Tag: hunter renfroe

Red Sox’ Alex Cora on Hunter Renfroe: ‘He has been amazing the last two months’

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wants the baseball world to put more respect on Hunter Renfroe’s name.

Playing in the 500th game of his major-league career Monday night, Renfroe came through with two incredibly important home runs as part of a 2-for-4 showing at the plate in the Red Sox’ 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Royals at Fenway Park.

In the fourth inning, Renfroe took Royals starter Danny Duffy 439 feet deep to dead center field on a 1-0 changeup for a 107.5 mph two-run homer that cut the Sox’ deficit down to one run at 5-4.

In the sixth inning of what at the time was a 5-5 ballgame, Renfroe delivered once more, this time depositing a hanging, 2-1 curveball from Royals reliever Josh Staumont 434 feet over the Green Monster for the go-ahead (and what would prove to be game-winning) home run.

“He’s on balance, he’s making good swing decisions,” Cora said of Renfroe late Monday night. “He got a changeup up in the zone, he hit it out of the ballpark. And then a hanging breaking ball. He’s been doing this for a while.”

By going 2-for-4 with a pair of homers, two runs scored, and three runs driven in in Monday’s win, Renfroe raised his batting line on the season to .272/.330/.473, which subsequently bring his OPS over .800 (.803) for the first time this year.

After signing a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Boston over the winter, the 29-year-old’s Red Sox career did not get off to the best of starts as he hit a dismal .167/.235/.250 in the month of April, leaving many to wonder if he was long for remaining on the major-league roster.

Since the calendar flipped to May, however, Renfroe has flipped the switch offensively — all while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense in right field, as has been the case since the start of the season.

Going back to May 1, the right-handed hitter is slashing an impressive .307/.362/.547 to go along with 10 home runs and 32RBI over his last 49 games (196 plate appearances).

Coming into play on Monday, Renfroe had been worth 1.3 fWAR since the start of May, per FanGraphs. That put him ahead of the likes of Alex Verdugo (0.5) and J.D. Martinez (0.3) over that time frame.

“You start looking at his numbers, the average, the RBIs, the home runs, the on-base percentage, the last two months he has been playing All-Star caliber baseball,” said Cora. “And we know what he can do defensively. The way he’s playing, people need to start recognizing him as one of our best players.

“He’s been huge for us,” added Cora. “We always talk about the four guys (Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Martinez, Verdugo), but what he’s doing, he has been amazing the last two months.”

For Renfroe, this rise in offensive production comes at a point in the season where he is getting consistent playing time, the weather is getting warmer, and — probably most importantly — he is healthy and locked in at the plate, as evidenced by his ability to take the ball to the opposite field when necessary.

“I feel good,” Renfroe said. “I like where I am right now. Swinging the bat well, seeing the ball well. I think that’s the biggest part, seeing the ball before you hit it. Seeing the ball as good as I have in a long time so I’ve just got to keep going, staying with my approach and staying with my routine in the cage and just stay healthy.”

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Hunter Renfroe delivers with 2 clutch home runs as Red Sox come back to defeat Royals, 6-5, in slugfest at Fenway Park

The Red Sox were able to extend their winning streak to four consecutive games at Fenway Park on Monday night, though it certainly did not look like it was going to turn that way early on.

Facing off against the Royals in the first of four, Sox starter Garrett Richards stumbled immensely out of the gate, as he issued back-to-back singles to Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler before serving up a three-run home run to Carlos Santana.

Put another way, Richards had put his side in a three-run hole without recording a single out, and he allowed that hole to increase even more by yielding a pair of solo homers to Michael A. Taylor and Merrifield to make it a 5-1 contest in favor of Kansas City.

While Richards was having a difficult time of things, the Red Sox lineup certainly did their part to back him up.

Matched up against Royals ace left-hander Danny Duffy to begin things on Monday, Enrique Hernandez led off the bottom of the first by crushing a solo home run — his eighth of the season — over the Green Monster for the second straight day to get his side on the board.

An inning later, Bobby Dalbec followed suit by also leaving the yard on a 2-1, 94.5 mph fastball from Duffy that was down and in and deposited 397 feet to left field with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph off the bat. His 10th big fly of the year cut Boston’s deficit down to three runs at 5-2.

Having given up hits to six of the first 10 Royals he faced Monday, it did not seem Richards would be long for this one and Red Sox manager Alex Cora would have to go to his bullpen earlier than anticipated.

Somehow, someway though, Richards recovered and even settled into a decent groove, albeit without being able to put together a 1-2-3 frame.

Still, after surrendering five runs in the first two innings, Richards kept Kansas City off the scoreboard from the top of the second on. In doing so, he provided the Red Sox offense with a sizable window to get back into this one, and they capitalized on that in their half of the fourth.

Following a leadoff double from Xander Bogaerts, Hunter Renfroe — playing in the 500th game of his big-league career — demolished a two-run home run 439 feet to dead center to bring the Sox back to within one.

A pitching change in the fourth that saw righty Kyle Zimmer take over Duffy did not halt Boston’s momentum, as Dalbec greeted the Royals reliever with a single, moved up to second on a groundout, and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Michael Chavis drove him in on a game-tying, RBI single through the left side of the infield.

Richards, meanwhile, retired 12 of the final 17 hitters who came to the plate against him up until Nicky Lopez reached base on a two-out single in the sixth.

At that point, the 33-year-old hurler’s pitch count had reached 94 — 67 of which were strikes –and has night ultimately came to a close. Of those 94 pitches thrown by Richards, 38 were four-seam fastballs, 22 were changeups, 21 were sliders, 11 were curveballs, and two were split changeups.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and he recorded the final out of the sixth inning, setting the stage for Renfroe once more in the bottom half of the frame.

There, the right-handed hitting slugger came through with the clutchest hit of the night: a go-ahead, 434 foot solo blast off reliever Josh Staumont that left Fenway Park in a hurry.

Renfroe’s second homer of the contest, and his 11th of the season, gave the Red Sox a 6-5 lead going into the late innings.

Sawamura came back out for the seventh, faced the minimum three batters, and later earned his fourth winning decision of 2021 to improve to a perfect 4-0.

From there, left-hander Josh Taylor extended his scoreless appearance streak to 23 consecutive games by working a perfect eighth inning, while Matt Barnes induced two fly outs and one pop out in the ninth to notch his 17th save of the campaign in addition to preserving a 6-5 victory for the Red Sox.

With the win, their 26th come-from-behind triumph this year, the Red Sox improve to 48-31 (24-17 at home) on the season and move a full game ahead of an idle Tampa Bay Rays team for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the hill on Tuesday as they go for their fifth straight win. The Royals, meanwhile, will counter with fellow righty Brad Keller.

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

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Hunter Renfroe nabs Gio Urshela at home to pick up 11th outfield assist of season: ‘He has a cannon, man,’ Xander Bogaerts says

Xander Bogaerts has played with his fair share of defensively-gifted outfielders in his career with the Red Sox.

Whether it be Shane Victorino, Mookie Betts, or Jackie Bradley Jr., Bogaerts has certainly seen Gold Glove-caliber defense from his teammates in the outfield over the years, and he’s seeing it again this season with Hunter Renfroe.

Renfroe, who came into the weekend leading all American League right fielders in Ultimate Zone Rating (3.2), recorded his league-leading 11th outfield assist of the year in the fourth inning of Friday night’s 5-3 victory over the Yankees at Fenway Park.

At the time, the Sox were holding on to a 4-3 lead and the Yankees had just put the potential tying run in scoring position on a leadoff double off the bat of Gio Urshela.

Urshela attempted to score from second on a Miguel Andujar groundball single to right field off Red Sox starter Martin Perez, but Renfroe had other plans.

Fielding the ball rather routinely, Renfroe was able to gun down Urshela at home with plenty of time to spare by unleashing a 94.7 mph laser to an awaiting Christian Vazquez.

Vazquez caught the relay without haste, and snuffed out a sliding Urshela to prevent the possible tying run from crossing the plate for the first out of the fourth.

“Anytime you throw a guy out at the plate, it’s pretty special,” Renfroe said. “You don’t get to do that very often. And especially in that moment, it was a big moment in the game, could have tied the game up. But, obviously, anytime you can help the team win or do something for the team, it’s great.”

Renfroe has made a habit of making these sorts of plays look routine this season, and he has thoroughly impressed his peers — including his manager — while doing so.

“He does a good job charging the ball in that situation,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He has the presence of mind, too, like he didn’t need to keep that throw down. He knew he had a chance to get him at the plate.”

Bogaerts, meanwhile, had a front-row seat to yet another eye-opening display from Renfroe, and he was still in awe of what happened when speaking with reporters hours later.

“He’s been hot for a while,” Bogaerts said of Renfroe. “If you ask me what I could compare him to, it’d be Jackie Bradley. When he gets on that streak, it’s just missiles and doubles and homers and hard hits. It’s pretty nice, man. And his defense, I wish mine was like that. He’s been awesome offensively and defensively. I didn’t even know he was that good of an outfielder, but he’s been playing really, really good for us.

“He has a cannon, man,” Bogaerts added. “He reads the ball well out there, he has a cannon, he’s strong. I mean, this guy is solid. He’s definitely a really good baseball player.”

In addition to his fine night in the outfield, Renfroe also enjoyed a productive evening at the plate. The 29-year-old went 1-for-1 with a double, a sacrifice fly, two RBI, two walks, and one run scored in Boston’s win over New York.

“He had a great game, not only defensively but offensively,” said Cora. “The patience at the plate, getting to fastballs, putting the ball in play with a man at third. A great game for him.”

Over his last 30 games, Renfroe is slashing an impressive .308/.392/.519 with four home runs, 17 RBI, and 21 runs scored. He started the season by posting a .167/.235/.250 slash line in April after signing a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Boston in December.

“We knew he was a good athlete. We knew he was a good defender,” Cora said when asked if the Red Sox knew Renfroe was this good a player. “Talking to him in the offseason, he mentioned that he didn’t have a chance to play against righties, and although he has a reputation of hitting lefties, he needs righties to stay with his approach.

“In spring training, he did a good job for us. He went the other way,” added Cora. “He struggled early on, but he started shooting the ball the other way, staying off pitches. And you see the at-bats, they’re a lot better. He’s actually walking at a high rate now — he’s controlling the zone. We knew he was talented. Everybody knows it, and he’s putting everything together.”

For Renfroe, his early-season struggles this year can likely be linked to the fact that he was playing for his third team in three seasons. In other words, there was a bit of an adjustment period this spring.

As he has gotten more and more acclimated to the Red Sox, though, the Mississippi native has seen his level of play increase drastically.

On May 1, the 6-foot-1, 230 pound right-handed hitter ranked 12th among Boston position players in terms of fWAR (-0.3). Since then, he ranks third on the team in fWAR (1.1) behind only Xander Bogaerts (2.3) and Rafael Devers (1.6), per FanGraphs.

“It’s come really easy for me to transfer over and be part of the Red Sox,” said Renfroe. “It’s been easy for me to come over here and just step right in and do the best I can. Obviously, you can’t fake hard work as well. I worked my butt off this offseason to put myself in the best shape I can and put myself in a great hitting stance going forward into spring training and going forward [into the season].”

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Hunter Renfroe drives in two runs, records 11th outfield assist as Red Sox hold on to top Yankees, 5-3

The Red Sox did not waste any time in getting an already-pumped up crowd into their game against the Yankees at a sold-out Fenway Park on Friday night.

Shortly after the team celebrated Dustin Pedroia’s career in an emotional pregame ceremony, a pair of back-to-back singles from Michael Chavis and Alex Verdugo to lead things off in the bottom of the first inning put the Sox in business against Yankees starter Domingo German.

Xander Bogaerts cleared the bases by ripping a two-run double to left-center field, while Hunter Renfroe drove him in on another run-scoring double to give Boston an early 3-0 lead.

Martin Perez, meanwhile, was making his 15th start of the season for the Sox on Friday, and he allowed the Yankees to come right back into this game despite being given an early cushion to work with.

New York tacked on three unearned runs off the veteran left-hander in their half of the second, with Bogaerts committing a costly fielding error that would later permit Clint Frazier to get his side on the board by drawing a bases-loaded walk and D.J. LeMahieu to even things up with a two-run single to right field.

As previously mentioned, Perez was not charged with either of those three tallies, though he only made it to the two-out mark of the fourth inning while giving up six hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts before his evening came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 67 (44 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler did not factor into Friday’s decision, but did lower his ERA on the season to 4.09. His next start should come against the Royals back at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

While Perez did allow the Yankees to erase their three-run deficit, Renfroe struck again once more in the bottom of the third, this time plating J.D. Martinez from third base on a sacrifice fly that gave the Sox a 4-3 edge.

The hard-throwing outfielder also contributed to the cause a half inning later, as he gunned down the potential tying run in the form of Gio Urshela on a 94.7 mph dart to home plate for his league-leading 11th outfield assist of the year.

In relief of Perez, who got the hook from Sox manager Alex Cora shortly after that play, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, finished things in the fourth, and tossed a scoreless fifth inning as well.

From there, a pair of ex-Yankees right-handers took over, with Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock twirling two scoreless frames before Adam Ottavino punched out two in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth.

Christian Vazquez supplied a much-needed insurance run by scoring Renfroe from second on an RBI single in the bottom half of the frame to make it a 5-3 contest, and that set the stage for Matt Barnes in the ninth.

The Red Sox closer ran into some initial trouble, issuing back-to-back singles to the first two hitters he faced, but was able to settle in, fan Frazier for the first out, and get LeMahieu to ground into a game-sealing 6-4-3 double play to notch his 16th save of the season and preserve the 5-3 victory.

All in all, the Red Sox bullpen (Sawamura, Whitlock, Ottavino, Barnes) on Friday combined to pitch 5 1/3 shutout innings while scattering just three hits and one walk in addition to striking out a total of seven Yankees hitters.

With the win, the Sox snap a two-game skid and improve to 45-31 on the season, though they still trail the Rays by a half game for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will go for the series win over the Yankees on national television Saturday night.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for Boston, while left-hander Jordan Montgomery will do the same for New York.

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

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox spoil Wander Franco’s debut, battle back to defeat Rays, 9-5, in 11 innings; Hunter Renfroe homers, collects 3 RBI against former team

The Red Sox kicked off one of the most crucial stretches of their season with an action-packed, drama-filled 9-5 victory in 11 innings over the Rays at Tropicana Field on Tuesday night.

Eduardo Rodriguez made his 14th start of the year for Boston and was immediately the recipient of some poor defense behind him.

Rafael Devers misplayed a groundball that allowed leadoff man Yandy Diaz to reach base on a fielding error to begin things in the first inning, while a Xander Bogaerts fielding error with the bases loaded resulted in two more Rays runs crossing the plate on what was originally a Francisco Mejia RBI single.

Rodriguez was able to settle in for a bit, however, and the Red Sox lineup backed him up by putting together a five-run rally in their half of the third.

Matched up against reliever Ryan Yarbrough, J.D. Martinez cleared the bases on a two-run double that was followed by a Bogaerts single, a Devers sacrifice fly, and a two-run home run off the bat off ex-Rays outfielder Hunter Renfroe — his ninth homer of the season.

With a brand new 5-2 lead to work with, Rodriguez strung together two more scoreless frames before running into more trouble in the fifth. There, the left-hander set the tone in a negative way by plunking the first batter he faced in Kevin Kiermaier.

A groundball single from Diaz advanced Kiermaier into scoring position and brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Wander Franco, the consensus top prospect in all of baseball who was making his big-league debut for Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

After drawing a walk in the first inning and flying out in the third inning, Franco certainly made this third at-bat of the night count, as he deposited a game-tying three-run home run to deep left field off a slider at his knees from Rodriguez.

Having his seen his side’s three-run lead disappear, Rodriguez did escape the fifth with some help from Christian Vazquez nabbing a runner at second and wrapped up his night by retiring the final three hitters he faced in the sixth to end things on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 90 (57 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler winds up allowing six runs — three of which were earned — on seven hits, one walk, one hit batsman, and seven strikeouts in the process of picking up the no-decision. His next start should come against the Yankees back at Fenway Park on Sunday.

By the time Rodriguez retired the final out of the sixth to send this contest to the seventh inning, the Red Sox offense had gone completely silent after putting up five runs in the third and remained that way for quite a while.

In the meantime, the Red Sox bullpen went to work with Josh Taylor tossing yet another scoreless inning of relief in the seventh, Adam Ottavino dancing his way around trouble in the eighth, and Matt Barnes preserving a 5-5 stalemate in the ninth, but not before issuing a leadoff walk to the potential winning run in Kiermaier and getting out of it on a force out at second base that Kiermaier interfered with since he intentionally knocked the ball out of Enrique Hernandez’s glove while advancing towards second.

Hirokazu Sawamura took over in the 10th, got the first two outs thanks to a bizarre base running decision from Brett Phillips, and made way for Darwinzon Hernandez, who got Brandon Lowe to ground out to second to retire the side.

After an eight-inning hiatus, the Boston bats came to life in the 11th, with catching prospect Connor Wong making his major-league debut pinch-running for Martinez at second base to begin the inning.

Wong would wind up playing a key role in the Sox’ comeback, as he advanced to third on a Bogaerts single and came into score the go-ahead run on another two-run double courtesy of Devers off Rays righty Pete Fairbanks.

Renfroe tacked on a much-needed insurance run by plating Devers on a hard-hit single to pick up his third RBI of the night, while Enrique Hernandez put his side up 9-5 with a sacrifice fly that scored Renfroe from third.

Darwinzon Hernandez remained in the game to close things out, and he did just that by tossing a 1-2-3 11th inning to notch his second win of the season as well as a 9-5 victory for the Sox.

With the win, their fourth of this current eight-game road trip, the Red Sox improve to 44-29 on the year while increasing their lead over the Rays, who have now dropped seven straight, for first place in the American League East to 1 1/2 games.

Some notes from the Red Sox’ 25th come-from-behind win of the season:

From NESN’s Tom Caron:

From Stats by STATS:

From Red Sox Notes:

Next up: Richards vs. Hill

The Red Sox will send right-hander Garrett Richards as they go for the series win over the Rays on Wednesday night.

The Rays will counter with veteran left-hander, former Sox hurler, and Milton, Mass. native Rich Hill as they look to avoid their eighth straight defeat.

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

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Hunter Renfroe: Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Xander Bogaerts leads Red Sox to comeback 6-5 victory over Yankees in extra innings; Boston sweeps New York at Yankee Stadium for first time since 2011

It took 10 innings to complete, but the Red Sox finished off their first sweep of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in nearly 10 years with a drama-filled 6-5 comeback victory over New York on Sunday.

With the win, their fourth straight and their 21st of the come-from-behind variety this year, Boston improves to 36-23 (20-10 on the road) this season. They remain one game behind the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Verdugo gets the Red Sox on the board first

Matched up against Yankees right-hander Domingo German to start things on Sunday, Alex Verdugo got the scoring started for the Sox by crushing a first-inning solo homer to deep right-center field to give his side the early lead.

Verdugo’s eighth home run of the season, which came on a 91.3 mph fastball down the heart of the plate from German, had an exit velocity of 108.8 mph off the bat and traveled 446 feet into the bleachers.

Richards struggles out of the gate, but eventually settles in and goes five innings

Despite going up right away on the Yankees in this one, the Red Sox found themselves down a run going into the second inning on account of Garrett Richards’ early struggles.

Making his 12th start of the season for Boston, the right-hander yielded three consecutive one-out singles in the first inning to load the bases for Gary Sanchez, who drove in two runs on a hard-hit double to left field.

At that moment, it did not look like things were going to go well for Richards in his first outing at Yankee Stadium since 2018, but he was able to settle in fairly nicely.

The only other run the veteran righty gave up came on an RBI groundout from Aaron Judge in the bottom of the fourth. From there, he was able to escape the jam by getting Gleyber Torres to ground into another forceout before retiring the side in order in the fifth to end his night on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 95 (66 strikes), Richards ended his day having allowed three earned runs on eight hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts over five innings of work to raise his ERA on the year to 3.88.

The 33-year-old’s next start should come against the Blue Jays back at Fenway Park on Friday.

Gonzalez comes through in the seventh

With Richards holding the Yankees to three runs, the Sox lineup bounced back in their half of the seventh after German held them in check in his 5 2/3 innings pitched.

Hunter Renfroe led things off by drawing a four-pitch walk off left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge, which set the stage for Marwin Gonzalez, who was already having himself a memorable weekend in the Bronx.

Batting from his preferred right side of the plate, the switch-hitting Gonzalez cranked a game-tying, two-run home run down the left field line on a hanging slider from Luetge that knotting things up at 3-3.

Bogaerts delivers first of two clutch moments in the eighth

Red Sox manager Alex Cora was presumably very pleased with what he saw out of his lineup in the top half of the eighth.

The pinch-hitting Christian Arroyo led off with a pop-up double that very well should have been caught, advanced to third base on a Verdugo groundout, and then came in to score on a sacrifice fly from Bogaerts that put Boston ahead 4-3 late.

Get ’em on, get ’em over, get ’em in. That’s what happened there.

Barnes blows second save of season in the ninth

While the likes of Darwinzon Hernandez, Adam Ottavino, and Josh Taylor each tossed a scoreless inning in relief of Garrett Richards, Red Sox closer Matt Barnes ran into some trouble in the bottom half of the ninth.

Working in his third straight game, the right-hander issued a one-out walk to Aaron Judge and proceeded to serve up a game-tying, RBI double to Gleyber Torres.

With this contest now in a 4-4 deadlock, Barnes was able to get out of the inning while stranding the potential winning run at third base, though he was charged with his second blown save of the season.

Bogaerts does it again, this time to seal it

Heading into the top of the 10th, Christian Vazquez — who recorded the final out of the ninth — was placed at second base. Bobby Dalbec followed by drawing a six-pitch walk off Luis Cessa, and both runners advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Christian Arroyo.

Alex Verdugo was unable to do anything in the clutch, as he grounded out to second, but Xander Bogaerts certainly did — again.

On a 2-1, 83 mph slider from Cessa, Bogaerts cleared the bases by drilling a two-run single to center field, scoring both Vazquez and Dalbec in the process of picking up his second and third RBI of the night to make it a 6-4 game in favor of Boston.

Valdez notches first career save to close it out

Having already exhausted the vast majority of his available bullpen options, Alex Cora turned to right-hander Phillips Valdez to close this one out in the bottom of the 10th.

With a two-run lead to protect, Valdez plunked the first hitter he faced, but induced a potentially pivotal double play — the third the Yankees hit into Sunday — before allowing one unearned run to score on a Marwin Gonzalez throwing error.

Valdez was able to rebound though, as he got D.J. LeMahieu to ground out to secure the 6-5 win for the Red Sox and pick up his first career save while doing so.

Some notes from this victory:

From MLB’s Sarah Langs:

From Red Sox Notes:

Next up: Make-up against Marlins to kick off homestand

Monday was originally supposed to be an off-day for the Red Sox, but May 30th’s rainout against the Marlins changed that.

The Sox will instead welcome the Marlins back into Fenway Park on Monday evening to conclude their three-game series that began late last month, with Boston taking the first two from Miami.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta will get the start for Boston, while fellow righty Pablo Lopez will do the same for Miami.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. A unique start time for what is sure to be a balmy day in the Fenway-area.

Red Sox will be going for their fifth consecutive win before opening up a three-game set against the Astros on Tuesday.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

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

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

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

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

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

Gonzalez breaks out of slump with two-hit night

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

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

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

Eovaldi tosses six solid innings, but scuffles towards the end

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

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

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

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

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

Strikeouts galore from the Red Sox bullpen

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

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

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

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

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Taillon

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lifeless Red Sox drop third straight to Astros, 2-1; Nick Pivetta hit with first loss of season despite striking out 9 over 6 innings

A stagnant Red Sox offense was once again held in check by the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night.

Houston starter Framber Valdez gave Boston a chance to get something going immediately in the first inning. The left-hander loaded the bases with two outs and walked in a run by issuing a free pass to Hunter Renfroe.

Bobby Dalbec was presented with the opportunity to do some more damage in his first at-bat of the night, but he grounded out sharply to shortstop to extinguish the threat.

As it would later turn out, that lone run is all the Sox could get off of Valdez, as the southpaw settled in after a rough first inning and strung together six straight scoreless frames to get through seven strong when all was said and done.

The Boston bats did not fare much better against the Astros’ bullpen, with all three of Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts lining out to center field against reliever Ryne Stanek in the top half of the eighth.

In the top half of the ninth, a one-out single from Renfroe and two-out single from Vazquez off Astros closer Ryan Pressly provided the Red Sox with some late life and the chance to at least tie things up at two runs apiece.

Alas, Christian Arroyo hit a broken-bat pop-up to the infield, and 2-1 would go on to be Wednesday’s final score.

By dropping their third consecutive contest to the Astros, the Red Sox fall to 32-23 on the season (16-10 on the road), yet still remain two games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Pivetta grinds through first two innings, winds up turning in solid performance

Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta needed 57 pitches to get through the first two innings of his 11th start of the season on Wednesday. Like Valdez, he also put himself in a bases-loaded jam right away in the first, but got out of it having allowed just one run.

From that point, though, the right-hander locked in and put together one of his best outings of the year to this point all things considered.

Over six innings in total, Pivetta yielded two runs — both earned — on three hits and two walks to go along with nine strikeouts on the night.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 111 (72 strikes) to set a new season-high, the 28-year-old was ultimately hit with his first loss of the year — and his first since coming over to the Red Sox from the Phillies last August. His next start should come against the Marlins back at Fenway Park on Monday.

Red Sox bullpen takes over

In relief of Pivetta, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez tossed a perfect seventh inning while Hirokazu Sawamura and Josh Taylor combined to toss a scoreless bottom of the eighth with the help of Christian Vazquez snuffing out Alex Bregman at second base.

Next up: Perez vs. Odorizzi

The Red Sox will send left-hander Martin Perez to the hill on Thursday afternoon as they look to halt this three-game losing streak, avoid a sweep and in turn end an otherwise forgettable series against the Astros on a positive note.

Perez will be opposed by veteran right-hander and his former Twins rotation mate Jake Odorizzi for Houston.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 2:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Bob Levey/Getty Images)

Red Sox commit 2 costly errors, fail to get anything going offensively in 5-1 loss to Astros

The Red Sox were within striking distance of the Astros heading into the bottom of the seventh inning at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night.

Trailing by a run at 2-1, Hirokazu Sawamura came on for Garrett Richards and yielded a leadoff single to Kyle Tucker. A Rafael Devers fielding error on a Chas McCormick groundball put runners at first and second with no outs.

Sawamura proceeded by inducing another grounder off the bat of Myles Straw, one that was hit directly to Xander Bogaerts for what looked to be the start of a huge 6-4-3 double play.

Bogaerts fielded the ball cleanly and made a routine toss to Marwin Gonzalez, who misfired on his throw to first base that got past a sprawling Danny Santana and allowed Tucker to score easily.

A five-pitch walk of Martin Maldonado, a wild pitch, and an intentional walk of Jose Altuve loaded the bases as Red Sox manager Alex Cora made the switch from Sawamura to Garrett Whitlock.

Making his first appearance out of the bullpen in a week, Whitlock issued a free pass to the first man he faced to bring in another run before Yordan Alvarez tapped an infield single off him to plate an additional run and make it a 5-1 game.

What transpired in the seventh inning on Tuesday was what ultimately did the Red Sox in. By falling to Houston by a final score of 5-1, Boston drops back down to 32-22 (16-9) on the season. They remain two games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Richards provides six solid innings

Garrett Richards made his 11th start of the season for the Red Sox and put together yet another strong showing.

Despite dealing with his fair share of traffic on the base paths, the right-hander surrendered just two earned runs on four hits, four walks, and five strikeouts over six innings of work.

The first of the two Astros runs Richards gave up came on a towering solo home run from Jose Altuve right away in the first inning. The second came on a sacrifice fly from Chas McCormick after Richards served up a leadoff double and followed with a four-pitch walk later in the bottom half of the fourth.

Besides that, the 33-year-old hurler was able to retire six of the final seven Astros he faced to get through six full innings.

Despite lowering his ERA on the season down to 3.75, Richards was charged with his fourth loss and is now 4-4. His next start should come against the Yankees in the Bronx on Sunday night.

Red Sox’ offensive woes continue

For the second straight day, the Red Sox lineup was held in check at Minute Maid Park. Boston was once again limited to five hits while managing to push across just one run against Astros rookie starter Luis Garcia.

Hunter Renfroe sparked the lone offensive output of the night with a leadoff double in the fifth, marking his fifth consecutive game with an extra-base hit. Danny Santana advanced Renfroe to third on a single moments later, and it appeared as though the Sox were ready to pounce.

Christian Vazquez failed to advance either runner by popping out to the infield, Marwin Gonzalez plated Renfroe on an RBI groundout, and Enrique Hernandez also popped out to extinguish the threat.

From there, an Alex Verdugo leadoff single and Vazquez two-out single in the seventh went for naught as Garcia made it through seven complete innings for the first time in his young career.

The Astros bullpen took over in relief of Garcia and preserved the one-run effort by tossing a pair of scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Valdez

Wednesday’s starting pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Astros will feature a pair of right-hander and a left-hander, with righty Nick Pivetta getting the ball for Boston and southpaw Framber Valdez doing the same for Houston.

Pivetta will look to play the role as the stopper with the Sox looking to halt a two-game skid and get back in the win column.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Garrett Richards: Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Hunter Renfroe crushes seventh home run of season to put finishing touches on strong month of May; ‘When he’s locked in, it’s fun to watch,’ Alex Cora says

While the Red Sox found themselves on the wrong side of an 11-2 blowout against the Astros to close out their month of May, Hunter Renfroe at least ended his month on a solid note at Minute Maid Park on Monday evening.

Batting out of the nine-hole, Renfroe went 2-for-3 with a double (his 10th of the year), a home run (his seventh of the year) and one RBI (his 23rd of the year) while scoring his side’s only two runs of the contest.

The homer the 29-year-old hit came when this ballgame was already out of reach in the eighth inning, but it was still one that traveled 419 feet to deep left-center field and had an exit velocity of 108.4 mph off the bat on a hanging slider from Astros reliever Nivaldo Rodriguez.

It’s fitting that Renfroe would end his month the same way he began it: by going deep at a Texas ballpark. He mashed his second big fly of the year against the Rangers at Globe Life Field back on May 1.

Prior to the calendar flipping to May, the right-handed slugger was carrying with him a .167/.235/.250 slash line over his first 19 games with the Red Sox.

Since May 1, however, Renfroe has flipped the switch and completely turned things around for himself in regards to offensive production. The defensive production was already there.

Including Monday’s 2-for-3-showing in Houston, Renfroe posted an impressive .319/.333/.604 slash line to go along with eight doubles, six homers, and 15 RBI over 24 games (93 plate appearances) in May.

As noted by The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier, the Mississippi native is currently riding a four-game hitting streak in which he is batting .692 (9-for-13) with two homers and five doubles.

“It started in Texas, right? When he hit that big home run and hit some balls the other way,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said when reflecting on Renfroe’s solid month of work. “He’s made some adjustments. He’s actually been more disciplined, although he’s not walking that much, but he’s controlling the at-bat.

“This guy, he’s a gamer,” added Cora. “We know what he brings to the equation defensively. But when he’s locked in, it’s fun to watch. He crushed that ball. Besides the home run, he’s controlling his at-bats. We’re very pleased with where he’s at offensively right now.

With what he did in May in his back pocket, Renfroe will come into the month of June having raised his line on the season to a more respectable .258/.292/.464. He currently ranks fourth on the team in doubles and home runs and fifth in RBI.

Defensively, Renfroe has been just as advertised and then some. The 6-foot-1, 228 pound outfielder came into play Monday tied for the second-most outfield assists in the majors (5) while putting up +4 defensive runs saved and an UZR/150 (ultimate zone rating per 150 games) of 22.9.

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)