Tag: eduardo rodriguez

Eduardo Rodriguez twirls 6 scoreless frames, Bobby Dalbec stays hot with 2-RBI night as Red Sox earn series split by blanking Rays, 4-0

For everything they went through over the last week in regards to placing eight players on the COVID-19 related injured list, the Red Sox were able to cap off a hellish seven game-road trip with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Thursday.

Matched up against a tough opponent in Rays starter Shane McClanahan, the shorthanded Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on Tuesday right out of the gate.

Bobby Dalbec, having just earned American League Rookie of the Month honors for what he did in August, got his month of September off to a solid start by driving in Hunter Renfroe on a two-out, sharply-hit RBI single in the top half of the first inning.

Renfroe, on the other hand, delivered with a two-out RBI base hit of his own an inning later, as he plated Danny Santana from second base on a line-drive single to left field, thus giving his side an early two-run advantage.

Eduardo Rodriguez, making his 26th start of the season for Boston, took that two-run lead and essentially ran away with it in yet another strong outing.

Over six-plus scoreless innings of work, Rodriguez kept Tampa Bay off the scoreboard while scattering just four hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts on the night.

After taking a perfect game into the third inning, the left-hander managed to face the minimum of 12 batters through his first four frames.

In the fifth, the Red Sox lineup tacked on two more runs of McClanahan, and No. 9 hitter Jonathan Arauz got the mini-rally started by drawing an 11-pitch leadoff walk.

That impressive display of patience and plate discipline flipped the lineup back over, as Kyle Schwarber moved Arauz up to second on another hard-hit single. J.D. Martinez drove Arauz in on a sharply-hit RBI single of his own, while a red-hot Dalbec made it a 4-0 contest by pushing across Schwarber on a run-scoring base knock to center field.

With that brand-new four-run cushion to work with, Rodriguez continued to dominate, stranding a pair of base runners in the fifth and sixth innings, though he did run into some trouble in the seventh.

There, after issuing a leadoff walk to rookie sensation Wander Franco that was followed by a Yandy Diaz single, Rodriguez was put in his first true jam of the night, and he got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora as a result.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 94 (56 strikes), the 28-year-old southpaw turned to his four-seam fastball 46% of the time he was on the mound Thursday, inducing nine swings-and-misses while topping out at 95.6 mph with the pitch. He also later improved to 11-7 on the season and lowered his ERA to 4.88 in the process of doing so.

In relief of Rodriguez, Garrett Richards got the first — and only — call out of the Boston bullpen, and he continued to show how effective he can be as a reliever.

Inheriting a bit of a mess with three outs still to get in the seventh, Richards proceeded to retire the first three Rays he faced (two by way of the strikeout) to officially close the book on Rodriguez’s night before tossing two more shutout innings to pick up his second save of the season and secure a 4-0 victory for the Red Sox.

Since moving to the bullpen on August 13, Richards has allowed a total of one earned run over 13 1/3 innings of relief. That’s good for an ERA of 0.68.

With the win, the Sox were able to salvage a split in their four-game series with the Rays while also improving to 77-59 on the season. They picked up 1/2 a game on an idle Yankees team for the first American League Wild Card spot in addition to maintaining a two-game lead over the Athletics for the second Wild Card spot.

Next up: Welcoming in the Indians

The Red Sox will happily board a flight to Boston and open up a three-game weekend series against the Indians that begins at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi is slated to get the ball for Boston in the series opener, while fellow righty Cal Quantrill is expected to do the same for Cleveland.

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

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)

Red Sox commit season-high 5 errors in ugly 10-1 loss to Rangers

On a day where the two teams ahead of them and the one team directly behind them in the American League East standings all won their respective games, a sloppy Red Sox team came out absolutely flat in a blowout 10-1 loss at the hands of the Rangers at Fenway Park on Saturday night.

After Chris Sale guided them to their 70th win of the season on Friday, Eduardo Rodriguez was unable to get the job done for the Sox in the middle game of this three-game weekend series.

In what was his 24th start of the year for Boston, Rodriguez allowed five runs — all of which were earned — on eight hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts over just 3 2/3 innings of work.

Following a scoreless top half of the first, Rodriguez ran into some trouble in the top of the second when he issued a leadoff double to Nathaniel Lowe that was followed by a seven-pitch walk of Yohel Pozo.

Nick Solak plated one of those two runners by drilling an RBI single through a vacant right side of the infield, and after Andy Ibanez and Jose Trevino flew out, old friend Brock Holt drove in the other on an RBI single back up the middle.

Alex Verdugo had the opportunity to gun down that runner — Pozo — at home plate, but Christian Vazquez appeared to lose his balance while going for the tag and that allowed Pozo to cross home safely on a feet-first slide.

The Sox went down 2-0 on Vazquez’s miscue, but had the opportunity to get something back in their half of the second when J.D. Martinez ripped a one-out single off Rangers starter Jordan Lyles.

Martinez promptly moved up to second base on a two-out walk drawn by Hunter Renfroe and attempted to score on a single to right field off the bat of Vazquez, but was instead thrown out at home by rookie sensation Adolis Garcia for the final out of the inning.

Despite blowing that chance, Boston did get on the board in the bottom of the third, with Enrique Hernandez following up a Bobby Dalbec leadoff double by lacing an RBI single to right field to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

Rafael Devers nearly came through with the Sox’ third straight hit to lead off the third when he tattooed a 105.3 mph line drive to dead center field.

Rather than come up with extra-bases, though, Devers instead flew out to D.J. Peters, as the Rangers center fielder made an incredible leaping grab at the base of the center field wall before doubling up Hernandez on a rocket of a throw back to first base.

That sequence of defensive brilliance killed Boston’s rally before it really even happened, and the Texas offense built off that momentum by getting to Rodriguez for good in the fourth.

There, with two outs and a runner at second, Holt hit a comebacker back in the direction of Rodriguez, but it was one that deflected off the veteran left-hander’s left field, rolled softly into shallow right field, and allowed Ibanez to score from second.

Holt, meanwhile, moved all the way up to third base on a throwing error committed by Hernandez, and he, too, scored on an RBI double from Isiah Kiner-Filefa that marked the end of the line for Rodriguez in what had become a 4-1 game.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 68 (47 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler ultimately fell to 9-7 on the season while seeing his ERA on the season rise to 5.19 after one of the runners he left on came into score.

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he officially closed the book on the lefty’s night by allowing that aforementioned inherited runner — Kiner-Filefa — to cross the plate on an RBI single from Garcia as well as a throwing error by Xander Bogaerts.

From there, Garrett Richards yielded another run back-to-back one-out doubles in the fifth, Hansel Robles tossed a scoreless sixth inning, Adam Ottavino did the same in the seventh inning, Martin Perez got shelled for four more runs in the eighth, although only two of those runs were earned on account of a pair of errors committed by Devers and Renfroe.

Austin Davis, on the other hand, kept the Rangers off the board in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, though by then it was too little, too late.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was unable to really get anything going against Lyles after pushing across a run in the third inning.

That lone run would prove to be the only offense of the night for the home side, as Lyles and two Rangers relievers combined to hurl nine innings of one-run ball while the Red Sox — despite going 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position — left five men on base as a team.

Speaking of the No. 5, the Sox committed as many errors on Saturday night as they recorded hits (5), so that is certainly not encouraging coming from a team with postseason aspirations.

With the 10-1 defeat, the Red Sox fall to 70-55 on the season and drop to 6 1/2 games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East, though they remain 1/2 game back of the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Allard

For how poorly they played on Saturday, the Red Sox still have the chance to go for the series win over the last-place Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for Boston in Sunday’s series finale, while left-hander Kolby Allard will do the same for Texas.

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

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

J.D. Martinez homers in second straight game as Red Sox finish off sweep of Orioles with 6-2 win; Kyle Schwarber records first 2 hits with Boston

The Red Sox capped off one of the more memorable weekends of the 2021 season by finishing off a three-game sweep of the Orioles with a 6-2 victory at Fenway on Park on Sunday.

Eduardo Rodriguez, making his 23rd start of the year for the Sox, put together yet another solid outing, as he has done since the calendars flipped to August.

Over six innings of work against his former team, the left-hander surrendered just one unearned run while scattering three hits and three walks to go along with six strikeouts on the afternoon.

The lone Rodriguez gave up came right away in the top half of the first after he issued a one-out walk to Austin Hays that was followed by a Trey Mancini single.

Anthony Santander ripped a single to left field of his own that should have just loaded the bases, but a poor throw from J.D. Martinez allowed Hays to score all the way from second to give his side the early 1-0 lead.

Martinez’s throwing error also put a runner at third base, but Rodriguez was able to escape the jam by recording back-to-back punchouts.

Despite falling behind by a run before even taking their first at-bats, the Sox lineup was undeterred, as they were matched up against Orioles starter Keegan Akin, who came into play Sunday the owner of a 8.23 ERA on the season.

With that favorable matchup in mind, Martinez did not waste any time in making up for his defensive miscue, as he came to the plate for the first time with two outs in the first and two runners on.

On the fourth pitch he saw from Akin, a 2-1, 86 mph slider on the outer half of the plate, Martinez clobbered a three-run home run 396 feet over the Green Monster and off the National Car Rental sign to give Boston their first lead of the day at 3-1.

While Martinez’s 23rd homer of the season looked like it would set the tone for another explosive day from the Red Sox offense, they actually did not get on the board again until their half of the sixth.

Between the time the Sox scored their first and last runs of the afternoon, Rodriguez was in the midst of stringing together five consecutive scoreless frames after he got pushed around a bit in the top half of the first.

From the beginning of the second inning through the middle of the sixth, the point in which his outing came to a close, Rodriguez retired 14 of the final 17 Orioles hitters he faced to end his day on an extremely encouraging note.

Though he certainly would have liked to have pitched beyond the sixth inning, the 28-year-old hurler did finish with a final pitch count of 83 — 55 of which were strikes.

In completing six quality frames, Rodriguez was able to pick up his ninth winning decision of the year while also lowering his ERA on the season down to 4.97.

Moments after Rodriguez’s outing had concluded, the Sox lineup picked things up again in their half of the sixth inning.

There, with old friend Fernando Abad on the mound for Baltimore, Kyle Schwarber made his impact felt by leading things off with a line-drive double to deep right field, marking his first hit in a Red Sox uniform and his first of two doubles on the day.

Back-to-back one-out walks drawn by Alex Verdugo and Christian Vazquez filled the bases for leadoff man Enrique Hernandez, who greeted new Orioles reliever Tanner Scott by lacing an RBI single that deflected off the leg of third base umpire Will Little and brought in Schwarber while also keeping the bases loaded.

Hunter Renfroe took advantage of that by drawing a bases-loaded walk to record an RBI while bringing in Verdugo from third, and Xander Bogaerts followed by beating out a double play on a ground ball that plated Vazquez, thus giving the Sox a commanding 6-1 lead.

From the top of the seventh inning on, the Red Sox bullpen took over in relief of Rodriguez, with Adam Ottavino getting the first call to action.

Making his first appearance out of the bullpen in exactly one week, Ottavino was clearly rusty, as he plunked the first batter he faced in Pedro Severino before throwing two wild pitches that allowed Severino to move all the way up to third base.

A one-out walk of Maikel Franco put runners at the corners for Jorge Mateo, who promptly laced a 105 mph off Ottavino’s left shoulder that scored Severino and would ultimately force the veteran righty to exit, as he was later diagnosed with a left shoulder contusion.

Garrett Whitlock, who was already warming up in the Boston bullpen, was forced to enter sooner than he may have expected, but he kept Baltimore at bay by stranding Mateo at first in the seventh and striking out the side in order in the eighth to hold the opposition at two runs.

That paved the way for Matt Barnes to enter in the ninth in a non-save situation, and despite allowing two of the five batters he faced to reach base, the Red Sox closer was able to shut the door on the Orioles to preserve the 6-2 victory for his side.

With the win, not only do the Sox finish off their first series sweep of at least three games since early July, but they also improve to 69-51 on the season and move to 3 games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: On to the Bronx

The Red Sox will board a flight to Newark Sunday evening and enjoy a well-deserved off day in New York on Monday before opening up a three-game, two-day series against the Yankees in a split doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon.

Right-handers Nathan Eovaldi and Tanner Houck are slated to start for Boston in Tuesday’s twin bill at Yankee Stadium, though the order in which the two will pitch has not yet been determined.

The Yankees, meanwhile, will go with right-hander Luis Gil for Game 1 and left-hander Jordan Montgomery for Game 2.

First pitch of the day cap on Tuesday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network, while the night cap will begin at approximately 7:05 p.m. ET and also be broadcasted on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Rafael Devers: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Despite solid start from Eduardo Rodriguez and home runs from Rafael Devers and Hunter Renfroe, Red Sox blow late lead against Rays in disheartening 8-4 defeat

Lately, it seems as though the Red Sox have struggled to get out of their own way, and that was once again the case at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Opening up a pivotal three-game series against the American League East-leading Rays, the reeling Sox failed to make a statement and fell to their division rivals in yet another soul-crushing 8-4 defeat.

Eduardo Rodriguez, making his 22nd start of the season for Boston, provided his side with what they needed out of the gate by putting together a solid outing on the mound.

Over 5 1/3 quality innings of work, the left-hander surrendered just two earned runs on four hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts — marking the fourth time in his last five starts in which he struck out at least eight batters.

After Rafael Devers lifted the Sox to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning by crushing his 28th home run of the year — a 390-foot solo shot that left his bat at 114 mph — to right field off Rays starter Luis Patino, Rodriguez followed suit by serving up a solo homer of his own to Brandon Lowe in the top half of the third.

That knotted things up at one run apiece, but the Boston bats struck again in their half of the fourth when Xander Bogaerts led things off with a single and later moved up to second on a two-out walk drawn by Kevin Plawecki.

Making Patino pay for issuing a walk with two outs, Hunter Renfroe punished a 2-2, 96 mph heater down the heart of the plate by depositing it 420 feet to dead center field for a towering three-run home run.

Renfroe’s 19th big fly of the season gave Rodriguez a 4-1 lead to work with, and he put together a scoreless fifth inning before running into a bit of trouble in the sixth.

There, a leadoff double ultimately did Rodriguez in, as he then issued a one-out walk to Nelson Cruz and an RBI single to rookie sensation Wander Franco, which in turn put runners at first and second and subsequently marked the end of the road for the southpaw as he got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 82 (60 strikes), the 28-year-old did not factor into Tuesday’s decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 5.24.

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and he escaped the top of sixth inning by sitting down the only two hitters he faced in consecutive order.

From there, Garrett Whitlock took over in the seventh, brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate by giving up back-to-back one-out hits, and then served up a game-tying two-run double to the pinch-hitting Ji-Man Choi.

Tampa Bay pulled themselves even with Boston at that moment, but the Sox nearly countered in their half of the seventh when matched up against right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge.

With two outs in the frame, Jarren Duran put his speed on full display by reaching first base on an infield single and going from first to third on another single off the bat of Bogaerts. But Devers flew out to center field for the final out of the inning, thus stranding the potential go-ahead run in scoring position.

In the eighth, the combined efforts of Whitlock and lefty Josh Taylor were enough to keep the Rays off the scoreboard despite them loading the bases.

Again, the Red Sox offense showed some semblance of life in their half of the inning when Kevin Plawecki reached base via a one-out single. But both Renfroe and Christian Vazquez went down swinging against Kittredge to keep this one tied at 4-4 going into the ninth.

Red Sox closer Matt Barnes, despite being used three times in two days over the weekend in Toronto, was called upon for the ninth and was tasked with keeping that 4-4 stalemate intact.

Instead, Barnes’ August struggles continued, as he loaded the bases with two outs before yielding a bases-clearing, three-run single to Francisco Mejia that was aided by a Renfroe fielding error.

Regardless, the Sox went down 7-4 on that sequence, and fell behind by one more when Martin Perez allowed one of the runners he inherited from Barnes to score on another RBI single.

That put the Sox in an 8-4 hole, and Franchy Cordero, Enrique Hernandez went down in order in the bottom of the ninth to mark Boston’s 10th defeat in its last 12 games.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 65-50 on the season and now sit five games behind the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Fleming

The Red Sox will send right-hander Nathan Eovaldi to the hill in the middle game of this three-game set on Wednesday as they look to right the ship.

The Rays will counter with left-hander Josh Fleming.

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

(Picture of Matt Barnes: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Red Sox crush 3 homers, punch out season-high 18 batters in 4-1 win over Tigers to snap 5-game skid

After a few stressful days, the Red Sox can breathe a collective sigh of relief as they put their five-game losing streak behind them with a 4-1 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park on Wednesday night.

Former Tigers All-Star J.D. Martinez gave the Sox an early lead in the middle game of this three-game series, as he crushed a 410 foot solo shot off Detroit starter and former first overall draft pick Casey Mize to lead things off in the top half of the second inning.

Martinez’s 21st home run of the season put Boston up 1-0, and they added more on to that later on in the fifth.

There, with Mize still on the hill for Detroit, Hunter Renfroe ripped a line-drive double to lead off the inning, while Franchy Cordero struck out and Christian Vazquez flew out for the first two outs.

At that time, the Red Sox had gone 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and it appeared as though they were going to let another scoring opportunity go to waste.

Enrique Hernandez had other plans, however, as he took a 3-2, 87 mph slider down the heart of the plate from Mize and deposited it 426 feet to deep left-center field for his 15th big fly of the year — a two-run blast.

Moments later, Jarren Duran followed with a solo shot of his own, this time taking Mize 355 feet down the left field line for his second big-league homer — and first since July 19.

Hernandez and Duran going back-to-back gave Boston the 4-0 lead over Detroit, and that four-run edge was more than enough for Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez to work with.

Rodriguez, making his 21st start of the season for Boston, put together his best outing since being removed from his July 23 start against the Yankees early due to migraine symptoms.

Over five solid, scoreless innings of work on Wednesday, the left-hander kept the Tigers off the board while scattering just two hits and four walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts on the night.

Right out of the gate, Rodriguez ran into some early trouble in the bottom of the first when he issued a one-out walk to Jonathan Schoop that was followed by a hard-hit single off the bat of Robbie Grossman to put runners on the corners. But Rodriguez escaped the jam by fanning Miguel Cabrera and Eric Haase in consecutive order.

While he did deal with his fair share of traffic the rest of the way, the Venezuelan southpaw did manage to limit the damage in that he did not allow a single run to cross the plate.

The fifth inning presented one final challenge for Rodriguez, as he walked two of the first four hitters he faced in the frame before getting Grossman to punch out to retire the side and end his evening on a positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 99 (64 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler ultimately earned his eighth winning decision of the year while also lowering his ERA to 5.33.

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call from manager Alex Cora out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he danced his way around a tight spot by recording a pair of potentially game-altering strikeouts.

From there, Josh Taylor got the first two outs of the seventh before serving up a solo home run to Schoop to trim Boston’s lead down to three runs at 4-1.

That — and a six-pitch walk of Grossman — resulted in Adam Ottavino taking over for Taylor, and the veteran righty did his job by getting Cabrera to fly out to end the seventh while also striking out a pair in a scoreless bottom of the eighth.

With a three-run lead to protect going into the ninth, Red Sox closer Matt Barnes, freshly activated from the COVID-19 related injured list, was deposited for his first outing in exactly a week, and he slammed the door on the Tigers to notch his 24th save of the season while also locking down the 4-1 victory for his side.

All in all, five Boston pitchers combined to punch out a season-high 18 Detroit hitters on Wednesday night.

With the win, not only do the Sox snap a brutal five-game skid, but they also improve to 64-45 on the season to remain one game back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Perez vs. Skubal

The Red Sox will send veteran left-hander Martin Perez to the hill as they go for the series win over the Tigers at Comerica Park on Thursday afternoon.

Detroit will counter with rookie lefty Tarik Skubal, who has yet to face off against Boston since making his major-league debut last August.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe and Enrique Hernandez: Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Red Sox see losing streak grow to 5 straight games as they drop series opener to Tigers, 4-2

Looking to turn around their fortunes after a winless start to their longest road trip of the season, the Red Sox were unable to get it done in the first of three at Comerica Park in Detroit, as they quietly fell to the Tigers by a final score of 4-2 to mark their fifth consecutive loss.

Matched up against Tigers starter Wily Peralta, the Sox actually jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a J.D. Martinez RBI single in the first and Hunter Renfroe solo homer in the second inning, but were not able to push across anything after that.

Red Sox starter Garrett Richards, meanwhile, was once again underwhelming in allowing three earned runs on five hits, two walks, and five strikeouts over just four-plus innings of work.

After being handed that early two-run cushion to work with, Richards gave one of those runs right back to the Tigers in the bottom half of the second when he served up a solo shot to Miguel Cabrera, marking the 498th career home run for the future Hall of Famer.

Fast forward to the fourth, and Detroit threatened once more, this time loading the bases off Richards without recording an out before Harold Castro drove in the tying run on a sacrifice fly.

To his credit, Richards escaped the fourth without giving anything else up, but the veteran right-hander saw his night come to an end an inning later when he issued a leadoff walk to the Tigers’ No. 9 hitter — Derek Hill — that was followed by a hard-hit RBI double off the bat of Akil Baddoo, thus putting Detroit ahead, 3-2.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 72 (46 strikes), the 33-year-old hurler, who ultimately raised his ERA on the season up to an unsightly 5.21, was given the hook in favor of Hirokazu Sawamura.

Sawamura got out of the fifth with the help of an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play, while Hansel Robles punched out the side in a scoreless bottom half of the sixth.

The Tigers, however, tacked on an important insurance run in their half of the seventh right after the Sox had failed to even things up in the top of the inning.

With Yacksel Rios on the mound for Boston, a two-out double from Jonathan Schoop proved to be the catalyst for Detroit as Robbie Grossman followed with a run-scoring single to make it a 4-2 contest.

Austin Davis kept the deficit at two by keeping the Tigers off the board in the eighth, thus giving the Sox a fighting chance in the top half of the ninth with closer Gregory Soto in for Detroit.

Christian Vazquez flew out and a pinch-hitting Bobby Dalbec punched out for the first two outs of the frame, but in a tough left-on-left matchup, Jarren Duran was able to reach base via an infield single to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the form of Rafael Devers.

Devers, however, struck out on five pitches, with the fifth and final pitch from Soto being a nasty 2-2, 101 mph sinker on the outer half of the plate.

All in all, the Sox did record nine hits on Tuesday night, but went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position while leaving nine runners on base as a team.

With the 4-2 loss — their fifth straight, Boston falls to 63-45 on the season, though they remain just one game back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Mize

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill in the second game of this three-game set on Wednesday as they look to put a halt to this five-game skid.

Rodriguez, in turn, will be opposed by Tigers rookie right-hander and 2018 first overall draft pick Casey Mize.

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

(Picture of Garrett Richards: Duane Burleson/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez gets rocked for 6 runs as lifeless Red Sox get blown out by Blue Jays, 13-1, in series finale

While their division rivals continue to stock up ahead of the trade deadline, the Red Sox — who have yet to make a significant move — were obliterated by the Blue Jays by a final score of 13-1 at Fenway Park on Thursday night.

Eduardo Rodriguez, making his first start since leaving his last one early with migraine symptoms, quite simply did not look like himself.

Over just 3 1/3 innings of work, the left-hander surrendered six runs — all of which were earned — on seven hits, four walks, and eight strikeouts.

After striking out the first batter he faced in George Springer, Rodriguez proceeded to load the bases on two hits and a four-pitch walk. Teoscar Hernandez drove in two of those runners on a hard-hit RBI double and Cavan Biggio followed with an RBI single, giving the Jays a 3-0 lead right out of the chute.

Rodriguez’s struggles persisted in the second, as he yielded back-to-back doubles to Reese McGuire and Springer to increase Toronto’s lead even further. The Venezuelan southpaw rallied by striking out the side and tossing a scoreless third inning, but got knocked around once more in the fourth.

Loading the bases once again with one out, Rodriguez issued a bases-loaded free pass to Marcus Semien, marking the unofficial end his outing since he was still responsible for three runners on base.

Phillips Valdez got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in relief of Rodriguez, and he allowed one of the runners he inherited to score on an RBI forceout from Bo Bichette to officially close the book on Rodriguez’s night.

Of the 92 pitches Rodriguez threw, 57 went for strikes and 18 went for swings-and-misses. The 28-year-old hurler ultimately suffered his sixth loss of the year while seeing his ERA on the season rise to an unsightly 5.60.

Valdez, meanwhile, got through the rest of the fourth inning unscathed, but walked a pair in the top of the fifth before serving up a monstrous 436-foot three-run home run over the Green Monster to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., which put the Blue Jays up 9-0.

Four more Toronto runs were pushed across off Sox reliever Brandon Workman, who allowed three Jays to cross the plate on four hits in the seventh before yielding an additional tally on two hits in the seventh.

In that very same seventh inning, a sleepy, Rafael Devers-less Red Sox lineup scored their first run of the evening after being held solemnly in check by Jays starter Hyun Jin Ryu, who hurled six innings of scoreless baseball in his third start of the season against Boston.

Christian Vazquez ripped a one-out double off Blue Jays reliever Taylor Saucedo to begin things in the seventh and Bobby Dalbec followed by driving the backstop in on a run-scoring two-base hit of his own.

That sequence made it a 13-1 contest in favor of Toronto, and the Boston bullpen was able to hold them there as Darwinzon Hernandez twirled a scoreless eighth inning and backup catcher Kevin Plawecki — making his sixth career appearance on the mound — did the same in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

That said, the Red Sox still fell to the Blue Jays by a final score of 13-1 on Thursday night as they have to settle for a four-game series split to close out a 5-3 homestand.

With the loss, the Sox also drop to 63-41 on the season, meaning their lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East shrinks to 1 1/2 games.

Renfroe, Verdugo make fantastic catches in back-to-back innings

While the Red Sox did not muster much offensively in their series finale against the Blue Jays, their two starting corner infielders made spectacular catches in the fourth and fifth innings of Thursday night’s contest.

Right fielder Hunter Renfroe robbed Randal Grichuk of a potential 328-foot grand slam off Phillips Valdez to end things in the fourth, while left fielder Alex Verdugo prevented Cavan Biggio from extending his at-bat in the fifth by reaching over the left field wall in foul territory to make an impressive snag.

Dalbec becomes tallest shortstop in Red Sox history

Bobby Dalbec, who started at third base on Thursday, took over for Xander Bogaerts at shortstop in the seventh inning and became the tallest player (6-foot-4) to play at that particular position for the Red Sox.

Next up: Huge weekend at the Trop

The Red Sox will board a flight for Tampa, Fla. Thursday night as they prepare to embark upon their longest road trip of the season (10 games) that includes stops in Tampa Bay, Detroit, and Toronto — yes, Toronto.

To kick the road trip off, the Sox and Rays will go at it in the first game of a three-game weekend series at Tropicana Field on Friday night.

Left-hander Martin Perez is slated to start for Boston in the opener, while fellow southpaw Josh Fleming is expected to do the same for Tampa Bay.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Alex Cora and Eduardo Rodriguez: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Eduardo Rodriguez forced to exit Friday’s game against Yankees with migraine symptoms

Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez was forced to exit Friday night’s game against the Yankees due to migraine symptoms, the team has announced.

Rodriguez was removed in the second inning after giving up an RBI double to Brett Gardner. Upon allowing the hit and returning the mound, the left-hander crouched down in discomfort and remained in that position for several minutes.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora, along with pitching coach Dave Bush, assistant trainer Masai Takahashi, and several of his teammates paid Rodriguez a visit on the mound, and the 28-year-old came out of the game shortly thereafter. He was replaced by right-hander Phillips Valdez.

Prior to his night prematurely coming to a close, Rodriguez had thrown 25 pitches (16 strikes) as he retired the side in order in the first inning before yielding a leadoff walk to Gary Sanchez and back-to-back hits to Gleyber Torres and Gardner in the second. Gardner drove in Sanchez on his run-scoring double.

Rodriguez, making his 19th start of the season on Friday, came into play this weekend with an ERA of 5.19 and FIP of 3.51 through his first 18 outings (95 1/3 innings pitched) of the year.

The Venezuelan southpaw missed the entirety of the shortened 2020 campaign after contracting myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) as a result of a bout with COVID-19.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, though, Rodriguez has made all 19 of his scheduled starts this season after arm fatigue delayed his 2021 debut by a few days.

(Picture of Alex Cora, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Masai Takahashi: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez punches out 8 over 5 2/3 scoreless innings as Red Sox blank Yankees, 4-0; Christian Arroyo, J.D. Martinez both homer in win

A clean-shaven Eduardo Rodriguez led the Red Sox to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

Rodriguez, making his 18th start of the year for Boston, kicked off the second half of his season with a bang by keeping New York off the scoreboard while scattering just two hits and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 solid innings of work.

The left-hander gave up a leadoff single to the very first hitter he faced in D.J. LeMahieu, but nullified it immediately by getting Giancarlo Stanton to ground into a 5-4-3 double play.

After ending the first inning and issuing a leadoff walk to Gary Sanchez to begin things in the second, Rodriguez proceeded to retire the next 11 Yankees who came to the plate against him in consecutive order before walking Chris Gittens on five pitches.

A fielding error committed by Bobby Dalbec allowed Gittens to advance to third, but Rodriguez rebounded by punching out Tim Locastro to retire the side. He then got the first two outs of the seventh rather simply before a two-out double off the bat of Odor marked the end of his evening.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 97 (57 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler was able to improve to 7-5 on the season while lowering his ERA to 5.19, which is the lowest it has been since May 23 (5.06). His next start should come against the Yankees once again again back at Fenway Park on July 22.

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he got out of the sixth by getting Sanchez to ground out to first base.

Houck earns first career save in return

From there, Tanner Houck — fresh off getting recalled from Triple-A Worcester — came on for his first big-league outing in nearly three months.

The 25-year-old right-hander maneuvered his way around a two-out walk and single in an otherwise clean bottom half of the seventh, tossed a scoreless eighth inning, and shut the door on the Yankees in the ninth to preserve the 4-0 win for his side and pick up the first save of his career.

Houck is now lined up to start against the Blue Jays in Buffalo next Wednesday, July 21.

Arroyo and Martinez power Red Sox offense

On the other side of things, the Jarren Duran-less Red Sox were matched up against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery to begin things on Friday.

After going down in order in the first, a leadoff walk drawn by Xander Bogaerts set the tone for the Sox in the second.

That being the case because Rafael Devers followed by ripping a double off Montgomery to put runners in scoring position, which allowed Hunter Renfroe to bring in a run on an RBI groundout to shortstop to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.

A flyout from Christian Vazquez brought Montgomery within one out of escaping the inning, but Christian Arroyo would not let the southpaw off that easily, as he took a 2-1, 82 mph changeup on the outer half of the plate and crushed it 409 feet to the opposite field for his sixth home run of the season.

Arroyo’s two-run blast put the Red Sox up 3-0, but Montgomery held his own from there, and it was not until their half of the eighth when the Boston bats got going again.

There, facing off against Yankees reliever Justin Wilson with two outs in the inning, J.D. Martinez deposited an 0-2, 94 mph fastball 391 feet to right-center field for his 19th big fly of the year.

In addition to picking up his 19th homer, Martinez also extended his on-base streak to 29 consecutive games dating back to June 10.

On Martinez’s solo shot, the Red Sox jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead over the Yankees, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

7-0 vs. NYY

With the victory, the Sox put an end to a mini two-game skid to improve to 56-36 on the season while also maintaining a 1 1/2 game lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East.

They are now a perfect 7-0 against the Yankees this year.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Cole

Saturday’s pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees will feature a pair of All-Stars going at it, with right-hander Nathan Eovaldi getting the ball for Boston and fellow righty Gerrit Cole doing the same for New York.

In sending Eovaldi to the mound, the Red Sox will look to secure their third straight series victory over the Yankees.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. eastern time on FOX.

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez allows 4 runs in 5 innings as Red Sox come up short, 5-4, in series finale against Angels

The Red Sox saw their West Coast road trip come to an end in disappointing fashion on Wednesday afternoon, as they fell to the Angels by a final score of 5-4

Eduardo Rodriguez made his 17th start of the season for Boston in Wednesday’s series finale, and he fell victim to some soft contact that landed in the right spots for Los Angeles hitters.

Over five innings of work, the left-hander yielded four runs — all of which were earned — on nine hits and zero walks to go along with five strikeouts on the afternoon.

The Halos got to Rodriguez early, as a pair of leadoff singles from David Fletcher and Shohei Ohtani were followed by an RBI groundout and RBI single off the bats of Jared Walsh and Phil Gosselin, thus putting the Sox in a two-run hole.

The Red Sox lineup, meanwhile, was matched up against Angels starter Andrew Heaney, and while it took until the fourth inning for them to get their first hit off the left-hander, they did get to him in the fifth.

There, three straight one-out base hits from Christian Arroyo, Christian Vazquez, and Bobby Dalbec resulted in the Sox pushing across their first run of the day. Alex Verdugo added on another run by plating Vazquez on another RBI single, and that evened things at two runs apiece.

Rodriguez, however, was not able to keep that stalemate intact for long, with Ohtani and Walsh going back-to-back with a pair of towering solo shots off the lefty in their half of the fifth. Rodriguez did retire the final three batters he faced, but his day was done after the last out of the inning was recorded.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 87 (62 strikes), the 28-year-old’s poor luck on Wednesday can best be defined by the fact that the 19 balls put into play against him had an average exit velocity of 76.5 mph.

Boston was able to trim their deficit from two runs down to one on an Arroyo RBI single in the sixth, but their momentum was halted when Vazquez grounded into a somewhat-controversial inning-ending double play.

With one out and runners at first and second, Vazquez hit a ground ball to Angels second baseman David Fletcher, who then flipped the ball to shortstop Jose Iglesias.

At first glance, it did not appear as though Iglesias made contact with the second base bag for the force out, but the call was confirmed following a replay review.

From there, Hirokazu Sawamura tossed a perfect frame in relief of Rodriguez, though Darwinzon Hernandez served up another solo home run to Walsh in the seventh, putting his side back in another two-run hole at 5-3.

Again, the Sox countered swiftly, with J.D. Martinez lacing a leadoff triple in the top of the eighth off Angels reliever Mike Mayers and Xander Bogaerts promptly driving him in on a run-scoring double to make it a 5-4 game.

Alas, four runs is all Boston could manage in this one, as Mayers retired the next three Red Sox he faced in order before Halos closer Raisel Iglesias punched out the side in the ninth to end things with a final score of 5-4.

With the loss, the Red Sox end their West Coast swing having gone 3-3 and now sit at 54-34 on the season, 2 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Final series before the All-Star break

The Red Sox will enjoy an off-day on Thursday before welcoming the Phillies into town for a three-game series — their last before the All-Star break — at Fenway Park that begins on Friday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will get the ball for Boston in the opener, while fellow righty Vince Velazquez will do the same for Philadelphia.

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

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)