Tag: heath hembree

Red Sox Give up Four Home Runs, Go 1-For-13 with Runners in Scoring Position in 6-1 Loss to Rays

After coming away with a split in a day-night doubleheader on Saturday, the Red Sox were not able to split their four-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, as they fell to their divisional foes by a final score of 6-1 for their third defeat in as many days.

Making his 13th start of the season for Boston to close out the weekend was Eduardo Rodriguez, who entered Sunday having never won any of his previous seven outings against the Rays.

Pitching his way into the sixth inning of this one, the left-hander surrendered four runs, all of which were earned, on seven hits and two walks to go along with seven strikeouts on the afternoon.

Right from the jump, it appeared that Tampa Bay had Rodriguez all figured out, with the first four hitters they sent to the plate all reaching safely sans Tommy Pham trying to extend a wall-ball single into a double and getting snuffed out by Sam Travis.

Still, an RBI knock from Brandon Lowe and a sacrifice fly from Travis d’Arnaud two hitters later gave the Rays an early two-run advantage before the Red Sox had even taken their first at-bats.

In the second, more was tacked on to that lead, with Guillermo Heredia mashing a one-out, 433 foot shot off Rodriguez on a 2-1 86 MPH cutter to make it a 3-0 game.

Fortunately for Boston though, the Venezuela native settled in for a bit, retiring 11 of the next 12 Rays he faced up until the beginning of the sixth.

There, the home run ball bit Rodriguez yet again, this time with Brandon Lowe leading things off with his first of two home-runs on the day. This one, coming off a first-pitch 92 MPH fastball, was deposited a whopping 455 feet into the center field bleachers to put Tampa Bay ahead 4-1.

Allowing two of the last four hitters he faced to reach on a pair of free passes, Rodriguez’s outing came to an end with an eight-pich walk of Christian Arroyo.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 101 (62 strikes), the 26-year-old hurler relied on his cut and two-seam fastball a combined 55% of the time he was on the mound Sunday, inducing four total swings and misses with the combination of pitches. He also topped out at 94.3 MPH with his four-seamer, a pitch he threw 18 times with Sandy Leon behind the plate.

Falling to 6-4 with his ERA on the season jumping up to 5.00 on the dot, Rodriguez’s career struggles against the Rays continue. He’ll look to put this particular outing behind him in his next time out, which should come against the Baltimore Orioles this Friday.

In relief of Rodriguez, Heath Hembree came on with runners at first and second and one out to get in the sixth, and he filled the bases by plunking Heredia with a 94 MPH fastball before fanning pinch-hitter Ji-Man Choi on five pitches to escape the jam and keep it at a three-run game.

From there, Marcus Walden managed to only record one out to start out the seventh, as he served up a pair of solo shots, one being a leadoff piece from Yandy Diaz, and the other being a 435 foot missile off the bat of Lowe, that gave the Rays a 6-1 advantage.

Colten Brewer was able to clean up the mess Walden left behind in that seventh inning while also tossing a scoreless eighth.

Ryan Brasier, meanwhile, did the same by working his way around a one-out double in an otherwise clean ninth to keep his team within the five runs they trailed by.

On the other side of things, the right-handed Red Sox lineup was matched up against ace left-hander Blake Snell for the Rays, who held Boston to a total of three runs over the four starts he made against them during his Cy Young Award-winning campaign in 2018.

And as those numbers from last year indicate, it was more of the same from Snell on Sunday.

The lone run the Sox got off him came in their half of the second, when with one out and Sam Travis and Jackie Bradley Jr. at the corners following back-to-back leadoff singles, Marco Hernandez stayed hot in his second start since returning from the injured list by driving in Travis with a line-drive RBI single to left field.

The opportunities to tack on more than one run were present throughout, but the ability to capitalize on said scoring chances was not. That much is evident by how the team went 1-for-13 (.008) with runners in scoring position and left a total of nine men on base. Not ideal, really.

Key run-scoring chances that came up empty include Mookie Betts and Christian Vazquez being stranded in scoring position in the first after getting there with no outs, Xander Bogaerts leading off the sixth by reaching second on a fielding error and not scoring, Sandy Leon and Hernandez occupying first and second with one out in the seventh and being stranded there, and Bogaerts reaching first on a five-pitch leadoff walk against Oliver Drake in the eighth and not scoring either.

Fittingly enough, when the Red Sox were down to their out in the ninth with Leon 90 feet away from home after he got on with a one-out single, Mookie Betts struck out looking on a 1-2 95 MPH fastball from Rays lefty Adam Kolarek, and that was how this 6-1 loss came to a close.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox’ 7-9 hitters on Sunday (Bradley Jr., Leon, Hernandez): 6-for-12, one double, one RBI, two strikeouts.

The Red Sox’ 1-3 hitters on Sunday (Betts, Vazquez, Bogaerts): 1-for-11, two walks, four strikeouts.

Marco Hernandez’s return to the majors so far: 4-for-9, two doubles, three RBI.

Michael Chavis in June: .182/.229/.273, zero home runs, three RBI, 17 strikeouts.

—

So, including the five runs they scored in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Red Sox pushed across a total of nine runs against the Rays in four games over the weekend. They lost three out of four of those.

Next up for the Sox, they’ll continue their eight-game homestand by welcoming the 34-30 Texas Rangers into Fenway Park for the first and only time this regular season on Monday.

For the opener in what looks to be a fascinating four-game set, it will be a pitching matchup featuring two of the better left-handers in the American League this year in Texas’ Mike Minor and Boston’s Chris Sale.

In his second of a three-year pact with the Rangers, Minor has surpised many in 2019, as he’ll come into the week with a 2.55 ERA through his first 13 starts this year.

Over five prior outings (three starts) at Fenway Park, the 31-year-old is 0-3 with a lifetime ERA of 4.19 in 19.1 total innings pitched.

Opposite Minor, Sale is coming off his best start of the season in his last time out against the Kansas City Royals, fanning 12 and tossing an immaculate eighth inning in his first complete game shutout as a member of the Red Sox.

In 14 career games (10 starts) against the Rangers, the Florida native is 7-2 with a 2.28 ERA over 73.1 total innings of work.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT. Red Sox looking to start something.

Mookie Betts Homers, Rafael Devers and Christian Vazquez Drive in a Pair of Runs Each as Red Sox Use Seven Different Pitchers in 7-5 Win to Finish off Sweep of Royals

After utterly dominating the Royals behind Chris Sale’s comeplete game shutout Wednesday night, it was a completely different story for the Red Sox in Kansas City on Thursday, as they had to battle their way to a gritty 7-5 victory in the series finale to complete the three-game sweep.

Making his third start of the season for Boston and first since May 29th was Ryan Weber, who had never pitched against the Royals or inside Kauffman Stadium in his career before Thursday.

Working into just the second inning of this one, the right-hander yielded more hits than he recorded outs, as he surrendered two runs, both earned, on five hits and no walks to go with one lone strikeout on the afternoon.

A scoreless first was not the problem for Weber, but a string of four straight one-out Royals hits was.

It began with a solo home run from Cheslor Cuthbert and was followed up by back-to-back singles before Billy Hamilton ripped an RBI double to left to make it a 2-0 game early on.

Only facing nine hitters in total, Weber’s day would come to a quick close after giving up that run-scoring two-bagger to the speedy Hamilton.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 33 (23 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler turned to his sinking fastball nearly 64% of the time he was on the mound Thursday. He also topped out at 88.5 MPH with his four-seamer, a pitch he threw twice and got one swing and miss on with Christian Vazquez behind the plate.

Having allowed nine runs to cross the plate in his last 5 1/3 innings of work since that wonderful job he did in Toronto on the 23rd of May, Weber’s time in Boston’s rotation may be done for the time being. With Nathan Eovaldi still out for the foreseeable future though, spot starts are needed, so who knows? If I were to guess, I would say the righty makes an appearance out of the Sox bullpen in their upcoming doubleheader against the Rays this coming Saturday.

Anyway, in relief of Weber, the Red Sox bullpen had their work cut out for them in this one, and Colten Brewer got first dibs at that by coming on with runners in scoring position and two outs to get in the second.

Fortunately for Boston, he got out of the jam just fine, as he stranded said runners at second and third before tossing a 1-2-3 third inning as well.

In the fourth, three of the first four hitters Brewer faced reached off the right-hander, meaning the Royals had the bases loaded with one out in a contest they now trailed by two.

So, in came Marcus Walden looking to put out another fire, and he, like Brewer before him, retired Whit Merrifield and Adelberto Mondesi on a combined five pitches to put an end to the fourth with the bases left full of stranded runners.

Walden continued on by working through the fifth, where he served up a one-out solo shot to Jorge Soler in an otherwise clean frame of relief.

From there, Ryan Brasier scattered two singles in a shutout sixth inning, Josh Taylor worked his way around an Alex Gordon leadoff homer in a one-run seventh for KC while also allowing a leadoff double to Nicky Lopez in the eighth, making way for Heath Hembree.

Hembree, making his 29th appearance of the year, stranded that runner in scoring position by getting Cam Gallagher, Hamilton, and Merrifield out in order to set up Matt Barnes in the ninth.

Coming on in what was initially a 7-4 contest, Barnes did allow the tying run to come to the plate for Kansas City after giving up an RBI double to Soler to make it a two-run game, but ultimately settled in by fanning the last two Royals he faced to pick up his fourth save of the seasn and his side’s fourth straight win.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a fairly familiar opponent in the form of Royals left-hander Danny Duffy, who had faced off against the Sox seven times before Thursday.

Like Boston’s starter in this one though, Duffy did not last long, as he took a 110 MPH comebacker from Eduardo Nunez off his left knee for the final out of the second inning.

Still remaining in this one to start the third, it was clear that the left-hander was hampered. That much was evident in how he nailed Jackie Bradley Jr. in the back of the helmet on the very first pitch he threw in the frame.

Fortunately, Bradley Jr. was fine, and his HBP would end up being the catalyst for a four-run inning, with Mookie Betts mashing a two-run shot for his team’s first two runs of the day shortly thereafter. His 10th of the season.

Four hitters later, with Andrew Benintendi and JD Martinez both in scoring position, Rafael Devers stayed hot and untied this contest with a two-run, 112 MPH double to center, plating both runners while simultaneously giving Duffy the hook.

Fast forward to the seventh, the Royals bullpen was keeping things in check up until Xander Bogaerts drew a one-out walk off Scott Barlow.

A three-pitch punchout of Sam Travis, hitting in Martinez’s spot, followed by an intentional walk of Devers, meant that Kansas City was just one out away from getting out still trailing by one, but Christian Vazquez had different plans.

On the third pitch he saw from Barlow, a 96 MPH fastball down the middle, the Sox backstop didn’t hesitate and wound up with a two-run triple that fell between Hamilton and Merrifield in right-center field.

Both Bogaerts and Devers managed to score on the play, and just like that, the Red Sox had themselves with a three-run lead, which quickly inflated to four with Vazquez himself scoring his team’s final run of the afternoon on a wild pitch from Barlow with Michael Chavis at the plate.

That mishap put the Red Sox up 7-3, and after the Royals made things interesting with two runs of their own, 7-5 would go on to be Thursday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

JD Martinez left Thursday’s game in the fifth inning due to back spasms. He has been ruled day-to-day.

Eduardo Nunez in June so far: 6-for-9 with one home run, four RBI, and one stolen base.

No one in Thursday’s Red Sox lineup outside of Nunez had more than one hit, but they still scored seven runs anyway.

Rookie right-hander Mike Shawaryn could have made his major league debut Thursday in relief of Weber, but Sox manager Alex Cora decided not to use him in a close game.

—

Finishing off a seven-game road trip with a sweep is always nice, and now the Red Sox will head back home winners of their last four for a decently important four-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend.

As things stand now, the Rays sit five games ahead of Boston in the American League East standings, so these next three days present a fine opportunity for the Red Sox to gain some ground in their own division.

Right-hander Rick Porcello will get the start for Boston in the series opener Friday, while fellow righty Yonny Chirinos will do the same for Tampa Bay.

Porcello struggled mightily in his last time out against the Yankees, but that was coming off a nine-start stretch in which the New Jersey native posted a 3.72 ERA over 56 innings of work.

In 29 career starts against the Rays, Porcello owns a lifetime 3.42 ERA in 187 innings pitched.

Opposite Porcello, Chirinos has started six of the 12 games he has appeared in for Tampa Bay this season, putting up an ERA of 3.25 over that stretch.

In four previous meetings against Boston, two of which were starts, the 25-year-old owns a career 4.24 ERA in a 17 inning sample size.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT. Red Sox looking to extend their winning streak to five.

 

 

Eduardo Nunez’s Eighth Inning Pinch-Hit, Three-Run Home Run Powers Red Sox to 8-3 Win over Royals in Eduardo Rodriguez’s 100th Career Start

After salvaging their series against the New York Yankees on Sunday and enjoying an off day on Monday, the Red Sox headed down to Kansas City, Mo., where they took the first of three from a struggling Royals team by a final score of 8-3 Tuesday.

Making his 12th start of the season, his first since May 26th due to that rainout in the Bronx last week, and 100th of his career for Boston was Eduardo Rodriguez, who entered Tuesday with just one prior outing at Kauffman Stadium under his belt going back to 2015.

Pitching into the sixth inning of this one, the left-hander yielded just two runs, both of which were earned, on six hits and zero walks to go along with seven strikeouts on the night.

Both of those Kansas City runs came in their half of the second, when with one out and Alex Gordon at second following a leadoff double, Cheslor Cuthbert hammered an 0-1 cutter from Rodriguez and sent it 390 feet to the Red Sox bullpen to give his team the early two-run advantage.

Other than that one blip though, Rodriguez retired five of the next six hitters he faced before a pair of double of double plays helped him get through the fourth and fifth.

In what would turn out to be his final frame of work in the sixth, Rodriguez managed to record the first two outs of the inning on a pair of punchouts while also giving up a one-out single to the speedy Adalberto Mondesi, who swiped second shortly after reaching base.

So, with a runner in scoring position in what was a one-run game at the time, Sox manager Alex Cora decided to turn to his bullpen with the right-handed Jorge Soler due up next for Kansas City.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (60 strikes), the 26-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball more than 33% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing six swings and misses and topping out at 94.4 MPH with the pitch. He also got eight called strikes on said fastball with Christian Vazquez behind the plate.

Ultimately earning his sixth winning decision while lowering his ERA on the season down to 4.88, Rodriguez, visibly frustrated after getting the hook in this one, will look for win number seven in his next time out, which should come against the Tampa Bay Rays this weekend.

In relief of Rodriguez, as previously mentioned, Heath Hembree came on with one runner on second and one out to get in the sixth, and he did his job by getting Soler to fly out to right-center to retire the side.

From there, Marcus Walden worked his way around a one-out walk in a scoreless seventh, Brandon Workman sat down the only three hitters he faced in a shutout eighth, and Ryan Brasier allowed one seemingly meaningless run on one hit in the ninth to lock down the 8-3 win for his team.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Royals right-hander Glenn Sparkman, who came into Tuesday night with a career 33.75 ERA against Boston, albeit a small sample size.

Facing off against Sparkman for the first time ever as a starter, it took the Sox bats a little while to get going. Sure, the hard contact was certainly there, but the results did not come until the sixth.

There, already in a two-run hole, Mookie Betts would turn out to be the catalyst for a three-run inning with a leadoff double.

Following an Andrew Benintendi fly out and a pitching change that saw right-hander Scott Barlow take over for Sparkman, JD Martinez finally got his team on the board, as he launched what looked to be a two-run home run to the opposite field.

Instead, the ball landed on the inner half of the top part of the wall, and fell back in play, going for an RBI triple that plated Betts from second.

After a six-pitch walk drawn by Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts came through with an RBI sacrifice fly deep enough to right field to score Martinez from third and tie this contest up at two runs a piece.

That stalemate would not last long though, not with Brock Holt extending his hitting streak to six games with an RBI double off of Barlow to drive in Devers all the way from first and give the Red Sox their first lead of the night.

Fast forward to the eighth, with runners on the corners and one out in the inning, Eduardo Nunez came on to pinch-hit for Holt with the left-handed Jake Diekman in for the Royals.

On the fourth pitch he saw from Diekman, in very similar fashion to Game 1 of last year’s World Series, Nunez unloaded on an 85 MPH slider on the outer edge of the plate and deposited it 410 feet into the seats in left field.

That blast, Nunez’s second of the year, opened up a 6-2 lead for Boston, and a two-run double off the bat of Devers that nearly got out of the ballpark in the ninth cushioned that lead even further in what would turn out to be an 8-3 win for the Red Sox.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Stats:

Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to seven games Tuesday. Over that span, he  has lifted his batting average from .284 to .304 and his OPS from .870 to .928.

Over his last six games since returning from the injured list, Brock Holt is 8-for-20 with two doubles and four RBI.

Eduardo Nunez is 3-for-6 as a pinch hitter this season.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game set on Wednesday night. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston, while right-hander Jakob Junis will do the same for Kansas City.

At 1-7 on the season thus far, 2019 has definitely been a bit of an oddity for Sale. In 17 previous appearances (11 starts) at Kauffman Stadium, the Sox ace is 6-5 with a lifetime 3.05 ERA over 88.2 total innings pitched.

Opposite Sale, Junis, 26, currently owns a 5.35 ERA through 12 starts this season. The Royals are 5-7 in those games.

In one previous matchup against the Red Sox back in 2018, Junis allowed two runs over six innings while being hit with the no-decision in a game Kansas City won.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 8:15 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their third consecutive victory.

David Price Steps Up, Limits Yankees to Two Runs as Red Sox Halt Losing Streak and Avoid Sweep with 8-5 Series Finale Win in New York

After coming up empty-handed in their first four tries, the Red Sox have finally taken a game from the New York Yankees with an 8-5 win over their division rivals Sunday night to avoid the three-game sweep and a double-digit game deficit in the American League East standings.

That much was made possible by David Price, who made his 10th start of the season for Boston to cap off the weekend.

Known for his career struggles inside Yankee Stadium, the left-hander put a halt to that narrative for the time being by twirling 6 1/3 solid innings Sunday, limiting the Yankees to just two runs on six hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts of the night.

Both of those New York runs came around to score in the fourth, where after taking a perfect game that far into it, Price buckled a bit by serving up a one-out solo home run to Luke Voit to break up the no-no, and then proceeded to allow the next three hitters he faced to reach base as well to fill the bases with two outs still to get.

So, after a terrific start to his outing, it looked as though things were going to take a turn for the worst for Price, but the southpaw responded well, yielding only one more run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Gio Urshela before getting out of the jam with a failed attempt of stealing home on behalf of Aaron Hicks. Heads up play by Sam Travis there.

From the middle of the fifth on, Price relatively cruised through the fifth and sixth innings before more trouble arose in the seventh.

There, a pair of singles to two of the first three hitters he faced in that frame would ultimately see Price’s night come to an end.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 99 (65 strikes), the 33-year-old hurler turned to his cutter 36% of the time he was on the mound Sunday, inducing five swings and misses with the pitch. He also topped out at 92.5 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 17 times with Christian Vazquez behind the plate.

Later picking up his third winning decision while his ERA on the season remained at 2.83, Price will look for win number four in his next time out, which will come against his old club in the Tampa Bay Rays sometime next weekend.

In relief of Price, Heath Hembree took over in the seventh with inherited runners on first and second and one out in the inning.

Making his 27th appearance of the year already, Hembree needed all but five pitches to fan Austin Romine, but needed double that in an intense matchup against Brett Gardner.

Fortunately for Boston though, Hembree ultimately won the battle, as he got the Yankees veteran to sharply ground out to Michael Chavis at first, who made a great diving play to prevent a hit that would have seen at least one run cross the board.

In the eighth, Matt Barnes worked in less than favorable conditions with thrashing downpours and lightning making its way through the Bronx. It had to have been a quick moving cell though, because there was no real indication that this contest was going to go into a delay besides the effort what went into making field playable.

Still, it was clear to see that Barnes was frustrated having to pitch in such miserable conditions, even more so since he filled the bases on the first three hitters faced in the inning and balked in a run as well.

But, after allowing two more runs to cross the plate on an RBI groundout from Aaron Hicks and sacrifice fly from Gleyber Torres, Barnes did escape the eighth without giving anything else up by striking out Gio Urshela on three straight strikes.

And in the ninth, with an 8-5 lead to protect, Brandon Workman came on to close the door on the Yankees, and he did just that by working his way around a leadoff single and sitting down the last three hitters he faced to notch his second save of the season.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against another veteran left-hander in CC Sabathia for the Yankees, making his first start since being activated from the 10-day injured list that same day.

After being held to just seven total runs in their first four meetings against New York, JD Martinez got the scoring started for Boston right away in this one by launching a two-out, 387 foot solo shot to left field to put his team on the board first with his 12th home run of the season.

An inning later, back-to-back one-out singles from Christian Vazquez and Michael Chavis put runners on the corners for Eduardo Nunez, who took full advantage by swinging at the first pitch he saw from Sabathia and grounding an RBI single through the right side of the infield to make it a 2-0 game early.

In the fourth, Xander Bogaerts led things off the same way he did in the fourth inning on Saturday, that being, demolishing a solo home run to left field. This one, good for his 12th of the season. 3-0 Boston.

Fast forward all the way to the seventh, after the Yankees had trimmed their deficit down to one run and Luis Cessa had taken over for Sabathia, it was the bottom of the Red Sox lineup getting things done once again, with Nunez plating Michael Chavis all the way from first while also advancing to third on another one-out RBI single to go along with a fielding error committed by Clint Frazier in right field.

Four pitches later, in came Brock Holt pinch-hitting for Sam Travis out of the nine-hole and the 2018 ALDS hero delivered with a run-scoring base knock that probably would have been a pop out had DJ LeMahieu not been playing in with a runner at third in a tight game. But, baseball’s baseball, and Holt came away with his fourth RBI of the season to give his team a three-run advantage.

Still in the seventh, with two outs now, Andrew Benintendi came through in a big spot, scoring Holt from first on an RBI single just out of the reach of a sprawling Frazier in right field. 6-2.

And in the eighth, a Xander Bogaerts leadoff double would translate into Boston’s seventh run coming around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Rafael Devers, who would wind up being the last batter Cessa faced.

In came reliever David Hale with his team trailing by five runs, and he would see that deficit inflate up to six thanks to Michael Chavis’ first career triple that drove in Devers from second to make it an 8-2 contest.

The Yankees did make things interesting by adding three runs of their own in their half of the eighth, but not enough in an 8-5 victory for the Red Sox.

—

Some notes from this win:

The Red Sox entered Sunday having scored seven runs against the Yankees all season. They scored eight runs in their only win against them thus far.

Since his return from the injured list on May 27th, Brock Holt is 6-for-his-last-18 with one double and three RBI.

In his last 15 games, Xander Bogaerts is slashing .406/.441/.750 with five home runs and 13 RBI.

The next time the Red Sox take on the Yankees will be later this month in London, England.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s an off day on Monday before a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals kicks off at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday.

For the opener of that three-game set, it will be left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez getting the ball for Boston, while right-hander Glenn Sparkman does the same for Kansas City.

Last working on May 26th, Rodriguez’s latest turn through the rotation was skipped due to that rainout on Friday.

In one prior start at Kauffman Stadium, the 26-year-old allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings in a winning effort way back on June 19th, 2015.

Sparkman, meanwhile has given up 10 earned runs in just 2.2 career innings against the Red Sox. That’s good for an ERA of 33.75.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 8:15 PM EDT on NESN.

 

 

 

 

Ryan Weber Gets Roughed up for Seven Runs, Bullpen Doesn’t Fare Any Better as Frustration Builds for #RedSox in 14-9 Loss to Indians

The Red Sox were three outs away from winning their series against the Indians late Tuesday night. Now, less than 24 hours later, they head to the Bronx for a pivotal four-game set against the division-leading New York Yankees losers of their last two following a 14-9 loss to Cleveland on Wednesday.

Making his second start and fifth overall appearance for Boston in this one was Ryan Weber, who dazzled in rotation debut with six one-run innings against the Toronto Blue Jays last Thursday.

This time around though, the right-hander did not run into the same good fortunes, as he yielded a season-worst seven earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and one HBP to go along with just two strikeouts over four innings of work.

The Indians entered the week with one of the worst run-producing offenses in the American League, but you wouldn’t know that based on how aggressive they were to start this one off.

Beginning right away in the first, the Cleveland lineup jumped on Weber, with Oscar Mercado ripping a one-out single for his team’s first and hit and Carlos Santana tripling on a liner to right center to drive in his team’s first run.

A wild pitch that got past Christian Vazquez with Jason Kipnis at the plate allowed Santana to come in and score from third, and the Indians had themselves a two-run lead before even taking the field.

Things would not get any easier for Weber after escaping the first, not with Kevin Plawecki lining an RBI single to plate Jake Bauers in the second and Bauers and Greg Allen driving in a total of three runs on an RBI single and RBI triple in consecutive order in the third to put the Indians ahead 6-3.

In what would turn out to be his final frame of work in the fourth, Weber nearly retired the side in order, but not before serving up a two-out, solo shot to Santana, which gave Cleveland a four-run edge.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 82 (50 strikes), the 28-year-old turned to his curveball more than 52% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing the only four swings and misses he got all night with the pitch. He also topped out 89.9 MPH with his changeup, a pitch he threw 10 times.

Falling to 1-1 while seeing his ERA on the season inflate to 4.50, it’s unclear whether or not Weber will remain in Boston’s rotation, but assuming he does, his next start would come sometime next week against the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City.

In relief of Weber, as the title mentions, the Red Sox bullpen did not fare much better than Wednesday’s starter did.

Josh Taylor, a 26-year-old left hander who was promoted from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier Wednesday, allowed one run on two hits and one punchout in the fifth in what was his major league debut.

Colten Brewer, also recalled from Pawtucker on Wednesday, surrendered a pair of Cleveland runs on a two-RBI double off the bat of Jose Ramirez in the sixth.

Hector Velazquez came on in the seventh with his team trailing by an in-range four runs, and by the time he retired the side in the eighth, that deficit had doubled thanks to an RBI single from Lindor and three-RBI double from Santana, both of which were hit in the seventh.

So, actually, Velazquez  was one of the only two Red Sox pitchers all night to hold the Indians scoreless over an inning, with that inning being the eighth.

That other pitcher? Heath Hembree. Arguably the best reliever used by Sox manager Alex Cora, or at least the one with the most big league experience, maneuvered his way around two singles in an otherwise clean ninth inning to close out what was a miserable night for Boston on the mound.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against right-hander Shane Bieber for Cleveland, who entered Wednesday with just one career start at Fenway Park under his belt.

Falling behind by two runs before even reaching the midway point of the first inning, Mookie Betts got the scoring started for Boston right away in their half of the first, tattooing a one-out, 407 foot solo home run off of Bieber over the Monster to cut his team’s early deficit in half. Betts’ ninth of the season.

In the second, after falling behind by two runs once again, a pair of RBI doubles from Brock Holt and Andrew Benintendi, with Holt’s coming with no outs and Benintendi’s coming with two, pulled the Red Sox back even with the Tribe at three runs a piece.

That tie would not last long though, as Cleveland pushed across three additional runs in their half of the third as well as one more in the fourth to make it a 7-3 game.

Staying in that fourth inning, the Sox bats answered back with three runs of their own, all coming with two outs on a solo jack off the bat of Jackie Bradley Jr., his fourth, and a two-run johnson off the bat of Benintendi, his sixth that also scored Christian Vazquez and trimmed Cleveland’s lead down to one run.

A 7-6 contest heading into the middle innings, the Indians eventually pulled away from the Red Sox by plating a total of seven runs through the middle of the seventh, and they would not have to look back.

In the eighth, facing off against Indians reliever AJ Cole, Xander Bogaerts attempted to breathe some life into a potential comeback attempt by blasting his 10th big fly of the year, a two-run shot to score himself as well as JD Martinez.

Two batters and one Jackie Bradley Jr. double later, Vazquez continued to make things somewhat interesting by driving in the man from second on his 20th run driven in of the season to cut Cleveland’s advantage to five runs.

And finally in the ninth, after Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, and Bogaerts loaded the bases with one out in the inning, the Red Sox bats could muster no more against Indians closer Brad Hand, with Eduardo Nunez pinch-hitting for Holt and popping out to third, and Michael Chavis grounding into a game-inning forceout at third base to wrap this one up at 14-9.

Some notes from this loss:

From Red Sox Stats:

Rafael Devers extended his hitting streak to nine games with a ninth inning single Wednesday.

Since the start of their last road trip, Jackie Bradley Jr. has raised his batting average from .144 to .185 in his last 10 games played. Wednesday marked his first three-hit game of the season, too.

Xander Bogaerts in May: .317/.405/.564. six home runs, 21 RBI in 24 games played.

—

The Red Sox are 2-4 in their last six games and currently sit 7.5 games back of first place in the American League East behind the New York Yankees, the team they will be playing next.

Last time the two rivals met up, the Yankees took both games at Yankee Stadium in their only matchup of 2019 thus far.

It’s only May 30th as this is being typed, but these next four-games could tip the scales in the race for the division crown. To say this weekend is important would be an understatement. Hostile territory. A whole lot on the line. This is when Red Sox-Yankees baseball thrives.

Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston in the opener, while fellow southpaw JA Happ will do the same for New York.

Sale (1-6, 4.19 ERA), also pitched in that first series in New York, where he surrendered four runs over five innings in a losing effort back on April 16th.

Since then, the Florida native has posted a 2.44 ERA and .158 batting average against over his last seven starts, although the Red Sox are only 3-4 in those games.

Happ, meanwhile is currently in the middle of his first full season with the Yankees, where he is 4-3 with a 5.09 ERA through 11 starts thus far.

Like Sale, Happ also worked in that two-game series back in April, an outing in which he allowed three runs over 6.1 innings in a contest New York eventually came away with.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to make up some ground in the division.

 

 

 

JD Martinez Goes Yard Twice, Sandy Leon Once as #RedSox Open Series Against Indians with 12-5 Win

After salvaging their series against the Houston Astros on Sunday to cap off a 4-3 road trip, the Red Sox opened up a quick three-game series at Fenway Park with the Cleveland Indians on Monday before hitting the road yet again, topping the Tribe by a final score of 12-5 to celebrate Memorial Day.

Making his 11th start of the season for Boston was Rick Porcello, fresh off six one-run innings in his last time out against the Blue Jays.

Pitching into the seventh inning this time around, the right-hander surrendered five runs, three of which were earned, on eight hits, three walks, and one HBP to go along with four strikeouts on the evening.

From the jump, it looked as though Porcello’s outing would be short-lived, as he allowed four of the first five hitters he faced to reach base, granted a fielding error committed by Xander Bogaerts on an Oscar Mercado hard-hit grounder permitted that to happen.

A one-out RBI single from Jason Kipnis, followed by Jake Bauers taking a 76 MPH curveball off his foot and Roberto Perez scoring Mercado from third on an RBI 6-4 forceout, put the Indians ahead by two early.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, Porcello bounced back from there, only allowing one more Cleveland run to cross the plate on another RBI groundout from Bauers in the third leading into his final frame of work in the seventh. He also received some defensive help with a pair of potential run-preventing web gems from Mookie Betts and Brock Holt in the fifth.

There, in the seventh, after sitting down five of the last six batters he had faced, it was the top half of the Indians lineup that gave the New Jersey native more trouble, with Mercado leading the inning off with a sharp groundball single and Kipnis advancing him to third on a one-out double.

One mound visit and a five-pitch strikeout of Bauers later, Porcello was just one out away from getting out of another jam.

A las, Perez struck again by driving in Mercado once more to make it a 10-4 contest, and that is how Porcello’s day would come to a conclusion.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 110 (73 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 36% of the time he was on the mound Monday, inducing three swings and misses and topping out at 92.9 MPH with the pitch.

Eventually earning his fourth winning decision while also lowering his ERA on the season down to 4.41, Porcello will look for win number five in his next time out, which will come against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium sometime this upcoming weekend.

In relief of Porcello, Heath Hembree came on with men on first and third and allowed one of those inherited runners to score on an RBI double off the bat of Mike Freeman, officially closing the book on Porcello’s outing, before retiring the side by getting Greg Allen to fly out to Jackie Bradley Jr. in center.

From there, Ryan Brasier sat down the only three hitters he faced in order in a clean eighth inning of work, while Hector Velazquez closed the door on the Tribe with a scoreless ninth to wrap up a lopsided 12-5 victory for his team.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against right-hander Jefry Rodriguez for the Indians, who before Monday, had never pitched against Boston before in his young career.

After going down by three runs early, it was the top of the lineup that got the scoring started for Boston in their half of the third, with Andrew Benintendi drawing a two-out walk off of Rodriguez and Mookie Betts scoring him from second on an RBI single that resulted in the reigning AL MVP advancing all the way to third thanks to a defensive miscue from Mercado out in right field.

Because of the two-base error that let him move up without any trouble, a wild pitch from Rodriguez with Rafael Devers at the plate allowed Betts to come in and score from third. Just like that, it was a one-run game.

An inning later, a string of three straight one-out singles, capped off by an RBI knock from Brock Holt in his return from the 10-day injured list, plated Xander Bogaerts from third and tied this contest at three runs a piece.

In the fifth, it was more of the same, with Mookie Betts singling and reaching second on a balk to leadoff the frame and Rafael Devers driving him in on a line drive RBI double to center to put his team ahead and extend his hitting-streak to eight games.

Another double, this one coming from Xander Bogaerts, allowed Devers to come in from second and make it a 5-3 game.

Following an intentional walk of Michael Chavis and a pitching change that saw veteran left-hander Oliver Perez take over for Rodriguez, Jackie Bradley Jr. continued his run of recent success at the plate by ripping another RBI double, this one hit to center field to score Bogaerts and give the Sox a three-run advantage.

That three-run edge would be doubled moments later though, as Sandy Leon came through with a three-run big fly on a 3-2 slider from Perez to put his team ahead 9-3. Both of Leon’s home runs this season have gone for three runs and both have been hit over the Green Monster.

In the sixth, with right-hander Dan Otero in for Cleveland, JD Martinez broke out of a recent offensive slump my mashing his first of two home runs on the day, with this one getting some help from Oscar Mercado out in right field to put the Red Sox ahead 10-3.

Fast forward to the seventh, Bradley Jr. collected his second RBI of the evening on his second double, with this one coming off rookie Josh Smith to plate Brock Holt from first. 11-5.

And in the eighth, Martinez put the exclamation point on this blowout win by taking Indians right-hander Adam Cimber deep to left field for his second dinger of the day and 11th of the season, a 387 foot shot over the Monster to give the Red Sox the 12-5 advantage, which would go on to be Monday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

Over the course of his eight-game hitting streak, Rafael Devers is slashing .417/.432/.833 with four home runs and nine RBI.

In his last eight games, Jackie Bradley Jr. is batting .290 to go along with an OPS of 1.081 while also hitting three home runs and collecting six RBI over that span.

Brock Holt in his first big league game since April 5th: 1-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored.

Andrew Benintendi was the only Red Sox not to record a base hit on Monday, but he did reach base twice on a pair of walks.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this series Tuesday night.

David Price, after departing from his last start against the Astros on Saturday due to flu-like symptoms, is set to get the ball for Boston, while rookie right-hander Zach Plesac will do the same for Cleveland in his major league debut.

Price only threw 15 pitches in Houston over the weekend, and by the way he was talking to reporters, it seems as though he was willing to tough it out, although Sox manager Alex Cora did not feel the same way.

So, after only two full days of rest, it will be the left-hander making his ninth start of the season.

In his career against the Indians, Price is 11-2 with a lifetime 2.06 ERA over 15 starts and 100.1 total innings pitched.

Plesac, meanwhile, has posted a minuscule 1.91 ERA over nine starts between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus this season. He was recalled from Triple-A Tuesday.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN, weather permitting. Red Sox going for their third straight win.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#RedSox Comeback Attempt Falls Short in Sloppy 4-3 Loss to Astros

After experiencing some air travel issues on their way to Houston and arriving much later than expected, the Red Sox opened up another three-game weekend series against the Astros Friday with a frustrating and sloppy 4-3 loss.

Making his 11th start of the season and second straight against Houston in this one was Chris Sale, fresh off a 10-strikeout, five-walk performance in his last time out this past Sunday.

This time around against the ‘Stros, the left-hander made it through six full innings, yielding four runs, only two of which were earned, on three hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts on the night.

Despite what those numbers may say, Sale did not receive too much help from the defense behind him, with the Sox accounting for three total errors in only the first four innings Friday.

The first came from Steve Pearce at first base, who had the chance to record the final out of the second inning on a simple throw to Chris Sale as he was headed towards the bag on a grounder off the bat of Josh Reddick.

Instead, the ball was hurled way behind Sale and headed towards the backstop, where Sandy Leon had the chance to get the third out yet again with Aledmys Diaz, who was initially at first, rushing towards the plate.

While going for the tag though, it appeared as if Leon went for Diaz’s legs rather than the plate itself, which in turn allowed the runner to swerve his way around Leon’s mitt and score untouched to make it a 1-0 game.

An inning later, Astros center fielder and the eventual star of this contest Jake Marisnick led things off against Sale by blasting his sixth home run of the season, a 336 foot shot into the Crawford Boxes in left field. 2-0.

In the fourth, we were back to the sloppy play with runners on the corners and one out for the aforementioned Marisnick.

On the first pitch he saw from Sale, Marisnick grounded into what looked to be an out-inducing play at short, but Xander Bogaerts instead decided to try and get the out at home and failed miserable with a poor, off-balanced toss to the plate that got past Leon and Robinson Chirinos scored from third anyway.

During that same sequence, Josh Reddick advanced up to third while Marisnick should have been caught dead in a rundown between first and second, but instead retreated back to first safely thanks to a miscommunication between Michael Chavis and Steve Pearce.

Since Reddick was able to move into scoring position, George Springer was able to plate him with a sacrifice fly to left on the very next pitch of the ballgame to put his team ahead 4-0. Why Andrew Benintendi didn’t even attempt to make a throw towards home is beyond me.

Once all the dust settled from that craziness, Sale did settle down a bit from the middle of the fifth inning on by retiring the last six hitters he faced to end his outing on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (56 strikes), the 30-year-old turned to his four-seam fastball 39% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing six swings and misses while topping out at 95.5 MPH with the pitch.

Falling to 1-6 on the season now with his ERA dropping to 4.19, Sale will look for better results in his next time out, which should come in that series back at home against the Cleveland Indians.

In relief of Sale, Marcus Walden put together another impressive performance in the seventh inning of this one by working his way around a leadoff single in an otherswise clean frame, while Heath Hembree had his work cut out for him by walking the bases loaded in the eighth before escaping the jam by striking out Marisnick on four pitches to keep his team’s deficit at two runs.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against an old friend and a familiar foe in Astros left-hander Wade Miley, who, like Sale, started in last Sunday’s contest at Fenway Park as well.

Known as a rampant worker, Miley took a perfect game into the fourth inning before surrendering a one-out double to Mookie Betts.

Unable to score there or in the fifth, the Boston bats finally got to the Houston southpaw in the sixth, when Xander Bogaerts opened up the scoring for his team with a 394 foot solo shot over everything in left field.

Fast forward to the eighth, with Miley out and Ryan Pressly in for the Astros, and Jackie Bradley Jr. cut into that lead even more by depositing his third big fly in the last five days to left center to make it a two-run game.

That 433 foot homer actually broke up Pressly’s record-setting run of 40 consecutive scoreless appearances dating back to last season.

And after failing to tack on any more runs off of Pressly, it came down to the top half of the ninth with closer Roberto Osuna on the mound for Houston.

Leading off the inning, it really seemed as though Andrew Benintendi had given his team a shot by belting what would have surely been a double to deep center field, but like I mentioned earlier, the star of this game, Jake Marisnick, came up with a spectacular grab to rob the Red Sox outfielder of extra bases.

Instead of going to his bench with Rafael Devers available to pinch-hit, Sox manager Alex Cora stuck with Eduardo Nunez, who proceeded to fan on six pitches for the second out of the frame.

Down to their final out now, Christian Vazquez came on for Sandy Leon and provided a glimmer of hope by tattooing his seventh home run of the season to cut the Astros lead to one.

Unfortunately for Boston, Jackie Bradley Jr., who of couse had already homered in this one, could not put on a repeat of that at-bat, as he struck out on three straight hittable pitches to retire the side, and thus end the ballgame with a final score of 4-3.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox are now 1-3 against the Astros this season. They have been outscored 17-11 in those four games.

JD Martinez went 0-for-3 with a walk in his return to the Red Sox lineup out of the cleanup spot.

Jackie Bradley Jr. has lifted his batting average from .144 to .170 in his last five games played. In other words, he is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game series with David set to start for Boston.

Entering Saturday with an ERA of 3.29 through seven starts this season, Price impressed in his return from the injured list this past Monday in Toronto, limiting the Blue Jays to two runs in five innings of work.

In five career starts at Minute Maid Park, the left-hander is 5-0 with a 4.06 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over a total of five starts and 31 innings pitched.

Opposite Price will be right-hander Brad Peacock for Houston, who owns a lifetime 8.36 ERA in five appearances (four starts) against the Red Sox.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:15 PM EDT on FOX. Red Sox looking to bounce back.

 

 

 

Michael Chavis Comes Through with Game-Winning Home Run in 13th Inning as #RedSox Hold on to Defeat Blue Jays 6-5

After trading blowouts in the first two games of this series, the Red Sox and Blue Jays were matched up in a tightly contested bout on Wednesday, with the Sox needing 13 innings to secure the 6-3 win over Toronto for their 26th of the year.

Making his 10th start of the season for Boston was Rick Porcello, fresh off seven-plus innings of two-run ball in his last time out against the Houston Astros and known for his struggles at Rogers Centre.

Working six full innings in this one, the right-hander limited the Jays to just one run while scattering three hits and zero walks to go along with four strikeouts on the night.

That one run came in Toronto’s half of the fourth, when rookie phenom Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led the frame off by blasting his fifth home run of the season and first in front of the Rogers Centre crowd to make it a 2-1 game.

Other than that, Porcello retired nine of the next 10 hitters he faced from that point in the fourth until the conclusion of the sixth, where his outing came to a close.

Finishing with a conservative final pitch count of only 80 (54 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his two-seam fastball nearly 28% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday with Sandy Leon behind the plate. He also topped out at 92 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he induced three swings and misses with and threw 19 times.

Hit with the no-decision for the second time this month, Porcello will look for win number four in his next time out, which should come against the Cleveland Indians back home on Monday.

In relief of Porcello, Brandon Workman entered this contest in the middle of the seventh with a two-run lead to protect, got the first two outs of the inning relatively smoothly, and proceeded to run into a buzzsaw.

Freddy Galvis, Brandon Drury, and Billy McKinney all reached to load the bases on Workman, who then allowed the Blue Jays’ deficit to be cut down to one by walking Luke Maile on five pitches.

Somehow though, the righty bounced back by getting Eric Sogard to ground out to second to retire the side and that was that.

From there, after Rafael Devers got that important insurance run back in Boston’s top half of the eighth, Matt Barnes gave it right back in the bottom half on a one-out solo shot from Justin Smoak to make it a one-run game yet again at 4-3.

With the chance to close this one out in the ninth, Marcus Walden, making his 17th appearance of the season, surrendered the then tying-run to cross the plate on a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single off the bat of Danny Jansen. 4-4 headed into extras.

In the 10th, it looked as though the Jays were going to steal a win from the Sox with the bases loaded yet again and only one out in the inning, but with the help of a five-man infiled thanks to Mookie Betts moving in from right, Walden held Toronto to nothing by striking out Freddy Galvis on four pitches and by getting Brandon Drury to fly out to Andrew Benintendi in left for the third and final out of the frame.

Still a 4-4 game headed into the 11th, Ryan Brasier held the Toronto bats in order before Mookie Betts put Boston ahead in the top half of the 12th.

Again with the chance to close this one out, Hembree came up short by serving up a two-out, 401 foot solo homer to noted masher of baseballs Rowdy Tellez to again tie this game at five runs a piece.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, after Michael Chavis delivered the finishing blow to begin the 13th, Hembree rebounded and closed things out with a 1-2-3 inning of his own, picking up the win and securing the slim 6-5 win for his team.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against right-hander Aaron Sanchez for the Blue Jays, a hurler they have seen plenty of times before over the years.

Starting the scoring for Boston in this marathon game was Mitch Moreland, whose two-out RBI single off of Sanchez in the third to plate Jackie Bradley Jr. from third put the Red Sox on the board first.

Just three pitches after that ordeal, Xander Bogaerts struck with another RBI single off Sanchez, this one scoring Mookie Betts all the way from second to give Boston an early two-run advantage.

Fast forward all the way to the seventh, with Daniel Hudson in for Toronto, and a Jackie Bradley Jr. leadoff double, followed by back-to-back one out walks drawn by Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts loaded the bases for Mitch Moreland and the middle part of the Sox lineup.

Moreland contributed by collecting his second RBI of the night on a run-scoring groundout to second, but that was all the Boston bats could muster in the frame. 3-1.

An inning later, Rafael Devers’ power-surge continued, as the young infielder launched his third big fly in the last three days, this one a 400 foot, 109.2 MPH opposite field solo dinger off Derek Law to lead off the eighth and make it a 4-2 game.

Fast forward again to the 12th after the Blue Jays had battled their way back, and it seemed as though Mookie Betts had came through with the biggest hit of the night for the Red Sox, a two-out, 423 foot laser to dead center off Joe Biagini. His eighth of the season to put his team ahead 5-4.

A las, Toronto answered back with that Rowdy Tellez homer in their half of the 12th, and we were on to the 13th.

There, with one out and up against Blue Jays reliever Jimmy Cordero for the first time in his big league career, it was rookie Michael Chavis who came through with the late-game heroics.

Down in the count at 1-2, the 23-year-old ripped a 91 MPH cutter from Cordero and wound up sending it 424 feet into the left center field seats for his 10th dinger of the season already.

That put the Red Sox ahead 6-5, and that would go on to be Wednesday’s final score in a contest that took four-and-a-half hours to complete. Fun times!

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

From the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s a quick turnaround in the finale of this four-game series on Thursday.

Right-hander Ryan Weber will get the ball in what’s sure to be a bullpen day for Boston, while left-hander Clayton Richard will do the same for Toronto.

Since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on May 6th, Weber, 28, has posted a stout 1.13 ERA over three relief appearances and eight total innings of work this season. He has never pitched at Rogers Centre.

Richard, meanwhile, will be making his 2019 season debut for the Blue Jays after spending the beginning of the year on the injured list due to a stress reaction in his right knee.

In two career outings (one start) against the Red Sox, Richard is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA over a brief six inning sample size.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 12:37 PM EDT on NESN. Last one before heading down to Houston for Memorial Day Weekend.

 

 

Four Home Runs Power #RedSox to 12-2 Win over Blue Jays in David Price’s Return from Injured List

Coming off a 5-3 homestand, the Red Sox opened up a seven-game, two-city road trip on Monday afternoon with a dominating 12-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in their first visit to Rogers Centre of 2019.

Making his seventh start of the season and first since May 2nd was David Price, who spent nearly two weeks on the injured list due to left elbow tendinitis.

Activated from the IL earlier on Monday, the left-hander shook off the rust and looked solid this time around, limiting Toronto to just two unearned runs on three hits and zero walks to go along with four strikeouts on the day.

Both of those unearned runs came in the bottom half of the second inning, when with two outs and Billy McKinney aboard first, Luke Maile drilled a two-run home run to left center field to put the Blue Jays on the board.

That all could have been prevented though, had it not been for a Michael Chavis fielding error which allowed McKinney to reach base in the first place instead of grounding into the second out of the inning.

Still, Price didn’t allow the homer to phase him, as he went on to toss three more scoreless, no-hit frames from the middle of the third on to the conclusion of the fifth, retiring the final 10 Blue Jays hitters he faced to wrap up his outing.

Finishing with a final conservative pitch count of only 67 (48 strikes), the one-time Blue Jay, with Sandy Leon back from paternity leave and behind the plate for this one, turned to his cutter nearly 30% of the time he was on the mound Monday, inducing one swing and miss with the pitch. He also topped out at 94.7 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 14 times.

Eventually picking up his second winning decision of the season while lowering his ERA down to 3.29, Price will look for win number three in his next time out, which should come against the Houston Astros next weekend.

In relief of Price, the Red Sox bullpen did not allow a single hit over four collective innings of work, with Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree, Ryan Brasier, and Hector Velazquez combining to sit down 12 of the last 13 Blue Jays he faced.

The only Toronto hitter to reach base over that span was Freddy Galvis, who drew a leadoff walk off of Hembree in the seventh in what was an otherwise shut-the-door kind of performance from the pen to secure the blowout win.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against veteran right-hander Edwin Jackson for the Blue Jays.

Now with his 14th big league club since 2003, the Sox bats got to Jackson beginning right away in the first, all with two outs in the inning.

Back-to-back singles from Mitch Moreland and Xander Bogaerts led to the Sox’ first two runs of the day crossing the plate on a Rafael Devers RBI single to score Moreland and an errant throw from Blue Jays cathcer Luke Maile trying to nab Devers stealing second that allowed Bogaerts to score from third with Michael Chavis at the plate. 2-0.

Two innings later, after Toronto had battled back with two runs of their own, Bogaerts was at it again, this time driving in both Mookie Betts and Moreland on a one out, two-run single to left.

Following a Rafael Devers lineout to center, Chavis bounced back from that punchout in the first by scoring Bogaerts and himself on a two-run, 389 foot homer to left field to make it a four-run game. His ninth dinger of the season already.

Fast forward all the way to the sixth, and the bottom of the lineup came through in a run-scoring spot with Steve Pearce drawing a one-out walk and Jackie Bradley Jr. depositing his first big fly of the year off Jays reliever Elvis Luciano, another two-run shot to give his team an 8-2 lead.

Another inning later, a Mitch Moreland leadoff two-bagger resulted in two more Red Sox runs coming across thanks to another RBI base knock from Devers and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Pearce to score Devers from third and make it a 10-2 contest.

And in the ninth, just for good measure, Bogaerts and Devers capped off their fine days at the plate by going back-to-back with solo jacks off Toronto reliever Ryan Tepera to leadoff the inning.

Per Statcast, Bogaerts’ eighth of the season registered at 417 feet and 104.1 MPH off the bat, which is pretty incredible when you see the way the shortstop swung at that 1-1 face-high changeup.

Devers’ fourth of the year, meanwhile, was hit even further and harder, registering in at a whopping 445 feet and 114.4 MPH off the bat. In other words, crushed.

Anyway, those two solo home runs put the Red Sox ahead 12-2, which would go on to be Monday’s final score in the first of four between these two clubs.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

From Red Sox Stats:

The Red Sox’ 3-6 hitters on Monday (Moreland, Bogaerts, Devers, Chavis):

11-for-20, three home runs, nine runs scored, and eight RBI.

Through 27 games this month, Rafael Devers owns a .562 slugging percentage.

The Red Sox are 8-3 in their last 11 games.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the second game of this series against the Blue Jays.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will get the ball for Boston in what will be his 10th start of the season, while right-hander Marcus Stroman will do the same for Toronto.

Despite giving up five runs in his last time out against the Colorado Rockies, Rodriguez still owns an ERA of 2.84 through three starts this month. As a matter of fact, the Red Sox are 7-0 in the southpaw’s last seven outings.

In four career outings (three starts) at Rogers Centre, Rodriguez is 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA over 19.2 total innings pitched.

Stroman, meanwhile, got off to a scorching hot start to the 2019 season, but has since cooled off. That much is evident by the fact that the Blue Jays are 0-4 in the Duke University product’s last four starts.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:07 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their third straight win.

Rick Porcello’s Gem Turns Sour Quickly as #RedSox Fall to Astros in Series Opener

After an off day on Thursday, the Red Sox opened up a three-game weekend series against the Houston Astros in disappointing fashion on Friday, as they dropped the first of three against the team they eliminated from last year’s American League Championship Series by a final score of 3-1.

Making his ninth start of the season for Boston was Rick Porcello, who entered the weekend unbeaten in his last five outings dating back to April 20th.

Pitching into the eighth inning of this one, the right-hander thoroughly impressed yet again, surrendering just two earned runs on six hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts on the night.

The only real trouble for Porcello came in that eighth inning, an inning that he should not have been left out for. That much was admitted by Sox manager Alex Cora during his postgame press conference.

With his pitch count inching towards the 100 mark and the Astros lineup about to turn back over entering the eighth, a Jake Marisnick leadoff double would ultimately spell the end for Porcello, because on the very next pitch he threw, an 82 MPH changeup to George Springer, the Houston slugger ripped a 395 foot home run into the Red Sox bullpen for his league-leading 17th dinger of the season.

That put the Astros up 2-1, which would turn out to be the only lead they would need.

Other than those two mistakes though, the New Jersey native really had himself a fine night through the first seven frames of this one, working his way around a handful of tight spots to keep the Astros off the board up until the eighth.

He induced four swings and misses, kept away from any hard contact off the Astros potent lineup, and then it all fell apart in that dreaded eighth inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 95 (61 strikes) after serving up that two-run homer, Porcello turned to his slider 29% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing all four of those swinging strikes with the pitch. He also topped out at 92.8 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 25 times with Christian Vazquez catching him for the third time this year.

Falling to 3-4 on the season now, the 30-year-old hurler will look to start a new personal winning streak in his next time out, which should come against the Toronto Blue Jays sometime next week.

In relief of Porcello, the Red Sox bullpen would wind up being responsible for the final two innings Friday, with Ryan Brasier getting the call for the remainder of the eighth.

Coming into this one with an ERA of 11.75 so far this month, Brasier’s high-leverage struggles continued Friday, as he yielded two walks in consecutive order to Michael Brantley and Carlos Correa.

Brantley, in his first year with Houston, managed to advance all the way to third thanks to a passed ball on the part of Vazquez and a wild pitch on the part of Brasier.

With one out and runners on the corners now. a sacrifice fly off the bat of ex-Red Sox outfielder Josh Reddick allowed Brantley to come in to score from third for what would turn out to be a very important insurance run.

Brasier escaped the inning without giving up anything else, and that made way for Heath Hembree in the ninth, who needed just 15 pitches to strike out the side in a scoreless frame of work to at least give his team a legitimate chance to make a comeback attempt.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a fairly familiar opponent in Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole, who came into Friday with a lifetime 5.73 ERA when pitching at Fenway Park.

Despite not being able to score off him, the Boston bats made Cole work over the first five innings of this one.

They had a few chances to push across a run or two, but the Astros starter did need 99 pitches just to get through those five scoreless frames.

As soon as the Red Sox forced Cole out and the Houston bullpen in, the club plated their first run of the evening off Hector Rondon, with a Xander Bogaerts leadoff single resulting in a short-lived 1-0 lead on a two-out RBI single off the bat of a seemingly red-hot Christian Vazquez.

Like I just mentioned, that put Boston on the board first, and they actually kept the lead for a little while, but as most teams have come to find out, a one-run advantage against a lineup as potent as Houston’s isn’t going to hold up for long.

Add that to how exceptional the Astros bullpen is, and it’s pretty easy to see why this team came into this series winners of eight straight.

Back to the game at hand, Will Harris held the Sox down order in the seventh before Ryan Pressly did the same in the eighth.

Pressly, a former Red Sox draftee back in 2007, made history with his 39th straight scoreless relief appearance dating back to last season, breaking old friend Craig Kimbrel’s record for most consecutive scoreless outings.

And in the ninth, down to their final three outs, a one out double from Vazquez and a two out walk drawn by Andrew Benintendi against Astros closer Roberto Osuna gave Boston a chance in a two-run game with Mookie Betts coming to the plate.

Facing off against Osuna for the 11th time in his career, the reigning American League MVP made solid contact with the fifth pitch he saw from the Houston closer, a 2-2 knee-high 85 MPH slider, but could only watch as Michael Brantley was in perfect position to field the ball in left field for the third and final out. A lineout that registered at 107 MPH off the bat and had 74% chance of being a hit goes for naught, and the Red Sox drop their second game of the homestand by a final score of 3-1.

Some notes from this loss:

More from Alex Cora on leaving in Porcello:

Through 34 games this season, Christian Vazquez is slashing .311/.362/.519 with five home runs and 15 RBI.

In their last 31 meetings including the postseason, the Red Sox are 16-15 against the Astros.

Speaking of the Astros, they are baseball’s hottest team with nine straight wins.

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Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game set on Saturday night.

For Houston, it will be rookie right-hander Corbin Martin making the second start of his young career.

Ranked as the Astros’ second-best pitching prospect on MLB.com, Martin, 23, picked up the win over the Texas Rangers in his big league debut last Sunday.

For Boston, it will be right-hander Hector Velazquez making his seventh start and 13th overall appearance of the season.

In his last time out, Velazquez also picked up the win with five innings of two-run ball against the Seattle Mariners.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:15 PM EDT on FOX. Red Sox looking to get back on track.