Tag: connor wong

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)

James Paxton runs into early trouble as Red Sox get swept by Angels in 7-3 loss

The Red Sox were unable to avoid a three-game sweep at the hands of the Angels on Wednesday night. Boston dropped its third straight to Los Angeles and its fourth overall in a 7-3 loss at Angel Stadium to fall to 26-24 on the season.

With Tyler Anderson starting for the Halos, the Sox had a chance to strike early. After singling to lead off the top half of the second inning, Rafael Devers went from first to third base on a one-out single off the bat of Pablo Reyes. Connor Wong then came up to the plate and worked a 2-2 count before madness ensued.

Wong whiffed at an 88.4 mph fastball at the top of the zone. At the same time, Reyes took off for second base, prompting Angels catcher Chad Wallach to unleash a throw to Luis Rengifo, who was covering the bag. Rengifo, however, noticed that Devers had taken off for home in an attempt to score and wasted little time in gunning him down at the plate to complete the inning-ending strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play.

Perhaps that sequence of events gave the Angels some momentum, because they broke through against Red Sox starter James Paxton in the latter half of the second. Paxton, who had given up just three runs through his first two starts (11 innings) of the season, issued a leadoff walk to Hunter Renfroe. Brandon Drury followed by roping a double to right field to put runners at second and third for Gio Urshela, who opened the scoring by plating Renfroe with a 315-foot sacrifice fly.

Paxton fanned Rengifo for the second out, but he extended the inning by issuing a seven-pitch walk to Wallach. Rookie shortstop Zach Neto then broke it open by crushing a 392-foot three-run home run to right field to put the Angels up, 4-0. An inning later, Paxton was bitten by the long ball again, this time serving up a one-out solo shot to the vaunted Shohei Ohtani to increase the deficit to five runs.

Though Paxton got through the rest of the third unscathed, the damage had already been done. The veteran left-hander wound up allowing five earned runs on four hits and three walks to go along with five strikeouts over three innings of work. He finished with 59 pitches (35 strikes) and was charged with the losing decision as his ERA on the year rose to 5.14.

With Paxton done for the night, the Red Sox lineup finally got to Anderson in the fourth. Masataka Yoshida laced a one-out double to center field and Enrique Hernandez promptly drove him in with a two-base hit of his own to cut the Angels’ lead back down to four runs at 5-1.

Alas, Hernandez was left at second as Reyes grounded out to extinguish the threat. Nick Pivetta then came on for Paxton in the bottom of the fourth. After sandwiching a Neto single in between recording the first two outs of the inning, the righty served up a towering 396-foot two-run homer to Trout that put Boston in a 7-1 hole.

Despite the early indications that it might not have been his night, Pivetta rallied and put up zeroes in the fifth and sixth innings. The Red Sox then got one of those runs back in the seventh when Wong took Angels reliever Reyes Moronta 396 feet deep to left-center field for his fifth home run of the year.

Moments after Wong rounded the bases, Raimel Tapia ripped a one-out single and Rob Refsnyder and Justin Turner each drew two-out walks off Moronta to fill the bases for Yoshida. Angels manager Phil Nevin responded by giving Moronta the hook in favor of Chris Devenski, who got Yoshida to ground out to first.

Following two more scoreless frames from Justin Garza and Kenley Jansen, Wong came into score on an RBI single from Refsnyder with two outs in the top of the ninth. Turner then fittingly lined out to Trout to end it.

All told, the Red Sox went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base as a team on Wednesday. They have scored just four runs in their last 41 innings dating back to the fourth inning of Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Padres in San Diego.

Next up: On to Arizona

The Red Sox will travel to Phoenix late Wednesday night and have Thursday off. They will then open a three-game weekend series against the Diamondbacks on Friday. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the start for Boston while Arizona has yet to name a starter.

First pitch from Chase Field is scheduled for 9:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of James Paxton: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Tanner Houck strikes out 8 over 6 strong innings, but Red Sox muster just 4 hits in 2-1 loss to Angels

Despite Tanner Houck’s strong start, the Red Sox were held to just one run on four hits in a series-opening loss to the Angels on Monday night. Boston fell to Los Angeles by a final score of 2-1 at Angel Stadium to drop to 26-22 on the season.

Houck, making his ninth start of the year for the Sox, put together a solid outing in his bid to remain in the rotation. The right-hander allowed just one run on three hits, two walks, and one hit batsman to go along with a season-high eight strikeouts over six innings of work.

The Halos got to Houck for that lone run in their half of the second. After drawing a one-out walk, Brandon Drury went from first to third base on a Matt Thaiss single. He then opened the scoring by coming in from third on an RBI groundout off the bat of Luis Rengifo.

Houck proceeded to load the bases by hitting a batter and giving up another single, but he escaped the jam by fanning Mike Trout on an 84 mph slider at the bottom of the zone. From the middle of the third inning through the end of the sixth, the righty retired eight of the last nine batters he faced.

In addition to striking out Trout and Shohei Ohtani a combined four times on Monday night, Houck induced 17 swings-and-misses on his 83 pitches (65 strikes). The 26-year-old hurler did not factor into the decision, but he did lower his ERA on the season to 4.99.

Shortly before Houck’s night to an end, the Red Sox got on the board in the top of the sixth. After being held in check by Angels starter Jaime Barria, Connor Wong led off the inning with a groundball double off veteran reliever Aaron Loup. Wong then moved up to third on an Alex Verdugo groundout and scored the then-tying run on a Masataka Yoshida RBI single.

With things knotted up at 1-1 going into the seventh, Kutter Crawford took over for Houck out of the Boston bullpen. Making his first appearance since being activated from the 15-day injured list on Friday, Crawford worked his way around a leadoff double in the seventh and came back out for the eighth.

Unfortunately for the Red Sox, Mickey Moniak broke the tie by crushing a 401-foot leadoff home run to deep right field to put the Angels back up, 2-1, going into the ninth. Chase Silseth then closed it out by making quick work of Verdugo, Yoshida, and Justin Turner as Crawford was charged with the loss.

At a swift two hours and five minutes, Monday marked Boston’s second-quickest game of the season behind only a 2-1 win over this same Angels team that took one hour and 57 minutes to complete back on April 16.

Next up: Bello vs. Canning

The Red Sox will look to avoid a third straight loss in the middle game of this three-game set against the Angels on Tuesday night. Brayan Bello will get the start for Boston while fellow right-hander Griffin Canning will go for Los Angeles.

First pitch from Angel Stadium is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Connor Wong powers Red Sox to 7-6 win over Blue Jays with first career multi-homer game

The Red Sox survived a six-run fifth inning from the Blue Jays and held on for their fourth straight win on Tuesday night. Powered by four home runs, including two from Connor Wong, Boston defeated Toronto by a final score of 7-6 at Fenway Park to improve to 17-14 on the season.

With left-hander Yusei Kikuchi starting for the Jays, the Sox opened the scoring in their half of the second inning. Following back-to-back groundouts from Enrique Hernandez and Masataka Yoshida, Christian Arroyo got his side on the board by crushing a 404-foot solo shot over the Green Monster for his first home run of the year.

An inning later, Alex Verdugo led off with his second double in as many at-bats and then scored from second on a one-out RBI single off the bat of Rob Refsnyder. In the third, Yoshida extended his hitting streak to 12 consecutive games by taking his countryman in Kikuchi 392 feet deep into Boston’s bullpen for his sixth homer of the season. The 103.1 mph blast put Boston up, 3-0, going into the fifth.

To that point in the contest, Red Sox starter Tanner Houck was cruising. The right-hander kicked off his sixth start of the year by tossing four straight scoreless frames. He than ran into some serious trouble in the top of the fifth. Back-to-back one-out singles from Danny Jansen and Kevin Kiermaier followed by a two-out walk from Bo Bichette filled the bases for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Guerrero Jr. came through by plating both Jansen and Kiermaier on a two-run single to left field to cut Toronto’s deficit to one. Bichette, who went from first to third on the play, then scored the tying run on a passed ball. The Blue Jays were not done there, though. After Matt Chapman singled to put runners on the corners, Daulton Varsho deposited a 406-foot three-run home run into the right field bleachers.

Just like that, the Blue Jays were in possession of a 6-3 lead. The Red Sox, however, wasted little time in responding to Toronto’s six-run rally. Verdugo was hit by a pitch and Justin Turner singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Refsnyder then drove in Verdugo on his second run-scoring hit of the night. Two batters later, Yoshida brought Boston back to within one run by pushing across Turner off new reliever Zach Pop.

Despite struggling in the fifth, Houck came back out for the sixth on account of the Red Sox having a short bullpen on Tuesday. He bounced back and kept the deficit at one by retiring the final three batters he faced. And so the 26-year-old wound up allowing six earned runs on six hits and three walks to go along with five strikeouts over six innings of work. Of the 96 pitches he threw, 57 went for strikes.

After Houck blanked the Jays in the top of the sixth, Wong led off the latter-half of the inning with his first homer of the night — a 368-foot laser off Pop that deflected off the top of the Monster and knotted things up at six runs apiece. Following two scoreless innings of relief from John Schreiber and lefty Richard Bleier, Wong was yet again in the spotlight.

Going up against Erik Swanson to lead off the bottom of the eighth, Wong took aim at the Green Monster once more. This time, he took a 2-1, 93.1 mph fastball down the heart of the plate and demolished it 353 feet into the first row of Monster seats. The towering blast gave the Red Sox a 7-6 edge heading into the ninth.

With closer Kenley Jansen and setup man Chris Martin not available, manager Alex Cora turned to Josh Winckowski, who had just pitched two innings on Monday. Winckowski responded to the call by working his way around a one-out single and inducing a game-ending double play. He earned the first save of his career as a result.

Wong stays hot, literally

In his first career multi-homer game, Connor Wong went a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. He may have finished a triple shy of the cycle, but his four hits left his bat at 113.6 mph, 105.4 mph, 98.2 mph, and 105.2 mph.

Next up: Manoah vs. Pivetta

The Red Sox will look to ensure a series victory over the Blue Jays with another win on Wednesday night. Nick Pivetta is slated to get the start for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Alek Manoah for Toronto.

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

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

Chris Sale reaches 97.8 mph, Alex Verdugo and Connor Wong both homer as Red Sox take series from Guardians with 7-1 win

The Red Sox closed out the month of April with a series-clinching win over the Guardians. On a drizzly Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, Boston defeated Cleveland by a final score of 7-1 to improve to 15-14 on the season.

Starters Chris Sale and Logan Allen traded zeroes through the first four innings of Sunday’s series finale. The Sox then drew first blood in their half of the fifth, when Connor Wong led off with a groundball single.

Jarren Duran followed by blooping a ground-rule double down the left field line to put runners at second and third base. After Enmanuel Valdez struck out on five pitches, Alex Verdugo opened the scoring by plating both Wong and Duran on a a two-run single to left-center field off Allen to put Boston up, 2-0.

Cleveland got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth. After working his way out of a jam by striking out the side in the fifth inning, Sale gave up a leadoff double to Steven Kwan. Seven pitches later, Amed Rosario drove in Kwan with an opposite-field single to cut the deficit in half.

Rosario was able to advance to second on Verdugo’s errant throw home. He then moved up to third on a Jose Ramirez flyout, but Sale left him there by getting both Josh Bell and Oscar Gonzalez to ground out, thus limiting the damage to one run.

It did not take long for the Red Sox to respond. With reliever Nick Sandlin taking over for the Guardians, Christian Arroyo ripped a one-out single in the latter half of the sixth and Wong followed by crushing a 1-2, 91.8 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate 427 feet over the Green Monster for his first home run of the year.

Wong’s two-run blast left his bat at 111.8 mph. It also gave his side a 4-1 lead. Sale, meanwhile, came back out for the seventh and retired the final batter he faced by getting Andres Gimenez to line out to Duran — who made a nice sliding catch — in center field. Having already thrown 98 pitches (71 strikes) to that point in the contest, Sale was given the hook in favor of John Schreiber.

All told, Sale allowed just the one earned run on three hits, no walks, and one hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts over 6 1/3 strong innings of work. The 34-year-old hurler induced 11 swings-and-misses while averaging 94.1 mph and topping out at 97.8 mph with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 59 times. He picked up his second winning decision of the season and lowered his ERA to 6.75.

After Schreiber ended things in the top half of the seventh, the Sox lineup got back to work on the other side of the stretch. Verdugo greeted new Guardians reliever Peyton Battenfield by lacing a 107.9 mph leadoff home run 373 feet down the right field line for his fourth big fly of the year. Following back-to-back two-out walks from Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida, Arroyo extended Boston’s lead with a two-run double off the rightmost part of the Green Monster.

Both Devers and Yoshida scored on the play to make it a 7-1 contest. Arroyo then made a fantastic leaping grab in the top of the eighth to help out Richard Bleier and rob Kwan of a base hit that had an expected batting average of .810. Bleier got through the rest of the eighth unscathed, paving the way for Brennan Bernardino to come in for the ninth and secure a 7-1 victory with another 1-2-3 inning.

Sunday’s win took two hours and 32 minutes to complete. Verdugo, Arroyo, and Wong accounted for six of Boston’s nine hits and all seven RBIs. Yoshida, Duran, Arroyo, and Valdez all doubled.

Next up: Kluber vs. Berrios in first of four against Jays

Coming off a 15-13 April, the Red Sox will open the month of May by welcoming the Blue Jays into town for the first of a four-game series on Monday night. In the first meeting of the year between the two division rivals, Corey Kluber will get the start for Boston opposite fellow right-hander Jose Berrios for Toronto.

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

(Picture of Chris Sale: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida homers twice in 9-run eighth inning as Red Sox take series from Brewers with 12-5 win

The Red Sox rode a nine-run eighth inning to a series-clinching victory over the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Boston capped off the first leg of its road trip by defeating Milwaukee by a final score of 12-5 at American Family Field to get back over .500 at 12-11 on the season.

With Corbin Burnes starting for the Brewers, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first inning. Alex Verdugo led off with a single and went from first to third on a Justin Turner base hit that was aided by a Bryce Perkins fielding error in right field. Masataka Yoshida then got his productive day at the plate started by driving in Verdugo on a sacrifice fly.

An inning later, Triston Casas drew a leadoff walk off Burnes and Jarren Duran followed with a single. A successful bunt single from Connor Wong then filled the bases with one out for Verdugo, who worked a six-pitch walk to bring in casas. With the bases re-loaded, Rafael Devers made it a 3-0 game by plating Duran on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Brayan Bello, meanwhile, was making his second start of the season for Boston. The young right-hander made relatively quick work of Milwaukee through the first three innings of Sunday’s contest before running into some trouble in the fourth.

After punching out Rowdy Tellez, Bello served up an opposite field home run to Brian Anderson to get the Brewers on the board. In the fifth, Joey Wiemer led off with a double and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt before cutting the deficit to one by scoring on a Christian Yelich RBI single. Yelich then went from first to third before coming into score on a game-tying sacrifice fly from Willy Adames.

Adames was the last batter Bello faced. The 23-year-old hurler finished with 82 pitches (52 strikes) and induced 12 swings-and-misses in the process of lowering his ERA on the season to 9.82. Richard Bleier received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in relief of Bello. The lefty fanned Tellez to end things in the fifth and then worked his way around a leadoff walk in a scoreless sixth inning.

Kaleb Ort took over for Bleier in the seventh and had a difficult time finding the strike zone. The hard-throwing righty put runners on the corners with one out on a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt. He then spiked a wild pitch while Jesse Winker was up to bat. As a result, Wiemer came in to score the go-ahead run, thus giving the Brewers their first lead of the day at 4-3.

Despite only throwing 10 of his 26 pitches for strikes, Ort avoided any further damage in the seventh by retiring Adames and Tellez. The Red Sox, in turn, wasted no time in re-taking the lead in their half of the eighth as reliever Matt Bush entered the game for the Brewers.

Turner greeted Bush by crushing a game-tying, 388-foot solo shot to left field on the second pitch he saw. Moments later, Yoshida went back-to-back with Turner by clubbing a go-ahead home run 374 feet into the right field seats. An Enrique Hernandez double and one-out walk from Duran knocked Bush out of the game and brought Javy Guerra in.

Duran promptly stole second base before both he and Hernandez scored on a 104.4 mph two-run single from Wong. Following a Yu Chang single and intentional walk of Devers, Turner took ball four with the bases loaded to bring Yoshida to the plate yet again.

Yoshida took full advantage of the opportunity by going deep for the second time in the same inning. The left-handed hitter unloaded on an 0-2, 84.5 mph slider on the inner half of the plate from Guerra and deposited it 407 feet into the second deck in right field for his first career grand slam. Yoshida’s second big fly of the eighth (and third of the season) capped off a nine-run frame and put Boston up, 12-4.

From there, John Schreiber served up another home run to Anderson in the bottom of the eighth before Ryan Brasier retired the side in order in the ninth to end it. With the win, the Red Sox have now won three series in a row and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Yoshida makes some history

Masataka Yoshida became the first Red Sox player to homer twice in the same inning since David Ortiz did it in August 2008. Prior to Ortiz, only three players in team history (Nomar Garciaparra in 2002, Ellis Burks in 1990, and Bill Regan in 1928) had accomplished the feat, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

All told, Yoshida went 2-for-4 with the two home runs, six RBIs, and two runs scored on Sunday.

Next up: Sale vs. Kremer

The Red Sox will open a three-game series against the 14-7 Orioles in Baltimore on Monday night. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston in the opener opposite right-hander Dean Kremer.

First pitch from Orioles Park at Camden Yards is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock gives up 3 home runs in season debut as Red Sox drop second straight to Rays, 7-2

The Red Sox dropped their second straight to the unbeaten Rays on Tuesday night. Boston fell to Tampa Bay by a final score of 7-2 at Tropicana Field to drop back below .500 at 5-6 on the season.

Garrett Whitlock made his first start of the year for the Sox after being activated from the injured list earlier in the afternoon. In his 2023 debut, the right-hander surrendered five earned runs on eight hits and zero walks to go along with five strikeouts over five innings of work.

The Rays got to Whitlock right away in the bottom of the first. Yandy Diaz led off with a single and scored on a two-out RBI double off the bat of Wander Franco that fell in and out of the glove of a diving Rob Refsnyder in center field. An inning later, Josh Lowe doubled Tampa Bay’s lead by singling with two outs, stealing second base, and scoring from second on a Vidal Brujan RBI single.

Whitlock then began to fall victim to the long ball. After getting through a scoreless third inning, the righty gave up his first of three home runs to Isaac Paredes with two outs in the fourth. In the fifth, Diaz and Brandon Lowe went back-to-back on a pair of two-out solo shots to put the Rays up, 5-0.

Though Whitlock ended things in the fifth, the damage had already been done. The 27-year-old hurler finished with 85 pitches (62 strikes) and induced 11 swings-and-misses. He averaged 93.5 mph and topped out at 95.4 mph with his sinker, a pitch he threw a game-high 49 times.

With Whitlock’s day done, a hapless Red Sox lineup finally broke through against Rays ace Shane McClanahan in the top of the sixth. There, Devers led off with a walk and went from first to third on a Justin Turner single. Tampa Bay then pulled McClanahan in favor of fellow lefty Garrett Cleavinger, who got Masataka Yoshida to ground into a 4-6-3 double play that Devers was able to score on.

After Richard Bleier put up a zero in the bottom of the sixth, though, the Rays responded in the seventh. Kaleb Ort served up a leadoff homer to Josh Lowe. Four batters later, Diaz scored from third on a Randy Arozarena grounder that was mishandled by first baseman Triston Casas, who was charged with a fielding error as Tampa Bay extended its lead to six runs at 7-1.

Following a 1-2-3 eighth inning from Ryan Brasier, the Red Sox strung together a rally of sorts in the ninth. Alex Verdugo and the pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia both singled off Rays reliever Calvin Faucher before Reese McGuire plated Verdugo from second on a base hit of his own. Enrique Hernandez then struck out on six pitches to end it, meaning he is now 0 for his last 27 at the plate.

All told, Boston mustered just six hits in another low-scoring loss. Three of those six hits came in the ninth inning. Two of them belonged to Reese McGuire, who came off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning.

With the win, the Rays move to a perfect 11-0 to start the season, which is something that has not been done since 1987 when the Brewers started 13-0. Also of note, the Red Sox have now lost 11 straight games at Tropicana Field.

Wong throws out two base stealers

Coming into play on Tuesday, the Red Sox had allowed 15 consecutive successful stolen base attempts to start the season. Josh Lowe made that 16 by swiping second base in the second inning. In that same inning, though, Boston ended that trend when Connor Wong threw out Vidal Brujan at second for the third and final out.

An inning later, Wong gunned down Randy Arozarena to end the third (the call on the field was upheld after a review). As such, the Red Sox are now 2-for-18 when it comes to throwing out potential base stealers in 2023.

Next up: Sale vs. Bradley

The Red Sox will look to get back on track by sending left-hander Chris Sale to the mound on Wednesday night. The Rays will counter with right-hander Taj Bradley, who will be starting — and making his big-league debut — in place of the injured Zach Eflin. Bradley, 22, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in Tampa Bay’s farm system.

First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida, Triston Casas, and Connor Wong all homer as Red Sox fall to Braves, 7-5, in spring finale

In their final game of the spring, the Red Sox came up short against the Braves on Tuesday afternoon. Boston fell to Atlanta by a final score of 7-5 at JetBlue Park.

Kutter Crawford, making his fourth start and fifth overall appearance of the spring, allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts over four innings of work.

The Braves got to Crawford right away in the top of the first, as the right-hander allowed three of the first four batters he faced to reach base on two singles and a walk. With one out and the bases loaded, Michael Harris II drove in Atlanta’s first run by grounding into a force out at second base. Crawford managed to escape any further damage by getting Ozzie Albies to ground out to short.

Despite falling behind early, the Red Sox wasted no time in getting on the board themselves in the latter half of the first. Matched up against veteran starter Charlie Morton to begin things on Tuesday, Rafael Devers ripped a one-out double to center field. Two batters later, Masataka Yoshida torched a two-run shot over the center field wall for his first home run of the spring and his first in a Red Sox uniform.

Triston Casas followed Yoshida’s lead the next inning, as he led off the bottom of the second by taking Morton deep to dead-center for his fourth homer of the spring. The solo blast put Boston up, 3-1, going into the third.

Crawford, who retired the side in order in the second, ran into more trouble by giving up back-to-back hits to Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson to lead off the inning. He then recorded the first two outs of the frame on a pair of strikeouts, but was unable to get out of the jam as he yielded a game-tying, two-run single to Harris II. Albies followed by plating Harris II on an RBI double to give Atlanta a 4-3 lead.

In the fourth, Crawford served up a one-out solo homer to Orlando Arcia before walking Arcia and retiring both Olson and Austin Riley to end his day on a more positive note. The 26-year-old hurler finished with 73 pitches and a 4.15 ERA in 17 1/3 innings pitched this spring. His first start of the regular season will come against the Pirates at Fenway Park next Monday.

Richard Bleier received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the fifth inning. The left-hander got two quick outs before walking Ehire Adrianza and giving up a single to Sean Murphy. He then gave up an RBI single to the pinch-hitting Ethan Workinger that scored Adrianza, but left fielder Jarren Duran managed to gun down Workinger, who tried to stretch his single into a double, at second base to end the inning.

The Red Sox got that run back in the bottom of the fifth to keep the deficit at two. Raimel Tapia led off with a hard-hit double off Braves reliever Jared Shuster and advanced to third on a balk. Yu Chang then drove Tapia in from third with an RBI single to left field.

John Schreiber put together his most impressive outing of the spring by striking out the side in the sixth inning. But Kaleb Ort’s struggles continued in the seventh, as the righty allowed the first two hitters he faced to reach on a double and walk before surrendering a one-out RBI double to Adrianza, which gave Atlanta a 7-4 lead.

After Luis De La Rosa induced a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the top of the eighth unscathed, Connor Wong led off the bottom half by crushing a long home run to deep right-center field off new reliever Jake McSteen. Wong’s first big fly of the spring trimmed Boston’s deficit down from three runs to two at 7-5.

That is where the score would remain, though, as Theo Denlinger put up a zero in the top half of the ninth and the Red Sox went down quietly in the bottom half to put the finishing touches on a 7-5 loss.

With the loss, the Red Sox finish the spring with a 14-14-4 record in Grapefruit League play and a 16-14-4 record in all competitions. Spring training is officially over in Fort Myers.

Next up: Opening Day at Fenway

The Red Sox will head north and enjoy an off day on Wednesday before taking on the Orioles in the first of a three-game series on Opening Day. Corey Kluber is slated to get the ball for Boston while fellow right-hander Kyle Gibson will do the same for Baltimore.

First pitch from Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

Red Sox reassign Jorge Alfaro to minor-leagues, clearing way for Connor Wong to make team

In addition to optioning infielder Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A Worcester on Monday, the Red Sox also reassigned catcher Jorge Alfaro to minor-league camp. Put another way, Dalbec and Alfaro will start the season with the WooSox.

Alfaro signed a minor-league contract with the Red Sox in January. The deal came with an invite to major-league spring training as well as an upward mobility clause that granted the 29-year-old backstop the ability to seek a big-league opportunity elsewhere if Boston did not give him one.

According to MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, though, the window for Alfaro to exercise his opt-out has now passed, meaning he will remain in the organization without occupying a spot on the 40-man roster.

In nine games with the Red Sox this spring, the right-handed hitting Alfaro went 11-for-23 (.478) at the plate with three doubles, two home runs, six RBIs, three runs scored, one walk, and six strikeouts. He also allowed one passed ball and threw out one of seven possible base stealers in the process of logging 43 innings behind the plate.

Alfaro came into camp looking to compete with Connor Wong for a spot on Boston’s Opening Day roster as the No. 2 catcher behind Reese McGuire. Though Wong missed a significant amount of time this spring with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, Alfaro was also away from the team for about two weeks earlier this month while playing for his native Colombia in the World Baseball Classic.

Wong made his return to Boston’s lineup for the first time since March 2 in Monday’s Grapefruit League game against the Braves in Northport. He went 0-for-3 and caught seven innings. When speaking with reporters (including Smith) beforehand, Red Sox manager Alex Cora indicated that he was confident the 26-year-old would be ready for Opening Day despite the lack of at-bats he has gotten and the lack of innings caught this spring.

“If everything goes well, we’re very comfortable with him at-bats-wise,” Cora said of Wong. “He got plenty [of] behind-the-plate repetitions. If we make the decision, it’s because we’re comfortable with it.”

Wong, who turns 27 in May, is now slated to make his first Opening Day roster as a big-leaguer. The right-handed hitter is well-regarded for his defense and figures to form a tandem of sorts with the left-handed hitting McGuire to begin the season.

Alfaro, meanwhile, will report to Worcester. He has the right to opt out of his contract with the Red Sox if he is not added to the 26-man roster by June 1 or July 1 at the latest. If Alfaro does make it to Boston this season, he will receive a base salary of $2 million.

In the meantime, Alfaro will provide the Red Sox with some valuable catching depth in Worcester alongside the likes of Caleb Hamilton and Ronaldo Hernandez. Cora noted on Monday that it was important to keep Alfaro in the organization so that he could continue to work on his receiving skills.

“It’s important in a selfish way,” Cora explained. “You want all these guys to be big leaguers but I think to have him here, he made some strides defensively. We’re very comfortable with it compared to last year. I think [catching instructor Jason Varitek] feels like there’s a lot of improvement, especially with the one-knee down position.

“This guy, he communicates well,” added Cora. “He has a good feel with the pitching staff. It’s just a numbers game at some point. And where we’re at right now, we feel comfortable with the guys that we have and obviously comfortable with him staying in the organization.”

By optioning Dalbec and reassigning Alfaro to minor-league camp, the Red Sox have 36 players remaining on their major-league spring training roster. Three of those players (Raimel Tapia, Greg Allen, and Niko Goodrum) are in camp as non-roster invitees. Seven others (Brayan Bello, Wyatt Mills, James Paxton, Joely Rodriguez, Garrett Whitlock, Adalberto Mondesi, and Trevor Story) are expected to start the season on the injured list. Story is already on the 60-day injured list, so he does not count against the 40-man roster.

(Picture of Jorge Alfaro: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox outfield prospect Wilyer Abreu strains left hamstring

Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu suffered a left hamstring strain in the seventh inning of Sunday’s 4-1 League win over the Marlins at JetBlue Park.

Abreu entered the game in the top of the seventh as a defensive replacement for starting right fielder Alex Verdugo. The left-handed hitter led off the bottom half of the frame with a line-drive single off Marlins reliever Devin Smeltzer, but he rounded the first base bag awkwardly and was in clear discomfort as a result.

After getting checked out by Red Sox manager Alex Cora and a member of the team’s training staff, Abreu was lifted for pinch-runner Stephen Scott. The 23-year-old finished his day going 1-for-1 with a base hit in his lone plate appearance.

“Right before he stepped on the bag, he felt it,” Cora told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “He felt it. He stopped right away, so that’s good. But he’ll be out for a while.”

Abreu becomes the third member of the Red Sox to sustain some sort of hamstring injury within the last week, joining catcher Connor Wong (Thursday) and left-hander James Paxton (Friday). Both Wong and Paxton have since been diagnosed with low-grade strains. It’s likely that more information regarding the severity of Abreu’s strain will become available on Monday.

The Red Sox originally acquired Abreu (and fellow prospect Enmanuel Valdez) from the Astros in the trade that sent catcher Christian Vazquez to Houston last August. Abreu closed out the 2022 season with Double-A Portland and batted .242/.399/.375 with five doubles, four home runs, 19 RBIs, 25 runs scored, eight stolen bases, 36 walks, and 45 strikeouts across 40 games (168 plate appearances) with the Sea Dogs while seeing playing time at all three outfield positions.

After playing in the Arizona Fall League, Abreu was added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster in November in order to receive protection from the Rule 5 Draft. The native Venezuelan is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 22 prospect in Boston’s farm system.

Prior to getting injured on Sunday, Abreu had gotten his first spring with the Red Sox off to a solid start by going 4-for-12 (.333) with a triple, a home run, four runs driven in, five runs scored, two walks, and four strikeouts in seven Grapefruit League games. He crushed a grand slam in Thursday’s 15-3 rout of the Phillies.

As of now, it remains to be seen just how much time Abreu will miss because of this hamstring strain. Abreu, who turns 24 in June, only has 129 career games at the Double-A level under his belt and is expected to return to Portland for the start of the 2023 minor-league season. Because he is on the 40-man roster, though, any sort of absence could have an affect on Boston’s outfield depth in the upper-minors to begin the year.

(Picture of Wilyer Abreu: Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)