth. In his place, Jarren Duran slid over from center to right field, Enrique Hernandez moved from shortstop to center, Pablo Reyes shifted from second to short, and Christian Arroyo took over at second while taking Verdugo’s spot in the order.

As a result of Wednesday’s lack of effort, Verdugo is not in the starting lineup for Thursday’s series finale at Progressive Field. Rob Refsnyder will get the start in right field in his place and bat sixth as the 31-31 Red Sox look to avoid falling below .500 for the first time since April 28.

Verdugo, 27, is in the midst of his fourth season with Boston. The left-handed hitter currently leads the team in both bWAR (2.3) and fWAR (2.0) and is batting .286/.364/.450 (122 wRC+) with 19 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 24 RBIs, 42 runs scored, three stolen bases, 25 walks, and 35 strikeouts in 59 games (261 plate appearances). He has put up those numbers while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense in right field as well.

To that end, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) that Verdugo will be back in the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Yankees in the Bronx.

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox to promote Matt Dermody for Thursday start against Guardians

Left-hander Matt Dermody will get the start for the Red Sox in their series finale against the Guardians on Thursday night, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne.

Dermody, who already has a locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Progressive Field, originally signed a minor-league contract with the Red Sox back in January and — up until this point — has spent the entirety of the season at Triple-A Worcester.

In nine appearances (eight starts) for the WooSox, Dermody has posted a 4.50 ERA and 4.05 FIP with 47 strikeouts to nine walks over 44 innings of work. The 32-year-old last pitched on May 28, as he was scratched from his latest start and was in Boston this past weekend as an emergency option.

It remains to be seen if Dermody will only be making a spot start on Thursday or will be staying in the starting rotation moving forward. The Red Sox, of course, have been down a starter after losing fellow southpaw Chris Sale to left shoulder inflammation last week.

Regardless, Thursday’s outing will mark the first start of Dermody’s major-league career. The Iowa product first broke in with the Blue Jays in 2016 and spent two years with Toronto, compiling a 5.33 ERA in 28 total relief appearances (25 1/3 innings).

After being released by the Jays in 2019, Dermody latched on with the Cubs. He appeared in one game for Chicago during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and another last August. All told, he owns a lifetime 5.60 ERA with 22 strikeouts to seven walks across 27 1/3 innings of relief at the big-league level. Dermody has also pitched for the Saitama Seibu Lions of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization.

Standing at 6-foot-5 and 211 pounds, Dermody operates with a five-pitch mix that consists of a mid-80s slider, a low-90s four-seam fastball, a low-80s changeup, a low-90s sinker, and a mid-70s curveball. He is in line to become the ninth different pitcher to start a game for the Red Sox this season.

Dermody will need to be added to the 40-man roster before officially being called up. To that end, Boston has a vacancy there after designating outfielder Raimel Tapia for assignment on Monday. In order to make room for Dermody on the 26-man roster, lefty Chris Murphy is expected to be optioned back to Worcester after impressing out of the bullpen while making his major-league debut on Wednesday.

(Picture of Matt Dermody: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox commit three errors, struggle at the plate in sloppy 5-2 loss to Guardians; Chris Murphy strikes out 5 in major-league debut

The Red Sox were held to just five hits in a series-evening loss to the Guardians on Wednesday night. In the process of committing three more errors, Boston fell to Cleveland by a final score of 5-2 at Progressive Field to drop back to .500 at 31-31 on the season.

With rookie right-hander Tanner Bibee starting for the Guardians, the Sox jumped out to an early lead in their half of the first inning. Alex Verdugo drew a leadoff walk and moved up to second base on a Masataka Yoshida single. After Justin Turner popped out, Rafael Devers opened the scoring by plating Verdugo from second on a softly-hit bloop single to left field.

Verdugo, to his credit, made an excellent read on the ball and was able to score with ease. Unfortunately, Boston’s 1-0 lead did not last too long as Cleveland responded in the latter half of the second.

Kutter Crawford, in the midst of his fourth start of the season for the Sox and working on short rest, ran into some trouble after giving up a leadoff double to Josh Naylor. Josh Bell followed by driving in Naylor on an RBI single down the right field line to knot things back up at one run apiece.

After trading zeroes in the third, the fourth inning proved to be sloppy for both sides defensively. In the top half, Hernandez led off with a single and moved up to second on a throwing error committed by Andres Gimenez. Hernandez advanced to third before Enmanuel Valdez grounded into what looked like an inning-ending putout at first base.

Rather than record the final out of the inning, though, Naylor fumbled the ball as he attempted to make an underhanded toss to Bibee, who was covering the first-base bag. As a result of Naylor’s blunder, Hernandez scored from third to put Boston back up, 2-1.

Again, that lead was short-lived. In the bottom of the fourth, Amed Rosario led off with a single. Jose Ramirez then hit a grounder in the direction of Triston Casas, but the rookie first baseman failed to corral it and the ball wound up deflecting over to Valdez. Valdez fielded the ball cleanly, but his underhanded toss went over the head of Casas, allowing both Rosario and Ramirez to advance into scoring position.

Both Casas and Valdez were charged with errors on the play, but the Red Sox were not done yet. After Naylor singled in Rosario to tie and knock Crawford out of the game, Brennan Bernardino got Bell to hit a grounder to Devers, but the ball deflected off his glove and Ramirez came into score the go-ahead run as a result.

Devers allowed the Guardians to take a 3-2 lead on his sixth error of the season. Of those three runs, only one was charged to Crawford. The 27-year-old righty gave up five hits, zero walks, and struck out three over three-plus innings of work. He finished with 58 pitches (41 strikes) and was ultimately hit with the losing decision.

Picking things up in the middle of the fifth, Justin Garza took over for Bernardino out of the bullpen. Garza retired two of the first three batters he faced before surrendering back-to-back run-scoring doubles to Rosario and Ramirez with two outs in the inning to give Cleveland a 5-2 advantage.

Chris Murphy came on with two outs in the fifth and proceeded to impress in what was his major-league debut. After getting called up for the first time on Tuesday, the 25-year-old lefty scattered two hits and one walk to go along with a game-high five punchouts across 3 1/3 scoreless frames of relief.

Murphy retired the side in order in the sixth, worked his way around a single and a walk in the seventh, and stranded a runner at second in the eighth. The California-born southpaw threw 54 pitches (32 strikes) and induced seven swings-and-misses. He also averaged 94.5 mph and topped out at 95.8 mph with his four-seam fastball.

While Murphy was busy putting up zeroes, though, the Red Sox lineup was unable to close the gap. From the top of the sixth through the end of the ninth, four different Guardians relievers (Eli Morgan, Sam Hentges, Trevor Stephan, and closer Emmanuel Clase) combined for four scoreless innings of one-hit ball.

By the time Boston was down to its final three outs in the ninth, Jarren Duran made things somewhat interesting by drawing a leadoff walk and stealing second base. But Connor Wong and the pinch-hitting Rob Refsnyder both fanned before Christian Arroyo lined out sharply to deep center field to end it.

All told, the Red Sox went a measly 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base as a team. They were limited to just one hit after the fourth inning and have now dropped seven of their last 10.

Next up: Dermody gets the ball for rubber match

The Red Sox will select the contract of left-hander Matt Dermody from Triple-A Worcester and have him start the rubber match of this three-game set on Thursday. The Guardians will counter with right-hander Aaron Civale.

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

(Picture of Chris Murphy: Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox prospect Ceddanne Rafaela tallies 3 hits, steals 3 bases in latest strong showing for Double-A Portland

Versatile Red Sox prospect Ceddanne Rafaela recorded his fourth three-hit game of the season in Double-A Portland’s 6-2 win over the Akron RubberDucks on Tuesday night.

Leading off and starting in center field for the Sea Dogs to kick off a six-game series at Hadlock Field, Rafaela went 3-for-4 with three singles and one run scored. The speedy 22-year-old extended his hitting streak to 11 games and also stole three bases.

Following Tuesday’s performance, Rafaela is now batting .284/.322/.411 with 12 doubles, four home runs, 31 RBIs, 32 runs scored, an Eastern League-leading 25 stolen bases (in 31 attempts), 11 walks, and 40 strikeouts in 46 games (205 plate appearances) with Portland so far this season.

Rafaela came into the year with high expectations after a breakout 2022 campaign that netted him a spot on the Red Sox’ 40-man roster last November. But the right-handed hitter got off to an underwhelming start to begin his first full season with the Sea Dogs.

After going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in a 4-3 loss to the Hartford Yard Goats on May 18, Rafaela found himself slashing .262/.309/.346 through 31 games (139 plate appearances). He has since registered at least one hit in 14 of his last 15 games and is hitting .333 (20-for-60) over that stretch. Since the calendar flipped from May to June, he has gone 10-for-22 (.455) at the plate with two doubles, one homer, five runs driven in, five runs scored, five stolen bases, zero walks, and just one strikeout.

On the other side of the ball, Rafaela has split time between shortstop and center field this season. The 5-foot-9, 152-pounder has logged 66 innings at the former and 286 1/3 innings at the latter after making his 33rd start of the year there on Tuesday.

Originally signed for just $10,000 as an international free agent coming out of Curacao in July 2017, Rafaela has risen through the ranks and is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 70 prospect in the sport.

Considering how well he has been performing as of late, one has to wonder if Rafaela could soon be on the verge of a promotion to Triple-A Worcester. The Willemstad native does not turn 23 until September, but he has played nearly a full season’s worth of games at the Double-A level after first making the jump from High-A Greenville last June.

With plus speed and solid instincts in the field, Rafaela has the ability to play two key defensive positions at a high level. The fact that he was named the Red Sox’ Defensive Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons reflects as much.

Though there is still room for improvement as far as pitch selection and plate discipline are concerned, it may be best for Rafaela to continue developing in Worcester so that he can face new challenges at a more advanced level moving forward.

(Picture of Ceddanne Rafaela: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Strong start from James Paxton, late rally propels Red Sox to 5-4 win over Guardians

Coming off a rough homestand, the Red Sox kicked off a six-game road trip with a series-opening win over the Guardians on Tuesday night. Behind a strong start from James Paxton and a four-run eighth inning, Boston came back to defeat Cleveland by a final score of 5-4 at Progressive Field to improve to 31-30 on the season.

Paxton, making his fifth start of the year for the Sox, allowed two earned runs on six hits and two walks to go along with nine strikeouts over a season-high seven innings of work. Both of those runs came right away in the bottom of the first.

Following a leadoff single from Steven Kwan, Paxton retired the next two batters he faced in Gabriel Arias and Jose Ramirez. But Josh Naylor extended the inning and opened the scoring for Guardians by ripping an RBI double to right field. Josh Bell doubled his side’s lead with a run-scoring two-base hit of his own to plate Naylor.

At that point, it appeared as though Cleveland had Paxton on the ropes. Despite the early struggles, though, the veteran left-hander settled in nicely and was solid the rest of the way. From the middle of the second through the end of the fifth, for instance, he sat down 12 of 16 to keep the deficit at two.

Trailing 2-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning, the Red Sox finally broke through against Guardians starter Shane Bieber. After leaving a plethora of runners on base through the first five frames, Masataka Yoshida led off the sixth with a hard-hit double. Four batters later, Enrique Hernandez drove in Yoshida with an RBI single to get his side on the board and knock Bieber out of the contest.

Paxton, meanwhile, picked up where he left off in the latter half of the sixth and put up two more zeroes to end his evening on an impressive note. The 34-year-old lefty finished with 106 pitches (71 strikes) and induced 24 swings-and-misses while averaging 95.3 mph with his four-seam fastball. He also earned the winning decision and lowered his ERA on the season to 3.81.

With Paxton’s night done, the Red Sox rallied for four runs in the top of the eighth. Going up against Enyel De Los Santos, Justin Turner led off with a double and Rafael Devers followed by drawing a five-pitch walk. Turner was unable to score on a 399-foot single off the bat of Triston Casas, but it ended up not mattering.

That being the case because with the bases now full, Hernandez drew a bases-loaded walk to tie it up at two runs apiece and Rob Refsnyder kept the line moving with a go-ahead RBI single off new Guardians reliever Nick Sandlin. Pablo Reyes then came through with a run-scoring base hit of his own and Alex Verdugo put Boston up, 5-2, on a sacrifice fly off James Karinchak.

Verdugo’s sacrifice fly would prove to be important, as Chris Martin ran into some trouble after taking over for Paxton out of the Red Sox bullpen in the bottom of the eighth. Martin allowed two of the first four Guardians he faced to reach base before giving up back-to-back run-scoring hits to the pinch-hitting Amed Rosario and Will Brennan.

That sequence trimmed the Sox’ lead down to one run at 5-4, but Martin was able to keep it that way and cleared a path for closer Kenley Jansen by doing so. Jansen, in turn, needed just 13 pitches (9 strikes) to slam the door on the Guardians in the ninth and notch his 13th save of the year.

With the win, Boston improves to 8-2 against American League Central opponents so far this season. On Tuesday, Yoshida led the way offensively by going 3-for-5 with a double and one run scored. Casas (2-for-4), Turner (1-for-5), and Jarren Duran (1-for-2) also doubled.

Next up: Crawford vs. Bibee

The Red Sox will go for a series win over the Guardians on Wednesday night. Kutter Crawford will get the start for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Tanner Bibee, who has posted a 3.23 ERA in seven starts (39 1/3 innings) since making his big-league debut for Cleveland on April 26.

(Picture of James Paxton: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox to call up top pitching prospect Chris Murphy, per report

The Red Sox are calling up top pitching prospect Chris Murphy from Triple-A Worcester, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. To make room for Murphy on the active roster, right-handed reliever Kaleb Ort was optioned back to Worcester following Monday’s 4-1 loss to the Rays at Fenway Park.

Murphy, who is celebrating his 25th birthday on Monday, will be active and available out of the bullpen for Tuesday’s series opener against the Guardians in Cleveland. Depending on how things play out, the left-hander could get the start in Thursday’s series finale at Progressive Field since the Red Sox have not yet named a starter for that contest.

In 10 outings (9 starts) for the WooSox this season, Murphy has posted a 7.71 ERA and 5.56 FIP with 42 strikeouts to 25 walks in 39 2/3 innings of work. His last appearance came out of the bullpen, as he struck out three and did not issue a walk over three scoreless, one-hit frames in an 8-6 loss to the Louisville Bats on June 1.

Among 87 International League pitchers who have accrued at least 30 innings to this point in the year, Murphy ranks 21st in strikeouts per nine innings (9.53), 77th in walks per nine innings (5.67), 37th in strikeout rate (21.6 percent), 70th in walk rate (12.9 percent), 27th in swinging-strike rate (12.1 percent), 78th in batting average against (.309), 84th in WHIP (1.91), 82nd in ERA, 61st in FIP, and 52nd in xFIP (5.33), per FanGraphs.

A native of California, Murphy was originally selected by the Red Sox in the sixth round of the 2019 amateur draft out of San Diego. He signed with Boston for $200,000 and was added to the club’s 40-man roster last November in order to receive protection from the Rule 5 Draft.

Standing at 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, Murphy throws from a three-quarters arm slot and operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 91-96 mph four-seam fastball, an 84-89 mph slider, an 83-85 mph changeup, and a 73-76 mph curveball.

Despite the struggles he has endured with Worcester this season, Murphy is still regarded by Baseball America as the No. 13 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks fourth among pitchers in the organization. MLB Pipeline, on the other hand, places the southpaw 14th on its list.

Assuming he gets into a game this week, Murphy will become the third player to make their major-league debut with the Red Sox this season, joining second baseman Enmanuel Valdez and outfielder Masataka Yoshida. He is also in line to become the 22nd different non-position player pitcher to be used by the club so far this year.

Ort, meanwhile, was initially recalled from Worcester over the weekend and appeared in each of Boston’s last two games against Tampa Bay. The 31-year-old righty pitched well, striking out three in two perfect innings on Sunday and tossing a scoreless ninth inning on Monday.

On the 2023 campaign as a whole, Ort has forged a 5.87 ERA and 5.31 FIP with 16 strikeouts to seven walks over 14 appearances (15 1/3 innings) for the Red Sox. With the WooSox, he has put up a 2.45 ERA and 5.29 FIP with nine punchouts to six walks in eight outings spanning 7 1/3 innings of relief.

 (Picture of Chris Murphy: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández, Connor Wong both homer as Red Sox avoid sweep with 8-2 win over Reds; Chris Sale leaves game with shoulder soreness

Behind a six-run eighth inning, the Red Sox avoided a sweep at the hands of the Reds on Thursday night. Boston salvaged the series and put an end to a three-game losing streak by defeating Cincinnati by a final score of 8-2 at Fenway Park to improve to 29-27 on the season.

Chris Sale, making his 11th start of the year for the Sox, came out firing out of the gate. Facing the Reds for the first time in his career, the veteran left-hander struck out six of the first eight batters he faced over two scoreless innings before running into some trouble in the top of the third.

With one out and the bases empty, Sale surrendered back-to-back doubles to Curt Casali and Kevin Newman, allowing the Reds to open the scoring. Though he managed to strand Newman in the third, Sale once again gave up back-to-back doubles to Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson to lead off the fourth.

That sequence of events put runners at second and third for Stuart Fairchild, who flew out to Alex Verdugo in right field. Steer attempted to tag up from third on the play, but he was instead gunned down by Verdugo, who made an accurate throw to home and picked up his fourth outfield assist of the season after the Reds unsuccessfully challenged the call on the field.

With two outs and Nick Senzel at the plate, Sale fell behind in the count at 3-1, which prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora and assistant athletic trainer Masai Takahashi to pay him a visit on the mound. The lefty talked his way into staying in the game, but he then walked Senzel on six pitches and was removed from the contest after being visited by Cora and Takahashi yet again.

Sale, who was later diagnosed with left shoulder soreness, will undergo an MRI on Friday to determine just how severe the issue is. The 34-year-old left the mound on Thursday having allowed one earned run on five hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of work. He threw 59 pitches (40 strikes) and did not factor into the decision.

Justin Garza took over for Sale out of the Boston bullpen and recorded the final out in the top of the fourth. The Red Sox lineup then got to Reds starter Hunter Greene in the bottom half of the frame after the talented righty had fanned seven of the first 10 Boston hitters he faced.

Rafael Devers led things off by lofting a 348-foot fly ball that center fielder Jose Barrero lost in the lights. Devers, who was credited with a double after moving up to second, then came into the score the tying run on a groundball RBI single off the bat of Justin Turner.

Following three scoreless innings of relief from Garza, Josh Winckowski, and Nick Pivetta, the Red Sox broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh. With new reliever Ian Gibaut in the game for the Reds, Enrique Hernandez crushed a go-ahead, 411-foot solo shot over the Green Monster for his fifth home run of the year.

Hernandez’s 103.5 mph blast gave Boston its first lead of the night at 2-1, but Cincinnati wasted no time in retaliating. Chris Martin, who did not yield a single run in eight May appearances, got the call for the eighth inning and immediately lost the lead by serving up a leadoff double to Newman and a game-tying single to Matt McLain.

Martin avoided any further damage by inducing a 5-4-3 double play and a flyout, paving the way for the Red Sox to get back to work in the latter half of the eighth. After Verdugo drew a leadoff walk off Reds righty Kevin Herget, Devers immediately drove him in by lacing a 106.5 mph go-ahead RBI double into the triangle.

Following a Turner single, the Reds elected to intentionally walk Jarren Duran. Herget then balked with the bases loaded to put the Sox up, 4-2. Hernandez tacked on two more with a two-run single through the right side of the infield before Connor Wong broke it open by depositing a 401-foot two-run homer into the first row of Monster seats.

Wong’s sixth big fly of the season gave the Red Sox a commanding 8-2 lead going into the final frame. Kenley Jansen then slammed the door on the Reds in a non-save opportunity by working his way around a two-out walk in an otherwise clean top of the ninth.

Next up: Rays in for four

After picking up their first home win against a National League Central opponent this season, the Red Sox will next welcome the division rival Rays into town for a four-game weekend series beginning Friday night. The set includes a scheduled day-night doubleheader on Saturday.

In Friday’s series opener, Garrett Whitlock will get the start for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Tyler Glasnow for Tampa Bay. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Connor Wong and Enrique Hernandez: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Jorge Alfaro opts out of minor-league deal with Red Sox

Veteran catcher Jorge Alfaro has opted out of his minor-league contract with the Red Sox and intends to test free agency, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The club now has 48 hours to decide whether to block the 29-year-old backstop’s opt-out by adding him to the active roster.

Alfaro, who turns 30 later this month, joined the Red Sox on a minors pact in January after being non-tendered by the Padres last November. Though the right-handed hitter did not make Boston’s Opening Day out of spring training, he elected to remain in the organization and has since torn it up with Triple-A Worcester.

Entering Thursday, Alfaro has batted a stout .320/.366/.520 with 13 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 30 RBIs, 22 runs scored, four stolen bases, nine walks, and 43 strikeouts in 43 games (191 plate appearances) with the WooSox. Defensively, the native Colombian has allowed six passed balls and has thrown out five of 35 would-be base stealers while splitting time behind the plate with Caleb Hamilton and Ronaldo Hernandez. He has also made two starts at first base.

Despite the strong offensive performance, it does not appear as though the Red Sox are keen on adding Alfaro to their 26-man group. That being the case because they are comfortable with the tandem of Connor Wong and Reese McGuire and do not intend on carrying a third catcher at this time.

When speaking with reporters (including Cotillo) prior to Wednesday’s loss to the Reds at Fenway Park, Red Sox manager Alex Cora acknowledged that Alfaro would be a tough fit on the roster as things stand now.

“He’s swinging the bat well,” Cora said. “We’ll see where we’re at. Obviously, right now, we’re very comfortable with Reese and Wong. There’s (another) 29 teams out there. They might have a chance or not. In a selfish way, hopefully, nobody wants him. As a person and a player, I would love him to be in the big-leagues, either with us or somebody else. It’s where we’re at right now. We’re very comfortable with these two guys. I’ll repeat myself.”

As noted by Cotillo, the Red Sox will presumably wait until the 48-hour deadline to make their official decision on Alfaro. That way, they can protect themselves in the event that either Wong or McGuire suffer some sort of injury in the interim.

If Alfaro does indeed leave the organization, though, Hamilton and Hernandez would emerge as the top two catching options for the WooSox while Stephen Scott and Nathan Hickey are right behind them at Double-A Portland.

(Picture of Jorge Alfaro: Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

James Paxton’s 8 strikeouts not enough as Red Sox blow late lead in 5-4 loss to Reds; Masataka Yoshida, Enmanuel Valdez homer

For the second night in a row, the Red Sox fell short of a comeback win over the Reds in the process of suffering their second straight one-run loss and their third straight loss overall.

Despite receiving a strong performance from James Paxton and leading after six innings, Boston fell to Cincinnati by a final score of 5-4 at Fenway Park on Wednesday to drop back to one game of .500 at 28-27 on the season.

With right-hander Luke Weaver starting for the Reds, the Red Sox opened the scoring when Masataka Yoshida belted a 359-foot solo shot down the right field line to lead off the bottom half of the second inning. Yoshida’s seventh home run of the year, and first since May 4, left his bat at 97.8 mph.

An inning later, Connor Wong extended his hitting streak to seven by reaching base on a one-out single. He then moved up to second on an Alex Verdugo groundout before coming into score on an opposite-field RBI double from Rafael Devers. The run-scoring knock was the 200th two-base hit of Devers’ career, but he was left at second as Justin Turner grounded out to end the third.

Boston would maintain a two-run lead through four innings. Paxton, who to that point had experienced very little turbulence in his fourth start of the season for the Sox, then ran into some trouble in the fifth. After recording the first two outs of the frame via strikeout, the veteran left-hander issued a four-pitch walk to Jose Barrero.

Luke Maile, Cincinnati’s No. 9 hitter, wasted no time in making Paxton pay for the free pass by driving in Barrero all the way from first on a towering RBI double off the Green Monster. Maile then advanced to third on a Kevin Newman single, but Paxton stranded the runners on the corners by fanning the final batter he faced in Matt McLain.

All told, Paxton allowed just the one earned run on four hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts over five solid innings of work. The 34-year-old finished with exactly 100 pitches (68 strikes) and induced 22 swings-and-misses, the most of any big-league pitcher on Wednesday. He also lowered his ERA on the season to 4.26.

With Paxton’s night done, the Red Sox got that run right back in the bottom of the fifth when rookie Enmanuel Valdez took Weaver 356 feet over the Green Monster for his fourth homer of the year. The 99.1 mph blast put Boston back up, 3-1, going into the sixth.

Kutter Crawford received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from manager Alex Cora. Making his first appearance since tweaking his right ankle in Arizona this past Saturday, Crawford immediately issued back-to-back walks out of the gate. The righty then retired Tyler Stephenson and the pinch-hitting Jake Fraley on a pair of flyouts, but he could not escape the jam entirely.

Instead, Crawford extended the inning by giving up an RBI single to Nick Senzel that cut Boston’s lead down to one at 3-2. Josh Winckowski came on to record the final out of the sixth but he, too, was not his usual self in the top of the seventh.

After Maile reached on a Devers throwing error to lead off the inning, Newman and McClain delivered back-to-back singles to fill the bases with no outs. Winckowski then got Jonathan India to ground into a a 6-4-3 double play, but it was enough to allow the pinch-running Will Benson to score from third to knot things up at three runs apiece.

Just moments after they tied the game, Spencer Steer gave the Reds their first lead of the night by crushing a go-ahead, two-run home run into the Monster seats off Winckowski, who was ultimately charged with a blown save as well as the losing decision.

Trailing 5-3 now, the Red Sox had a golden opportunity to respond in the latter half of the inning. Valdez, Verdugo, and Devers all reached to fill the bases with two outs. But lefty reliever Alex Young got Turner to ground out to short to extinguish the threat.

Following a 1-2-3 top of the eighth from Chris Martin, Yoshida led off the bottom half with a hard-hit double off new Reds reliever Lucas Sims. Jarren Duran then drove in Yoshida from second with a two-base hit of his own. Alas, the potential tying run was left on base as the pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia (lineout) and Valdez were each retired by Sims.

Like Martin, Nick Pivetta put up a zero in the top of the ninth to give the Red Sox one more shot in the latter half. With two outs and the bases empty, Devers lifted a 104.6 mph line drive to center field off Buck Farmer, but it fell well short of the bleachers and was caught by Senzel on the warning track for the final out.

Next up: Sale gets ball in series finale

On the heels of a 13-13 May, the Red Sox will look to open the month of June by putting an end to this three-game losing streak and avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Reds in Thursday’s series finale. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the start for Boston while Cincinnati will counter with hard-throwing right-hander Hunter Greene.

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

(Picture of Josh Winckowski: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox rally late, but fall short of comeback in 9-8 loss to Reds

They certainly made things interesting in the end, but the Red Sox could not overcome an eight-run deficit and pull off a come-from-behind win over the Reds on Tuesday night. Boston instead got to within one run in the ninth inning before falling to Cincinnati by a final score of 9-8 at Fenway Park to drop to 28-26 on the season.

With Brayan Bello making his eighth start of the year for the Sox, the Reds opened the scoring in the top half of the second. After giving up back-to-back one-out singles to Will Benson and Stuart Fairchild, Bello yielded an RBI groundout to T.J. Friedl, who beat out a would-be inning-ending double play.

The Red Sox had a golden opportunity to respond against Reds starter Ben Lively in the bottom of the second. Masataka Yoshida drew a leadoff walk and immediately went from first to third base on a line-drive double from Jarren Duran. Enrique Hernandez then drew another walk to fill the bases with one out. But Lively escaped the jam by fanning Enmanuel Valdez and getting Reese McGuire to line out to reigning National League Player of the Week Matt McClain.

Bello proceeded to grind through a scoreless third inning before surrendering a leadoff triple to Will Benson to begin things in the fourth. The right-hander was able to strand Benson at third base by retiring Fairchild and striking out the final two batters he faced.

Because he needed 97 pitches (61 strikes) to get through four innings, Bello’s night came to a close sooner than expected. The 24-year-old hurler wound up allowing just the one earned run on five hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. He induced six swings-and-misses and was ultimately charged with his third losing decision of the year.

In relief of Bello, Justin Garza received the first call out of the Boston bullpen from manager Alex Cora. The righty ran into immediate trouble in the fifth by giving up a leadoff single to Jonathan India, which was immediately followed by a run-scoring double off the bat of Jake Fraley to put Cincinnati up, 2-0, at the midway point.

Again, the Red Sox had a chance to get to Lively in their half of the fifth. With two outs and one runner on first following a leadoff single from Hernandez, Raimel Tapia laced a 103.5 mph double off the Green Monster. Hernandez, who was waved in by third base coach Carlos Febles, attempted to score all the way from first on the play, but he was instead gunned down at home plate on a perfectly-executed relay started by Reds center fielder Jose Barrero.

Hernandez was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in the sixth inning as well. After issuing a leadoff single to Benson and one-out walk to Barrero, Garza got McClain to hit a grounder to Hernandez at shortstop. Hernandez fielded the ball cleanly, but — in an attempt to start an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play — he then made a poor throw to the awaiting Valdez at second base.

As a result of Hernandez’s second error of the night and his 11th of the season, Benson scored his side’s third run while Barrero and McClain each advanced an additional 90 feet. Joely Rodriguez then came on to record the final out of the sixth on a five-pitch punchout, but the lefty was not nearly as sharp in the seventh.

Rodriguez walked two of the first four batters he faced in the inning in the process of filling the bases with one out. He followed that by sequence by issuing a bases-loaded free pass to Fairchild, which brought in Kevin Newman from third to give the Reds a 4-0 advantage. Barrero then doubled that lead on one swing of the bat, as he clobbered a 421-foot grand slam off the leftmost light standard above the Green Monster.

Trailing by eight runs going into the latter half of the seventh, the Red Sox finally got on the board. After Lively went 5 2/3 scoreless frames and Alex Young got the final out of the sixth, Fernando Cruz put up a three-spot on the other side of the stretch. With two outs, Valdez singles off Cruz and then scored all the way from first on an RBI double from McGuire. Back-to-back run-scoring triples from Tapia and Rafael Devers cut the deficit to five at 8-3.

Cincinnati got one of those runs back in the eighth, as Tyler Stephenson belted a one-out triple to deep center field before scoring on a Spencer Steer sacrifice fly that came off Ryan Sherriff. After poor base running from Yoshida led to Triston Casas lining lining out to an inning-ending double play a half-inning later, it appeared as if Boston was headed towards a rather ugly loss to kick off the homestand.

That changed in the ninth, though. With Eduardo Salazar on the mound for the Reds, Valdez drew a one-out walk and McGuire followed with another double to put runners at second and third. Tapia, Devers, and Justin Turner then strung together three straight run-scoring hits to trim Cincinnati’s lead to three runs and force manager David Bell to turn to his closer in Alexis Diaz.

Diaz, in turn, served up an RBI double to Yoshida, who was pinch ran for by Pablo Reyes. With runners at second and third, Duran pushed across Turner and allowed Reyes to move up to third with an RBI groundout. Just like that, the tying run was only 90 feet from home plate.

Down to their final out, Casas fell behind in a 1-2 count before whiffing at an 89.7 mph sinker at the knees to end it. Casas finished the night having gone 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. The Red Sox, as a team, left seven runners on base altogether.

At three hours and 12 minutes, Tuesday’s loss marked Boston’s second-longest nine-inning game of the season. Only an 8-3 win over the Blue Jays back on May 3 (three hours and 10 minutes) took longer.

Devers reaches milestone

With his run-scoring single in the seventh inning, Devers notched the 500th RBI of his big-league career. The 26-year-old is the 35th player to record 500 RBIs for the Red Sox and is the fourth-youngest player to do so behind only Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Jim Rice.

Tapia finishes homer shy of cycle

By putting together his first three-hit game as a member of the Red Sox on Tuesday, Tapia finished a home run shy of the cycle. The 29-year-old outfielder doubled in the fifth inning, tripled in the seventh inning, and singled in the ninth inning. He is now batting .364/.417/.500 over his last seven games.

Next up: Weaver vs. Paxton

The Red Sox will look to snap this two-game skid in the second game of this three-game set against the Reds on Wednesday night. Left-hander James Paxton will get the start for Boston while Cincinnati will counter with right-hander Luke Weaver.

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

(Picture of Raimel Tapia: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)