Tag: drew pomeranz

RECAP: Two Swings of the Bat Is All #RedSox Need to Win Eighth Straight.

After completing the three game sweep of the LA Angels on Thursday night, the Red Sox arrived in Oakland on Friday to take on the 9-10 Athletics, who were coming off a sweep of their own.

Drew Pomeranz was activated from the 10-day disabled list prior to this one, and he had an interesting 2018 debut to say the least. The Athletics got to Pomeranz for three runs in the first, and the lefty needed 45 pitches just to get through the inning. After that though, Pomeranz settled down for a bit. The Mississippi native held the A’s to just three hits, one walk, and no runs. After recording the second out of the fourth inning, Pomeranz was given the hook in favor of Hector Velazquez. Finishing with a total of seven strikeouts, the southpaw needed 88 pitches to get through his first start, 58 of which went for strikes. If things go according to plan, I’d assume Pomeranz will make his next start on Thursday in Toronto.

In relief of Pomeranz, the Red Sox bullpen was fantastic yet again. Hector Velazquez tossed three shutout innings while scattering four hits, he departed with runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

Brian Johnson would get the call next, and he gave up a single, that quite honestly, should have been caught by Eduardo Nunez, to Matt Olson, the only batter he faced. That loaded the bases and made way for Matt Barnes to get into some game action for the first time since last Sunday.

Facing Matt Joyce with the bases loaded, Barnes definitely created some angst among Red Sox fans watching this game last night. He loaded the count on the first six pitches of the at-bat, but got Joyce to swing and miss on a 94 MPH fastball, ending the inning and preserving the four run lead the Red Sox had.

Barnes went on to collect one more strikeout while tossing a 1-2-3 eighth inning. That made way for Joe Kelly in the ninth, and he too pitched a perfect inning to lock up the win.

Over the last 24.1 innings they have appeared in, the Red Sox bullpen has given up a grand total of one run. To put it into perspective, that’s a 0.37 ERA.

Offensively, like the title reads, the Red Sox lineup only needed two swings of the bat to beat the Athletics in this series opener. The first swing came in the second, after the Red Sox had just gone down by three runs in the bottom of the first, how would they respond? Well, after Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez both singled with one out in the inning, Jackie Bradley Jr. took a Kendall Graveman 94 MPH cutter and cleared the bases with his second home run of the season. A 436 foot shot over the wall in right field with a 106 MPH exit velocity.

That tied the game at three. Later on in the sixth, after the top third of the lineup began the inning by loading the bases on three straight singles, Mitch Moreland stayed hot. On the first pitch he saw from A’s reliever Emilio Pagan and cleared the bases once again.

That marks the FIFTH grand slam the Red Sox have hit already in just 19 games. With that slam, that would be all the scoring the Red Sox would need to pick up their 17th win of the season.

Some notes from this one:

Since April 11th, Mitch Moreland has raises his slugging percentage more than .350 points. His OPS now sits at 1.015.

Since April 10th, Jackie Bradley Jr. is slashing .324/.425/.559 in 40 plate appearances. He got off to a slow start, but it’s nice to see JBJ picking things up at the plate lately.

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Chris Sale will be making his fifth start of the season later tonight, as he faces off against Athletics ace Sean Manaea. First pitch is the earliest its been since the Red Sox embarked on this road trip, 9:05 PM ET.

 

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Drew Pomeranz Leaves First Spring Training Start with Left Forearm Tightness.

In his second spring training with the Red Sox,  Drew Pomeranz is once again having problems with his left arm, his money-maker. Going into the last season before he hits free agency, I’m sure Pomeranz would prefer to avoid any setbacks. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. The injury occurred in the middle of the first at bat of the second inning, on Pomeranz’s 17th pitch. All signs point to this being precautionary, as that is what Pomeranz said himself, but there’s still a reason to be concerned. Just last year, the 29-year-old hurler opened the season on the disabled list, and missed the first six games of the season before making his debut against the Orioles. As it turns out, last season was maybe the best of Pomeranz’s seven-year career, so maybe this is a sign of good things to come.

In the mean time, I would be shocked if the Red Sox go out and sign a free agent starter still on the market. Brian Johnson is probably the best candidate to fill in if Pomeranz does miss an extended period of time, and they still have Hector Velazquez and Roenis Elias after that. Not having Pomeranz on the Opening Day roster would mean that the Red Sox would be without 2/5 of their ideal starting rotation to start the season, that being Eduardo Rodriguez as the other pitcher. That’s not great, but it’s still early, Pomeranz could be fine, tomorrow will be a better indicator of that. On a less somber note, I’ll end this blog with the three home runs Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis hit today in a 9-6 win over the Cardinals. Have a great weekend.