Tag: grapefruit league

Nick Pivetta gives up 2 more home runs and Jake Diekman’s spring struggles continue as Red Sox fall to Pirates, 6-2

After a rare off day, the Red Sox returned to action in Bradenton on Tuesday and fell to the Pirates by a final score of 6-2 at LECOM Park. Boston is now 7-5 in Grapefruit League play.

Making his third start of the spring for the Sox was Nick Pivetta. In his penultimate outing before the regular season begins, the right-hander surrendered three runs — all of which were earned — on five hits and three walks to go along with five strikeouts over four-plus innings of work.

Two of the three runs Pivetta gave up on Tuesday came by way of the home run ball. After working a scoreless first inning, the 29-year-old served up a one-out solo shot to Hoy Park in the bottom of the second.

Two innings later, Pivetta ran into more trouble when he issued a pair of one-out walks to Greg Allen and Park. Veteran catcher Roberto Perez made him pay for that by ripping an RBI double to left field to score Allen and give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

Daniel Vogelbach added on to that when he took Pivetta 377 feet deep to right field to lead things off in the fifth. Pivetta then walked Bryan Reynolds on six pitches, which is how is day would come to an end.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 78 (50 strikes), Pivetta relied on his four-seam fastball 60% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday. The Canadian-born righty induced six swings-and-misses while topping out at 95.5 mph with the pitch.

In relief of Pivetta, Kaleb Ort got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen with no outs and one runner on in the latter half of the fifth. The non-roster invitee stranded the lone runner he inherited by getting Ben Gamel to ground into a force out at second and Yoshi Tsutsugo to fly into an inning-ending 7-6-4 double play.

From there, Jake Diekman was dispatched for the sixth, but the left-hander only saw his spring struggles continue. Diekman plunked the first batter he faced in Allen, yielded a one-out walk to Cole Tucker, then served up a blistering three-run home run to Kevin Newman.

That sequence increased Boston’s deficit to six runs. It also raised Diekman’s ERA this spring to an unsightly 22.63. The 35-year-old southpaw did manage to retire the side in the sixth before making way for Kutter Crawford, who fared far better.

In his two innings of relief, Crawford struck out five of the eight batters he faced while limiting the Pirates to just two base runners (one via a base hit and one via a walk) over that stretch. The 25-year-old hurler also hovered around 95-97 mph with his four-seamer, per Baseball Savant.

Crawford’s two impressive frames of work took things to the ninth inning. To that point in the contest, the Red Sox lineup had been stifled and kept off the scoreboard despite out-hitting the Pirates 8-7.

Down to their final three outs of the day and matched up against old friend Austin Brice, Nick Yorke drew a leadoff walk and Marcelo Mayer fanned on three pitches. That set the stage for versatile prospect Ceddanne Rafaela, who made the most of his playing time on Tuesday by crushing a two-run homer to the opposite field off of Brice.

Rafaela’s first home run of the spring made it a 6-2 game in favor of Pittsburgh, which would go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss:

Christian Arroyo batted leadoff and got the start in right field. He went 1-for-3 with a walk before being pinch-ran for by Ceddanne Rafaela in the top of the seventh inning.

Alex Binelas, Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer, and Nick Yorke all came off the bench on Tuesday and went a combined 0-for-3 with one walk, one strikeout, and one run scored.

Next up: Anderson vs. Houck

The Red Sox will return to Fort Myers on Wednesday afternoon to take on the Braves at JetBlue Park. As was the case the last time these two teams squared off in North Port, Tanner Houck is line to get the start for Boston while fellow right-hander Ian Anderson is slated to do the same for Atlanta.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised on NESN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox top prospect Marcelo Mayer homers off Nathan Eovaldi in simulated game

The Red Sox may have had the day off from any Grapefruit League action, but several members of the team still played in a simulated game at JetBlue Park earlier Monday morning.

Marcelo Mayer was one of the many position players squaring off against right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched on Monday in order to remain on schedule for his Opening Day start against the Yankees in the Bronx on April 7.

While results from intrasquad games might not matter all that much much in the grand scheme of things, Mayer made the most of his time on Monday by crushing a towering home run off Eovaldi that wound up in the Red Sox’ bullpen. According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the ball landed just to the right of the 420-foot marker in center field.

“It’s an uncomforable at-bat. Nathan Eovaldi is one of the best starters in the league,” Mayer said to Bradford. “I was shocked when I hit it, but he has so many good pitches that you got to just really simplify it. So I just ended up sitting [on a fastball] and I was able to get it.”

“I knew I got it pretty good, but you never know with this ballpark. It’s pretty big to right field,” he added. “It was just a really cool moment. I was kind of shocked, like I said. Just to be able to put a ball in play against him, it’s pretty cool.”

Mayer, 19, was selected by the Sox with the fourth overall pick in last summer’s draft, making him the earliest Boston draft pick since Mike Garman was taken third overall in 1967. The Eastlake High School (Chula Vista, Calif.) product signed with the club for $6.664 million last July.

Upon joining the organization, Mayer was assigned to the rookie-level Florida Complex League Red Sox out of the gate. In 26 games with the FCL Red Sox, the left-handed hitting infielder slashed .275/.377/.440 with four doubles, one triple, three home runs, 17 RBIs, 25 runs scored, seven stolen bases, 15 walks, and 27 strikeouts over 26 games spanning 106 plate appearances. He also committed 10 errors across 177 2/3 innings at shortstop.

Coming into the 2022 season, his first full one as a pro, Mayer is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 1 prospect in Boston’s farm system and the No. 15 prospect in all of baseball. The California native made his Grapefruit League debut against the Orioles last Thursday and went 0-for-1 with a walk and strikeout.

Mayer, who does not turn 20 until next December, is projected to begin the 2022 minor-league campaign at Low-A Salem. Perhaps he could make the jump to High-A Greenville by the end of the year.

(Picture of Marcelo Mayer: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox infield prospect Alex Binelas has plenty of raw power

Alex Binelas enters his first season with the Red Sox as the organization’s No. 17 prospect, according to Baseball America’s rankings.

After being selected by the Brewers in the third round of last year’s draft out of the University of Louisville, Binelas’ time with his hometown team came to an abrupt end when he (and fellow prospect David Hamilton) was traded to the Red Sox alongside outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. for Hunter Renfroe in early December.

It was a move that evoked plenty of emotion for Binelas, a Wisconsin native who grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee and less than 20 miles away from American Family Field.

When he was taken by the Brewers last July, Binelas had just recently wrapped up his third and final season with Louisville. In 50 games with the Cardinals, the 21-year-old junior slashed .256/.348/.621 with 19 home runs and 63 RBIs across 230 trips to the plate.

Regarded by Baseball America as the 77th-ranked draft-eligible prospect in the 2021 class, Binelas signed with Milwaukee for $700,000 and was assigned to the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Brewers Gold out of the gate. It took all of seven games for the left-handed hitting infielder to earn a promotion to Low-A Carolina on August 16.

Spending the rest of his debut season with the Mudcats, Binelas batted a stout .314/.379/.636 to go along with 11 doubles, nine homers, 27 RBIs, 29 runs scored, 12 walks, and 33 strikeouts over 29 games spanning 132 plate appearances.

Among all Low-A East hitters who made at least 130 trips to the plate in 2021, Binelas ranked ninth in batting average, 35th in on-base percentage, fourth in slugging percentage, fifth in OPS (1.014), third in isolated power (.322), and fifth in wRC+ (163), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Binelas saw time at both corner infield positions in his first exposure to pro ball, as was the case throughout his college career. With Carolina in particular, the 6-foot-3, 225 pounder logged a total of 42 2/3 innings at first base and 167 innings at the hot corner.

Since he was unaffected by this off-season’s lockout, Binelas was one of several Red Sox minor-leaguers who participated in the team’s Winter Warm-Up program back in January. Spring training began shortly thereafter, allowing Binelas to see some action in one Grapefruit League game thus far.

Two days before making his Grapefruit League debut this past Thursday, Binelas was identified by Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes as one of the top raw power prospects in the game since he hit the ball hard and far on a consistent basis last year.

Binelas, who turns 22 in May, is projected by SoxProspects.com to make the jump to High-A Greenville for the start of the 2022 campaign. His first full season as a professional should be one worth watching.

Red Sox make second round of spring roster cuts: Jarren Duran among 3 optioned to Triple-A Worcester; Ryan Fitzgerald among 10 reassigned to minor-league camp

Following Sunday afternoon’s 6-3 loss to the Twins, the Red Sox announced their second round of spring training roster cuts.

Three players on the club’s 40-man roster — catchers Ronaldo Hernandez and Connor Wong and outfielder Jarren Duran were all optioned to Triple-A Worcester.

Elsewhere, 10 non-roster invitees — catchers Roldani Baldwin and Kole Cottam, infielders Ryan Fitzgerald and Roberto Ramos, and right-handers Silvino Bracho, Taylor Cole, Michael Feliz, Darin Gillies, Geoff Hartlieb, and Zack Kelly — were all reassigned to minor-league camp, the club announced on Sunday.

Duran, the No. 4 prospect in Boston’s farm system according to Baseball America, will start the 2022 season in Worcester. The speedy 25-year-old has batted .333/.429/.389 in nine Grapefruit League games this spring. He also scored from second base on a sacrifice fly in Sunday’s loss to Minnesota.

Hernandez and Wong, on the other hand, figure to form the primary catching tandem for the WooSox as both backstops prepare to embark upon potentially pivotal 2021 seasons. Hernandez, 24, is Baseball America’s 27th-ranked Boston prospect. Wong, who turns 26 in May, is Baseball America’s 29th-ranked Boston prospect.

Of the 10 minor-leaguers who were cut from the Sox’ spring roster, it is worth mentioning that the likes of Bracho, Cole, Feliz, and Hartlieb all have prior big-league experience. That said, Fitzgerald being reassigned comes as somewhat of a surprise.

The versatile 27-year-old had an interesting case to make the Red Sox’ Opening Day roster after hitting a stout .313/.450/1.063 with a team-leading four home runs and nine RBIs through his first 11 games of the spring. He, like Duran, will instead start the year out in Worcester.

Following Sunday’s series of transactions, Boston now has 30 players on their major-league roster. They will need to make a few more subtractions (not including an injured Chris Sale) before Opening Day against the Yankees on April 7.

(Picture of Ryan Fitzgerald: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock tosses 3 scoreless innings in first start of spring, but Red Sox fall to Twins, 6-3

The Red Sox fell to 7-4 in Grapefruit League play on Sunday afternoon following a 6-3 loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium. The race for the 2022 Chairman’s Cup is now tied at two games apiece.

Garrett Whitlock made his first-ever start for Boston in his second appearance of the spring on Sunday. The right-hander allowed just one hit and one walk to go along with two strikeouts over three scoreless innings of work.

Of the 47 pitches Whitlock threw, 33 went for strikes. The 25-year-old hurler also sat around 95.1 mph with his four-seam fastball while topping out at 95.5 mph with the pitch.

In relief of Whitlock, Jake Diekman received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen. Coming off a rough spring debut last week, the veteran left-hander’s struggles continued on Sunday. Despite recording the first two outs of the fourth rather easily, Diekman proceeded to load the bases on one hit and two walks before walking in a run by issuing another free pass to Gio Urshela.

That sequence gave the Twins their first lead of the day at 1-0, and it also promoted Sox manager Alex Cora to give Diekman the hook in favor of Darin Gillies, who punched out the lone batter he faced to retire the side in the fourth.

Rich Hill took over for Gillies beginning in the middle of the fifth. Like Whitlock, the seasoned southpaw turned in a solid three-inning outing in which he kept Minnesota off the scoreboard while yielding just one hit, no walks, and three strikeouts on 42 pitches (27 strikes).

The Boston bats picked up Hill in their half of the sixth, with Jonathan Arauz ripping a leadoff single off Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar to kick off the inning. Arauz then advanced all the way to third base when center fielder Derek Fisher was unable to come up with a sharply-hit flyball off the bat of Enrique Hernandez.

Hernandez took second base because of the error and was pinch-ran for by the speedy Jarren Duran, who showed off his elite speed immediately when Rafael Devers lifted a 376-foot fly ball to center field. Fisher was able to come up with the ball this time around, but his momentum carried him away from the infield, which subsequently allowed Arauz to score from third and Duran to score all the way from second.

Devers’ rare, two-run sacrifice fly put the Sox up 2-1 as Hill continued to impress through the end of the seventh before being replaced by Hirokazu Sawamura an inning later.

Sawamura, on the other hand, struggled to find the strike zone on Sunday with only 16 of his 30 pitches going for strikes. The Japanese-born righty issued a leadoff walk to Daniel Robertson, which preceded a hard-hit double from Curtis Terry and RBI single for Jose Godoy to tie things back up at 2-2.

Another walk for Sawamura led to more runs crossing the plate, as Jose Miranda plated Terry on a softly-hit groundout and Trevor Larnach scored everyone by depositing a three-run home run 400 feet to give his side a commanding 6-2 lead.

After surrendering that towering shot, Sawamura was given the hook in favor of Brandon Nail, who got Fisher to fly out to Christian Arroyo — yes, Christian Arrouo — in right field for the final out of the frame.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Rob Refsnyder made things somewhat interesting by crushing his first home run of the spring off Twins reliever Jorge Alcala.

That cut Minnesota’s lead down to three runs at 6-3, but that would go on to be Sunday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss:

Christian Arroyo played three innings of right field on Sunday after coming on as a defensive replacement for Jackie Bradley Jr. in the middle of the sixth inning.

Red Sox pitchers were responsible for 50 of the 51 hardest-thrown pitches on Sunday, per Baseball Savant.

Next up: A day off

The Red Sox will enjoy their first off day of the spring on Monday. They will then travel to Bradenton to take on the Pirates at LECOM Park on Tuesday afternoon.

Boston has yet to name a starter for that contest, though right-hander Mitch Keller is slated to get the starting nod for Pittsburgh.

First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised, but only on AT&T SportsNet.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Rafael Devers homers twice as Red Sox snap skid with 5-3 win over Rays

The Red Sox put an end to a three-game losing streak on Saturday afternoon with a 5-3 win over the Rays at JetBlue Park. Boston improved to 7-3 in Grapefruit League play on the back of four home runs from a trio of expected regulars.

Matched up against Corey Kluber to begin things on Saturday, the Sox got to the Rays starter right away in the first inning. With no outs and the bases empty, Rafael Devers got his productive day at the plate started by crushing a solo shot over the right field wall and into the Boston bullpen.

An inning later, Bobby Dalbec reached base via a one-out single and came into score when Jackie Bradley Jr. clubbed a towering two-run homer off Kluber to give his side an early 3-0 advantage.

Those two home runs provided Red Sox starter Michael Wacha with a bit of a cushion out of the gate. Making his second start of the spring, the veteran right-hander retired six of the first even Rays batters he faced before running into some trouble in the third.

There, Wacha yielded a single and double in consecutive order to lead off the frame. Randy Arozarena then drove in Tampa Bay’s first run of the day on an RBI groundout before young phenom Wander Franco plated another on a line-drive single that Christian Arroyo could not come up with at second base.

As a result, Boston’s lead was cut down to just one run at 3-2. The Sox quickly got one of those runs back, though, as Devers came through and led off the bottom of the third with his second big fly of the afternoon and third of the spring.

Wacha, in turn, came back out for the fourth and finished his outing on a positive note with a 1-2-3 frame. The 30-year-old hurler wound up allowing two earned runs on four hits, no walks, and one strikeout.

In relief of Wacha, Ryan Brasier got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen beginning in the fifth. After a rough spring debut on Wednesday, the righty issued a leadoff walk to Brett Phillips, who proceeded to steal second base and score on an RBI double off the bat of Ford Proctor.

That again, trimmed the Sox’ lead down to one run at 4-3, but the Boston bats responded immediately when Enrique Hernandez led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo blast over the Fenway South Green Monster off of newly-inserted reliever Matt Wisler.

Hernandez’s second homer of the Grapefruit League campaign gave the Red Sox another two-run lead at 5-3. From there, the Sox bullpen held the Rays at bay as Zack Kelly tossed a scoreless sixth and Phillips Valdez closed things out with a good, old-fashioned three-inning save.

All told, four different Red Sox pitchers (Wacha, Brasier, Kelly, and Valdez) limited the Rays to just three runs on seven hits, four walks, and nine strikeouts over nine combined innings of work.

Next up: Whitlock vs. Ryan

The Red Sox will make the crosstown trek to take on the Twins at Hammond Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Boston currently leads the race for the 2022 Chairman’s Cup at two-games-to-one.

In an intriguing twist, Garrett Whitlock will make his first start and second overall appearance of the spring for the Sox. He will be opposed by fellow right-hander Joe Ryan for the Twins.

First pitch on Sunday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised on NESN.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox option top pitching prospect Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have optioned right-hander Brayan Bello to Triple-A Worcester, the club announced following Friday’s 6-4 Grapefruit League loss to the Braves.

Bello, who turns 23 next month, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 5 pitching prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking first among pitchers in the organization.

Boston added Bello to their 40-man roster last November in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. He had been participating in his first major-league spring training and will now make his way to minor-league camp.

Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic for just $28,000 in July 2017, Bello made his Grapefruit League debut against the Braves on Friday and needed 13 pitches to get through a scoreless eighth inning in which he struck out one.

Listed at 6-foot-1 and 170 pounds, Bello is coming off a 2021 season in which he made it as far as Double-A Portland, represented the Red Sox in the All-Star Futures Game, and was named the organization’s Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year.

The 22-year-old fireballer may have been optioned to the WooSox on Friday, but it seems more likely he will return to the Sea Dogs’ starting rotation for the start of the 2022 minor-league season.

Either way, Bello being optioned to the minor-leagues means the Red Sox now have 56 players at major-league camp. As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, this number could soon change with two players (Jeisson Rosario and Kyle Tyler) awaiting their fates after being designated for assignment earlier this week.

(Picture of Brayan Bello: Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images)

Tanner Houck struggles with command, walks 5 as Red Sox drop third straight in 6-3 loss to Braves

The Red Sox dropped their third straight Grapefruit League contest on Friday afternoon with a 6-3 loss to the Braves at CoolToday Park in North Port, Fla. After winning six games in a row out of the gate, Boston is now 6-3 this spring.

Tanner Houck made his second start of the spring for the Sox. The right-hander allowed three earned runs on two hits and five walks to go along with four strikeouts over just 2 1/3 innings of work.

Following a 1-2-3 first inning to begin his day, Houck first ran into some command-related trouble when he issued back-to-back one-out one walks in the bottom of the second. The 25-year-old escaped without giving anything up, but immediately walked Dansby Swanson to lead things off in the third.

That leadoff walk would prove costly for Houck, as Swanson advanced to third on a flyball double off the bat of Eddie Rosario and scored on an RBI groundout from new Braves first baseman Matt Olson. Rosario himself came into score on an Austin Riley RBI single that gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Houck then walked the final two batters he faced in Marcell Ozuna and Alex Dickerson, which loaded the bases for the Braves and prompted Red Sox manager Alex Cora to pull his starter in favor of Jacob Wallace.

Wallace allowed one of the runners he inherited to score on a sacrifice fly from Ozzie Albies, but otherwise limited the damage to keep the score at 3-0. Fellow UCONN product Matt Barnes took over in the fourth and turned in a solid performance by striking out the side (Travis d’Arnaud, Swanson, and Rosario) in order.

In the fifth, the Red Sox lineup finally got on the board themselves when Ryan Fitzgerald drew a two-out walk off former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen and scored all the way from first on a Christian Arroyo single that was botched by Rosario in right field.

Austin Davis was dispatched for the bottom half of the fifth in relief of Barnes. The left-hander worked his way around a one-out walk in an otherwise clean frame before making way for fellow southpaw Darwinzon Hernandez in the sixth.

Hernandez, in turn, loaded the bases with two outs, then served up a two-run single to John Nogowski and one-run single to old friend Brock Holt to give the Braves a commanding 6-1 edge. Hernandez got through the sixth and recorded the first out of the seventh before Franklin German took over for him.

German retired the only two Braves he faced in the seventh, while top pitching prospect Brayan Bello worked a perfect eighth inning and struck out one.

Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Connor Wong and Pedro Castellanos led things off with back-to-back singles off Braves reliever Kyle Muller. A lineout off the bat of Tyreque Reed allowed Wong to advance to third and a line-drive single courtesy of Tyler Dearden allowed him to score from third.

A wild pitch from Muller led to another run-scoring opportunity for Christian Koss, who played Castellanos on a groundout to shortstop Pat Valaika. The Braves then swapped Muller for Nolan Kingham, who retired David Hamilton for the third and final out of the afternoon.

Some notes from this loss:

Tanner Houck walked five of the 14 batters he faced on Friday.

The Red Sox went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base as a team.

Next up: Wacha vs. Kluber

The Red Sox return to Fort Myers on Saturday afternoon to take on the Rays at JetBlue Park. Saturday’s starting pitching matchup will feature a pair of seasoned right-handers going at it, with Michael Wacha getting the ball for Boston and Corey Kluber doing the same for Tampa Bay.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised on NESN+.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Trevor Story leaves spring training for birth of first child

Trevor Story’s Grapefruit League debut will have to wait.

Fresh off officially signing a six-year, $140 million c0ntract with the Red Sox on Wednesday, Story was slated to see his first action of the spring this Saturday against the Rays at JetBlue Park.

The 29-year-old second baseman did get into a Single-A game on the back fields of Fenway South on Thursday and had registered plate appearances. He was in line to get back on the field this weekend but will now be away from the team for an important reason: the birth of his first child.

Earlier Friday morning, Red Sox manager Alex Cora informed reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) that Story had left Fort Myers to fly home to Texas and be with his wife Mallie as they welcome the newest addition to their family.

“He went home. So now we’re just hoping that everything goes well and he gets there on time and we’ll see,” Cora said of Story. “He went home this morning. So now it’s just waiting to see if everything goes well and then we’ll decide when he comes back and all that, but right now, I think baseball is on the back burner. What a week.”

Given that his free agency was prolonged by the lockout, Story was already at somewhat of a disadvantage when he first arrived to Red Sox camp on Wednesday. Not only is the two-time All-Star trying to get acclimated with a new organization, but he is doing so while learning a relatively new position after spending the first six years of his big-league career at shortstop for the Rockies.

That being said, Cora does not seem all that concerned about Story’s absence, noting that the Red Sox organization itself is “very happy” for one of its newest members.

“We don’t take Trevor’s situation as a setback,” said Cora. “It’s the other way around. We’re very happy for him. But we’re going to have to map it out with him, what are we going to do for the rest of the spring?”

When Story does return to Fort Myers in the coming days, he will have less than two weeks to prepare for Opening Day. The Red Sox, of course, open their season against the Yankees in the Bronx on April 7.

(Picture of Trevor Story: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red S0x)

Nick Pivetta allows two homers in second start of spring as Red Sox fall to Orioles, 8-5

The Red Sox fell to 6-2 in Grapefruit League on Thursday night following an 8-5 loss to the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. Their six-game winning streak has been met with a two-game losing streak.

Enrique Hernandez was one of the few regulars who made the trek to Sarasota for Thursday’s contest, and he made his impact felt right away by crushing a leadoff home run off Orioles starter Bruce Zimmermann to begin things in the first inning.

Hernandez’s first homer of the spring provided Sox starter Nick Pivetta with an early 1-0 lead. A red-hot Ryan Fitzgerald added on to that by clubbing a two-run shot off Zimmermann an inning later.

Fitzgerald’s team-leading fourth big fly of the spring gave Pivetta an even bigger lead to work with, but the right-hander ran into some trouble in the bottom of the second.

After retiring the side in order in the first, Pivetta — to no fault of his own — allowed the first batter he faced in the second in Anthony Santander to reach base via a throwing error committed by Fitzgerald. Pivetta then issued a one-out walk to Ramon Urias before surrendering two runs on a pair of RBI knocks off the bats of Jorge Mateo and Kelvin Gutierrez.

An inning later, Baltimore knotted things back up at three runs apiece when Ryan Mountcastle took Pivetta deep to right-center field for a solo homer. Urias did the very same in the fourth to give the O’s their first lead of the evening at 4-3.

Pivetta, in turn, recorded the first two outs of the fourth before making way for fellow righty Joan Martinez. The 29-year-old finished his day having given up four runs (two earned) on four hits, two walks, and six strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of work.

In relief of Pivetta, Martinez came on and got the final out of the fourth. Moments later, Alex Binelas (one of two prospects acquired in the Jackie Bradley Jr. trade) led off the top of the fifth with a ground-ball single and was pinch ran for by the speedy Ceddanne Rafaela, who proceeded to steal second base and score on an RBI single from Kevin Plawecki.

That sequence allowed the Red Sox to tie things back up at 4-4, and it also prompted manager Alex Cora to have Jake Diekman make his spring debut out of the bullpen in the fifth inning.

Diekman, however, was not at his sharpest. The veteran lefty yielded a one-out single and walk before serving up a three-run blast to New Hampshire native Ryan McKenna that made it a 7-4 game in favor of Baltimore.

Fellow newcomer Matt Strahm was deployed for the sixth inning. The southpaw plunked one batter and walked another, but got through the frame unscathed.

From there, Hirokazu Sawamura tossed a scoreless seventh inning. Power-hitting infield prospect Nick Northcut then mashed a booming home run to dead center field off old friend Travis Lakins with two outs and the bases empty in the eighth.

The Orioles got that run back off Kutter Crawford in their half of the eighth, though, and Marcos Diplan closed things out by retiring the likes of Nick Yorke, Rafaela, and Marcelo Mayer in order in the ninth.

Some notes from this loss:

Mayer, arguably Boston’s top prospect, came off the bench as a defensive replacement in the sixth inning and went 0-for-1 with a walk and strikeout.

Yorke, on the other hand, went 0-for-2 with a punchout after pinch-hitting for Fitzgerald in the sixth inning as well.

Next up: Houck vs. Anderson

The Red Sox will travel to North Port to take on the Braves at CoolToday Park on Friday afternoon. Tanner Houck is slated to get the ball for Boston and fellow right-hander Ian Anderson is lined up to the same for Atlanta.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised, but only on Bally Sports South.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)