Tag: fenway park

New Podding the Red Sox episode: Boston Balling host Gabby Hurlbut joins the show

On this week’s installment of Podding the Red Sox: A BloggingtheRedSox.com Podcast, I am joined by Gabby Hurlbut, host of the Boston Balling podcast.

Among the topics Gabby and I discussed are how she got her start in sports media, how she got her foot in the door at ESPN, the lessons she took away from her time at ESPN, what led to her starting her own podcast, how she feels about the Red Sox after their 12-6 start to the season, the Red Sox’ City Connect jerseys, Tanner Houck and Bobby Dalbec’s development, and much more!

The episode is available to listen to on iTunes and Spotify, among other platforms.

Thanks to Gabby for taking some time out of her busy schedule to have a conversation with me. You can follow Gabby on Twitter (@gabbyhurlbut10) by clicking here. You can check out the Boston Balling podcast by clicking here.

Thank you for listening and we will see you next time! Please make sure to subscribe and leave a five-star review if you can!

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

Red Sox’ Alex Cora predicted Xander Bogaerts would hit first home run of season Tuesday night: ‘You talking about me hitting a home run? I don’t have a home run at all’

Xander Bogaerts’ first home run of the season proved to be the difference maker in the Red Sox’ 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

With no outs and two runners on in the bottom half of the fourth, Bogaerts came to the plate for a second time after already doubling in his first at-bat against tough left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu two innings prior.

That double was actually more of a gift than anything considering the way it was played by Blue Jays left field Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but Bogaerts made sure to make his second hit of the night count.

On a 1-2, 91 mph slider from Ryu that was on the inner half of the plate, the 28-year-old was able to get his hands in front of the ball and wound up depositing said pitch 408 feet into the second row of Green Monster seats in left-center field. Per Baseball Savant, the ball left Bogaerts’ bat at a blistering 102.1 mph.

Bogaerts’ three-run blast put the Sox up 3-1 and would prove to be instrumental in the club’s 4-2 win over Toronto to improve to 12-6 on the young season.

“They needed a shutdown inning. They didn’t get it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said in regards to the impact of Bogaerts’ homer. “It was a good swing. That was a good effort against a good pitcher. That guy, he’s very tough. He’s got a good breaking ball, a good changeup. But we hung in there with him and we were able to score some runs.”

The fact that Bogaerts was able to hit a home run on a pitch that was relatively up and in was impressive. There’s no doubt about that. With that being said, though, that ability is something the three-time Silver Slugger Award winner has regularly put on display over the years. Just ask his longtime teammate — and Tuesday’s starter — Eduardo Rodriguez.

“I’ve been here, what? Like six seasons, I think. And I’ve been seeing him hitting balls like nobody can hit it,” Rodriguez said of the Aruban-born shortstop. “I know he’s a really special guy. I can’t even explain to you how good he is. I’ve been watching him too much. Hitting balls out of the ballpark, both sides of the field, middle of the field. I know every time he steps up to the plate something good is going to happen. That’s how special he is.

“I love the way he plays all the time, the way he goes up there,” added Rodriguez. “After he hit that homer, he comes to me and says, ‘I got you. Go out there now and do your thing.’ That’s something that I really appreciate from him every time I’m pitching and he’s doing things like that.”

Rodriguez said he expects 35 home runs out of Bogaerts this season, but Bogaerts himself was just happy to get the first one out of the way, which is something Cora actually foresaw moments before it happened in the bottom of the fourth on Tuesday.

“I think that whole inning, Alex Cora predicted, to be honest with you,” Bogaerts recalled during his postgame media availability. “I remember him saying that the guy’s going to get a hit, J.D. [Martinez] is going to get a hit, and I’m going to hit a two-run homer. So he kind of predicted that whole inning to be honest. You guys got to see what’s up with AC and those predictions with his mind and stuff like that.

“I was like, ‘You talking about me hitting a home run? I don’t have a home run at all,'” joked Bogaerts. “And he’s talking about me hitting a homer.”

Following a 2-for-4 showing at the plate with two extra-base hits on Tuesday, Bogaerts is now slashing a scorching .393/.439/.557 to go along with that one homer and seven RBI through his first 16 games of the year.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Xander Bogaerts hits first home run of season, Eduardo Rodríguez punches out 6 in return to Fenway Park as Red Sox top Blue Jays, 4-2

For the second consecutive day, the Red Sox were matched up against one of the top pitchers in the American League. And for the second consecutive day, the Red Sox needed just one inning to get the best of that pitcher.

They did so in the first inning of Monday’s 11-4 win over the White Sox by getting to Lucas Giolito for six runs. They did so in the fourth inning of Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Blue Jays by getting to Hyun-Jin Ryu for all four of their runs.

Facing off against one of the toughest left-handed pitchers in baseball to kick off a quick two-game series at Fenway Park, the Sox lineup went down quietly the first time through the order, but eventually got to Ryu in their half of the fourth.

There, back-to-back singles off the bats of Christian Arroyo and J.D. Martinez to lead off the frame set the stage for Xander Bogaerts, who — on a 1-2, 91 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate from Ryu — crushed his first home run of the season 408 feet over the Green Monster.

Not only did Bogaerts club his first homer of the year in the fourth inning, but Marwin Gonzalez also collected his first double with one out.

Bobby Dalbec, meanwhile, hit the first triple of his big-league career on a 101.3 mph scorcher that traveled 408 feet to deep center field and brought in Gonzalez from second to make it a 4-1 game.

That would be all the scoring the Sox would need in this one, but it should not be ignored that Arroyo went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored while batting out of the two-hole Tuesday.

Rodriguez shines in return to Fenway

Eduardo Rodriguez made his third start of the season for the Red Sox on Tuesday, marking the first time he had started a game at Fenway Park since the final day of the 2019 season.

In his return to Fenway, the left-hander was impressive as he held the Blue Jays to just two runs on three hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over six-plus innings of work.

Both runs Rodriguez gave up came by way of the long ball, with Bo Bichette taking the southpaw deep to lead off the top half of the fourth and Randal Grichuk doing the very same thing three innings later.

Rodriguez serving up a solo shot to Grichuk would mark the end of his night, but his homecoming of sorts was a triumphant one to say the least.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 90 (62 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 33% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing six swings-and-misses while topping out at 94.8 mph with the pitch.

Able to improve to 3-0 on the young season while lowering his ERA to 3.38, Rodriguez’s next start should come against the Seattle Mariners in the final game of the Sox’ homestand on Sunday.

Andriese, Ottavino, and Barnes close things out

In relief of Rodriguez, Matt Andriese got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen for what was essentially a clean top half of the seventh inning. The right-hander retired the only three hitters he faced and capped off his outing by punching out noted Red Sox killer Rowdy Tellez on five pitches.

From there, Adam Ottavino maneuvered his way around a two-out walk and a throwing error committed by Christian Vazquez in an otherwise perfect eighth inning, while Matt Barnes notched his third save of the season and preserved the 4-2 victory for his side by working a scoreless ninth inning.

The Red Sox are now 12-6.

Next up: Richards vs. Thornton

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the finale of this two-game set against the Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will be making his fourth start of the season for Boston, and he will be opposed by fellow right-hander Trent Thornton for Toronto.

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

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Phillips Valdéz off to strong start in second season with Red Sox

It’s still early, but Phillips Valdez’s second season with the Red Sox is off to a strong start.

Coming into the week, the lanky right-hander has posted a 2.25 ERA and .258 OPS against to go along with five strikeouts and two walks through his first six appearances and eight innings pitched of the year.

Five of the six outings Valdez has made this month have been scoreless ones, with the only blip thus far coming when he surrendered two runs against the Orioles on April 11.

Besides that, the 29-year-old has just about been perfect, and he showed how valuable he can be to Boston’s bullpen in Sunday’s doubleheader against the White Sox at Fenway Park.

In Game 1 of the twin bill, Valdez worked two scoreless frames of relief while striking out two of the six hitters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings — his second multi-inning relief appearance of the season already.

A few hours later, the Dominican native was once again called into action to work the top half of the seventh of Game 2.

Again, Valdez needed all of 15 pitches — 10 of which were strikes — to retire Chicago’s Nos. 3, 4, and 5 hitters (Yoan Moncada, Jose Abreu, Yermin Mercedes) in order, which is no simple task.

The Red Sox may have dropped both games of their doubleheader against the White Sox on Sunday, but Valdez proved to be effective nonetheless.

“If you have an MVP of a doubleheader that you got swept, it was Phillips Valdez,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said during his pregame media availability Monday morning. “He was the MVP of the day yesterday. For him to pitch in both games and save the bullpen, it was huge for us.”

Per Baseball Savant, Valdez’s early success this year goes beyond statistics like ERA and WHIP.

The 6-foot-3, 173 pound hurler is currently in the 96th percentile in regards to average exit velocity, the 89th percentile in regards to max exit velocity, the 99th percentile in regards to hard-hit percentage, the 97th percentile in regards to expected weighted on-base average, the 97th percentile in regards to expected ERA, the 93rd percentile in regards to expected batting average, the 97th percentile in regards to expected slugging percentage, and the 83rd percentile in regards to barrel percentage.

To put it simply, Valdez has done a quality job of limiting hard contact throughout the first month of the 2021 campaign by effectively utilizing his pitch mix, which consists of a changeup, a slider, and a sinker.

The fact that he has emerged as such a solid relief option is somewhat surprising considering that he was A. claimed off waivers last February and B. was not a lock to make Boston’s Opening Day roster this year after struggling in spring training.

Since making his Red Sox debut last July — five months after being claimed off waivers from the Mariners, Valdez owns a 3.05 ERA and 4.01 FIP across 30 appearances spanning 38 1/3 innings of work at the big-league level.

If Valdez continues to impress out of the Sox bullpen moving forward, it should be interesting to see if there is any change in the way Cora uses him, with the possibility of being deployed in higher leverage situations always an option.

(Picture of Phillips Valdez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Home runs from Kiké Hernández, Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez power Red Sox to 11-4 win over White Sox on Patriots’ Day

After being held in check offensively in both games of a doubleheader sweep on Sunday, the Red Sox bounced back in a tremendous way and came away with a four-game series split with the White Sox on Monday following an 11-4 victory to celebrate Patriots’ Day at Fenway Park in style.

Making his fourth start of the season for Boston in this one was Nathan Eovaldi, who was fresh off a solid performance against the Twins in Minnesota last week.

Working against another American League Central foe in the White Sox this time around, the veteran right-hander had yet another impressive day on Monday.

Over 6 1/3 innings of work, Eovaldi yielded four runs (all earned) on nine hits and zero walks to go along with 10 strikeouts on the afternoon to tie a career-high.

The first two of those Chicago runs scored on extra-base hits from Luis Robert and Adam Eaton in the first and third innings. Eaton was also responsible for his side’s third run when he plated Tim Anderson on a two-out, run-scoring double in the fifth.

Eovaldi managed to keep the White Sox off the board for a little while after that, but after allowing two of the first three hitters he faced to reach base in the top of the seventh, his day came to a close with Eaton due to hit next for Chicago.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 100 (75 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler turned to his vaunted four-seam fastball 41 times on Monday, inducing six swings-and-misses while topping out at 100.3 mph with the pitch.

Able to pick up his third winning decision of the season despite raising his ERA to 3.04, Eovaldi’s next start should come against the Mariners at Fenway Park on Saturday.

In relief of Eovaldi, rookie right-hander Garrett Whitlock got the first — and only — call out of the Red Sox bullpen an inherited a situation where there runners on the corners and still two outs to get in the sixth.

Whitlock, in his first appearance since Wednesday, allowed one of those inherited runners to score on an RBI groundout from Eaton — which closed the book on Eovaldi’s outing — but he avoided any further damage by getting Robert to ground out to retire the side.

From there, the 24-year-old continued to dazzle in his debut season with the Sox by fanning two and sitting down the final six hitters he faced in order to preserve the 11-4 victory for his side.

On the other side of things, a reeling Red Sox lineup was matched up against a tough opponent in White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito, who has finished in the top-7 in American League Cy Young voting in each of the last two seasons.

Despite the reputation Giolito carries with him, the 26-year-old struggled mightily in his first outing at Fenway Park in nearly two years.

That being the case because right from the get-go, the Sox put up six runs on seven hits while sending 11 batters to the plate in their half of the first.

Kiké Hernández led things off by crushing his third home run of the season just over the Green Monster to knot things up at 1-1, singles from Alex Verdugo and J.D. Martinez allowed Rafael Devers to drive in a run on a single of his own, and a Christian Vazquez single following a mound visit filled the bases for Marwin Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, one of the heroes of Saturday’s series-opening win, kept the line moving with an RBI single to score Martinez, while Hunter Renfroe drove in Devers on a groundout to third base.

Franchy Cordero followed with a line-drive RBI base hit to left field, which brought in Gonzalez. Just like that, the Red Sox had gone from trailing by a run to leading by five runs at 6-1.

Martinez provided more leadoff power in the bottom of the second, as he clubbed his sixth big fly of the season 398 feet over the Green Monster. 7-1.

A seven-pitch walk to Devers would mark the end of Giolito’s day after just one-plus innings pitched, and Renfroe would drive in the third baseman on a sacrifice fly off new White Sox reliever Zack Burdi. 8-1.

In the third, Verdugo became the third member of the top third of Boston’s starting lineup to go bridge. The 24-year-old took Burdi 417 feet deep to right field for his first Fenway homer of the season.

A one-out single off the bat of Vazquez an inning later would result in another Red Sox run crossing the plate when Cordero ripped a two-out, RBI single off Burdi.

And in the seventh, Martinez put the exclamation point on a 3-for-5 day at the plate by lacing yet another run-scoring base hit off Yermin Merceded — a position player — with two outs in the frame to bring in Hernandez from third.

Martinez’s second RBI knock of the afternoon gave the Red Sox a commanding 11-3 lead, which would go on to be Monday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

The Red Sox are 11-6.

From Red Sox Notes:

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will welcome the 7-9 Toronto Blue Jays into town for a brief, two-game series beginning Tuesday night.

Tuesday’s series opener at Fenway will feature an exclusively left-handed starting pitching matchup, with Eduardo Rodriguez getting the starting nod for Boston and veteran southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu doing the same for Toronto.

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

(Picture of Kiké Hernández and Alex Verdugo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Tanner Houck to start for Red Sox in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader against White Sox

Rookie right-hander Tanner Houck will return to the Red Sox’ starting rotation for Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader against the White Sox, manager Alex Cora told reporters following his team’s 7-4 victory over the White Sox on Saturday. Left-hander Martin Perez will start Game 2.

Houck, who is currently at the alternate training site, will more than likely serve as the 27th man on the Sox’ roster for Sunday’s twin bill, meaning he can simply be returned to Worcester after Game 2 with no corresponding roster move needed to be made.

The 24-year-old initially made Boston’s Opening Day roster earlier this month after left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez required a brief stint on the injured list due to elbow inflammation.

Pitching in Rodriguez’s place against the Orioles on April 3, Houck impressed by yielding just three runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk to go along with eight strikeouts over five solid innings of work.

He also allowed one unearned run on one hit and two strikeouts while pitching out of the bullpen in the 11th inning of a game against the Rays three days later.

Since making his big-league debut last September, the former first-round draft pick has posted a 1.17 ERA, a 2.48 FIP, and a 31:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio over five outings — four of which were starts — and 23 total innings pitched.

Despite the success he has enjoyed in the majors to this point, Houck has yet to earn a spot in the Sox’ starting rotation on a regular basis. One thing the team wanted to see him continue to work on in Worcester was the development of his third pitch: a splitter.

“I think Tanner Houck is a capable major league starting pitcher right now, but that doesn’t mean he’s a finished product,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Bloom told The Boston Herald’s Jason Mastrodonato after Houck was first optioned to the alternate site on April 6. “We know his ceiling could be even higher if he gets really comfortable with a third pitch. We know he can get lefties out, executing the fastball and slider the way he has in his big league starts, but if he can get more comfortable with that splitter, he’ll be even better. While he’s in Worcester, it’ll be easier to work on that than it would be while he’s pitching in a close game at the big league level.”

Houck will get the opportunity to show what he has been working on at Polar Park when he makes his return to Fenway Park on Sunday.

And even if he is optioned back down to the alternate site afterwards, the expectation is that the 6-foot-5, 218 pound hurler will be back once again sooner rather than later in the event that the Red Sox need a starter for whatever reason.

“He understands,” Cora said of Houck back on April 7. “Whenever we need him, he’ll be here and he’ll perform.”

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Marwin González comes through with clutch go-ahead homer as Red Sox come back to defeat White Sox, 7-4, to kick off homestand

Red Sox manager Alex Cora recently described Marwin Gonzalez as a player who “understands what it takes to win ballgames.”

On Saturday, Gonzalez showed why he was worthy of such praise, as he came through with the biggest hit of of the day — a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning — to to help guide Boston to a 7-4 victory over the White Sox at Fenway Park.

Matched up against right-handed reliever Codi Heuer to lead off the bottom of the eighth, Gonzalez, batting from the left side of the plate, took a 1-1, 96 mph sinker at the top of the strike zone and proceeded to crush it 410 feet deep into the Red Sox bullpen in right-center field.

Gonzalez’s first homer as a member of the Red Sox was a huge one, as it put his side up by a run at 4-3 and would wind up being the springboard for a four-run eighth inning.

Another come-from-behind win

The Red Sox came into the weekend already with six comeback victories under their belt, and after being dealt an early two-run deficit in the first of four against the White Sox, that would once again be the case on Saturday.

A pair of sacrifice flies in the third inning from Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers off White Sox starter Dylan Cease evened things up at two runs a piece for a quite a while.

Fast forward to the sixth, and the bottom of the lineup served as the catalyst for more offensive production.

With reliever Evan Marshall on the mound for Chicago, Kevin Plawecki laced a two-out double to center field, which put a runner in scoring position as Boston’s lineup flipped over back to Enrique Hernandez.

As part of a four-hit showing on Saturday, Hernandez ripped a line-drive single back up the middle to drive in Plawecki from second and put the Sox up 3-2.

Matt Andriese gave up that lead after serving up a leadoff single to Tim Anderson, who stole second base and advanced to third on a Xander Bogaerts missed catch error, and a sacrifice fly to Yoan Moncada in the seventh, but that stalemate would not last long.

As previously mentioned, Gonzalez led off the eighth inning with his first big fly of the season for Boston, which was followed up by singles from Christian Arroyo Hernandez.

Verdugo then drew a two-out walk off new White Sox reliever Jose Ruiz, and J.D. Martinez picked up an RBI by drawing yet another free pass to make it a 5-3 contest.

Bogaerts, who like Hernandez collected four hits on Saturday, more than made up for his prior miscue by roping a two-run, ground-rule double down the right field line.

Bogaerts’ third and fourth RBI of the young season provided insurance and gave the Red Sox a commanding 7-3 advantage.

Pivetta shaky, but remains unbeaten with Red Sox

If you were looking for a crisply-pitched game to watch on Saturday, White Sox-Red Sox probably wasn’t between you.

Nick Pivetta, who made his third start of the season for Boston a day later than he was scheduled to due to Friday’s postponement, gave up two early runs, and managed to go just 3 2/3 innings deep in all. The right-hander allowed four hits and four walks while also striking out three in the process of doing so.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 83 (49 strikes), Pivetta was unable to pick up the winning decision on account of how short his outing was. But the Red Sox are now 5-0 in games the 28-year-old pitches in. His next start should come against the Mariners on Thursday.

In relief of Pivetta, left-hander Josh Taylor came on to record the final out of the fourth inning and did just that by fanning Adam Eaton.

Andriese, Ottavino, and Barnes hold it down

From the beginning of the fifth inning on, Andriese surrendered just one unearned run over three solid frames of work.

Adam Ottavino, meanwhile, put together his best performance with the Red Sox to date in the top half of the eighth. The veteran right-hander, fresh off taking the loss in his last time out against the Twins, struck out Chicago’s 5-6-7 hitters in short order and was just a few pitches shy of an immaculate inning.

Andriese’s and Ottavino’s impressive performances — as well as the Red Sox jumping out to a 7-3 lead — set the stage for Matt Barnes to make his seventh appearance of the season in the ninth.

The 30-year-old flamethrower wound up giving up his first run of the year on a pair of hits, but he still managed to hold on and preserve the 7-4 win for his side.

Some notes from this victory:

The Red Sox are now 10-4. They are 1-0 in their Nike City Connect uniforms.

From Red Sox Notes:

Next up: Split doubleheader on Sunday

Next up for the Red Sox, they will be embarking upon their second doubleheader against another American League Central foe in less than a week on Sunday afternoon.

Tanner Houck and Martin Perez will start Games 1 and 2 for Boston. Chicago has only named a starter for Game 1 at this point, and that responsibility will belong to former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel.

First pitch for the day cap of Sunday’s twin bill is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time. The night cap is scheduled to begin at 5:10 p.m. ET. Both games will be broadcast on NESN.

(Picture of Marwin Gonzalez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox set starting rotation for Patriots’ Day weekend series against White Sox

Even after Friday’s game was postponed due to “winter-like conditions” in Boston, the Red Sox still (kind of) set their starting rotation for their Patriots’ Day weekend series against the White Sox at Fenway Park.

Coming off a week in which they used four starters in the span of three days in Minnesota, the Red Sox pitching staff — and Alex Cora — will once again be put to the test beginning on Saturday for the first of four against the South Siders.

Game 1 (Saturday)

In Game 1 of the series on Saturday, it will be right-hander Nick Pivetta making his third start of the season for Boston. He will be opposed by fellow righty Dylan Cease for Chicago.

The Red Sox have yet to lose a game Pivetta has started since the 28-year-old was called up from the alternate training site last September.

This season alone, Pivetta boasts a 2-0 record and 3.27 through his first two turns through Boston’s rotation, though he has also walked seven and struck out 11 over 11 total innings of work thus far.

Pivetta will be making his first career start against the White Sox come Saturday afternoon. The former Phillies hurler has made two career relief appearances against Chicago and has allowed one unearned run over three total innings pitched in those outings.

Cease, meanwhile, was reinstated from the COVID-19 related injured list on Friday after just a two-day absence.

The 25-year-old out of Georgia has only gone 4 2/3 innings deep in each of his first two starts of the season, yielding a total of four runs on nine hits, six walks, and nine strikeouts in the process of doing so. He will be making his first career start against the Red Sox on Saturday.

Games 2 & 3 (Sunday)

Things start to get a little complicated for Sunday’s split doubleheader. Game 1 of the twin bill will start at 1:10 p.m. eastern time as it was scheduled to, while Game 2 — the makeup of Friday’s postponed contest — will start at approximately 5:10 p.m. ET. Both games will be seven innings long.

Left-hander Martin Perez is slated to get the starting nod in Game 2 for the Red Sox, and fellow lefty Dallas Keuchel will be starting one of the two games for the White Sox, though which game will be his has yet to be determined.

Outside of that, the expectation seems to be that Tanner Houck will be recalled from the alternate training site in Worcester to make his second start of the season on Sunday afternoon.

The rookie right-hander thoroughly impressed in his first start of the year back on April 3, striking out eight Orioles over five solid innings in which he gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk. He also was charged with an unearned run while pitching in relief in the 11th inning of an April 6 game against the Rays.

Houck, who turns 25 in June, was optioned to the alternate site last Tuesday, which — as noted by the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier — would mean the soonest he could be called up again would be this Saturday.

Had Friday’s game against the White Sox gone on as planned, that likely would have been the case since the Red Sox would have needed a starter for Saturday. But with Friday’s contest being pushed back to Sunday, and Sunday becoming a doubleheader day as a result, Boston can just recall Houck as the 27th man for the twin bill and send him back down to the alternate site at the conclusion of the second game.

Game 4 (Monday)

Monday is Patriots’ Day, meaning first pitch for the Red Sox’ series finale against the White Sox is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. eastern time.

Nathan Eovaldi will be getting the ball for Boston to close out the four-game set, and he will be matched up against a talented opponent in right-hander Lucas Giolito for Chicago.

Eovaldi, who joined teammate Chris Sale in getting some work in at snowy Fenway Park on Friday, has been solid through his first three starts of the 2021 campaign.

Coming into the weekend, the 31-year-old righty carries with him a 2.08 ERA and .503 OPS against as he is fresh off tossing five innings of two-run ball against the Twins on Wednesday.

For his career, Eovaldi has made just three appearances (two starts) against the White Sox. In those three outings, the Houston-area native has posted a 5.59 ERA over 9 2/3 total innings pitched.

Giolito, meanwhile, is just a few days removed from his best start of the young season to this point.

The 26-year-old, who finished in the top-seven in American League Cy Young voting in each of the last two seasons, put together seven shutout frames against the Indians while scattering all of three hits and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts in a game his side somehow lost.

Giolito, a product of the baseball factory that is Harvard-Westlake High School, has made just one prior start at Fenway Park.

In that one start, which came back on June 24, 2019, the Southern California native surrendered three runs on six hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings pitched.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Friday’s Red Sox-White Sox game postponed due to inclement weather, will be made up as part of split doubleheader on Sunday

Friday night’s Red Sox-White Sox game has been postponed due to inclement weather, the team announced Friday afternoon.

Right-handers Nick Pivetta and Dylan Cease were slated to oppose one another in the first of a four-game Patriots’ Day weekend set at Fenway Park on Friday, but that will now have to wait due to “winter-like” conditions.

Instead of playing four games in four days, the Red Sox are now slated to play four games in three days — something they just did in Minnesota — starting on Saturday.

Friday’s contest between Boston and Chicago has been rescheduled to Sunday evening and will be made up as part of a split doubleheader that day.

The first game of Sunday’s twin bill is scheduled to begin at 1:10 p.m. eastern time, as it has been, while the second game will start at approximately 5:10 p.m. ET.

Per MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, “tickets for Friday’s game will be good for the 5:10 p.m. game” on Sunday and “Fenway Park gates will open 45 minutes before at 4:25 p.m.”

Smith also notes that Pivetta is likely to start on Saturday since the Red Sox have yet to name a starter for the second game of their series against the White Sox.

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

Nathan Eovaldi puts together ‘amazing’ performance against Rays on Wednesday to finish off three-game sweep; ‘We needed that,’ Alex Cora says

Of the four starts Nathan Eovaldi made for the Red Sox over the course of spring training, his outing against the Rays in Fort Myers was undoubtedly his worst one.

Over four innings of work back on March 19, the veteran right-hander surrendered five earned runs on eight hits, one walk, and five strikeouts.

It may have just been a meaningless Grapefruit League game, but the lessons Eovaldi learned from that performance last month proved to be worthwhile during his second start of the regular season on Wednesday.

Working against the Rays at Fenway Park this time around, the 31-year-old dazzled by yielding just one earned run on three hits and three walks to go along with seven strikeouts on the afternoon. He needed just 91 pitches (60 strikes) to get through those seven frames.

“[Kevin] Plawecki and I had a good game plan going into it,” Eovaldi said when asked about his impressive showing against his former team on Wednesday. “We were able to follow up with everything, try to keep them off balance. In spring training, I learned a lot when they got to me early in the game. So I had to really mix my pitches today, and I was able to do that.”

Of the 91 pitches Eovaldi threw on Wednesday, 35 were four-seam fastballs, 20 were curveballs, 19 were sliders, nine were cutters, and eight were splitters. He induced 17 swings-and-misses from Rays hitters in total.

“I didn’t really have one pitch that wasn’t working,” added Eovaldi. “I was able to use the curveball, the slider — I used that a lot today, the cutter, splitty was good. I was able to locate the fastball. I made some mechanical adjustments the other day and they really helped me out. So I feel really good out there.”

With the Red Sox finishing off a three-game sweep of the Rays on Wednesday, Eovaldi was able to pick up his first winning decision and improve to 1-1 on the young season.

That Eovaldi was able to go seven innings in his second start of the year proved to be crucial for the Sox considering how spent their bullpen was following Tuesday night’s 6-5 win over Tampa Bay that took 12 innings to complete.

“We needed that,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “The fact that he only threw 91 pitches, it was very important. But he went seven. Where we were pitching-wise today, we needed a big performance from him, and he did.”

Eovaldi himself echoes this same sort of sentiment in regards to picking up a depleted pitching staff the day after a lengthy game.

“The way we started the season 0-3 against the Orioles, obviously we’re not happy with that,” Eovaldi said. “But then to come in, last night was a huge game for us. We were able to come back from behind, tie it up in the late innings, ultimately win the game. Both sides of the bullpen, we were down. So we were short on guys.

“For me to be able to come out there today, go a little deeper in the game for us, and then for us to come out on top today, have the sweep — especially against the Rays — it’s a big one for us,” he added. “Big series win.”

Through his first two starts of the year, the Houston-area native has allowed just two earned runs over his first 12 1/3 innings pitched. That’s good for an ERA of 1.46 as well as a 0.89 WHIP.

“He was amazing,” Cora said of Eovaldi. “He’s got two starts already. He’s done an amazing job mixing up pitches, throwing strikes. The fact he only made like 92 [pitches] in the first one, [91 pitches] today. Now he gets one more day in between starts. That’s really good for him.”

Eovaldi is slated to pitch again against the Twins in Minnesota next Tuesday.

(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)