Tag: jd martinez

Hunter Renfroe leads the way with 2 homers as Red Sox hold on to defeat Twins, 11-9

Despite getting out-hit 14-11, the Red Sox were able to hold on to a series-opening, 11-9 victory over the Twins at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Tanner Houck, just recalled from Triple-A Worcester earlier in the day, made his eighth start (10th overall appearance) of the season for the Sox, and he was not particularly sharp.

Over 4 2/3 innings of work, Houck allowed three runs — all of which were earned — on eight hits, one walk, and one hit batsman to go along with six strikeouts on the evening.

The Twins got to the right-hander right away on Tuesday, as he served up a leadoff triple to Max Kepler to begin things in the top half of the first that was quickly followed by a one-out RBI single off the bat of Jorge Polanco to put the Sox in an early 1-0 hole.

Houck was, however, able to settle in by keeping Minnesota off the board in the second and third innings, and the Boston bats rewarded him for that in their half of the third.

Matched up against Minnesota starter Griffin Jax, Travis Shaw picked up where he left off on Monday and belted a leadoff home run 413 feet into the bleachers, marking his second straight homer in as many swings of the bat.

Shaw’s solo shot pulled the Sox back even at one run apiece, but the Twins countered by getting to Houck for two more runs in the fourth, with Luis Arraez and Nick Gordon each reaching base and Miguel Sano driving both runners in on a two-run single back up the middle.

That put the Twins back up by two runs at 3-1, though the Red Sox did not let their second deficit last all that long with Rafael Devers drawing a leadoff walk and Alex Verdugo ripping a one-out double to left field to put a pair of runners in scoring position for Hunter Renfroe.

Renfroe got his productive day at the plate started by taking a hanging, 83 mph slider from Jax and depositing it 374 feet over the Green Monster for his first of two home runs on the night.

Even with Renfroe giving the Sox a 4-3 advantage with his three-run blast, Houck ran into a bit more trouble in the fifth when he plunked the first man he faced in Brent Rooker and allowed him to advance up to second base on a wild pitch.

After punching out Polanco and getting Josh Donaldson to pop out to third base, Houck’s outing came to an unceremonious end as he got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 90 (54 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler did not factor into Tuesday’s decision, though he did raise his ERA on the season to 3.43.

In relief of Houck, Cora turned to Josh Taylor out of the Boston bullpen, and the left-hander — who ultimately earned his first win of the year — did his job by getting Arraez to ground out to second base to end the inning.

At the halfway point, the Red Sox were in possession of a 4-3 lead. With Jax still on the mound for the Twins, they made sure to pad said lead in the bottom of the fifth.

Enrique Hernandez, celebrating his 30th birthday on Tuesday, led off with a single and moved up to second base on a Minnesota fielding error.

Jax quickly recorded the first two outs of the frame, but Devers kept the rally alive by lacing a ground-rule, RBI double into the right field seats that brought in Hernandez from third to make it a 5-3 contest.

J.D. Martinez followed by drawing another walk, though he was quickly brought in on yet another double from Verdugo, which brought Renfroe to the plate in a prime run scoring spot.

On the fifth pitch he saw from Jax, another hanging slider, Renfroe took full advantage of that opportunity by crushing his second home run of the night — and 25th of the season — 420 feet over everything in left-center field.

Renfroe’s league-leading 10th homer in the month of August alone gave his side a commanding 9-3 lead, and at that point, it looked like the Sox were going to run away with another lopsided win over a last-place team.

That did not turn out to be the case, however, as Martin Perez struggled mightily in his relief appearance. After allowing one run on one hit and an RBI groundout in the top of the sixth, the lefty got rocked for two more runs in the seventh when he served up a two-run shot to Polanco.

Hirokazu Sawamura, working in relief of Perez, did not fare much better, as he walked one, gave up a single to another, and misdirected a wild pitch that allowed both runners to advance into scoring position with one out.

After fanning Mitch Garver, it appeared as though Sawamura was out of trouble when he got Nick Gordon to swing at a 93 mph splitter in the dirt.

Gordon, however, was able to just barely foul off the pitch to keep his at-bat alive, and he followed by lining a two-out, two-strike, and two-run single back up the middle to pull the Twins back to within one at 9-8.

Adam Ottavino, working in relief of Sawamura in the eighth, worked his way around a Jake Cave leadoff single (with the help of Christian Vazquez gunning Cave down at second base) and a two-out walk of Rooker in an otherwise clean inning.

Looking to add some insurance in their half of the eighth, the Red Sox offense got just that from Hernandez, who truly celebrated his birthday in style by following up a Vazquez leadoff single and clubbing a towering two-run shot over the Monster off Twins reliever Caleb Thielbar.

Hernandez’s 16th home run of the year, which traveled 425 feet and left his bat at 108.6 mph, put the Sox ahead 11-8, which would prove extremely beneficial a half inning later with Matt Barnes on the hill in the ninth.

To put it simply, Barnes’ August woes continued, as the Boston closer served up a leadoff homer to Donaldson before walking two straight to bring the go-ahead run to the plate — all without recording a single out in the inning.

That ugly sequence resulted in Cora turning to Hansel Robles, who promptly saved the day — literally — in the process of punching out two and recording the third and final out when he got Cave to line out to end the game.

By securing the 11-9 victory for his side, Robles was able to notch his 11th save of the year (and first with the Red Sox) while also topping out at 99.4 mph with his high-octane four-seam fastball.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 72-55 on the season to increase their lead over the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot to two full games.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Ober

The Red Sox will go for the series win over the Twins and look to extend their winning streak to three consecutive games on Wednesday night.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta will look to bounce back as he gets the start for Boston, while fellow righty Bailey Ober will do the same for Minnesota.

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

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox commit season-high 5 errors in ugly 10-1 loss to Rangers

On a day where the two teams ahead of them and the one team directly behind them in the American League East standings all won their respective games, a sloppy Red Sox team came out absolutely flat in a blowout 10-1 loss at the hands of the Rangers at Fenway Park on Saturday night.

After Chris Sale guided them to their 70th win of the season on Friday, Eduardo Rodriguez was unable to get the job done for the Sox in the middle game of this three-game weekend series.

In what was his 24th start of the year for Boston, Rodriguez allowed five runs — all of which were earned — on eight hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts over just 3 2/3 innings of work.

Following a scoreless top half of the first, Rodriguez ran into some trouble in the top of the second when he issued a leadoff double to Nathaniel Lowe that was followed by a seven-pitch walk of Yohel Pozo.

Nick Solak plated one of those two runners by drilling an RBI single through a vacant right side of the infield, and after Andy Ibanez and Jose Trevino flew out, old friend Brock Holt drove in the other on an RBI single back up the middle.

Alex Verdugo had the opportunity to gun down that runner — Pozo — at home plate, but Christian Vazquez appeared to lose his balance while going for the tag and that allowed Pozo to cross home safely on a feet-first slide.

The Sox went down 2-0 on Vazquez’s miscue, but had the opportunity to get something back in their half of the second when J.D. Martinez ripped a one-out single off Rangers starter Jordan Lyles.

Martinez promptly moved up to second base on a two-out walk drawn by Hunter Renfroe and attempted to score on a single to right field off the bat of Vazquez, but was instead thrown out at home by rookie sensation Adolis Garcia for the final out of the inning.

Despite blowing that chance, Boston did get on the board in the bottom of the third, with Enrique Hernandez following up a Bobby Dalbec leadoff double by lacing an RBI single to right field to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

Rafael Devers nearly came through with the Sox’ third straight hit to lead off the third when he tattooed a 105.3 mph line drive to dead center field.

Rather than come up with extra-bases, though, Devers instead flew out to D.J. Peters, as the Rangers center fielder made an incredible leaping grab at the base of the center field wall before doubling up Hernandez on a rocket of a throw back to first base.

That sequence of defensive brilliance killed Boston’s rally before it really even happened, and the Texas offense built off that momentum by getting to Rodriguez for good in the fourth.

There, with two outs and a runner at second, Holt hit a comebacker back in the direction of Rodriguez, but it was one that deflected off the veteran left-hander’s left field, rolled softly into shallow right field, and allowed Ibanez to score from second.

Holt, meanwhile, moved all the way up to third base on a throwing error committed by Hernandez, and he, too, scored on an RBI double from Isiah Kiner-Filefa that marked the end of the line for Rodriguez in what had become a 4-1 game.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 68 (47 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler ultimately fell to 9-7 on the season while seeing his ERA on the season rise to 5.19 after one of the runners he left on came into score.

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he officially closed the book on the lefty’s night by allowing that aforementioned inherited runner — Kiner-Filefa — to cross the plate on an RBI single from Garcia as well as a throwing error by Xander Bogaerts.

From there, Garrett Richards yielded another run back-to-back one-out doubles in the fifth, Hansel Robles tossed a scoreless sixth inning, Adam Ottavino did the same in the seventh inning, Martin Perez got shelled for four more runs in the eighth, although only two of those runs were earned on account of a pair of errors committed by Devers and Renfroe.

Austin Davis, on the other hand, kept the Rangers off the board in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, though by then it was too little, too late.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was unable to really get anything going against Lyles after pushing across a run in the third inning.

That lone run would prove to be the only offense of the night for the home side, as Lyles and two Rangers relievers combined to hurl nine innings of one-run ball while the Red Sox — despite going 2-for-4 with runners in scoring position — left five men on base as a team.

Speaking of the No. 5, the Sox committed as many errors on Saturday night as they recorded hits (5), so that is certainly not encouraging coming from a team with postseason aspirations.

With the 10-1 defeat, the Red Sox fall to 70-55 on the season and drop to 6 1/2 games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East, though they remain 1/2 game back of the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Allard

For how poorly they played on Saturday, the Red Sox still have the chance to go for the series win over the last-place Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for Boston in Sunday’s series finale, while left-hander Kolby Allard will do the same for Texas.

First pitch Sunday (weather permitting) is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Chris Sale tosses 5 scoreless innings in second start back as Red Sox blank Rangers, 6-0, to snap 3-game skid

The Red Sox remain unbeaten in games started by Chris Sale in 2021, as they took care of business in the first of a three-game set against the Rangers at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Boston came out on top over Texas by a final score of 6-0, with Sale leading the way by putting together his second straight solid outing after returning to the major-league mound for the first time in nearly two years last Saturday.

Sale, in what was his second start of the season for the Sox, kept the Rangers off the scoreboard while scattering just five hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts over his five innings of work.

Granted, he was going up against one of the worst lineups in the American League, but the veteran left-hander still strung together five scoreless frames despite dealing with his fair share of traffic on the base paths.

In the top of the first, Sale gave up a one-out double to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but followed that with two straight strikeouts to get out of the inning. In the top of the second, he issued a one-out walk and single to Yohel Pozo and Yonny Hernandez, but countered that by getting a strikeout and flyout to retire the side. In the top of the fourth, he yielded back-to-back one-out base hits to Jonah Heim and Pozo that put runners on the corners, but that runner on third was stranded there.

That being the case because Sale got Hernandez to bunt into a force out at second base before getting Jason Martin to fly out to left field to end things in the fourth. He then maneuvered his way around a leadoff single in the fifth and capped off his night by sitting down the final two batters he faced in order thanks to a nifty 6-4-3 double play on a Brock Holt grounder.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 71 (49 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler ultimately earned his second winning decision of the season while lowering his ERA to 1.80.

While Sale was in the process of weaving his way through the Rangers lineup, the Red Sox lineup was able to wake up to some degree after a sleepy series in the Bronx earlier this week.

Matched up against rookie right-hander Dane Dunning, the Boston bats got things started right away in their half of the first, and Enrique Hernandez proved to be the catalyst for that with a leadoff double.

After advancing up to third base on a passed ball, Hernandez came into score on an RBI single off the bat of Xander Bogaerts, who kicked off his productive night at the plate by giving his side an early 1-0 lead.

Christian Vazquez followed suit in the second, as he, too, ripped a leadoff double to right field, moved up to third on a Jarren Duran groundout, and was plated on a sharp line-drive RBI single from Hernandez to double Boston’s advantage to 2-0.

Fast forward to the fifth, right after Sale’s outing had come to a close, and the Red Sox did most of their damage off Dunning — all with two outs in the inning.

Following outs from Hernandez and Rafael Devers, Bogaerts drilled an 0-1, 84 mph changeup down the heart of the plate 371 feet down the left field line and over the Green Monster for his 20th home run of the season.

Kyle Schwarber followed by drawing a seven-pitch walk, while J.D. Martinez put runners at second and third for Alex Verdugo by lacing a two-out double to left field.

Verdugo took full advantage of that, as he tattooed a two-run double 101 mph off the Green Monster off the very first pitch he saw from Dunning.

That piece of impressive hitting gave the Sox a commanding 5-0 lead, though Hernandez tacked on one more to that an inning later when he plated Duran from third on another run-scoring groundout to make it a 6-0 contest.

Red Sox bullpen takes over for Sale

In relief of Sale, Hansel Robles got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to begin things in the top half of the sixth, and he worked his way around a leadoff walk by sitting down the next three batters he faced in consecutive order.

From there, after Hernandez provided some insurance and made it a 6-0 game, Austin Davis tossed a scoreless seventh inning with some defensive help from Devers and Bogaerts, Hirokazu Sawamura punched out two in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, and Matt Barnes — in a nonsave situation — shut the door on the Rangers in the ninth.

It was Barnes’ first relief appearance since last Sunday, and it was one in which he struck out the side en route to securing a 6-0 shutout victory for the Sox.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 70-54 on the season to snap a three-game skid. They are — at the moment — six games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East and tied with the Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Some assorted offensive notes from Friday’s win:

Enrique Hernandez went 2-for-5 with a double, one run scored, two RBI out of the leadoff spot.

Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI out of the No. 3 spot.

Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored out of the cleanup spot.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Lyles

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the hill on Saturday night as they go for the series victory over the Rangers.

The Rangers, in turn, will counter with veteran right-hander Jordan Lyles as they look to even things up.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta lasts just 1 2/3 innings as Red Sox get swept by Yankees after comeback attempt falls short in 5-2 loss

Nick Pivetta’s introduction to the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night certainly did not go as planned in what would turn out to be his shortest outing of the year.

In what was his first career start against the Yankees as a member of the Red Sox, Pivetta got rocked for four runs — all of which were earned — on four hits and three walks to go along with one strikeout over just 1 2/3 innings of work.

Boston ultimately fell to New York by a final score of 5-2, as they were unable to avoid getting swept in three games by their division rivals in Wednesday’s series finale.

While the Sox’ offensive woes continued to drag on, the visitors actually struck first right away in their half of the first inning.

Matched up against Yankees left-hander Andrew Heaney, who came into the day having posted a 9.00 ERA through his first three starts with New York, Xander Bogaerts got the scoring started by crushing a two-out, 379-foot solo shot to the second deck in left field.

Bogaerts’ 19th home run of the season gave Boston the early 1-0 lead, but Pivetta ran into quite a bit of trouble in the second inning after retiring three of the first four batters he faced in the first.

There, the right-hander issued a leadoff single to Giancarlo Stanton that was followed by a seven-pitch walk of Rougned Odor. Gary Sanchez then lifted a softly-hit fly ball to shallow right field, but it was one that was just out of the reach of right fielder J.D. Martinez.

Odor, who initially retreated back to first base after he initially thought Martinez had made the tough catch, managed to advance to second, loading the bases with no outs for Brett Gardner.

Gardner drove in the tying run — Stanton — from third on a sacrifice fly to center field before New York’s No. 9 hitter, Andrew Velazquez, plated the go-ahead run on an RBI single through the right side of the infield.

That gave the Yankees their first lead of the night at 2-1, and after he stole second base and Rafael Devers made a fantastic play at third for the second out of the inning, Anthony Rizzo delivered with the back-breaker.

Just activated from the COVID-19 related injured list, Rizzo — down in the count at 0-2 — laced a line drive off Pivetta that deflected off the glove of Bobby Dalbec and rolled into foul territory in right field.

Rizzo’s base hit pushed across both Sanchez and Velazquez to make it a 4-1 contest, and it promptly marked the end of the line for Pivetta after he walked Stanton and got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 57 (36 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler wound up getting hit with his sixth loss of the season while seeing his ERA on the year inflate to 4.43.

The Red Sox bullpen, to its credit, was fairly effective in relief of Pivetta, as Garrett Richards, Martin Perez, and Adam Ottavino combined to toss 5 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball before Josh Taylor surrendered a run on two hits in the bottom of the eighth.

Still, just because the bullpen held the opposition at five runs to keep things relatively close at 5-1, that does not mean the offense was able to take advantage.

After Bogaerts got the Red Sox on the board with his solo home run in the first inning, Heaney countered by putting together his best outing in Pinstripes to date by allowing a total of one out and two walks the rest of the way.

From the start of the second inning through the middle of the seventh, the Sox did not send more than four batters to the plate, though they did have scarce opportunities to score more than one run.

In the top of the fourth, Bogaerts reached base on a fielder’s choice, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and moved up to third on a Devers groundout, but was stranded there by Heaney when Martinez grounded out to end the inning.

In both the fifth and sixth innings, Boston led things off with a runner reaching base, though neither made it further than second on account of a flyout, a lineout, pop out, fly out, and 5-4-3 double play.

So, Heaney capped off his stellar night by retiring all the final five Red Sox hitters he faced to make way for the Yankees bullpen to take over in the eighth.

Fellow lefty Zack Britton followed suit by tossing a perfect frame in that eighth inning, but closer Aroldis Chapman certainly made things interesting in the ninth.

On a 2-1, 97 mph heater on the inner half of the plate, Renfroe turned a 5-1 game into a 5-2 game by sending his 22nd home run of the season 456 feet to deep right field.

A one-out walk from Bogaerts and two-out single off the bat of Martinez brought the tying run to the plate in Kevin Plawecki, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone countered by going back into his bullpen.

Matched up against Lucas Luetge now, Plawecki worked a full count and on the eighth pitch he saw from the lefty, ripped a grounder to the left side of the infield.

It took a Herculean effort from the shortstop in Velazquez, but the Bronx native was able to make a sprawling grab and get to his feet in time to gun down Plawecki at first for the final out of the contest.

That in turn, secured a 5-2 victory for the Yankees and 5-2 defeat for the Red Sox as they wind up getting swept out of Yankee Stadium.

With the loss, Boston falls to 69-54 and they are now six full games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Off day on Thursday, then a weekend series against the Rangers

The Red Sox will travel back to Boston on Wednesday night, enjoy an off day on Thursday, and welcome the lowly Rangers into town for the start of a three-game weekend series at Fenway Park on Friday.

Left-hander Chris Sale will make his second start of the season for Boston in Friday’s series opener, while Texas will turn to right-hander Dane Dunning.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Red Sox can’t avoid doubleheader sweep as bats go down quietly in 2-0 loss to Yankees in Game 2 of twin bill

After coming up short in their comeback attempt earlier in the day, the Red Sox were once again held in check by the Yankees on Tuesday night, as they dropped the seven-inning nightcap of their doubleheader against their division rivals by a final score of 2-0 at Yankee Stadium.

Nathan Eovaldi, making his 24th start of the season for the Sox, did his part in keeping this one close, though it turned out to be not enough in the end.

Over five solid innings of work, Eovaldi allowed just two runs — both of which were earned — on seven hits and six walks to go along with six strikeouts on the night against his former team.

Both runs the veteran right-hander surrendered came by way of the home run ball, and they both proved to be very costly considering the fact that the Boston bats were kept quiet by New York pitching.

After tossing a scoreless first inning and recording the first two outs of the bottom of the second, Eovaldi served up a solo shot to Luke Voit on a first-pitch, 98 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate.

Following a third inning in which he kept the Yankees off the board despite putting two runners on, Eovaldi ran into some more trouble to begin things in the fourth, this time yielding a booming 441-foot solo homer to Giancarlo Stanton.

Stanton’s 19th home run of the season, which came off an 0-2, 80 mph curveball at the bottom of the strike zone, gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

In the moments after getting taken deep a second time, Eovaldi again dealt with traffic on the base paths, but managed to escape the fourth inning and strike out one while stranding a runner in the fifth to end his outing on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 83 (57 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler was ultimately hit with his eighth loss of the season while lowering his ERA on the year down to 3.91.

In relief of Eovaldi, left-hander Martin Perez got the first call out of the Boston bullpen in the sixth and got the first two outs of the inning before issuing a two-out single to Tyler Wade that resulted in Hirokazu Sawamura coming on.

Sawamura recorded the final out of the frame by getting Kyle Higashioka to fly out to right field, thus keeping his side’s deficit at two runs.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a rookie starter in the form of Yankees right-hander Luis Gil.

Gil, facing off against the Sox for the first time in his young career, was effective in what was just his third start of the 2021 season.

The Boston bats certainly had their chances to get to Gil throughout his 4 2/3 innings of work, but were simply unable to do so.

For instance, with no outs in the top of the second inning, the Sox had two runners — J.D. Martinez and Kyle Schwarber — on base following a single and walk, but neither Kevil Plawecki, Jarren Duran, or Travis Shaw made any progress from there since all three struck out to retire the side.

An inning later, Alex Verdugo drew a one-out walk off Gil and promptly took second base on a passed ball, but was left stranded at third base after a Xander Bogaerts ground out and Rafael Devers line out.

Fast forward to the fifth, and Duran led the frame off with a softly-hit single before advancing all the way to third on a one-out base hit off the bat of Enrique Hernandez.

Verdugo then proceeded to lift a fly ball 272 feet that was ultimately caught by Yankees left fielder Joey Gallo, but the speedy Duran opted to remain at third base as opposed to darting towards home plate.

That decision looked like it was going to pay off when Bogaerts drew a four-pitch walk to fill the bases and knock Gil out of this contest, but Yankees reliever Wandy Peralta won the forthcoming left-on-left matchup by getting Devers to hit into an inning-ending force out.

The top of the sixth presented another scoring opportunity when Plawecki reached base with one out and Hunter Renfroe ripped a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corners with two outs.

Bobby Dalbec (who was pinch-hitting for Shaw), however, grounded out to Peralta by lacing a liner that just so happened to deflect off the left-hander, which allowed him to get the out at first base to retire the side.

And in the seventh, recently-named Yankees closer Chad Green retired Boston’s Nos. 1, 2, 3 hitters (Hernandez, Verdugo, Bogaerts) in consecutive order to seal the 2-0 shutout victory for his side and the 2-0 shutout defeat for the Sox.

All in all, Boston hitters went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position while leaving nine runners on base as a team on Tuesday night.

With the loss, not only did the Red Sox manage to get swept by the Yankees in Tuesday’s doubleheader, but they also fell to 69-53 on the season as well as third place in the American League East going off percentage points.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Heaney

The Red Sox will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound as they look to salvage this three-game series with a win in the finale on Wednesday night.

The Yankees will counter with left-hander Andrew Heaney, who they acquired in a trade with the Angels ahead of last month’s trade deadline.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

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

J.D. Martinez homers in second straight game as Red Sox finish off sweep of Orioles with 6-2 win; Kyle Schwarber records first 2 hits with Boston

The Red Sox capped off one of the more memorable weekends of the 2021 season by finishing off a three-game sweep of the Orioles with a 6-2 victory at Fenway on Park on Sunday.

Eduardo Rodriguez, making his 23rd start of the year for the Sox, put together yet another solid outing, as he has done since the calendars flipped to August.

Over six innings of work against his former team, the left-hander surrendered just one unearned run while scattering three hits and three walks to go along with six strikeouts on the afternoon.

The lone Rodriguez gave up came right away in the top half of the first after he issued a one-out walk to Austin Hays that was followed by a Trey Mancini single.

Anthony Santander ripped a single to left field of his own that should have just loaded the bases, but a poor throw from J.D. Martinez allowed Hays to score all the way from second to give his side the early 1-0 lead.

Martinez’s throwing error also put a runner at third base, but Rodriguez was able to escape the jam by recording back-to-back punchouts.

Despite falling behind by a run before even taking their first at-bats, the Sox lineup was undeterred, as they were matched up against Orioles starter Keegan Akin, who came into play Sunday the owner of a 8.23 ERA on the season.

With that favorable matchup in mind, Martinez did not waste any time in making up for his defensive miscue, as he came to the plate for the first time with two outs in the first and two runners on.

On the fourth pitch he saw from Akin, a 2-1, 86 mph slider on the outer half of the plate, Martinez clobbered a three-run home run 396 feet over the Green Monster and off the National Car Rental sign to give Boston their first lead of the day at 3-1.

While Martinez’s 23rd homer of the season looked like it would set the tone for another explosive day from the Red Sox offense, they actually did not get on the board again until their half of the sixth.

Between the time the Sox scored their first and last runs of the afternoon, Rodriguez was in the midst of stringing together five consecutive scoreless frames after he got pushed around a bit in the top half of the first.

From the beginning of the second inning through the middle of the sixth, the point in which his outing came to a close, Rodriguez retired 14 of the final 17 Orioles hitters he faced to end his day on an extremely encouraging note.

Though he certainly would have liked to have pitched beyond the sixth inning, the 28-year-old hurler did finish with a final pitch count of 83 — 55 of which were strikes.

In completing six quality frames, Rodriguez was able to pick up his ninth winning decision of the year while also lowering his ERA on the season down to 4.97.

Moments after Rodriguez’s outing had concluded, the Sox lineup picked things up again in their half of the sixth inning.

There, with old friend Fernando Abad on the mound for Baltimore, Kyle Schwarber made his impact felt by leading things off with a line-drive double to deep right field, marking his first hit in a Red Sox uniform and his first of two doubles on the day.

Back-to-back one-out walks drawn by Alex Verdugo and Christian Vazquez filled the bases for leadoff man Enrique Hernandez, who greeted new Orioles reliever Tanner Scott by lacing an RBI single that deflected off the leg of third base umpire Will Little and brought in Schwarber while also keeping the bases loaded.

Hunter Renfroe took advantage of that by drawing a bases-loaded walk to record an RBI while bringing in Verdugo from third, and Xander Bogaerts followed by beating out a double play on a ground ball that plated Vazquez, thus giving the Sox a commanding 6-1 lead.

From the top of the seventh inning on, the Red Sox bullpen took over in relief of Rodriguez, with Adam Ottavino getting the first call to action.

Making his first appearance out of the bullpen in exactly one week, Ottavino was clearly rusty, as he plunked the first batter he faced in Pedro Severino before throwing two wild pitches that allowed Severino to move all the way up to third base.

A one-out walk of Maikel Franco put runners at the corners for Jorge Mateo, who promptly laced a 105 mph off Ottavino’s left shoulder that scored Severino and would ultimately force the veteran righty to exit, as he was later diagnosed with a left shoulder contusion.

Garrett Whitlock, who was already warming up in the Boston bullpen, was forced to enter sooner than he may have expected, but he kept Baltimore at bay by stranding Mateo at first in the seventh and striking out the side in order in the eighth to hold the opposition at two runs.

That paved the way for Matt Barnes to enter in the ninth in a non-save situation, and despite allowing two of the five batters he faced to reach base, the Red Sox closer was able to shut the door on the Orioles to preserve the 6-2 victory for his side.

With the win, not only do the Sox finish off their first series sweep of at least three games since early July, but they also improve to 69-51 on the season and move to 3 games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: On to the Bronx

The Red Sox will board a flight to Newark Sunday evening and enjoy a well-deserved off day in New York on Monday before opening up a three-game, two-day series against the Yankees in a split doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon.

Right-handers Nathan Eovaldi and Tanner Houck are slated to start for Boston in Tuesday’s twin bill at Yankee Stadium, though the order in which the two will pitch has not yet been determined.

The Yankees, meanwhile, will go with right-hander Luis Gil for Game 1 and left-hander Jordan Montgomery for Game 2.

First pitch of the day cap on Tuesday is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network, while the night cap will begin at approximately 7:05 p.m. ET and also be broadcasted on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Rafael Devers: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Chris Sale strikes out 8 over 5 solid innings in triumphant return to mound as Red Sox cruise past Orioles, 16-2

The Red Sox certainly made sure to give Chris Sale plenty of run support in his return to the mound at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon, as they came away with a 15-2 blowout victory over the lowly Orioles to clinch their first series win in over two weeks.

Sale, making his first major-league start in over two years and first since undergoing Tommy John surgery last March, showed flashes of what makes him so special in his 2021 debut.

Over five solid innings of work, the ace left-hander yielded just two runs — both of which were earned — on six hits and zero walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

Both runs Sale surrendered came by way of the home run ball, as he served up pair of back-to-back solo shots to Austin Hays and Trey Mancini with two outs in the top half of the third after retiring eight of the first nine hitters he faced.

Still, even with that tough sequence that saw Baltimore net their first and only two runs of the day, Sale was able to settle in, as he got the final out of the third before working his way around some traffic in a scoreless fourth inning.

In his fifth and final frame, Sale issued a leadoff single to Richie Martin and another single to Austin Wynns that was hit to Hunter Renfroe in right field. Renfroe, however, put his arm strength on full display by gunning down Martin at third base for his league-leading 14th outfield assist of the season.

That turned a potential situation in which there would have been runners on the corners with no outs to a situation where there was one out and just one runner on first, and Sale took full advantage of that by fittingly sitting down the final two batters he faced — Hays and Mancini — to end his outing on an extremely encouraging note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (60 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler induced 16 total swings and misses while topping out at 96 mph and averaging 93.3 mph with his four-seam fastball.

Able to pick up his first win in his first start of the year, Sale is slated to pitch again against the Rangers back at Fenway Park next Friday.

While Sale was in the process of putting together his five impressive frames in his season debut, the Red Sox lineup was busy piling it on against Sale’s counterpart in Orioles starter Jorge Lopez.

Right from the jump, the Boston bats provided Sale with a sizable cushion by compiling four runs in their half of the first inning alone.

Enrique Hernandez kicked things off with a leadoff single, while Alex Verdugo got his productive day at the plate started with a single of his own. Lopez then drilled Xander Bogaerts on the wrist to load the bases having yet to record an out.

A wild pitch from Lopez allowed Hernandez to score easily from third for his side’s first run of the contest, and Rafael Devers followed by emptying the bases on a 424-foot three-run shot to right field that left his bat at a sizzling 107.7 mph.

Devers’ team-leading 29th home run of the year gave the Sox a commanding 4-0 lead early on, and they tacked on two more an inning later with Bogaerts and Verdugo each drilling run-scoring hits to make it a 6-0 contest.

Though Baltimore cut the deficit down to four with two runs of their own in their half of third, Boston got one of those runs back an inning later when Devers greeted newly-inserted reliever Paul Fry by lacing a bases-loaded RBI single to left field.

Going up 7-2 on Devers’ base knock, the Sox offense opted to double their run total to that point in their half of the fifth.

There, moments after Sale’s evening had come to a close, Renfroe led the inning off by drawing a leadoff walk off Orioles reliever Adam Plutko, though he did not remain on first base for long since Jarren Duran promptly brought him in on an RBI triple into the triangle in center field.

Another Red Sox rookie got in on the action a few moments later, as Bobby Dalbec stayed hot and crushed a two-run big fly 373 feet over the Green Monster.

Dalbec’s first of two home runs on the day added on to the Sox’ lead and also flipped the lineup back over for Hernandez, who drew another walk, moved up to third on a Verdugo single, and scored on an RBI single off the bat of Bogaerts.

After Devers struck out for the second out of the fifth, J.D. Martinez came through by depositing a three-run blast 424 feet to left-center field.

Martinez’s 22nd homer of the year put Boston up 14-2 and also capped off an explosive seven-run inning.

Dalbec’s second homer of the afternoon in the sixth and Renfroe’s first in the eighth (off Wynns, a catcher) gave the Red Sox a 16-2 lead.

At that point, Hirokazu Sawamura, Hansel Robles, and Austin Davis already provided three scoreless innings of relief out of the Red Sox bullpen to follow up Sale’s impressive performance, and Martin Perez closed things out by shutting the door on the O’s in the ninth to preserve the 16-2 victory for his side.

With the win, the Red Sox have now won two consecutive games for the first since July 25-26 to earn the series victory over the Orioles. They also improved to 68-51 on the season to move 4 1/2 games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Akin

The Red Sox will send left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound as they go for the three-game sweep over the Orioles on Sunday afternoon. The Orioles will counter with fellow southpaw Keegan Akin as they look to prevent that from happening.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)

Red Sox likely to option Tanner Houck to Triple-A Worcester; other roster moves appear to be on the horizon as well with returns of Chris Sale and Kyle Schwarber looming

The Red Sox are planning on optioning Tanner Houck to Triple-A Worcester, manager Alex Cora said following his team’s 8-1 loss to the Rays at Fenway Park on Thursday night.

Houck, who made his sixth start and eighth overall appearance for Boston in Thursday’s series finale, allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and zero walks to go along with eight strikeouts over five-plus innings of work.

While it seemed as though Houck had become a permanent member of the Sox’ starting rotation with Garrett Richards and Martin Perez being moved to the bullpen, the right-hander will actually come off Boston’s major-league roster for the time being beginning on Friday.

That being said, Houck should still make his next start for the Red Sox as scheduled, as the club has an off day on Monday and a doubleheader against the Yankees on Tuesday that will allow for some roster flexibility.

Because Tuesday will feature a doubleheader between Boston and New York, the Sox would be able to call up Houck as their 27th man for the twin bill and start him on regular rest in one of the two games at Yankee Stadium.

In the interim, the Red Sox can option the 25-year-old hurler down to Worcester and, in turn, gain an extra arm in the bullpen or position player on the bench.

“He’ll be with us soon,” Cora said of Houck Thursday night. “We still have some flexibility in the roster in the upcoming days. That’s something we — Chaim [Bloom] and the group — are going to talk about after we’re done with you guys. He’s still contributing. He’ll contribute again soon with us. Let’s put it that way.”

As things currently stand, the Sox’ 26-man major-league roster is obviously at full capacity. However, a potential roster shakeup could be on the horizon depending on the statuses of certain players who were/are away from the team for different reasons.

Alex Verdugo, who was placed on the paternity list on Sunday, arrived in Boston from Los Angeles on Thursday. If the 25-year-old clears the necessary COVID-19 protocols, the plan is for him to be activated ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Orioles, per Cora.

Christian Vazquez, who was placed on the bereavement list on Wednesday, is expected to return to the Red Sox on Saturday, according to Cora. It seems likely optioning Connor Wong to Worcester would be the corresponding move to get the veteran backstop back on the big-league roster.

Kyle Schwarber, meanwhile, was slated to kick off a rehab assignment in Worcester on Thursday, but the WooSox’ game against the Syracuse Mets was postponed due to inclement weather.

Thursday’s rained-out contest will be made up as part of a single admission doubleheader at Polar Park on Friday night, though it is no sure thing Schwarber will partake.

That being the case because earlier Thursday, Cora revealed that the 28-year-old slugger could make his Red Sox debut “sooner rather than later.”

The Sox acquired Schwarber, who has been on the injured list with a right hamstring since July 3, from the Washington Nationals in exchange for pitching prospect Aldo Ramirez on the eve of the trade deadline — July 29.

Since that time, Schwarber has been working his way back and — despite a minor setback on account of some groin tightness — has been getting work in at a relatively new position in first base.

Prior to injuring his hamstring last month, Schwarber appeared in 72 games for the Nationals, all of which came as a left fielder, which has essentially been his primary position throughout his major-league career.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, though, the Red Sox — in addition to using him at first base — also plan on using the 6-foot, 229 pounder in the outfield as well as at designated hitter, which would lead to J.D. Martinez getting more playing time in left field.

Taking all that into consideration, it would seem as though Franchy Cordero would be the odd man out in this scenario, as Schwarber can provide the Sox with the left-handed bat they need at first base while Schwarber, Martinez and Verdugo would figure to see the lion’s share of playing time in left field.

Cordero, who has minor-league options remaining, only solves part of the problem, though, as the Red Sox will have to make an even more significant move when it comes time to activate Chris Sale off the 60-day injured list ahead of his 2021 debut on Saturday.

Sale was placed on the 60-day IL back in February and was taken off Boston’s 40-man roster as a result. With the ace left-hander’s return to the mound drawing ever closer, the Sox will have to find a way to create a spot for him,

The same can be said about right-handed reliever Ryan Brasier, who was placed on the 60-day injured list because of a left calf strain in early May.

Like Schwarber, Brasier was slated to appear in Thursday night’s contest between the WooSox and Syracuse Mets while on a rehab assignment, but those plans have since changed.

It does not appear as if Braiser is in line to return and make his 2021 debut with the Red Sox this weekend like Sale is, but it is something the club will need to keep in mind nevertheless.

On top of Sale and Brasier nearing their returns from the 60-day injured lists, Matt Andriese, Darwnizon Hernandez, Christian Arroyo and Danny Santana are all on the 10-day injured list as well.

So, whether it be optioning someone like Cordero or Jonathan Arauz to Worcester to make room for someone who is already on the 40-man roster or designating a struggling veteran like Marwin Gonzalez to make room for someone who needs to be added to the 40-man roster, the Red Sox — led by chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom — could very well be on the verge of a major-league shakeup as they look to keep their postseason hopes alive down the final stretch of the season.

“We’ll talk about it,” Cora said of the possibility of the club making roster moves in the near future. “There’s certain parts of our roster that we have to be better. Overall, to win ballgames, it takes 26 guys. And not everybody’s playing well, not everybody’s contributing the way they’re capable of. So, we’ll talk about it.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of stuff going on this weekend and next week with the IL, Alex [Verdugo] coming back, Christian [Vazquez] coming back on Saturday,” added Cora. “So, that’s something we’ll talk about as a group and we’ll go from there.”

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox muster just 2 hits in sleepy 8-1 loss to Rays

With the chance to take a crucial series from the team that is ahead of them in the American League East standings, the Red Sox fell flat on their face in Thursday’s finale against the Rays at Fenway Park.

After going off for a season-high 20 runs on Wednesday, Boston fell quietly to Tampa Bay by a final score of 8-1 on Thursday, marking yet another series loss and their 11th defeat in their last 14 games.

Tanner Houck, making his sixth start of the year for the Sox after being recalled from Triple-A Worcester earlier in the day, got off to a strong start but sputtered towards the end of his outing.

Over five-plus innings of work, the right-hander surrendered four runs — three of which were earned — on six hits and zero walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

Making his first-ever start against the Rays, Houck retired six of the first seven hitters he faced out of the gate.

A leadoff single to Kevin Kiermaier to begin things in the third, however, changed things, as Kiermaier took off for second base on a strikeout of Mike Zunino and also advanced to third base on a throwing error committed by Kevin Plawecki behind the plate.

That miscue proved to be somewhat costly for the Sox, as Brandon Lowe proceeded to bring in Kiermaier from third on a sacrifice fly for the first run of the day.

Still, Houck bounced back with a scoreless top half of the fourth and was rewarded for that in the bottom half of the frame, as the Red Sox lineup finally put something together.

There, matched up against Rays opener Drew Rasmussen, Enrique Hernandez led off the inning by drawing a six-pitch walk. Neither Jarren Duran nor Xander Bogaerts were able to advance Hernandez into scoring position, but Rafael Devers came through with a two-out RBI double to score the runner all the way from first to even things up at one run apiece.

J.D. Martinez had the opportunity to perhaps drive in Devers with a run-scoring hit of his own, but instead grounded out weakly to third base to end the inning.

Houck, meanwhile, put together another solid effort in the fifth by punching out the side, though his luck ran out in the sixth. That being the case because the Rays lineup was about to flip over a third time, and the young righty has typically struggled when facing off against opposing hitters a third time.

That much proved to be true in the sixth inning on Thursday, as Houck issued a leadoff walk to Brandon Lowe before serving up a back-breaking two-run home run to Wander Franco moments later.

Franco’s homer, which had to be reviewed because of where it deflected off the Green Monster, gave the Rays a 3-1 lead and was followed by a hard-hit double from Nelson Cruz, which subsequently marked the end of the line for Houck as he got the hook from Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (61 strikes), the 25-year-old hurler was ultimately hit with his third losing decision of the year while also seeing his ERA on the season rise to 2.93.

In relief of Houck, left-hander Josh Taylor got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and he recorded the first two outs of the sixth before intentionally walking Yandy Diaz to pave the way for Hansel Robles to come into the game.

Robles, making his Fenway Park debut, walked the pinch-hitting Manuel Margot on five pitches to fill the bases, then balked in a run that allowed Cruz to score from third, making it a 4-1 contest.

Robles, who officially closed the book on Houck’s outing by allowing that inherited runner to score, was able to get out of the sixth without giving anything else up, but the damage had already been done.

From there, Robles and Austin Davis combined to toss a scoreless seventh inning, though Davis yielded a leadoff triple to Joey Wendle — that was followed by an intentional walk of Diaz — to begin things in the eighth.

Yacksel Rios was dispatched with the idea of limiting any damage and holding the Rays at four runs, but he instead gave up a sacrifice fly to Margot before putting another runner on and surrendering a three-run blast to Zunino.

Zunino’s 23rd homer of the year put the Rays up 8-1, which would go on to be Thursday’s final score after Rios kept Tampa Bay off the board in the top half of the ninth and the Boston bats went down quietly in their halves of the eighth and ninth inning.

All that being said, five different Rays pitchers were able to hold the Red Sox to just one run on two hits and three walks, all of which were drawn by Hernandez. Boston also went 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position while leaving three runners on base as a team.

With the loss, the Red Sox fall to 66-51 on the season and drop back down to five games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Watkins to kick off the weekend

The reeling Red Sox will next welcome the Orioles into town for a three-game weekend series at Fenway Park that begins on Friday night.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta is slated to get the ball for Boston in the opener, while fellow righty Spencer Watkins is expected to do the same for Baltimore.

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

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox break out for season-highs in runs and hits in 20-8 thrashing of Rays; Nathan Eovaldi allows just 1 run over 7 strong innings

After falling victim to some mild heartbreak recently, the Red Sox let out their frustrations in a 20-8 romping of the Rays at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

Matched up against Rays starter Josh Fleming to begin things on Wednesday, the top third of the Sox lineup set the tone right out of the gate, with Enrique Hernandez, Hunter Renfroe, and Xander Bogaerts each doubling off the left-hander to give their side an early 2-0 lead.

J.D. Martinez followed suit and got his exceptional night at the plate started with an RBI single that brought in Bogaerts and made it a 3-0 contest after just one inning.

In the second, it was the bottom and top of the Boston lineup that got the job done against Fleming, as Bobby Dalbec drew a one-out walk, advanced up to third on a two-out double from Hernandez, and both runners scored on another two-run double off the bat of Renfroe. 5-0.

Despite going down relatively quietly in the third, the Boston bats matched that five-run total in their half of the fourth inning alone. Hernandez led off with a single, moved up to single on a walk drawn by Renfroe, and crossed the plate on a Rafael Devers run-scoring single.

Fleming proceeded to intentionally walk Martinez to fill the bases with one out, but followed that up by unintentionally walking Kevin Plawecki to bring in yet another run. Marwin Gonzalez and Dalbec each lifted softly-hit singles to shallow right field to push across three additional runs, thus giving the Sox a commanding 10-0 lead.

An inning later, with reliever Dietrich Enns in for the Rays, the Red Sox padded that lead even further on an RBI single from Martinez that was followed by a three-run triple off the bat of Dalbec, making it a 14-0 contest.

With that sizable of a cushion to work with, Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi was easily able to find a groove in what was his 23rd start of the season.

Over seven dominating innings of work against his former team, Eovaldi allowed just one earned run while scattering just three hits and one walk to go along with 10 strikeouts to tie a season-high in that category.

After retiring 16 of the first 18 batters he faced Wednesday, the lone run the veteran right-hander surrendered came when he served up a solo home run to Brandon Lowe with one out in the top of the sixth.

That cut the Sox’ deficit down to 13 runs at 14-1, but Eovaldi was able to recover nicely by sitting down five of the final six Rays hitters he faced going into the middle of the seventh — the point in which his evening came to a masterful close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 97 (69 strikes), the 31-year-old hurler ultimately earned his 10th winning decision of the year while lowering his ERA down to 3.92.

In relief of Eovaldi, Yacksel Rios got the first call out of the Sox bullpen and retired the side in order in the eighth.

From there, the Boston offense took advantage of the fact that the Rays had a position player — catcher Francisco Mejia — pitching for them in the bottom half of the inning.

After Dalbec was plunked by a 40 mph curveball, Jarren Duran put runners on the corners with a single of his own.

Renfroe plated Dalbec with yet another RBI base hit, and Bogaerts brought in both Renfroe and Duran on a three-run blast (his 17th home run of the season) that left his bat at 105.5 mph and traveled 428 feet to center field.

That made it an 18-1 game, but the Sox were not done there, as the pinch-hitting Connor Wong collected an RBI of his own on his first career big-league triple and scored his side’s 20th and final run on a base knock from Gonzalez.

Despite being in possession of a 20-1 lead going into the ninth and final frame, Red Sox reliever Phillips Valdez made things somewhat interesting by getting rocked for seven runs on five hits in what was a low-leverage spot.

Still, even after serving up a pair of RBI singles to Wander Franco and Joey Wendle, a grand slam to Brett Phillips, and a solo home run to Mike Zunino, Valdez was ultimately able to hold on and secure a 20-8 victory for his side.

With the win, the Red Sox snap a two-game skid to improve to 66-50 on the season while also moving four games back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Some notes from this victory:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

From Red Sox Notes:

Next up: Houck vs. Rasmussen

The Red Sox will recall right-hander Tanner Houck from Triple-A Worcester and have him start the rubber match of this three-game series against the Rays on Thursday afternoon, manager Alex Cora said. A corresponding move will need to be made in order to add Houck to the major-league roster.

The Rays, meanwhile, will go with righty Drew Rasmussen in what looks to be a bullpen day for manager Kevin Cash’s club.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)