Tag: eduardo rodriguez

Kiké Hernández’s clutch 10th inning propels Red Sox to 3-2 win over Athletics

The Red Sox did not let a cross-country flight disrupt their winning ways, as they opened up their six-game West Coast road trip with a 3-2 victory over the Athletics in 10 innings at the Oakland Coliseum on Friday night.

With the extra-innings win, Boston extended its winning streak to eight consecutive games while improving to 52-31 on the season. They also moved to four full games ahead of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Eduardo Rodriguez made his 16th start of the season for the Sox on Friday, and, for the third straight time out, thoroughly impressed.

Over six strong innings of work, the left-hander kept the A’s off the scoreboard while yielding just one hit and two walks to go along with six strikeouts on the evening.

Oakland did threaten in their half of the second, as Chad Pinder reached first on a throwing error from third baseman Marwin Gonzalez and moved up to third on a Frank Schwindel single, but Rodriguez was able to punch out Tony Kemp on four pitches to end the inning and strand the runner 90 feet from home plate.

From that point forward, Rodriguez retired 11 of the last 12 hitters he faced and put the finishing touches on a stellar outing by striking out the dangerous Matt Olson on a foul tip to end things in the sixth.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (57 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 29% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing three swings-and-misses and topping out at 94.5 mph with the pitch.

Ultimately hit with the no-decision, Rodriguez did at least lower his ERA on the season to 5.42. His next start should come against the Angels in Anaheim on Wednesday.

While Rodriguez was in the process of putting up six scoreless frames, the Red Sox lineup was having offensive struggles of their own against Athletics starter — and former Boston farmhand — Frankie Montas.

Rafael Devers, fresh off being named to his first All-Star team, got his side on the board first in the fourth inning by driving in his fellow All-Star Xander Bogaerts on a hard-hit RBI double that eluded a diving Tony Kemp in right field.

Alex Verdugo followed suit an inning later, as he plated Danny Santana on a two-out run-scoring single down the left field line.

That gave the Sox a 2-0 lead, but they did have further opportunities to add on to that, particularly in their half of the sixth.

There, the bases were loaded with two outs for Michael Chavis, who was about to face newly-inserted A’s reliever J.B. Wendelken for the first time. Chavis swung at the first pitch he saw, which resulted in him popping out to foul territory to end the inning.

After the Boston bats went down in order in the seventh, Garrett Whitlock got the first call out of the bullpen in relief of Rodriguez.

The right-hander served up a solo home run to old friend Jed Lowrie to cut the lead in half, but then bounced back by striking out a pair in a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

With a 2-1 lead to protect going into the last half of the ninth, Matt Barnes was next up, and he saw that one-run lead fade away when he gave up a game-tying homer to Elvis Andrus.

Going into extras deadlocked at 2-2, Chavis was placed at second base to begin things in the 10th, and he immediately came into score on a go-ahead RBI single off the bat of Kiké Hernandez.

Hernandez’s clutch hit would prove to be the game-winner, as the center fielder also made the defensive play of the night a half inning later by gunning down the potential tying run in the form of Seth Brown at home plate.

With Adam Ottavino on the mound and Brown at third base, Sean Murphy lifted a fly ball to Hernandez in center field. Hernandez caught it, gathered himself, and unleashed an absolute dart to Christian Vazquez to snuff out the runner, convert the double play, and preserve his side’s 3-2 advantage.

That highlight reel outfield assist was good for the second out of the inning, and Ottavino closed things out in the 10th by getting Schwindel to fly out to left field, which secured the 3-2 win for the Sox as well as his sixth save of the season.

Next up: Richards vs. Irvin

The Red Sox will go for the series win over the Athletics on Saturday by sending right-hander Garrett Richards to the hill. Oakland will counter by turning to left-hander Cole Irvin.

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

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Kiké Hernandez: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández delivers with go-ahead RBI double, Bobby Dalbec crushes 453-foot homer as Red Sox come back to take series from Yankees with 7-3 win

Kiké Hernández made sure to make his first hit in nearly two weeks count.

After not playing on Thursday or Friday, Hernández came into the weekend in the midst of an 0-for-21 slump and was dropped to seventh in Alex Cora’s lineup as a result.

In the eighth inning of a 3-3 game Friday night, Hernández came to the plate for the fourth time with two outs and Rafael Devers at first following a leadoff single with reliever Chad Green on the mound for New York.

On the fifth pitch he saw from Green — a 2-2, 95 mph fastball at the top of the zone — Hernández laced a go-ahead RBI double down the left field line that allowed a husting Devers to score all the way from first.

Hernández’s late-game heroics gave the Red Sox a 4-3 lead, but they were not done there.

Christian Vazquez followed with a run-scoring double of his won to drive in Hernández, while Bobby Dalbec put this one to bed by crushing a 453-foot two-run home run to deep center field.

Dalbec’s sixth homer of the season, which had an exit velocity of 115.6 mph to make it the hardest-hit ball of his career to this point, put the Red Sox up 7-3, which would go on to be Friday’s final score in the team’s series-clinching victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Five straight hits in the sixth

Before the eighth-inning rally, Boston put up their first three runs of the night earlier in their half of the sixth.

There, five straight one-out hits courtesy of Alex Verdugo, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Hunter Renfroe resulted in some serious offensive production, with Devers driving in a pair off Yankees starter Jameson Taillon on a two-run single and Gonzalez plating Devers on yet another run-scoring double off reliever Jonathan Loaisiga.

That little outburst gave the Sox a 3-2 lead going into the middle of the sixth inning.

Rodriguez’s no-decision

Eduardo Rodriguez made his 11th start of the season for the Red Sox on Friday. The left-hander took a perfect game into the third inning before giving up back-to-back two-out singles, though nothing came of it.

The fourth inning, however, was a different story for Rodriguez, as he served up a two-run blast to Gleyber Torres to give the Yankees their first lead of the night at 2-0.

Rodriguez ran into some more trouble in the sixth when he issued a one-out walk to Aaron Judge and yielded a ground-rule double to Gio Urshela to put runners in scoring position. With Torres due to hit next for New York, Rodriguez’s outing came to a close.

Garrett Whitlock was deployed from the Red Sox bullpen to replace Rodriguez, and he allowed one of the runners he inherited to score on a sacrifice fly before ending the inning.

With that third run being charged to Rodriguez, the 28-year-old hurler finished the day having surrendered three earned runs on one walk and seven strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings of work on 88 pitches — 55 of which were strikes.

Able to lower his ERA on the season to 5.59 despite not being involved in the decision, his next start should come against the Astros back at Fenway Park on Thursday.

Whitlock and Ottavino impress against former organization

Whitlock, who the Red Sox selected from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, came back out for the seventh inning after finishing things in the sixth.

Facing off against the team that selected him in the 18th round of the 2017 draft, the right-hander wound up facing the minimum three batters in the seventh by inducing an inning-ending double play off the bat of Gary Sanchez.

Adam Ottavino, meanwhile, had spent the previous two seasons with the Yankees prior to getting traded to the Red Sox over the winter.

In his first appearance at Yankee Stadium since that trade went down, the Brooklyn native continued the dominating run he has been on of late by sitting down the only three hitters he faced in order in the bottom half of the eighth.

Workman struggles with walks, which leads to Barnes closing it out

From there, the Sox had already jumped out to a late 7-3 lead and turned to Brandon Workman to wrap things up.

Workman, making his second appearance out of the Boston bullpen since re-joining the club on Thursday, got the first two outs of the ninth rather easily, but then proceeded to walk the next two Yankees who came to the plate.

That resulted in Cora making the call for closer Matt Barnes, who fanned the lone hitter he faced on five pitches to secure the 7-3 win for his side and notch his 14th save of the season.

With the 7-3 triumph, the Red Sox guarantee their first series victory in the Bronx since the 2018 ALDS. They also pick up their third straight win to improve to 35-23 and remain within a game of the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Richards looks to complete the sweep

The Red Sox will send right-hander Garrett Richards to the hill on Sunday night as they look to complete the sweep against their divisional foes.

The Yankees will be going with fellow righty Domingo German as they look to avoid a three-game sweep.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. eastern time on ESPN.

(Picture of Kiké Hernández: Richard Schultz/Getty Images)

Rafael Devers mashes 3-run homer, Marwin Gonzalez enjoys 2-hit night as Red Sox open series against Yankees with 5-2 win

It would appear that Rafael Devers has gotten his fastball back.

After struggling with the heater in Houston this week, Devers got this weekend’s series against the Yankees started with a bang at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

With two outs and runners at first and second in the top of the first, the 24-year-old greeted Yankees starter Michael King by crushing an 0-2, 96 mph fastball at the top of the zone to deep right field for a three-run home run.

Devers’ team-leading 15th homer of the season traveled 429 feet off the left-handed hitter’s bat and had an exit velocity of 112.4 mph, which would turn out to be the second hardest-hit ball of the night. It also gave the Red Sox an early 3-0 lead.

Gonzalez breaks out of slump with two-hit night

To his credit, King settled in for New York after a rough first inning. The Rhode Island native strung together four consecutive scoreless frames before allowing a one-out single to Xander Bogaerts in the sixth. That resulted in the Yankees turning to left-hander Lucas Luetge.

Hunter Renfroe greeted Luetge by advancing Bogaerts to second on a single, while Hunter Renfroe — who came into Friday’s contest in the midst of a 1-for-24 skid — scored both runners by lacing a two-run double down the left field line.

The Sox went ahead 5-0 on Gonzalez’s first hit since May 22, and the switch-hitter also reached base again on a one-out double later on in the ninth.

Eovaldi tosses six solid innings, but scuffles towards the end

Nathan Eovaldi made his 12th start of the season for the Red Sox on Friday, matched up against one of his former teams at a ballpark he knows quite well.

Over six innings of work, the veteran right-hander yielded two runs — only one of which was earned — on eight hits and zero walks to go along with seven strikeouts on the night.

Both runs Eovaldi surrendered came in his final frame of action, with Aaron Judge getting his side on the board with a two-out solo home run to the short porch and Gio Urshela scoring on a Marwin Gonzalez fielding AND throwing error later in the inning.

For how impressive he was in the beginning, Eovaldi gave up four of his eight hits in the sixth. Still, six quality innings is six quality innings.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 87 (59 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler’s next start should come against the Astros back at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

Strikeouts galore from the Red Sox bullpen

In relief of Eovaldi, right-handed reliever Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen for the bottom half of the seventh inning.

Sawamura needed all of 12 pitches to punch out Gary Sanchez, Brett Gardner, and D.J. LeMahieu in order, and he also picked up two more strikeouts in a scoreless bottom of the eighth as well to pave the way for Matt Barnes.

Barnes, making his 24th appearance of the season, dominated to the tune of a three-strikeout inning in which he secured his 13th save of the year while also preserving a 5-2, series-opening victory for the Red Sox.

With the win, their second straight, the Sox improve to 34-23 on the season and move to a game back of the Rays for first place in the American League East

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Taillon

A struggling Eduardo Rodriguez will take the hill for the Red Sox against the Yankees on Saturday night. He will be opposed by right-hander Jameson Taillon.

Rodriguez is coming off the worst month of his career. In six May starts, the left-hander went 1-4 with a 7.28 ERA and .957 OPS against over 29 2/3 innings pitched. The Sox went 1-5 in those six starts.

Saturday will mark Rodriguez’s first outing at Yankee Stadium since August 2, 2019.

Tallion, meanwhile, carries with him a 5.10 ERA through his first 10 starts (47 2/3 innings) in a Yankees uniform. The 29-year-old has only made one prior start against the Red Sox, which came when he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in April 2017.

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

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez surrenders 6 runs, finishes miserable month of May with 7.28 ERA as Red Sox fall to Astros, 11-2, on Memorial Day

Alex Cora’s first trip back to Houston since being implicated in the Astros’ illegal sign-stealing scandal did not get off to the best of starts.

The Red Sox saw their three-game winning streak come to an end and closed out the month of May with a blowout 11-2 loss at the hands of the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Monday evening.

They fell to 32-21 (16-8 on the road) on the season as a result and now sit two full games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East, the farthest they have been back of the division lead since April 5.

Rodriguez wraps up miserable May

Eduardo Rodriguez made his 10th start of the season for Boston in the opener of this four-game set and was unable to end a downright dreadful month of May on a positive note.

Over 4 2/3 innings of work, the left-hander got shelled for six earned runs on seven hits and two walks to go along with just four strikeouts on the day.

The six runs Rodriguez yielded on Monday were a season-high and came in bunches, with the Astros plating two in the second, two in the third, and two more in the fifth.

What truly did Rodriguez in was when he served up a two-run home run to Jose Altuve with no outs in the third inning. The homer was more bad luck than anything considering it came on a 1-2, 88 mph changeup on the outer half of the plate and traveled a whopping 330 feet with an exit velocity of 92.2 mph just over the fence in left field.

Still, a home run is a a home run, and it was one that put the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole.

From there, Rodriguez stringed together a nice stretch before running into more trouble in the fifth in which he allowed two of the first four hitters he faced to reach base.

At that point, the lefty’s pitch count had reached 97 (62 strikes), and his day was done as Cora turned to Colten Brewer out of the Boston bullpen.

By getting hit with his fourth consecutive losing decision, Rodriguez falls to 5-4 on the year while raising his ERA to 5.64. In six May starts, the 28-year-old posted an astronomically-high 7.28 ERA, which is the highest mark of any month in his six major-league seasons.

Red Sox bullpen takes over

In relief of Rodriguez, Colten Brewer took over with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and allowed both runners he inherited to score before retiring the side.

Brewer, who was making his 2021 debut, was charged with four additional runs, while Phillips Valdez was charged with one, in the sixth. Valdez then tossed a a scoreless bottom of the seventh and Matt Andriese followed suit in the eighth.

Quiet offense sans Renfroe

The Red Sox lineup failed to muster anything off of Astros starter Jose Urquidy on Monday.

It took until the fourth inning for Boston to reach base and until the fifth inning to record a hit against the right-hander.

The only real exception to the Sox’ offensive woes was Hunter Renfore, who put the finishing touches on a strong month of may by scoring his side’s first run on an Alex Verdugo RBI double in the sixth and later scoring himself on his seventh home run of the season in the eighth.

Renfroe’s 419-foot solo blast made it an 11-2 game, which would go on to be Monday’s final score.

Next up: Richards vs. Garcia

Tuesday’s pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Astros will feature veteran right-hander getting the ball for Boston and rookie right-hander Luis Garcia getting the ball for Houston.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez surrenders five runs on 11 hits as Red Sox fall to Blue Jays, 8-0, in blowout loss

The Red Sox did something on Tuesday night they had not done since the beginning of the season: get shut out.

More than 2 1/2 months after getting blanked by the Orioles back on Opening Day, the Sox were kept off the scoreboard in what would go down as a forgetful 8-0 loss to the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla. on Tuesday.

Boston is now 25-18 on the season after dropping their last two contests.

Rodriguez surrenders five runs in five innings

Eduardo Rodriguez made his eighth start of the season for Boston in the first game of a three-game series, and he got rocked for five runs — all of which were earned — on a season-high 11 hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over five taxing innings of work.

Tuesday’s outing was truly a grind for Rodriguez, as the left-hander dealt with more than his fair share of traffic on the base paths by facing four or more hitters in every inning he pitched in.

The Blue Jays first got to Rodriguez with a two-out RBI single off the bat of Danny Jansen in the bottom of the second. A leadoff double from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the fourth would prove to be the catalyst for another productive inning from Toronto, with Marcus Semien driving in a run on a single to right field and fielding error committed by Hunter Renfroe and Bo Bichette plating two more on a two-run double to center field.

Gurriel Jr. struck once more in the fifth, this time getting to Rodriguez with a groundball base hit to right field that plated Teoscar Hernandez from second to make it a 5-0 game.

After sitting down the final two hitters he faced in the fifth inning, Rodriguez’s evening would come to an end. The 28-year-old hurler threw 87 pitches (57 strikes) and managed to induce 13 total swings-and-misses while topping out at 94.1 mph with his four-seam fastball — a pitch he threw 27 times.

Ultimately picking up his second consecutive losing decision to fall to 5-2 on the year, Rodriguez’s ERA on the season now sits at 4.70. His next start should come against the Phillies in Philadelphia on Sunday.

Andriese struggles out of bullpen

In relief of Rodriguez, right-hander Matt Andriese got the first and only call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the middle of the sixth inning.

The good news here is that Andriese was the only relief pitcher the Red Sox needed to use on Tuesday, so the rest of their bullpen should be pretty fresh for the rest of this series against Toronto. The bad news is that Andriese got lit up for three runs on seven hits, one walk, and three strikeouts over three innings pitched.

A two-out walk of Bichette in the sixth would prove to be costly for Andriese, as he proceeded to yield back-to-back singles to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Hernandez with the outfielder driving in the shortstop to give his side a commanding 6-0 lead.

In the eighth, more two-out trouble arose for Andriese when — with a runner on second — he served up a two-run home run to noted slugger Randal Grichuk, which put the Blue Jays up 8-0.

Over his last seven appearances out of Boston’s bullpen, Andriese has allowed 11 earned runs on 20 hits in 9 2/3 innings of relief. That’s good for an ERA of 10.24.

Devers makes nifty play at third base

While Andriese did have a tough go of things on Tuesday, he did receive some defensive help from Rafael Devers to close out the seventh inning.

With two outs and runners at the corners, Semien ripped an 88 mph grounder in Devers’ direction at the hot corner.

Sprawling to his left upon contact, the young third baseman fielded the ball on a hop, quickly spun around, and — from his knees — threw out Semien at first base for the third and final out.

Sox lineup goes down quietly

As previously mentioned, the Red Sox were shut out by the Blue Jays on Tuesday, and that was primarily due to how dominating ace left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu was for Toronto.

The veteran southpaw limited Boston to just four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts over seven strong innings.

There were some instances where the Red Sox appeared to be in a position to get to Ryu, but nothing ever came of those opportunities as the Sox offense would finish the night having gone 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position while leaving eight runners on base as a team.

Next up: Richards vs. Stripling

The Red Sox will look to put an end to their current two-game skid back at TD Ballpark on Wednesday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will get the ball for Boston in the middle game of this three-game set, while fellow righty Ross Stripling will do the same for Toronto.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:37 p.m. eastern time on NESN+.

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Matt Barnes gives up two-run home run to Shohei Ohtani, blows first save of season as Red Sox fail to close out series against Angels in 6-5 loss

The Red Sox were one out away from securing a three-game sweep over the Angels at Fenway Park on Sunday, but fell short of doing so in heart-breaking fashion.

With two outs and the bases empty in the top of the ninth inning, Sox closer Matt Barnes got a struggling Mike Trout to hit a pop fly to right field for what looked to be the final out of the game.

Rather than fall into a Red Sox fielder’s glove, though, the 75.9 mph bloop found a patch of grass and landed between right fielder Marwin Gonzalez, center fielder Hunter Renfroe, and second baseman Michael Chavis, all of whom were playing Trout in a shift.

Representing the tying run in a 5-4 game, Trout’s single brought Shohei Ohtani to the plate, who proceeded to wrap a go-ahead, two-run home run around Pesky’s Pole in right field to give the Angels a 6-5 lead.

Barnes was charged with his first blown save of the season as the Red Sox would go on to fall to 25-17 on the year overall and 13-12 at home.

Plawecki, Devers lead comeback

Well before a drama-filled ninth inning, the Sox found themselves in a four-run hole early on against Los Angeles.

Matched up against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana, the bottom third of Boston’s lineup provided the first offensive jolt of the day when Jonathan Arauz drove in Marwin Gonzalez from second on an RBI double — and his first hit of the season — in the bottom of the third.

Fast forward to the fifth, and the bottom of the order took charge once more, this time with Kevin Plawecki clubbing his first home run of the season 389 feet over the Green Monster to cut the Halos’ lead to two runs.

Arauz and leadoff man Michael Chavis both singled with one out in between a pitching change that saw righy Aaron Slegers take over for Quintana, which set up Rafael Devers in a prime scoring spot.

On the fourth pitch he saw from Slegers — an 0-2, 93 mph fastball — Devers crushed it 400 feet to right field for his 11th big fly of the season. The three-run blast, which had an exit velocity of over 104 mph, put the Sox ahead by a run at 5-4.

Eovaldi allows four runs over five innings, Martinez notches outfield assist

The reason the Red Sox were trailing by four runs as early as they were was due in part to the struggles Nathan Eovaldi endured in his second inning of work Sunday.

After retiring the side rather easily in the first, the veteran right-hander plunked the first hitter he faced in the second in Anthony Rendon. That would prove to be costly for Eovaldi, as he wound up surrendering four runs on four hits and a walk in the frame.

Despite the early troubles, however, Eovaldi was able to settle in to the point where he sat down eight of the final 11 Angels he faced.

He did give up a two-out double to Jared Walsh in his final inning of work that very well could have scored Ohtani all the way from first, but J.D. Martinez prevented that from happening when he threw a dart from left field and Kevin Plawecki snuffed out the two-way phenom at home plate.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 87 (63 strikes), Eovaldi turned to his four-seam fastball 51% of the time he was on the mound Sunday, inducing four swings-and-misses and topping out at 99.3 mph with the pitch.

Hit with the no-decision while raising his ERA on the season to 4.50, the 31-year-old’s next start should come against the Phillies on Saturday.

Red Sox bullpen takes over

In relief of Eovaldi, Phillips Valdez got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the sixth inning. The right-hander tossed a scoreless frame, while left-hander Josh Taylor got the call for the seventh and put away the only three hitters he faced in order.

From there, Adam Ottavino issued a one-out single and walk in the top of the eighth before recording the second out and making way for Barnes.

Barnes escaped the inning and stranded both runners he inherited by getting Jose Iglesias to line out to right field. He then gave up that two-run homer to Ohtani in the ninth.

Next up: Off day, then six-game road trip

The Red Sox will enjoy an off day on Monday and head down to Dunedin, Fla. to open up a three-game series against the 22-17 Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is slated to get the start for Boston, and fellow southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu will do the same for Toronto.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:37 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Fenway Park: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox muster just 5 hits as offensive struggles continue in 4-1 loss to Athletics

The Red Sox have been mired in offensive struggles as of late, and those struggles continued in a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Athletics at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

Facing off against rookie right-hander James Kaprielian, who was making his first career start, the Sox had a chance to pile on some runs right away in their half of the first.

With Marwin Gonzalez and Alex Verdugo reaching base on a double and walk, J.D. Martinez proceeded to rip a line drive to right-center field that appeared well hit enough to drive in Gonzalez from second.

Boston instead decided to play things conservatively, as Gonzalez was held up at third, which would prove to be costly considering the fact the only run they brought across in the inning came on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Christian Vazquez.

In the fifth, the Red Sox again had Kapreielian on the ropes, this time with Gonzalez and Verdugo at first and third with no outs.

Martinez proceeded to ground into a fielder’s choice in which Gonzalez was caught in a rundown between third and home before both Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers struck out to end the inning.

Fast forward to the eighth, the Sox found themselves in another position where they were threatening to score runs in a game they were trailing by three at 4-1.

There, Bogaerts drew a one-out walk off A’s reliever Lou Trivino and advanced all the way to third on a sharply-hit double off the bat of Devers.

With the tying run at the plate, Vazquez grounded out sharply to second base and upon receiving the throw from old friend Jed Lowrie, Athletics first baseman gunned down Bogaerts as he was trying to score from third for an inning-ending double play.

All in all, the Sox went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base as a team.

Rodriguez fans 9 over 6 innings, suffers first loss of season

While the Red Sox lineup was struggling to push anything across the A’s on Wednesday, Eduardo Rodriguez made his eighth start of the season for Boston in this one.

The left-hander yielded four runs — all of which were earned — on seven hits and one walk to go along with a season-high nine strikeouts over six innings of work.

After allowing back-to-back two-out hits in the top of the second to give up his first run of the night, Rodriguez settled down for a bit before running into more trouble in the fifth.

A leadoff single from Mitch Moreland followed by a double from Elvis Andrus put the Sox starter in a tough spot, and one that allowed Lowrie to pick up an RBI and advance a runner to third on an run-scoring groundout.

With one more out to get, Rodriguez made a costly mistake in that he balked and by doing so allowed Andrus to score from third and make it a 3-1 game. He then served up a leadoff solo shot to Olson in the sixth before retiring the final three hitters he faced.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 99 (63 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 43% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing four swings-and-misses and topping out at 94 mph with the pitch.

Later hit with his first loss of the season, Rodriguez’s next start should come against the Blue Jays in Dunedin next Tuesday.

Hunter Renfroe picks up jaw-dropping outfield assist

Rodriguez very well could have surrendered more than four runs on Wednesday were it not for the efforts for his right fielder Hunter Renfroe.

On a scalding line drive to dead center off the bat of Matt Chapman in the top of the second, Renfroe — while backing up Alex Verdugo — fielded the ball off the wall and made a blistering, 92 mph throw from right-center field to nab Chapman at third after he attempted to turn a one-out double into a triple.

Renfroe’s one-hop throw reached third baseman Rafael Devers in a matter of seconds, and it was good for the second out of the inning.

Red Sox bullpen combines to toss three scoreless frames

In relief of Rodriguez, the recently called-up Eduard Bazardo came on for what was his Fenway Park debut.

Just recalled from Triple-A Worcester in place of Nick Pivetta, who was placed on the COVID-19 related injured list earlier Wednesday, Bazardo sat down six of the seven Athletics he faced.

The righty reliever needed 28 pitches to get through the seventh and eighth innings while picking up a pair of strikeouts.

From there, Austin Brice put together a nice bounce back performance by working a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

Next up: Manaea vs. Richards

After dropping their third straight to fall to 22-16 on the season, the Red Sox will look to salvage this three-game series against the A’s during Thursday night’s finale.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will toe the rubber for Boston, and he will be opposed by left-hander Sean Manaea for Oakland.

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

(Picture of Marwin Gonzalez: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

Red Sox held in check once again in 3-2 series-opening loss to Athletics

For the second straight night, the Red Sox were held to just four hits in a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Despite the offensive struggles, the Sox still found themselves in a position where they could steal a win from the first-place A’s in the bottom of the ninth inning.

There, Oakland reliever Jake Diekman walked two of the first three hitters he faced to put the tying and winning runs on base in Alex Verdugo and Xander Bogaerts.

Both Verdugo and Bogaerts advanced into scoring position when Rafael Devers grounded into a force out for the second out of the frame, leaving the potential tying run just 90 feet away from scoring.

With the game in his hands, Christian Vazquez undramatically popped out to A’s first baseman Matt Olson in foul territory to strand Verdugo and Verdugo where they were and end things at 3-2.

With the loss (their second straight), the Sox fall to 22-15 on the season.

Sox bats held in check by Bassitt

The primary reason the Red Sox offense really could not get anything going on Tuesday was because of Athletics starter Chris Bassitt.

Coming into the day with a 3.70 ERA on the season, the veteran right-hander recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts while limiting Boston to just two runs on three hits in seven innings.

Interestingly enough, the Sox drew first blood in this one when after reaching base on a one-out single in the bottom of the first, Verdugo advanced to second and again to third on a pair of Bassitt wild pitches, which allowed the outfielder to easily score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of J.D. Martinez.

Eovaldi bounces back with solid outing

Given an early one-run lead to work with, Nathan Eovaldi rebounded nicely in his eighth start of the season for the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Over six innings of work, the right-hander allowed just one run on two hits and two walks to go along with four strikeouts on the night.

The lone run he gave up came in the fourth when Olson got his side on the board with a one-out RBI single.

Besides that, though, Eovaldi did manage to retire seven of the final eight hitters he faced to lower his ERA on the season to 4.20.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 102 (65 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 49% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing just one swing-and-miss while topping out at 99.3 mph with the pitch.

Later hit with the no-decision, Eovaldi’s next start should come against the Angels on Sunday.

Hernandez’s struggles at Fenway continue

In relief of Eovaldi, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the seventh inning of a 1-1 game.

Matched up against Oakland’s 4-5-6 hitters, Hernandez surrendered a leadoff walk to Olson before serving up a go-ahead, run-scoring single to Matt Chapman.

Adam Ottavino would have to come in to finish the seventh, but he allowed an inherited runner to score on an RBI single of his own to make it a 3-1 contest.

From there, Hirokazu Sawamura wrapped things up by tossing two scoreless frames of relief to hold the Athletics at three runs.

Devers hits ninth homer

After falling behind by two runs in the top of the seventh, Devers brought the Sox back to within one by crushing his ninth home run of the season — a 353-foot solo shot off Bassitt — to cut Boston’s deficit to 3-2, which would ultimately go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

Next up: Kaprielian vs. Rodriguez

The Red Sox will look to snap their two-game skid against the Athletics on Wednesday night back at Fenway.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will be making the start for Boston, and he will be opposed by rookie right-hander James Kaprielian for Oakland.

Kaprielian, 27, will be making his first career major-league start after debuting out of the bullpen with the A’s last season. The former Yankees prospect is probably best known for being part of the 2017 trade that sent right-hander Sonny Gray to New York.

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

(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Bobby Dalbec breaks out of slump with 3-run home run as Red Sox open series against Orioles with 6-2 win

Bobby Dalbec came into Friday’s game against the Orioles in the midst of an 0-for-27 slump at the plate having not recorded a hit since April 27.

In his first at-bat of the night, Dalbec ripped a one-out single to left field in the top half of the third inning.

An inning later, the 26-year-old then clubbed a 399-foot three-run home run in that same direction off Orioles starter Matt Harvey to give his side a 4-0 lead.

The Red Sox ultimately topped the O’s by a final score of 6-2 at Camden Yards on Friday to improve to 20-13 on the season and become the first team this year to reach the 20-win mark.

Rodriguez goes five innings

Eduardo Rodriguez made his sixth start of the season — and second against Baltimore — for Boston in this one. The left-hander surrendered just one run, though he did scatter seven hits and three walks to go along with a season-low two strikeouts over five innings of work.

The one run Rodriguez gave up in his final frame of work, when he allowed three straight hitters to reach base on a double, walk, and RBI single from Trey Mancini. He did manage to retire the last two Orioles he faced to hold them at one run.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 91 (61 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler turned to his changeup 31% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing three swings-and-misses with the pitch. He also topped out at 92.8 mph with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 19 times.

Able to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season while lowering his ERA to 3.82, Rodriguez’s next start should come against the Athletics back at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

Sawamura’s homer troubles continue

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the middle of the sixth inning.

The right-hander served up a leadoff home run to Ryan Mountcastle to cut Boston’s lead to two runs at 4-2 before sitting down the next three hitters he faced in order.

Sawamura has now allowed at least one homer in two of his last four appearances and has seen his ERA on the season inflate up to 3.77 as a result.

Whitlock bounces back with two scoreless frames

On the flip side of Sawamura’s struggles, Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock bounced back from back-to-back poor outings against the Rangers and Tigers by tossing two scoreless innings of relief against the Orioles on Friday.

Renroe takes advantage of O’s sloppy defense, gets Sox on the board in the fourth

Before Dalbec went deep in the fourth, Hunter Renfroe provided Boston with an early 1-0 lead by driving in Rafael Devers from third on an RBI single off Harvey.

Devers had reached base — and advanced to second — in the first place on a missed catch error committed by the Orioles starter. He then stole third base to make it even easier for Renfroe to pick up his 15th RBI of the season.

Vazquez, Gonzalez provide late-inning insurance

With a 4-2 lead already in hand, the Sox tacked on two additional runs on a pair of run-scoring doubles from the likes of Christian Vazquez and Marwin Gonzalez in the eighth and ninth innings to make it a 6-2 contest.

This in turn, allowed Boston to rest closer Matt Barnes another day and deploy Phillips Valdez for the bottom half of the ninth.

Valdez closes it out

Valdez, making his second relied appearance in as many days after not appearing in a game for nearly two weeks, stranded the one hitter he allowed to reach base in an otherwise perfect inning to secure the 6-2 victory for his side.

Rain delay leads to late start

Friday’s game between the Sox and Orioles did not start until 8:43 p.m. eastern time due to a one-hour and 38 minute rain delay. The final out was not recorded until after midnight.

Next up: Richards vs. Lowther

Next up for the Red Sox, they will send right-hander Garrett Richards to the mound Saturday night to face off against left-hander Zac Lowther for Baltimore.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec and Co.: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Hunter Renfroe homers, but Red Sox squander scoring chances while Eduardo Rodriguez allows 4 runs over 5 innings in 8-6 loss to Rangers

The Red Sox lost a game they very well could have won against the Rangers at Globe Life Field on Saturday night.

In the fifth inning of what at the time was a 3-3 game, the first five Red Sox hitters to come to the plate reached base, resulting in two more runs crossing the plate on back-to-back RBI singles from J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.

Now up 5-3, Boston had the chance to really blow this one open as Rafael Devers drew a five-pitch walk to re-load the bases for the bottom of the lineup.

Matched up against hard-throwing left-hander Taylor Hearn for Texas, Christian Vazquez grounded into a 5-2 force out at home plate while both Bobby Dalbec and Hunter Renfroe struck out on foul tips to retire the side.

Even while adding two runs in their half of the fifth, the Red Sox could have done more to put this game out of reach. They later paid for their inability to do much with runners in scoring position when the Rangers came back to secure an 8-6 win for themselves.

Rodriguez allows four runs in five innings

Eduardo Rodriguez made his fifth start of the season for the Sox on Saturday, but was unable to improve to 5-0.

Over five innings of work, the left-hander yielded a season-high four earned runs on eight hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts on the night.

The Rangers first got to Rodriguez for three runs in the third inning on a run-scoring base hit from Nick Solak and a two-run knock from Nate Lowe.

They got to him once more in the fifth inning when Isiah Kiner-Falefa led things off by belting a booming solo shot to left field, which at the time broke a 4-4 deadlock.

Rodriguez then sat down the final three hitters he faced in order, but his outing came to an end relatively quickly when considering the fact he only threw 67 pitches — 46 of which were strikes.

Of those 67 pitches, the 28-year-old hurler mixed in a healthy diet of 19 cutters, 14 sinkers, 14 changeups, 12 four-seam fastballs, and eight sliders. He topped out at 93.4 mph with his four-seamer.

Andriese, Sawamura struggle out of bullpen

In relief of Rodriguez, Matt Andriese got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen for the bottom half of the sixth inning.

Facing off against the bottom half of the Rangers’ lineup, the veteran right-hander allowed Jose Trevino to reach base on a one-out single before serving up a two-run blast to Willie Calhoun that put Texas ahead by one run at 6-5.

Andriese walked the next man he faced in Charlie Culberson, who came around to score on a two-out RBI triple off the bat of Kiner-Falefa moments later.

Josh Taylor managed to stop the bleeding by working a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, but Hirokazu Sawamura’s struggles in the Lone Star State continued as he allowed the Rangers to score what would prove to be an important insurance run on an RBI double from Culberson in the eighth.

Renfroe homers to give Red Sox early lead

Before any of Saturday’s mid-inning drama took place, Hunter Renfroe gave the Sox an early 2-0 lead when he crushed his second home run of the season: a towering 417-foot two-run blast to deep left field off Rangers starter Jordan Lyles in the top of the second.

There was a moment in the sixth inning where Renfroe had the opportunity to perhaps prevent Kiner-Falefa’s RBI triple from ever happening, but he could not come up with the hard-hit groundball that wound up rolling all the way to the right-center field wall.

Late comeback attempt falls short

After the Rangers took a 7-5 lead in the sixth, the Sox attempted to get back into it in the seventh with a leadoff double courtesy of Bogaerts.

The star shortstop moved up an additional 90 feet by swiping third base, then scored on a Vazquez sacrifice fly to make it a 7-6 game.

In the eighth, Bogaerts essentially had the game in his hands when with two outs, the Rangers intentionally walked Martinez to fill the bases for Boston’s No. 4 hitter.

On an 0-1, 89 mph changeup from Joely Rodriguez, Bogaerts laced a sharply-hit ground ball to the left side of the infield, but it was one that could be fielded by Culberson at third base and went down as an inning-ending 5-3 groundout.

Rangers closer Ian Kennedy struck out the side in order in the top of the ninth to pick up the save.

Some notes from this loss:

From The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

From MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith:

Next up: Richards vs. Foltynewicz

The 17-11 Red Sox will look to wrap up their six-game road trip on a positive note in Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Rangers.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will be getting the ball for Boston, and he will be opposed by fellow righty Mike Foltynewicz for Texas.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez and Co.: Aric Becker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)