Tag: jd martinez

Red Sox go with right-handed heavy lineup for series finale against Robbie Ray, Blue Jays

After getting rained out on Tuesday, the Red Sox will look to complete a two-game sweep over the Blue Jays in Buffalo on Wednesday night, and they will do so with an extremely right-handed heavy starting lineup.

Boston will be matched up against Toronto left-hander Robbie Ray in Wednesday’s series finale, hence the reason for all the right-handed bats from Sox manager Alex Cora.

Ray, 29, will be making his 19th start of the season for the Jays at Sahlen Field on Wednesday. So far this year, the veteran southpaw has posted an impressive 2.31 ERA and 3.81 FIP to go along with 138 strikeouts to just 26 walks over 107 1/3 innings of work. That includes an outing against the Red Sox in which he yielded three runs on four hits, three walks, and 10 strikeouts in six innings at Fenway Park back on June 13.

In his first full season with the Blue Jays after coming over in a trade with the Diamondbacks last summer, Ray has been extremely tough against opposing left-handed hitters, as he has held them to a measly .165/.208/.308 slash line.

Against right-handed hitters, Ray has still been difficult, but not nearly to the same extent (.228/.280/.442), so it’s safe to assume those splits played a role in how Cora wrote out his lineup card ahead of Wednesday’s contest.

With that being said, Kiké Hernández will lead things off for the Red Sox, as he gets the start in center field. The switch-hitting Danny Santana will follow and flank Hernández in left field. Xander Bogaers, Rafael Devers, and J.D. Martinez comprise the 3-4-5 portion of Boston’s lineup, playing their usual positions, while Hunter Renfroe, Christian Vazquez, and Bobby Dalbec will do the same. Michael Chavis rounds things out as he will make his 13th start of the year at second base.

Devers represents the lone, pure left-handed hitter in this installment of the Red Sox lineup. Jarren Duran and Alex Verdugo, two more left-handed bats, will start this one out on the bench.

On the other side of things, right-hander Garrett Richards will oppose Ray and make his 19th start of the season for Boston.

First pitch between the 57-38 Red Sox and 48-43 Blue Jays is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Kiké Hernández : Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Jarren Duran hits first major-league homer, Kiké Hernández goes yard twice, and Hunter Renfroe mashes grand slam as Red Sox power their way to 13-4 win over Blue Jays

It turns out a lineup shakeup is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Red Sox on Monday night.

In the midst of a bit of an offensive malaise since coming out of the All-Star break, Sox manager Alex Cora changed things up with his lineup in dramatic fashion ahead of Monday’s series opener against the Blue Jays in Buffalo, and those changes proved to be quite beneficial right from the get-go.

That being the case since the Red Sox mashed six home runs in the process of cruising to a 13-4 victory over the Blue Jays at Sahlen Field.

Matched up against Toronto starter Ross Stripling, Kiké Hernández set the tone in the top of the first with a leadoff double.

Jarren Duran, inserted into the two-hole, followed by crushing his first career major-league home run — a two-run, 357-foot shot to left field that gave Boston an early 2-0 lead, but they were not done yet.

A Rafael Devers walk, J.D. Martinez double, and Alex Verdugo walk with one out brought Hunter Renfroe to the plate with the bases loaded, and the slugger obliged by unloading them on a 403-foot grand slam to left-center field. 6-0.

Stripling was given the hook after recording just one out, though Blue Jays reliever Anthony Kay did not fare much better, as he issued a two-out single to Kevin Plawecki before serving up a two-run blast to Hernández.

With Hernández, Duran, and Renfroe all going yard in the first, Monday marked the first time in franchise history that the Red Sox have ever hit three or more home runs in the first inning of a road game.

Hernández’s first of two big flies on the night put Boston up 8-0 before Toronto even had a chance to take their first at-bats, and they tacked on even more in their half of the second.

There, a solo home run off the bat of Devers — his 23rd — that was sent 392 feet to right-center field made it a 9-0 contest, while Martinez and Verdugo both reached to put runners on for Danny Santana, who laced a two-run double down the left field line to clear the bases and give his side an 11-0 advantage.

While the new-look Red Sox lineup was getting things done on their end, Nick Pivetta was making his 19th start of the season for Boston on the other side.

Despite receiving a healthy amount of run support, Pivetta certainly was not at his best in Buffalo on Monday.

After getting out of a first-inning jam thanks to a double play, the right-hander tossed two additional scoreless frames. Santana provided additional subsidence by clubbing his fourth homer of the year — a solo shot — in the top half of the fourth, giving the Red Sox a 12-0 lead, but Pivetta got knocked around somewhat in the bottom half.

A leadoff walk of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the first harbinger of what was to come for Pivetta, while a base hit from George Springer put runners at second and third for Teoscar Hernandez, who broke up the shutout bid on an RBI groundout.

Randal Grichuk plated another on a sacrifice fly that brought in Springer, Cavan Biggio unloaded on a first-pitch fastball from Pivetta that he sent 390 feet into the right field seats, and Bo Bichette — with the bases full in front of him — tapped an RBI single a mere three feet down the third base line to make it a 12-4 contest.

Hernández got one of those runs back in Boston’s half of the sixth, as he took Toronto reliever Taylor Saucedo 382 feet deep to left field on a line-drive that left his bat at 108 mph.

With his his second big fly of the night, the 29-year-old reached the 500-hit mark for his big-league career.

Pivetta, after escaping a laborious fourth inning, came back out for the fifth and rebounded a bit by retiring six of the next nine Blue Jays he faced, but his evening did come to an end when he gave up a one-out single to Springer in the seventh to put runners at first and second.

Instead of having his starter attempt to finish the inning, Cora turned to Hirokazu Sawamura out of the bullpen, and the righty answered the call by getting Grichuk to fly out to Verdugo in left for the third and final out of the frame.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 108 (75 strikes), Pivetta wound up allowing four runs — all earned — on a season-high 11 hits, two walks, one hit batsman, and four strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings of work.

The 28-year-old hurler was able to improve to 8-4 on the year, though he did raise his ERA up to 4.37. His next start should come against the Yankees back at Fenway Park on Sunday.

From the middle of the seventh inning on, Darwinzon Hernandez took over for Sawamura, and the lefty rebounded from a tough weekend in the Bronx by punching out a pair in a perfect inning of relief.

Adam Ottavino, meanwhile, made his first relief appearance since July 11, and the veteran righty shut the door on the Jays with a scoreless ninth to preserve a 13-4 win for the Red Sox.

With the win, the Sox snap a two-game skid to improve to 57-38 on the season while also moving to 1 1/2 games ahead of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Next up: Richards vs. TBD

The Red Sox will look to do something against the Blue Jays on Tuesday that they haven’t done in a while, and that’s win a series.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will get the start for Boston in the middle game of this three-game set, while Toronto has yet to name a starter.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Jarren Duran: Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox shake up lineup ahead of series opener against Blue Jays in Buffalo

The Red Sox have scored a grand total of six runs over their last 24 innings since returning from the All-Star break, and those offensive struggles have prompted manager Alex Cora to shake up his lineup ahead of a three-game series against the Blue Jays in Buffalo that begins on Monday night.

While Kiké Hernández will remain in the leadoff spot for Monday’s series opener, Jarren Duran has been bumped up to the No. 2 spot, resulting in Alex Verdugo dropping down to sixth in the order.

Verdugo, who has hit second in all 82 of his previous starts this season, has cooled off at the plate as of late. The 25-year-old outfielder comes into play Monday sporting an unsightly .218/.315/.269 slash line to go along with just four extra-base hits (all doubles) over his last 20 games (89 plate appearances) dating back to June 22).

Duran, meanwhile, has batted sixth and seventh in his first two starts with the Red Sox after getting called up from Triple-A Worcester on Friday. The speedy outfield prospect hit leadoff 44 times and and third two times for the WooSox, but never hit out of the two-hole.

With the lineup maneuvering that essentially sees Duran and Verdugo switch places, the most dangerous part of Boston’s order has shifted as well, with Xander Bogaerts batting third, Rafael Devers batting cleanup, and J.D. Martinez batting fifth.

Bogaerts will hit out of the three-hole for just the eighth time this season, as he has primarily been used by Cora out of the cleanup spot. In his previous seven starts as the Sox’ No. 3 hitter, the 28-year-0ld went 7-for-25 (.280) at the plate with one double, three RBI, four runs scored, six walks, and six strikeouts.

Devers will bat cleanup for just the 12th time this season, as he has primarily been used as the Red Sox’ No. 5 hitter behind Martinez and Bogaerts. The 24-year-old has batted .286/.362/.452 as Boston’s cleanup hitter so far in 2021.

Martinez will bat fifth for the very first time this season after the vast majority of his plate appearances to this point in the season have come as the Sox’ cleanup hitter.

With Duran in center and Martinez serving as designated hitter, Verdugo — batting sixth — will get the start in left field, while Hunter Renfroe — batting seventh — will get the start in right field.

Danny Santana, who is expected to be activated from the 10-day injured list on Monday after missing nearly two weeks with a left quadriceps strain, is slated to hit seventh and start at first base.

Kevin Plawecki will round out the Red Sox lineup, as he gets the start behind the plate in place of a banged-up Christian Vazquez. He will be catching right-hander Nick Pivetta, who will be making his 19th start of the season for Boston.

The Blue Jays, in turn, will send fellow righty Ross Stripling to the mound for Monday’s series-opening contest at Sahlen Field.

Stripling, 31, has surrendered 10 earned runs on 13 hits (four home runs), two walks, and nine strikeouts in his previous two starts against the Red Sox this season, though this will be his first against them in Buffalo.

First pitch between the Red Sox (56-38) and Blue Jays (48-42) Monday is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Boston is looking to halt a two-game losing streak.

(Picture of Alex Cora: Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

Eduardo Rodriguez punches out 8 over 5 2/3 scoreless innings as Red Sox blank Yankees, 4-0; Christian Arroyo, J.D. Martinez both homer in win

A clean-shaven Eduardo Rodriguez led the Red Sox to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.

Rodriguez, making his 18th start of the year for Boston, kicked off the second half of his season with a bang by keeping New York off the scoreboard while scattering just two hits and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 solid innings of work.

The left-hander gave up a leadoff single to the very first hitter he faced in D.J. LeMahieu, but nullified it immediately by getting Giancarlo Stanton to ground into a 5-4-3 double play.

After ending the first inning and issuing a leadoff walk to Gary Sanchez to begin things in the second, Rodriguez proceeded to retire the next 11 Yankees who came to the plate against him in consecutive order before walking Chris Gittens on five pitches.

A fielding error committed by Bobby Dalbec allowed Gittens to advance to third, but Rodriguez rebounded by punching out Tim Locastro to retire the side. He then got the first two outs of the seventh rather simply before a two-out double off the bat of Odor marked the end of his evening.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 97 (57 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler was able to improve to 7-5 on the season while lowering his ERA to 5.19, which is the lowest it has been since May 23 (5.06). His next start should come against the Yankees once again again back at Fenway Park on July 22.

In relief of Rodriguez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he got out of the sixth by getting Sanchez to ground out to first base.

Houck earns first career save in return

From there, Tanner Houck — fresh off getting recalled from Triple-A Worcester — came on for his first big-league outing in nearly three months.

The 25-year-old right-hander maneuvered his way around a two-out walk and single in an otherwise clean bottom half of the seventh, tossed a scoreless eighth inning, and shut the door on the Yankees in the ninth to preserve the 4-0 win for his side and pick up the first save of his career.

Houck is now lined up to start against the Blue Jays in Buffalo next Wednesday, July 21.

Arroyo and Martinez power Red Sox offense

On the other side of things, the Jarren Duran-less Red Sox were matched up against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery to begin things on Friday.

After going down in order in the first, a leadoff walk drawn by Xander Bogaerts set the tone for the Sox in the second.

That being the case because Rafael Devers followed by ripping a double off Montgomery to put runners in scoring position, which allowed Hunter Renfroe to bring in a run on an RBI groundout to shortstop to give Boston an early 1-0 lead.

A flyout from Christian Vazquez brought Montgomery within one out of escaping the inning, but Christian Arroyo would not let the southpaw off that easily, as he took a 2-1, 82 mph changeup on the outer half of the plate and crushed it 409 feet to the opposite field for his sixth home run of the season.

Arroyo’s two-run blast put the Red Sox up 3-0, but Montgomery held his own from there, and it was not until their half of the eighth when the Boston bats got going again.

There, facing off against Yankees reliever Justin Wilson with two outs in the inning, J.D. Martinez deposited an 0-2, 94 mph fastball 391 feet to right-center field for his 19th big fly of the year.

In addition to picking up his 19th homer, Martinez also extended his on-base streak to 29 consecutive games dating back to June 10.

On Martinez’s solo shot, the Red Sox jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead over the Yankees, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

7-0 vs. NYY

With the victory, the Sox put an end to a mini two-game skid to improve to 56-36 on the season while also maintaining a 1 1/2 game lead over the Rays for first place in the American League East.

They are now a perfect 7-0 against the Yankees this year.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Cole

Saturday’s pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Yankees will feature a pair of All-Stars going at it, with right-hander Nathan Eovaldi getting the ball for Boston and fellow righty Gerrit Cole doing the same for New York.

In sending Eovaldi to the mound, the Red Sox will look to secure their third straight series victory over the Yankees.

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

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez: Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Red Sox at the All-Star Game: Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez combine for 3 hits; Nathan Eovaldi, Matt Barnes toss scoreless inning each in American League’s 5-2 win

The American League bested the National League by a final score of 5-2 in the 91st MLB All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday night, and the Red Sox’ five All-Star representatives played a significant role in making that happen.

Xander Bogaerts

Bogaerts, making his second career All-Star Game start in his third overall appearance, got the start at shortstop for the American League while batting out of the three-hole.

The 28-year-old went 2-for-3 on the night with an RBI and a pair of singles, the second of which came off Marlins starter Trevor Rogers and drove in Orioles’ All-Star Cedric Mullins with two outs in the top of the fifth inning that gave the American League a 4-0 lead at the time it was hit.

Per Baseball Savant, Bogaerts’ two base hits had exit velocities of 109 mph and 92 mph respectively.

He also turned a nifty, unassisted double play to help fellow Sox All-Star Nathan Eovaldi to get out of the bottom of the fourth inning unscathed.

Rafael Devers

Devers, making his first career All-Star Game start in his first overall appearance, started alongside Bogaerts at third base as the two became the first pair of Red Sox teammates to start in the same Midsummer Classic on the left side of the infield.

Batting two spots behind Bogaerts out of the five-hole, the 24-year-old slugger followed a leadoff walk drawn by Aaron Judge in the top half of the second inning by lacing a 106.6 mph double off Brewers starter Corbin Burnes that advanced Judge up to third.

An RBI single courtesy of Blue Jays starter Marcus Semien brought in Judge from third, giving the American League their first lead of the night at 1-0.

Fast forward to the fourth, and Devers — matched up against Rockies All-Star German Marquez — grounded out to shortstop for the first out of the inning, but it was a grounder that left the left-handed hitter’s bat at a scorching 106.3 mph.

Devers, like Bogaerts, was pulled in the middle of the fifth inning.

J.D. Martinez

Martinez, making his fourth career All-Star appearance and his third with the Red Sox, replaced starting designated hitter Shohei Ohtani with no outs and runners in the corners in the fifth inning. He proceeded to strike out on three pitches against Rogers.

The 33-year-old also fanned on four pitches against Brewers All-Star Freddy Peralta in the top half of the seventh, so he finished the night going 0-for-2 with a pair of punchouts.

Nathan Eovaldi

Eovaldi, one of three first-time All-Stars the Red Sox sent to Denver along with Devers and closer Matt Barnes, got the call from his former manager Kevin Cash to take over for Rangers starter Kyle Gibson in the middle of the fourth.

Working on six days rest, the 31-year-old right-hander needed all of 10 pitches (8 strikes) to get through a scoreless frame of relief in which he faced the minimum three batters thanks to that aforementioned double play started by Bogaerts on a Nick Castellanos groundball.

Of the 10 pitches Eovaldi threw on Tuesday, three were splitters, three were four-seam fastballs, one was a curveball, and one was a cutter. The flame-throwing righty induced two total swings-and-misses while topping out at 99.2 mph with his heater. No 100+ mph heat from him.

Matt Barnes

Barnes, making his first career All-Star appearance, did not pitch in the ninth inning as he has primarily done for the Red Sox this season, but he was responsible for a bottom half of the eighth that had plenty of tension.

Fresh off inking a two-year extension to remain in Boston for the foreseeable future over the weekend, the 31-year-old entered with a 5-2 lead to protect, but proceeded to lad the bases on two singles and a walk in the process of recording the first two outs of the frame.

With one out to get, Barnes was matched up against a dangerous opponent in the form of the Cubs’ Kris Bryant, and he fell in behind in the count at 3-0 to make matters even worse.

On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, a 96 mph fastball on the outer half of the plate, the fiery right-hander got Bryant to lift a 296-foot lineout to Angels All-Star Jared Walsh in left field.

It was a lineout that required Walsh, who has never played left field at the major-league level, to make a superb sliding catch, but the out was recorded nonetheless to get Barnes and the American League out of the inning.

Of the 25 pitches (14 strikes) Barnes threw on Tuesday, 18 were four-seam fastballs and seven were curveballs. He topped out at 97.1 mph with his heater.

In tossing a scoreless eighth inning, Barnes wound up picking up the hold as White Sox closer Liam Hendriks shut the door on the National League in the ninth to notch the hold and secure a 5-2 victory victory for the American League.

With the win, the AL has now taken eight consecutive All-Star Games from the NL.

Blue Jays All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named the game’s Most Valuable Player, as he hit the 200th home run in All-Star Game history, which also happened to be a 468-foot blast that left his bat at 110.2 mph.

Guerrero Jr., 22, becomes the youngest player to be named All-Star Game MVP in the game’s history, which dates back to 1933.

(Picture of Matt Barnes, Nathan Eovaldi, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, and J.D. Martinez: Boston Red Sox)

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers batting third and fifth in American League’s starting lineup for 2021 All-Star Game

Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers will become the first pair of Red Sox teammates to ever start in the same All-Star Game at shortstop and third base at Coors Field on Tuesday night, and they will do so while batting third and fifth in the American League’s starting lineup, respectively.

Rays manager Kevin Cash, who is also managing the American League squad in this year’s Midsummer Classic in Denver, announced his starting lineup and starting pitcher earlier Monday afternoon, as Angels’ two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani will bat leadoff as the starting designated hitter while also getting the start on the mound.

For Bogaerts, this will be his second All-Star Game start in addition to his third overall All-Star selection (2016, 2019, 2021).

The 28-year-old is currently hitting .321/.385/.545 with a league-leading 27 doubles, 15 home runs, 51 RBI, 57 runs scored, and five stolen bases over 85 games (361) plate appearances so far this season while primarily batting cleanup.

In the seven games he has hit out of the three-hole this year, Bogaerts has slashed .280/.406/.320 with one of his 27 doubles, three of his 51 RBI, and four of his 57 runs scored.

Devers, meanwhile, will be making his first career appearance in an All-Star Game after he — like Bogaerts — was voted in as a starter for the American League earlier this month.

The 24-year-old slugger wrapped up the unofficial first half of his 2021 campaign on Sunday sporting a solid .282/.350/.564 to go along with 25 doubles, one triple, a team-leading 22 home runs and 72 RBI, 59 runs scored, and three stolen bases over 87 games spanning 369 total trips to the plate.

278 of Devers’ 369 plate appearances (75.3%) this season have come with the left-handed hitter batting out of the five-hole. He owns an OPS of .931 when hitting in that particular spot in the order.

In addition to his stellar production at the plate, Devers has enjoyed moderate success defensively as well, as he has been worth one Defensive Run Saved at third base while also putting up an Ultimate Zone rating of 2.2, which translates to an UZR of 3.8 over 150 games.

According to FanGraphs, Devers (3.5 fWAR) and Bogaerts (3.9 fWAR) have been two of the most valuable infielders in the American League so far this season, meaning the dynamic duo has been a driving force when it comes to the Red Sox sitting in first place in the American League East at the All-Star break.

While Bogaerts and Devers will be starting for the American League in the 91st All-Star Game come Sunday night, the Sox have three more representatives who should be able to get into the game at well.

J.D. Martinez, who was selected as a reserve, will start on the bench behind Ohtani, and likely Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz as well.

Red Sox closer Matt Barnes and starter Nathan Eovaldi are both first-time All-Stars, and the pair of fiery right-handers figure to be available out of the bullpen for Cash once Ohtani’s night is done.

On the other side of things, Nationals ace Max Scherzer will get the start for the National League, marking the fourth time the three-time Cy Young Award winner has had the honor of doing so over the course of his illustrious career.

First pitch for the 91st MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. eastern time on FOX.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers: Boston Red Sox)

Kiké Hernández, J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers all homer as Red Sox power their way to 11-5 win over Phillies

After a 3-3 West Coast road trip, it’s safe to say the Red Sox enjoyed being back at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Boston tallied 11 runs on 14 hits en route to an 11-5 victory over the Phillies to kick off their final series before the All-Star break.

With the win, their ninth straight at Fenway going back to June 14, the Sox improve to 55-34 (28-17 at home) on the season. They remain 2 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Garrett Richards made his 18th start of the season for Boston on Friday, and it initially looked as though he would not be long for this one.

That being the case because the right-hander got rocked by the Phillies out of the gate, with Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto leading things off in their half of the first with a hard-hit triple and double to put the Sox in an early 1-0 hole.

The Red Sox were able to counter that early barrage, however, as Enrique Hernandez came through with a towering solo home run off Phillies starter Vince Velasquez to lead off the bottom half of the first while Hunter Renfroe plated in another run with an RBI groundout later in the inning.

Even with that brand new one-run lead, though, Richards again got knocked around in the second, this time yielding back-to-back singles with no outs to Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorius before serving up a two-run base hit to Alec Bohm to make it a 3-2 contest in favor of Philadelphia.

Again, the Boston bats showed just how resilient they can be a half-inning later, as Bobby Dalbec laced a one-out doube off Velasquez, Alex Verdugo followed by drawing a two-out walk, and a red-hot J.D. Martinez drove in both runners by crushing a 400-foot three-run home run to right-center field.

Martinez’s 18th big fly of the year gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead, but they added even more on to that in their half of the third.

There, Rafael Devers followed Martinez’s example by clubbing his 22nd homer of the season to lead off the frame, while a double off the bat of Renfroe and run-scoring single off the bat of Christian Vazquez increased the Sox’ advantage to four runs.

Following a pitching change that saw Enyel De Los Santos take over for Velasquez, the Red Sox did not let up, as Dalbec advanced Vazquez into scoring position with a single of his own and back-to-back two-out hits from Verdugo and Martinez resulted in two more Boston runs coming in to score, making it a 9-3 game all of the sudden.

With that sizable six-run cushion, Richards was able to settle in and finish his outing on a more positive note by sitting down eight of the final 11 hitters he faced over three scoreless innings from the third through the middle of the fifth, at which point his nigh came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 85 (57 pitches), the 33-year-old hurler wraps up his first half having allowed three runs — all of which were earned — on seven hits and one walk to go along with four strikeouts in the process of picking up his fifth win of the year. His ERA on the season now sits at 4.91.

After Richards recorded the final out of the top half of the fifth, his catcher — Vazquez — led off the bottom half by drawing a four-pitch walk off Phillies reliever Brandon Kintzler.

That would later prove to be costly for Philadelphia, as Hernandez drove in Vazquez on a hard-hit RBI double later in the inning to give his side a commanding 10-3 lead.

Vazquez struck once more in the sixth, this time greeting newly-inserted reliever Connor Brogdon by ripping a run-scoring single to right field that brought in Xander Bogaerts from second, making it an 11-3 game.

In relief of Richards, Yacksel Rios got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen for the sixth inning and sat down the only three Phillies he faced in order.

Matt Andriese, however, saw his recent struggles continue, as he surrendered two runs on two hits and a walk in the top half of the seventh to trim Boston’s lead down to six runs at 11-5.

From there, though, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez punched out a pair over the course of a scoreless eighth inning, while Brandon Workman shut the door on his former team in the ninth to preserve the 11-5 victory for the Red Sox.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

Next up: Moore vs. Perez

Saturday’s starting pitching matchup between the Phillies and Red Sox will feature a pair of veteran southpaws and former Texas Rangers rotation-mates going at it, with left-hander Matt Moore getting the ball for Philadelphia and fellow lefty Martin Perez doing the same for Boston.

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

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ J.D. Martinez earns MLB Play of the Week honors for clutch double play against Athletics

J.D. Martinez may be known more for what he does with a bat in his hands as opposed to what he does in the outfield, but the slugger was recently recognized for his defensive work.

Earlier Tuesday, Martinez earned Major League Baseball’s Play of the Week award for the week of June 28 through July 4 for what he did against the Athletics at Oakland Coliseum this past Saturday.

With one out in the bottom half of the 10th inning of that particular contest, the Sox and A’s were deadlocked at four runs apiece, though Oakland was threatening with the bases loaded, meaning the winning run was just 90 feet away from home in the form of Sean Murphy.

On a 1-1, 91 mph fastball from Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman, Elvis Andrus laced a 260-foot, 101 mph screamer to Martinez in left field that had an expected batting average of .730.

Murphy — who ranks 26th among major-league catchers in sprint speed (26.1 feet per second) according to Baseball Savant — took off for home plate at the moment the ball landed in Martinez’s glove.

Wasting no time as his momentum carried him, Martinez gathered himself, cocked back, and unleashed a dart towards an awaiting Christian Vazquez at home plate that arrived in plenty of time for the backstop to snuff out Murphy and complete the inning-ending 7-2 double play.

Per MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, Martinez had a 40% chance of catching Andrus’ waist-high line drive, making it a four-star play based off catch probability.

In nabbing Murphy at home plate, the 33-year-old recorded his third outfield assist of the season already. He notched a total of seven in his first three seasons with the Red Sox from 2018-2020.

While Martinez, who has primarily served as Boston’s designated hitter, is by no means on a Gold Glove sort of run, he has had quite a productive year in the outfield for his standards, particularly on the left side.

In addition to his three assists, Martinez has accrued one Defensive Run Saved over 132 1/3 innings as a left fielder while putting up an Ultimate Zone Rating of 2.0, which translates to an Ultimate Zone Rating of 29.1 over 150 defensive games, per FanGraphs.

Among American League left fielders who have played at least 130 innings at the position so far this season, Martinez ranks 11th in Defensive Runs Saved, third in Ultimate Zone Rating, and first in Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora had said this spring that he believed Martinez would benefit from seeing more playing time in left field this season, and that school of thought has certainly paid off for both sides up to this point in the year.

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Matt Barnes, Nathan Eovaldi, J.D. Martinez named to American League All-Star team, joining Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers for 91st Midsummer Classic in Denver

In addition to Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, the Red Sox will be sending three more players to the All-Star Game in Denver next week.

Right-handers Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Barnes, and designated hitter J.D. Martinez were all selected to represent the American League as All-Stars, Major League Baseball announced earlier Sunday afternoon.

Eovaldi and Barnes will be two of the 12 pitchers on Rays manager Kevin Cash’s staff, while Martinez will be one of three designated hitters on the AL roster alongside Angels two-way phenom and starter Shohei Ohtani as well as fellow reserve Nelson Cruz of the Twins.

For Eovaldi and Barnes, Sunday marks the first time in their respective careers that they were chosen to play in the All-Star Game. The same can be said for Devers, who was voted in as a starter at third base on Thursday, as well.

Martinez, meanwhile, will be heading to his fourth Midsummer Classic and his third as a member of the Red Sox organization.

Bogaerts, like Devers, was voted in as a starter at shortstop for the second time in his career and will be making his third overall All-Star Game appearance.

By sending the likes of Barnes, Bogaerts, Devers, Eovaldi, and Martinez to Denver to represent them, the Red Sox will have the highest number of All-Stars among any major-league team partaking in the festivities at Coors Field from July 11 through July 13.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, this is the second time in four years that Boston has had at least five All-Stars. They most recently did so in 2018 with Mookie Betts, Craig Kimbrel, J.D. Martinez, Mitch Moreland, and Chris Sale.

(Picture of Matt Barnes: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox blow pair of late 2-run leads, see 8-game winning streak snapped in 7-6 loss to Athletics in 12 innings

The Red Sox began their eight-game winning streak the night after a soul-crushing 1-0 loss to the Rays on June 24.

After stringing together eight consecutive victories from June 25 through July 2, it just so happened that the Sox’ winning ways were abrupted by yet another back-breaking defat at the hands of the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night, though this one came in the form of a 7-6 loss in 12 innings.

Garrett Richards made his 17th start of the season for Boston to begin things on Saturday, and he stumbled out of the gate a bit by walking and beaming the first two hitters he faced before yielding a run-scoring triple to Sean Murphy an inning later.

The Red Sox offense was able to pick up Richards, however, and they did so on account of some sloppy defense from the Athletics.

Matched up against Oakland starter Cole Irvin, Xander Bogaerts proved to be the catalyst for a two-run top of the fourth by reaching base on a fielding error committed by second baseman Tony Kemp.

Bogaerts advanced up to second on a hard-hit single from Rafael Devers and was also able to score all the way from there on a throwing error on a failed pickoff move from catcher Sean Murphy.

That same miscue allowed Devers to move up to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hunter Renfroe to give Boston their first lead of the night at 2-1.

The Sox and A’s traded blows over the next few innings, with J.D. Martinez ripping an RBI single in the fifth, and Richards serving up a pair of hits to the first two hitters he faced in the sixth, resulting in Frank Schwindel driving in Matt Chapman and Red Sox manager Alex Cora giving the right-hander the hook.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 92 (60 strikes), Richards wound up surrendering two earned runs on five hits, three walks, and just two strikeouts over five-plus innings of work. The 33-year-old hurler did not factor into the decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 4.88.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura was inserted into somewhat of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, but he escaped said jam on just 12 pitches.

From there, Kiké Hernández provided what at the time was much-needed insurance in the seventh when he clubbed a solo home run — his 10th of the season — off Irvin to put Boston ahead at 4-2.

The Athletics countered with two runs of their own in the eighth, though, as they took advantage of the fact that the Red Sox were without two of their high-leverage relievers in Garrett Whitlock and Matt Barnes.

Instead, after Josh Taylor tossed a scoreless seventh inning to extend his scoreless appearances streak to 25 straight games, Yacksel Rios got the call for the eighth, and he allowed a run to score while also put the tying run on base on a pair of hits before getting pulled in favor of Darwninzon Hernandez.

Hernandez issued a one-out walk to Kemp, which brought Elvis Andrus to the plate in a prime scoring spot, and he did just that by plating the tying run in Seth Brown on a line-drive single to right field. 4-4.

Boston threatened in their half of the ninth when the pinch-hitting Marwin Gonzalez reached base on a one-out walk off Oakland reliever Lou Trivino, but he — representing the potential go-ahead run — was gunned down at second base by Murphy on a failed stolen base attempt.

With no Barnes, Adam Ottavino was responsible for the ninth. The veteran right-hander did allow the winning run to reach base on a leadoff single from Chapman, but retired the next three A’s he faced in 1-2-3 fashion to strand that all important runner and send this one to extras.

In extras, Danny Santana represented the go-ahead run for the Sox in the 10th since he recorded the final out of ninth. Like Gonzalez, Santana had the chance to create offense with his legs, but he was instead thrown out while trying to swipe third base.

The A’s ran into an out themselves in the 10th, however, as Brandon Workman first put himself in a bases loaded jam before recording the first out of the frame on a poorly-executed bunt from Kemp.

Workman proceeded to get Andrus to line out to Martinez in left field, and the runner at third (Murphy) made a poor decision in taking off for home since he was thrown out at the plate by Martinez, who was doing his best (Kiké) Hernández impression in notching his team’s league-leading 26th outfield assist of the season.

That clutch double play sent this one to the 11th, where the Boston bats went down in order and Workman again maneuvered his way around a sticky situation by inducing two fly outs and a ground out.

Gonzalez made up for his baserunning blunder in his side’s half of the 12th, as he plated Devers from second on a then go-ahead single off A’s reliever and former Red Sox farmhand J.B. Wendelken before scoring himself on another RBI single courtesy of Hernández.

Again, the Red Sox found themselves in possession of a two-run lead at 6-4, but they were unable to hang on to said lead while simultaneously being down to their last available reliever in Matt Andriese.

Andriese failed to record a single out in the bottom half of the 12th, as the veteran righty yielded three straight hits to the likes of Murphy, Brown, and old friend Jed Lowrie to knot things up at six runs apiece.

He then got Kemp to fly out to center field, but despite Hernández’s best efforts, the ball was hit deep enough to bring in Brown from third base and give the A’s a 7-6 come-from-behind win in 12 innings.

Andriese was charged with the loss and blown save while also inflating his ERA on the year to 5.70.

With the crushing loss, the Red Sox see their eight-game winning streak come to an end and fall to 52-32 on the season, though they remain four games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

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Next up for the Red Sox, they will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound on Sunday afternoon as they go for the series win over the A’s, who will counter with fellow righty James Kaprielian.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Tony Kemp: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)