Tag: chris sale

Red Sox squander 6-run lead, commit 4 errors in 11-10 loss to Rays in extras

Despite holding leads of 7-1, 8-6, and 9-7 on Monday afternoon, the Red Sox were unable to keep the Rays at bay and ultimately fell to their division rivals by a final score of 11-10 in 10 innings at Fenway Park.

Chris Sale, making his fifth start of the season for the Sox, did not factor into Monday’s decision, though Boston did lose a game he started for the first time this year.

Over just 3 2/3 innings of work, Sale surrendered five runs — only one of which was earned — on 10 hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts on the afternoon.

The veteran left-hander began his day by fanning Randy Arozarena on three straight strikes, but then issued a 394-foot triple to rookie sensation Wander Franco.

Franco quickly came into score on an RBI single off the bat of Nelson Cruz to give the Rays their first lead of the contest at 1-0.

Sale did manage to get out of the top of the first by escaping a bases-loaded jam, and the Red Sox lineup responded by getting to Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough for an equalizing run on a run-scoring single from J.D. Martinez.

Pushing across one run in their half of the first was not the only damage the Boston bats did while Yarbrough was on the mound, as they plated six additional runs off the left-hander an inning later.

On an RBI single from Taylor Motter, an RBI double from Hunter Renfroe, an RBI single from Rafael Devers, a two-run double from Bobby Dalbec, and a sacrifice fly from Alex Verdugo, the Sox took a commanding 7-1 lead and appeared as though they would be well on their way to a series-opening win.

At that point, Sale had seemingly settled in by putting up a zero in the second and third innings while also recording the first two outs of the fourth rather quickly.

The division-leading Rays, however, did not go down quietly, as Taylor Walls ignited a two-out rally by reaching base via softly-hit, two-foot infield single. Arozarena and Franco followed with singles of their own, loading the bases for the ever-dangerous Cruz.

Sale got Cruz to lift a 370-foot fly ball to center field that had an expected batting average of just .270. Verdugo, the center fielder, was in position to make the inning-ending catch, but instead battled with the sun and was unable to make a clean snag, resulting in the ball rolling towards right field.

On Verdugo’s fielding error, Cruz managed to unload the bases while also advancing all the way up to third base. He then scored from third when Motter, the second baseman, overthrew Devers.

Tampa Bay’s little-league grand slam allowed them to trim Boston’s advantage down to two runs at 7-5 while also getting Sale out of this contest after just 86 pitched (65 strikes).

In relief of Sale, right-hander Garrett Richards closed out the fourth inning, tossed a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, and surrendered one run on three singles in the sixth, with Jordan Luplow making it a 7-6 game on his RBI base hit.

The Sox answered back in their half of the sixth, though, with Motter ripping a leadoff triple off Rays reliever J.T. Chargois and Renfroe plating him on a hard-hit RBI single through the left side of the infield.

Boston’s newfound two-run lead did not last long, with Arozarena driving in Mike Zunino in the seventh while Adam Ottavino was on the mound.

Jonathan Arauz quickly got that run back by clubbing a 416-foot solo shot off J.P. Feyereisen a half inning later, but Ottavino — for the second appearance in a row — served up a leadoff home run to Cruz to begin things in the eighth.

The Rays completed their comeback in the ninth, with Austin Meadows drilling an inside-the-park homer off Garrett Whitlock.

Meadows had scorched a 393-foot line drive to center field to lead off the inning, but it was one Verdugo could not come up cleanly with while leaping in the direction of the wall.

Neither Martinez nor Renfroe backed up Verdugo as the ball caromed away, resulting in recently-signed shortstop Jose Iglesias to hustle out from the infield to make the play himself.

Iglesias, however, bobbled the ball while attempting to corral it, and that allowed the speedy Meadows to complete his trek around the base paths to tie things up at nine runs apiece.

Whitlock did manage to get through the rest of the frame unscathed to keep the 9-9 stalemate intact, and the pinch-hitting Travis Shaw led things off against former Red Sox hurler Collin McHugh in the bottom of the ninth by lacing a leadoff ground-rule double.

The Rays intentionally walked Verdugo and the Sox had Franchy Cordero run in place of Shaw, but Christian Vazquez was not able to advance the lead runner when his botched bunt attempt wound up getting caught by Zunino in foul territory.

Arauz followed by grounding into an inning-ending 5-6-3 double play, meaning the Red Sox had squandered yet another scoring opportunity as this one headed into extras.

Whitlock, back out for the 10th, gave up back-to-back RBI singles to Cruz and the pinch-hitting Brandon Lowe, thus putting his side in a two-run hole while giving the Rays their first lead of the first inning at 11-9.

Down to their last chance in the bottom of the 10th, Iglesias promptly drove in Arauz from second base and later advanced to second himself when Renfroe reached base on a fielding error.

Devers proceeded to draw a two-out walk against McHugh, meaning the potential tying run was just 90 feet away from scoring while the potential winning run was 180 feet away.

In that spot, Red Sox manager Alex Cora opted to have Kevin Plawecki hit for Cordero, but the veteran backstop could only dribble a softly-hit, inning-ending groundout to shortstop that secured a hard-fought 11-10 win for the visitors and a disappointing 11-10 defeat for the home side.

In a game that took 4 hours and 54 minutes to complete, the Red Sox committed four errors, went 6-for-15 with runners in scoring position, and left 12 runners on base as a team in the process of falling to 79-61 on the season.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Rasmussen

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill on Tuesday night as they look to halt this latest skid. The Rays will counter with right-hander Drew Rasmussen.

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

(Picture of Alex Verdugo: Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

Taylor Motter batting leadoff in first start with Red Sox

In his very first start for the Red Sox, newcomer Taylor Motter has been tasked with leading off against the Rays at Fenway Park on Monday afternoon.

Motter, who turns 32 later this month, has appeared in two games for the Sox — both as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement — since being claimed off waivers from the Rockies on Thursday and subsequently being added to the major-league roster on Saturday.

For his major-league career, which dates back to 2016, the right-handed hitter has batted leadoff on just two separate occasions, both of which came during his rookie season with the Rays five years ago.

The Red Sox will be facing off against left-hander Ryan Yarbrough to kick off a three-game series against the division-leading Rays on Monday. Motter is a lifetime .197/.275/.283 hitter when matched up against southpaw.

Prior to joining the Sox last week, the versatile 31-year-old had enjoyed a productive season at the plate with Triple-A Albuquerque before having his contract selected by the Rockies in early August.

In 67 games with the Isotopes, Motter slashed an impressive .335/.460/.759 slash line to go along with 16 doubles, one triple, 24 home runs, 57 RBI, 54 runs scored, 49 walks, and 49 strikeouts across 265 total trips to the plate. That includes going 25-for-60 (.417) against lefties.

“Just get a pitch, hit it in the air and give us a lead,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith) when asked about his decision to bat Motter leadoff. “He put two good at-bats yesterday. He was having a great season in Triple A. I was watching video. I think his swing should play against Yarbrough. … He might get three at-bats against the lefty, give us a boost and get us going.”

Through his first two games with Boston, Motter is 0-for-1 with a walk and run scored, though he made a nice play at second base on Sunday in addition to getting picked off at first base in the seventh inning of an 11-5 loss to the Indians.

Motter will be getting the start at second base in Monday’s series opener against Tampa Bay. Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up behind him, as they will be looking to improve to 5-0 in games ace left-hander Chris Sale starts.

First pitch Monday (Labor Day) is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Taylor Motter: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox struggle with runners in scoring position, come up short, 11-5, in series finale against Indians

Despite a plethora of opportunities, the Red Sox were unable to finish off a series sweep and extend their winning streak to five consecutive games on Sunday afternoon, as they fell to the Indians by a final score of 11-5 at Fenway Park.

It was a day that started with uncertainty for the Sox, with Nick Pivetta being scratched from his start on account of being placed on the COVID-19 related injured list.

Instead of Pivetta, Boston was forced to turn to pitching prospect Kutter Crawford, who had been on the club’s taxi squad after making just six appearances (five starts) above the Double-A level this season.

Crawford’s inexperience showed on Sunday, as the right-hander surrendered five runs — all of which were earned — on five hits and two walks to go along with two strikeouts over just two-plus innings of work.

While he did not necessarily get shelled, Crawford did fall victim to some poor luck, as evidenced by his loading the bases with no outs in the top half of the first.

Cleveland did get to Crawford for two runs on a pair of sacrifice flies after loading the bases, and they got to him for an additional run an inning later when Owen Miller led off with a double and came around to score on a two-out RBI single off the bat of Myles Straw.

In the third, Crawford served up a monstrous 419-foot solo shot to Franmil Reyes to lead off the inning, and the righty’s day quickly came to a close after issuing a six-pitch walk to Bobby Bradley.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 57 (40 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler threw 26 four-seam fastballs, 15 cutters, 13 curveballs, two sinkers, and one changeup. He induced nine total swings-and-misses while averaging 93.8 mph with his four-seamer.

In relief of Crawford, John Schreiber got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and he officially closed the book on the starter’s outing by giving up a hard-hit double to Harold Ramirez that was followed by a softly-hit two-run single from Bradley Zimmer to give Cleveland a commanding 6-0 lead.

Schreiber, to his credit, managed to escape the third inning without giving anything else up before stringing together two scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth innings in what was his Red Sox debut.

At that point, the Sox, still trailing by six runs, finally got to Indians starter Zach Plesac, as Hunter Renfroe led off the bottom of the fifth with a line-drive double to center field.

Renfroe did not stay at second base for long, though, with J.D. Martinez getting his productive afternoon of the plate started with an RBI double to left field.

After an Alex Verdugo walk, Kevin Plawecki snuck a run-scoring single back up the middle to bring in Martinez, while Travis Shaw came up just inches short of a three-run homer, but settled for an RBI single that scored Verdugo and put runners at first and second with no outs.

Bobby Dalbec failed to advance either runner on a flyout to left field, and — at that moment — Red Sox manager Alex Cora got aggressive by dispatching Rafael Devers, who initially had the day off, to pinch-hit for Jack Lopez.

Devers, however, was unable to get the job done off the bench, as he punched out on seven pitches before Jonathan Arauz also struck out to leave two important runs at second and third base.

Still, after Schreiber and left-hander Stephen Gonsalves combined to put up a zero in the top of the sixth, the Boston bats kept things going against the Cleveland bullpen.

Matched up against Nick Wittgren, the Renfroe-Martinez combination struck once more, with the former reaching base via a one-out single and the latter clearing the bases on a 401-foot two-run home run into the Red Sox bullpen.

Martinez’s 25th homer of the season made cut the Sox’ deficit down to just one run at 6-5, and Verdugo kept the pressure on by ripping a line-drive double to put the potential tying run in scoring position.

Plawecki moved Verdugo up to third base on a softly-hit groundout, but Shaw was unable to bring him in and instead grounded out to first base to extinguish the threat.

From there, Ryan Brasier bounced back from a shaky 2021 debut on Friday by facing the minimum of three batters in the top of the seventh, and the Red Sox offense had another chance to pull even with the Indians in the bottom half.

Taylor Motter, who replaced Lopez at second base earlier in the contest, had drawn a one-out walk off Trevor Stephan and remained there when Arauz flew out to left field. With Kyle Schwarber at the plate, though, Motter was picked off at first base, thus ending the inning.

Hansel Robles kept Cleveland at six runs with a 1-2-3 eighth inning, but this one got away from Boston when Phillips Valdez took the mound for the top half of the ninth.

After twirling two shutout frames on Saturday, Valdez got rocked for five runs on five hits on Sunday afternoon.

That meltdown of an inning allowed the Indians to jump out to an 11-5 lead, and that would go on to be Sunday’s final score.

In total, the Sox went 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base as a team on Sunday.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 79-60 on the season, though they remain just a 1/2 game back of the Yankees, who lost to the Orioles on Sunday, for the first American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Rays on deck

The Red Sox will celebrate the Labor Day holiday on Monday by welcoming in the Tampa Bay Rays into town for a three-game series at Fenway Park.

Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston in Monday’s series opener, while fellow lefty Ryan Yarbrough will do the same for Tampa Bay.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec and Kyle Schwarber: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Jarren Duran comes through with game-winning RBI single as Red Sox halt skid with 3-2 victory over Rays

After wrapping up their first losing month of the season on Tuesday, the Red Sox were able to open the month of September with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Wednesday night.

Chris Sale, making his fourth start of the season and fourth since returning from Tommy John surgery, was not at his sharpest while going up against his toughest opponent to date, but was still effective nonetheless.

Over six solid innings of work to set a new season-high in that category, Sale surrendered just two runs — both of which were earned on six hits, two walks, and two hit batsman to go along with three strikeouts on the evening.

In addition to that, the Sox gave Sale an early lead to work with in the top half of the second.

Matched up against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, Alex Verdugo ripped a one-out triple to center field and was promptly driven in on an RBI single off the bat of Christian Vazquez.

Both runs Sale gave up, meanwhile, came on one swing of the bat an inning later, as the veteran left-hander served up a two-run home run to Wander Franco with two outs in the inning.

Besides that one blunder that put Boston in a 2-1 hole, Sale managed to maneuver his way around some traffic on the base paths to the point where he kept the Tampa Bay offense off the board over his final three innings pitched.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 95 (57 strikes) to set another season-high, the 32-year-old hurler did not factor into Wednesday’s decision, though this particular outing may be his most encouraging of the season thus far.

Moments after Sale’s outing came to an end, Vazquez continued to build on his productive night at the plate by demolishing a one-out, 389-foot solo shot off Rays reliever and former teammate Collin McHugh on the very first pitch he saw in the top of the seventh.

Vazquez’s sixth big fly of the season pulled the Red Sox even with the Rays at two runs apiece, and the score would remain that way for quite some time.

In relief of Sale, Garrett Whitlock got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to begin things in the seventh and immediately gave up a leadoff double to Joey Wendle.

Wendle proceeded to advance to third on a fly out to center field, but also attempted to score from third on a sharply-hit ground ball to the left side of the infield off the bat of Randy Arozarena.

Rafael Devers, however, had different plans, as he — with the help from Vazquez behind the plate — gunned down Wendle at home to preserve the stalemate.

In the eighth, Whitlock was put into just about the exact same situation when he yielded another leadoff double to Franco, who moved up to third on a groundout.

Once more, though, the Rays’ base running bailed out the Red Sox, as Franco attempted to score on a grounder from Manuel Margot, but was instead thrown out at home by shortstop Jonathan Arauz.

Having halted Tampa Bay’s momentum in two consecutive innings, the Boston bats broke out in their half of the ninth, where Devers proved to be the catalyst by lacing a leadoff single off Pete Fairbanks.

Devers was able to move up into scoring position on an infield single from a hustling Verdugo, ultimately putting the potential go-ahead run at second base with two outs for Jarren Duran.

Duran, at that point, was 0-for-3 with a pair of strikeouts, but came through when it mattered most by sneaking an RBI single through the right side of the infield to bring in Devers from second to make it a 3-2 game.

Given a brand-new one-run lead to protect, Adam Ottavino got the call for the ninth, and he shut the door on the Rays by retiring the side in order to notch his 11th save of the season and secure the 3-2 victory for the Sox.

With the win, the Red Sox snap their three-game losing streak to improve to 76-59 on the season as well as 4-0 in games started by Sale. Their lead over the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot also increased to two full games.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. McClanahan

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound on Thursday as they look to head back to Boston having secured a four-game series split with their division rivals.

The Rays, meanwhile, will turn to fellow southpaw Shane McClanahan, who will be making his 21st start of the season for Tampa Bay.

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

(Picture of Jarren Duran: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Red Sox rally comes up short in 8-5 loss to Rays as team’s COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow

The road trip from hell rolled on for the Red Sox at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

In addition to having two more players — Hirokazu Sawamura and Xander Bogaerts — testing positive for COVID-19, the Sox committed two errors and fell to the Rays by a final score of 8-5, marking their third consecutive loss.

Matched up against Rays starter Ryan Yarbrough to begin things on Tuesday, Bogaerts actually got the Red Sox on the board first, as he followed up a two-out double from J.D. Martinez by ripping an RBI single to right field to give his side an early 1-0 lead.

Bogaerts was, however, removed from this contest in the middle of the second inning after his latest test came back positive, and it all started to go downhill for Boston from there.

That being the case because Brad Peacock, who was just acquired from the Indians on Mondy, got somewhat roughed up for five runs — all of which were earned — on two hits, two walks, one hit batsman, and zero strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings of work in his first start with the Red Sox.

After needing just seven pitches to get through a scoreless bottom of the first, Peacock served up a solo home run to Randy Arozarena with one out in the second inning, thus allowing the Rays to even things up at one run apiece.

The veteran right-hander did manage to get out of the second, but ran into some more trouble in the bottom half of the third when he issued a leadoff walk to Kevin Kiermaier and plunked Francisco Mejia.

A mental mistake and poor throw from Alex Verdugo on a fly ball to center field off the bat of Brandon Lowe allowed both of those runners to advance an additional 90 feet, and Peacock promptly loaded the bases with one out by walking Nelson Cruz.

Rookie sensation Wander Franco broke the 1-1 stalemate and brought in two of those runners on a hard-hit single to right field that was corralled by Hunter Renfroe, but Renfroe’s throw back to the infield got past Bobby Dalbec, which subsequently allowed both Kiermaier and Mejia to score as opposed to just Kiermaier. Dalbec was charged with a fielding error as the Rays went up on the Sox, 3-1.

Franco’s go-ahead hit also marked the end of the line for Peacock, who got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora while leaving runners at second and third base with one out in the third. The 33-year-old hurler finished with a final pitch count of 48 — 25 of which were strikes.

In relief of Peacock, left-hander Stephen Gonsalves, just selected from Triple-A Worcester, officially closed the book on Peackock’s night by allowing both runners he inherited to score on a wild pitch and Austin Meadows RBI single.

Gonsalves then plunked Arozarena to put runners at first and second, and Yandy Diaz took full advantage of that by blooping a softly-hit, 73.7 mph two-run double in between Yairo Munoz and Renfroe in right field.

Kiermaier proceeded to strike out on a foul tip to end the inning, but the damage had already been down since the Red Sox suddenly found themselves in a 7-1 hole.

To his credit, Gonsalves — in what was his first major-league outing in nearly three years — tossed two additional scoreless frames to keep the deficit at six runs through the end of the fifth.

Kyle Schwarber trimmed that deficit to five runs at 7-2 by crushing his 28th homer of the season off Yarbrough to lead off the top of the sixth, but Tampa Bay responded by getting that (unearned) run back off Phillips Valdez on an HBP, Dalbec fielding error, and sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the frame.

Valdez managed to keep the Rays off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth innings, while Rafael Devers pushed across another run as he collected his 97th RBI of the year in the top half of the eighth.

Devers’ run-scoring single made it an 8-3 game in the eighth. In the ninth, after Schwarber and Martinez made things interesting with a pair of run-scoring singles, it came down to Devers.

Matched up against Rays closer Andrew Kittredge, Devers came up to the plate representing the tying run with two outs and runners at first and second. He fanned on four pitches to cut the rally short as 8-5 would go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 75-59 on the season while dropping 10 full games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East. Boston began the month of August trailing Tampa Bay by just 1/2 a game for the top spot in the division.

Tuesday’s defeat also wraps up a disappointing August in which the Sox went 12-16, marking the first time this season they finished a month with a losing record.

Next up: Sale vs. Rasmussen to begin September

The Red Sox will turn to ace left-hander Chris Sale on Wednesday night as they look to put an end to this three-game skid and start the month of September on a positive note. Rosters on Wednesday will expand from 26 players to 28 players for the remainder of the season.

Wednesday will mark Sale’s fourth start of the season since returning from Tommy John surgery on August 14. It also represents his toughest test thus far considering the opponent he will be going up against.

The Rays, meanwhile, will send right-hander Drew Rasmussen to the hill as they go for yet another series victory over their division rivals.

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

(Picture of Alex Cora: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Chris Sale tosses 5 scoreless innings in second start back as Red Sox blank Rangers, 6-0, to snap 3-game skid

The Red Sox remain unbeaten in games started by Chris Sale in 2021, as they took care of business in the first of a three-game set against the Rangers at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Boston came out on top over Texas by a final score of 6-0, with Sale leading the way by putting together his second straight solid outing after returning to the major-league mound for the first time in nearly two years last Saturday.

Sale, in what was his second start of the season for the Sox, kept the Rangers off the scoreboard while scattering just five hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts over his five innings of work.

Granted, he was going up against one of the worst lineups in the American League, but the veteran left-hander still strung together five scoreless frames despite dealing with his fair share of traffic on the base paths.

In the top of the first, Sale gave up a one-out double to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but followed that with two straight strikeouts to get out of the inning. In the top of the second, he issued a one-out walk and single to Yohel Pozo and Yonny Hernandez, but countered that by getting a strikeout and flyout to retire the side. In the top of the fourth, he yielded back-to-back one-out base hits to Jonah Heim and Pozo that put runners on the corners, but that runner on third was stranded there.

That being the case because Sale got Hernandez to bunt into a force out at second base before getting Jason Martin to fly out to left field to end things in the fourth. He then maneuvered his way around a leadoff single in the fifth and capped off his night by sitting down the final two batters he faced in order thanks to a nifty 6-4-3 double play on a Brock Holt grounder.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 71 (49 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler ultimately earned his second winning decision of the season while lowering his ERA to 1.80.

While Sale was in the process of weaving his way through the Rangers lineup, the Red Sox lineup was able to wake up to some degree after a sleepy series in the Bronx earlier this week.

Matched up against rookie right-hander Dane Dunning, the Boston bats got things started right away in their half of the first, and Enrique Hernandez proved to be the catalyst for that with a leadoff double.

After advancing up to third base on a passed ball, Hernandez came into score on an RBI single off the bat of Xander Bogaerts, who kicked off his productive night at the plate by giving his side an early 1-0 lead.

Christian Vazquez followed suit in the second, as he, too, ripped a leadoff double to right field, moved up to third on a Jarren Duran groundout, and was plated on a sharp line-drive RBI single from Hernandez to double Boston’s advantage to 2-0.

Fast forward to the fifth, right after Sale’s outing had come to a close, and the Red Sox did most of their damage off Dunning — all with two outs in the inning.

Following outs from Hernandez and Rafael Devers, Bogaerts drilled an 0-1, 84 mph changeup down the heart of the plate 371 feet down the left field line and over the Green Monster for his 20th home run of the season.

Kyle Schwarber followed by drawing a seven-pitch walk, while J.D. Martinez put runners at second and third for Alex Verdugo by lacing a two-out double to left field.

Verdugo took full advantage of that, as he tattooed a two-run double 101 mph off the Green Monster off the very first pitch he saw from Dunning.

That piece of impressive hitting gave the Sox a commanding 5-0 lead, though Hernandez tacked on one more to that an inning later when he plated Duran from third on another run-scoring groundout to make it a 6-0 contest.

Red Sox bullpen takes over for Sale

In relief of Sale, Hansel Robles got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to begin things in the top half of the sixth, and he worked his way around a leadoff walk by sitting down the next three batters he faced in consecutive order.

From there, after Hernandez provided some insurance and made it a 6-0 game, Austin Davis tossed a scoreless seventh inning with some defensive help from Devers and Bogaerts, Hirokazu Sawamura punched out two in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, and Matt Barnes — in a nonsave situation — shut the door on the Rangers in the ninth.

It was Barnes’ first relief appearance since last Sunday, and it was one in which he struck out the side en route to securing a 6-0 shutout victory for the Sox.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 70-54 on the season to snap a three-game skid. They are — at the moment — six games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East and tied with the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Some assorted offensive notes from Friday’s win:

Enrique Hernandez went 2-for-5 with a double, one run scored, two RBI out of the leadoff spot.

Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI out of the No. 3 spot.

Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored out of the cleanup spot.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Lyles

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill on Saturday night as they go for the series victory over the Rangers.

The Rangers, in turn, will counter with veteran right-hander Jordan Lyles as they look to even things up.

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

(Picture of Chris Sale: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta lasts just 1 2/3 innings as Red Sox get swept by Yankees after comeback attempt falls short in 5-2 loss

Nick Pivetta’s introduction to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night certainly did not go as planned in what would turn out to be his shortest outing of the year.

In what was his first career start against the Yankees as a member of the Red Sox, Pivetta got rocked for four runs — all of which were earned — on four hits and three walks to go along with one strikeout over just 1 2/3 innings of work.

Boston ultimately fell to New York by a final score of 5-2, as they were unable to avoid getting swept in three games by their division rivals in Wednesday’s series finale.

While the Sox’ offensive woes continued to drag on, the visitors actually struck first right away in their half of the first inning.

Matched up against Yankees left-hander Andrew Heaney, who came into the day having posted a 9.00 ERA through his first three starts with New York, Xander Bogaerts got the scoring started by crushing a two-out, 379-foot solo shot to the second deck in left field.

Bogaerts’ 19th home run of the season gave Boston the early 1-0 lead, but Pivetta ran into quite a bit of trouble in the second inning after retiring three of the first four batters he faced in the first.

There, the right-hander issued a leadoff single to Giancarlo Stanton that was followed by a seven-pitch walk of Rougned Odor. Gary Sanchez then lifted a softly-hit fly ball to shallow right field, but it was one that was just out of the reach of right fielder J.D. Martinez.

Odor, who initially retreated back to first base after he initially thought Martinez had made the tough catch, managed to advance to second, loading the bases with no outs for Brett Gardner.

Gardner drove in the tying run — Stanton — from third on a sacrifice fly to center field before New York’s No. 9 hitter, Andrew Velazquez, plated the go-ahead run on an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

That gave the Yankees their first lead of the night at 2-1, and after he stole second base and Rafael Devers made a fantastic play at third for the second out of the inning, Anthony Rizzo delivered with the back-breaker.

Just activated from the COVID-19 related injured list, Rizzo — down in the count at 0-2 — laced a line drive off Pivetta that deflected off the glove of Bobby Dalbec and rolled into foul territory in right field.

Rizzo’s base hit pushed across both Sanchez and Velazquez to make it a 4-1 contest, and it promptly marked the end of the line for Pivetta after he walked Stanton and got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 57 (36 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler wound up getting hit with his sixth loss of the season while seeing his ERA on the year inflate to 4.43.

The Red Sox bullpen, to its credit, was fairly effective in relief of Pivetta, as Garrett Richards, Martin Perez, and Adam Ottavino combined to toss 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball before Josh Taylor surrendered a run on two hits in the bottom of the eighth.

Still, just because the bullpen held the opposition at five runs to keep things relatively close at 5-1, that does not mean the offense was able to take advantage.

After Bogaerts got the Red Sox on the board with his solo home run in the first inning, Heaney countered by putting together his best outing in Pinstripes to date by allowing a total of one out and two walks the rest of the way.

From the start of the second inning through the middle of the seventh, the Sox did not send more than four batters to the plate, though they did have scarce opportunities to score more than one run.

In the top of the fourth, Bogaerts reached base on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and moved up to third on a Devers groundout, but was stranded there by Heaney when Martinez grounded out to end the inning.

In both the fifth and sixth innings, Boston led things off with a runner reaching base, though neither made it further than second on account of a flyout, a lineout, pop out, fly out, and 5-4-3 double play.

So, Heaney capped off his stellar night by retiring all the final five Red Sox hitters he faced to make way for the Yankees bullpen to take over in the eighth.

Fellow lefty Zack Britton followed suit by tossing a perfect frame in that eighth inning, but closer Aroldis Chapman certainly made things interesting in the ninth.

On a 2-1, 97 mph heater on the inner half of the plate, Renfroe turned a 5-1 game into a 5-2 game by sending his 22nd home run of the season 456 feet to deep right field.

A one-out walk from Bogaerts and two-out single off the bat of Martinez brought the tying run to the plate in Kevin Plawecki, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone countered by going back into his bullpen.

Matched up against Lucas Luetge now, Plawecki worked a full count and on the eighth pitch he saw from the lefty, ripped a grounder to the left side of the infield.

It took a Herculean effort from the shortstop in Velazquez, but the Bronx native was able to make a sprawling grab and get to his feet in time to gun down Plawecki at first for the final out of the contest.

That in turn, secured a 5-2 victory for the Yankees and 5-2 defeat for the Red Sox as they wind up getting swept out of Yankee Stadium.

With the loss, Boston falls to 69-54 and they are now six full games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Off day on Thursday, then a weekend series against the Rangers

The Red Sox will travel back to Boston on Wednesday night, enjoy an off day on Thursday, and welcome the lowly Rangers into town for the start of a three-game weekend series at Fenway Park on Friday.

Left-hander Chris Sale will make his second start of the season for Boston in Friday’s series opener, while Texas will turn to right-hander Dane Dunning.

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

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Akin

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

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

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

Red Sox roster moves: Chris Sale, Christian Vázquez activated; Yacksel Rios, Connor Wong optioned to Triple-A Worcester

The first Sale Day of 2021 has finally arrived.

Before taking on the Orioles in the second game of their three-game weekend series at Fenway Park on Saturday, the Red Sox made a series of roster moves.

First off, ace left-hander Chris Sale was returned from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester and activated from the 60-day injured list, while catcher Christian Vazquez was activated from the bereavement list.

Secondly, in order to make room for both Sale and Vazquez on Boston’s major-league roster, both right-hander Yacksel Rios and catcher Connor Wong were optioned to Worcester, the club announced earlier Saturday afternoon.

Sale will make his first start for the Red Sox in just over two years in Saturday’s contest against the Orioles as he makes his highly-anticipated return from Tommy John surgery.

After starting the 2021 season on the 60-day injured list on account of the fact that he was still recovering from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent last March (on his 31st birthday), Sale was first sent out on a rehab assignment with the rookie-level Florida Complex League Red Sox in mid-July.

In five rehab outings between the FCL Red Sox, Double-A Portland, and Triple-A Worcester from July 15 through August 7, the 32-year-old hurler posted a 1.35 ERA and 1.59 FIP to go along with 35 strikeouts to just five walks over 20 total innings of work.

Because Saturday will mark Sale’s first major-league appearance in approximately 732 days, the Sox will surely look to manage the seven-time All-Star’s workload effectively so that he does not overexert himself and remains in line to make his next start against the Rangers this coming Friday.

By activating Sale from the 60-day injured list, the Red Sox were able to utilize the open spot on their 40-man roster that was created on Friday when utility man Marwin Gonzalez was designated for assignment at the same time Kyle Schwarber was activated from the 10-day IL.

Catching Sale in his season debut will be Vazquez, who makes his return to Boston’s lineup after missing three days of action while on the bereavement list.

Vazquez, who will hit out of the eight-hole on Saturday, has caught Sale on 17 previous occasions. The veteran lefty has put up a 4.61 ERA and .763 OPS against over 84 innings pitched while the 30-year-old backstop out of Puerto Rico was calling the shots behind the plate.

With both Sale and Vazquez being activated, Rios and Wong wound up getting sent down to the WooSox.

Rios, acquired from the Mariners in exchange for cash considerations on June 14, pitched to the tune of a 3.70 ERA with 21 strikeouts and 14 walks across 20 relief appearances (24 1/3 innings pitched) in his first stint with the Sox.

Wong, meanwhile, heads back to Worcester after being called up in place of Vazquez this past Wednesday.

The 25-year-old catching prospect appeared as a defensive replacement for Kevin Plawecki in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 20-8 rout of the Rays, and he made his lone at-bat count by recording his first career triple and RBI in the blowout victory.

Through six games spanning four separate stints with the Red Sox now, Wong has gone 4-for-13 (.308) with one double, one triple, one RBI, three runs scored, one walk, and seven strikeouts over 14 total plate appearances.

—

While it’s likely both Rios and Wong will be up with the big-league club once more before season’s end, the Red Sox will be taking on the Orioles without them on Saturday afternoon.

Sale, again, will be getting the ball for Boston, while right-hander Jorge Lopez will be doing the same for Baltimore.

Here is how the Red Sox will be lining up behind Sale:

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Chris Sale and Christian Vazquez: Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

Red Sox likely to option Tanner Houck to Triple-A Worcester; other roster moves appear to be on the horizon as well with returns of Chris Sale and Kyle Schwarber looming

The Red Sox are planning on optioning Tanner Houck to Triple-A Worcester, manager Alex Cora said following his team’s 8-1 loss to the Rays at Fenway Park on Thursday night.

Houck, who made his sixth start and eighth overall appearance for Boston in Thursday’s series finale, allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and zero walks to go along with eight strikeouts over five-plus innings of work.

While it seemed as though Houck had become a permanent member of the Sox’ starting rotation with Garrett Richards and Martin Perez being moved to the bullpen, the right-hander will actually come off Boston’s major-league roster for the time being beginning on Friday.

That being said, Houck should still make his next start for the Red Sox as scheduled, as the club has an off day on Monday and a doubleheader against the Yankees on Tuesday that will allow for some roster flexibility.

Because Tuesday will feature a doubleheader between Boston and New York, the Sox would be able to call up Houck as their 27th man for the twin bill and start him on regular rest in one of the two games at Yankee Stadium.

In the interim, the Red Sox can option the 25-year-old hurler down to Worcester and, in turn, gain an extra arm in the bullpen or position player on the bench.

“He’ll be with us soon,” Cora said of Houck Thursday night. “We still have some flexibility in the roster in the upcoming days. That’s something we — Chaim [Bloom] and the group — are going to talk about after we’re done with you guys. He’s still contributing. He’ll contribute again soon with us. Let’s put it that way.”

As things currently stand, the Sox’ 26-man major-league roster is obviously at full capacity. However, a potential roster shakeup could be on the horizon depending on the statuses of certain players who were/are away from the team for different reasons.

Alex Verdugo, who was placed on the paternity list on Sunday, arrived in Boston from Los Angeles on Thursday. If the 25-year-old clears the necessary COVID-19 protocols, the plan is for him to be activated ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Orioles, per Cora.

Christian Vazquez, who was placed on the bereavement list on Wednesday, is expected to return to the Red Sox on Saturday, according to Cora. It seems likely optioning Connor Wong to Worcester would be the corresponding move to get the veteran backstop back on the big-league roster.

Kyle Schwarber, meanwhile, was slated to kick off a rehab assignment in Worcester on Thursday, but the WooSox’ game against the Syracuse Mets was postponed due to inclement weather.

Thursday’s rained-out contest will be made up as part of a single admission doubleheader at Polar Park on Friday night, though it is no sure thing Schwarber will partake.

That being the case because earlier Thursday, Cora revealed that the 28-year-old slugger could make his Red Sox debut “sooner rather than later.”

The Sox acquired Schwarber, who has been on the injured list with a right hamstring since July 3, from the Washington Nationals in exchange for pitching prospect Aldo Ramirez on the eve of the trade deadline — July 29.

Since that time, Schwarber has been working his way back and — despite a minor setback on account of some groin tightness — has been getting work in at a relatively new position in first base.

Prior to injuring his hamstring last month, Schwarber appeared in 72 games for the Nationals, all of which came as a left fielder, which has essentially been his primary position throughout his major-league career.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, though, the Red Sox — in addition to using him at first base — also plan on using the 6-foot, 229 pounder in the outfield as well as at designated hitter, which would lead to J.D. Martinez getting more playing time in left field.

Taking all that into consideration, it would seem as though Franchy Cordero would be the odd man out in this scenario, as Schwarber can provide the Sox with the left-handed bat they need at first base while Schwarber, Martinez and Verdugo would figure to see the lion’s share of playing time in left field.

Cordero, who has minor-league options remaining, only solves part of the problem, though, as the Red Sox will have to make an even more significant move when it comes time to activate Chris Sale off the 60-day injured list ahead of his 2021 debut on Saturday.

Sale was placed on the 60-day IL back in February and was taken off Boston’s 40-man roster as a result. With the ace left-hander’s return to the mound drawing ever closer, the Sox will have to find a way to create a spot for him,

The same can be said about right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier, who was placed on the 60-day injured list because of a left calf strain in early May.

Like Schwarber, Brasier was slated to appear in Thursday night’s contest between the WooSox and Syracuse Mets while on a rehab assignment, but those plans have since changed.

It does not appear as if Braiser is in line to return and make his 2021 debut with the Red Sox this weekend like Sale is, but it is something the club will need to keep in mind nevertheless.

On top of Sale and Brasier nearing their returns from the 60-day injured lists, Matt Andriese, Darwnizon Hernandez, Christian Arroyo and Danny Santana are all on the 10-day injured list as well.

So, whether it be optioning someone like Cordero or Jonathan Arauz to Worcester to make room for someone who is already on the 40-man roster or designating a struggling veteran like Marwin Gonzalez to make room for someone who needs to be added to the 40-man roster, the Red Sox — led by chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom — could very well be on the verge of a major-league shakeup as they look to keep their postseason hopes alive down the final stretch of the season.

“We’ll talk about it,” Cora said of the possibility of the club making roster moves in the near future. “There’s certain parts of our roster that we have to be better. Overall, to win ballgames, it takes 26 guys. And not everybody’s playing well, not everybody’s contributing the way they’re capable of. So, we’ll talk about it.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of stuff going on this weekend and next week with the IL, Alex [Verdugo] coming back, Christian [Vazquez] coming back on Saturday,” added Cora. “So, that’s something we’ll talk about as a group and we’ll go from there.”

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)