masataka yoshida – Page 2 – Blogging the Red Sox

Tanner Houck allows 4 runs in 5 innings as Red Sox drop series finale to Orioles, 6-2

After splitting the first two games, the Red Sox came up short of a series win over the Orioles in Wednesday afternoon’s finale. Boston instead fell to Baltimore by a final score of 6-2 at Camden Yards to drop the series and drop back to .500 on the season at 13-13.

The Red Sox were previously unbeaten in games started by Tanner Houck. That is no longer the case. Houck, making his fifth start of the year for Boston, allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks to go along with two strikeouts over five innings of work.

Coming off a career-high seven innings in his last time out, Houck ran into some immediate trouble in the bottom of the first on Wednesday. After Cedric Mullins led off with a single, Adley Rutschman reached on a fielding error committed by rookie second baseman Enmanuel Valdez. Valdez’s third error of the season already put runners at the corners for Anthony Santander, who got the Orioles on the board first by plating Mullins on a sacrifice fly to center field.

It did not take long for the Red Sox to respond, though, as Mastataka Yoshida led off the second inning with a 412-foot solo shot off Orioles starter Tyler Wells. Yoshida’s fourth homer of the year pulled Boston back even with Baltimore at 1-1, but the Orioles began to pull away in their half of the fourth.

Houck gave up three consecutive singles to Adam Frazier, Ryan O’Hearn, and Ramon Urias. Frazier came into score on Urias’ base hit. Following a successful sacrifice bunt from Terrin Vavra, Mullins drove in O’Hearn with an RBI single that deflected off Valdez. Rutschman then brought in Urias from third with a sacrifice fly that put the O’s up, 4-1, going into the fifth.

Santander’s fly ball had an expected batting average of .650, but Yoshida made a fantastic diving catch in left field to rob Santander of a hit and prevent at least one additional run from scoring.

The fifth inning would prove to be Houck’s last. The 26-year-old right-hander finished with 86 pitches (59 strikes), but he only induced six swings-and-misses. He was also charged with his first losing decision of the season as his ERA rose to 4.50.

With Houck’s day done, Boston got back on the board in the sixth. Alex Verdugo laced a one-out double and scored his side’s second run a Justin Turner RBI single that knocked Wells out of the game. Baltimore, however, wasted no time in retaliating.

Richard Bleier, who took over for Houck in the bottom of the sixth, yielded back-to-back singles to the first two batters he faced. Mullins dropped down another bunt to move up both runners and Rutschman drew a walk to fill the bases for Santander, who drove in Urias from third on a sacrifice fly to give the Orioles a 5-2 lead.

The Sox had a golden opportunity to cut into that deficit in the seventh, as Enrique Hernandez and Jarren Duran each singled to put runners at first and second with no out. The Orioles then dipped into their bullpen, pulling Danny Coulombe for Yennier Cano. Cano responded to the challenge by fanning Christian Arroyo and retiring the pinch-hitting Reese McGuire to extinguish the threat.

From there, Brennan Bernardino put up a zero in the bottom of the seventh and John Schreiber yielded an RBI double to Urias in the eighth to put the Red Sox in a 6-2 hole. Down to their final three outs in the ninth, Hernandez and Triston Casas made things somewhat interesting by reaching base off Orioles closer Felix Bautista. But Bautista did not waver, as he sat down the next three batters he faced to send the Red Sox home losers after going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leaving seven runners on base as a team.

With Wednesday’s loss, which took two hours and 27 minutes to complete, the Red Sox wrap up their six-game road trip having gone 3-3. They are now 3-3 against the Orioles and 3-7 against divisional opponents as a whole.

Next up: Off day on Thursday, then Bieber vs. Pivetta on Friday

The Red Sox will travel back to Boston and have Thursday off after playing 19 games in 19 days and going 10-9 in that stretch. They will then welcome the Guardians into town for a three-game weekend series at Fenway Park beginning on Friday.

Nick Pivetta will get the start for Boston in the series opener opposite fellow right-hander Shane Bieber for Cleveland.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Tanner Houck: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Chris Sale fails to record strikeout as Red Sox blow four-run lead and fall to Orioles, 5-4, in series opener

The Red Sox blew a four-run lead in a series-opening loss to the Orioles on Monday night. Boston fell to Baltimore by a final score of 5-4 at Camden Yards to drop back to .500 at 12-12 on the season.

Matched up against Orioles starter Dean Kremer out of the gate, the Sox opened the scoring in the top of the second inning. With two outs and nobody on, Triston Casas took Kremer 426 feet deep to right-center field for his third home run of the year.

An inning later, Connor Wong drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second base on a Yu Chang groundout, and scored from second on a one-out RBI single off the bat of Alex Verdugo. Rafael Devers then doubled Boston’s lead by crushing a 387-foot two-run home run onto Eutaw Street.

Devers’ American League-leading ninth homer of the season left his bat at a blistering 115 mph and put the Red Sox up, 4-0, going into the middle of the third. To that point in the contest, Chris Sale had faced the minimum through his first two innings of work before running into some legitimate trouble.

Cedric Mullins, who was at the plate when Ramon Urias recorded the final out of the second by getting thrown out by Wong on a failed stolen base attempt, led off the bottom of the third with a line-drive double. After Jorge Mateo lined out, Adam Frazier plated the speedy Mullins on an RBI single for the Orioles’ first run of the night.

Sale escaped any further damage in the third by getting Austin Hays to ground into an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play. But the O’s really got to the left-hander in their half of the fourth. Following back-to-back one-out hits from Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander, Urias made up for his previous blunder by driving in both runners on a ground-rule double to cut the deficit to one. James McCann knotted things up at four runs apiece with another hard-hit single to right field.

In the fifth, Sale gave up a leadoff double to Jorge Mateo, who then scored the go-ahead run on a single from Hays. Sale yielded one more base hit before getting Mountcastle to ground into yet another inning-ending double play to end his night. The 34-year-old southpaw wound up allowing five earned runs on nine hits and one walk over five innings. He failed to strike out a single batter after punching out 11 in his last start.

Of the 83 pitches Sale threw on Monday, 52 went for strikes. He managed to induce just two swings-and-misses while being charged with the loss and seeing his ERA on the season inflate to 8.22.

To lead off the sixth inning, it appeared as though the Red Sox were ready to respond as Justin Turner reached on a line-drive single. A red-hot Masataka Yoshida followed with a single of his own, but Turner was thrown out at third base after unsuccessfully attempting to go from first to third. Yoshida moved into scoring position on the play, but he was stranded there after both Enrique Hernandez and Casas were retired.

Following a scoreless bottom of the sixth from Ryan Brasier, Wong drew a one-out walk off Baltimore reliever Bryan Baker, but he was thrown out at second in an otherwise quiet offensive inning for Boston. Newcomer Brennan Bernardino then took over out of the bullpen and scattered four hits across two shutout frames.

That sequence of events brought the Red Sox down to their final three outs in the top of the ninth. After Yoshida drew a leadoff walk, pinch-runner Raimel Tapia was able to move up to second base on a balk. Orioles reliever Yennier Cano then stranded the potential tying run at second by striking out both Hernandez and Casas before getting Jarren Duran to line out to end it.

All told, Monday’s loss took two hours and 29 minutes to complete. Yoshida accounted for three of Boston’s seven hits and reached base in all four of his plate appearances.

Chang leaves game with wrist injury

While batting with one out in the seventh inning, Yu Chang swung and missed on a 1-1, 83 mph slider from Bryan Baker and left the game with what the Red Sox later described as “left wrist pain.” Christian Arroyo took over for Chang mid-at-bat and struck out.

Fatse, Cora ejected

Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse was ejected by home plate umpire Junior Valentine in the top of the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes. Manager Alex Cora was also ejected by third base umpire Quinn Wolcott at the end of the game, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

Next up: Kluber vs. Bradish

The Red Sox will turn to Corey Kluber, who is in desperate need of a strong start, in the middle game of this three-game series on Tuesday. The Orioles will counter with fellow righty Kyle Bradish.

First pitch from Oriole Park at Camden Yards is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida homers twice in 9-run eighth inning as Red Sox take series from Brewers with 12-5 win

The Red Sox rode a nine-run eighth inning to a series-clinching victory over the Brewers on Sunday afternoon. Boston capped off the first leg of its road trip by defeating Milwaukee by a final score of 12-5 at American Family Field to get back over .500 at 12-11 on the season.

With Corbin Burnes starting for the Brewers, the Sox drew first blood in their half of the first inning. Alex Verdugo led off with a single and went from first to third on a Justin Turner base hit that was aided by a Bryce Perkins fielding error in right field. Masataka Yoshida then got his productive day at the plate started by driving in Verdugo on a sacrifice fly.

An inning later, Triston Casas drew a leadoff walk off Burnes and Jarren Duran followed with a single. A successful bunt single from Connor Wong then filled the bases with one out for Verdugo, who worked a six-pitch walk to bring in casas. With the bases re-loaded, Rafael Devers made it a 3-0 game by plating Duran on a sacrifice fly to right field.

Brayan Bello, meanwhile, was making his second start of the season for Boston. The young right-hander made relatively quick work of Milwaukee through the first three innings of Sunday’s contest before running into some trouble in the fourth.

After punching out Rowdy Tellez, Bello served up an opposite field home run to Brian Anderson to get the Brewers on the board. In the fifth, Joey Wiemer led off with a double and moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt before cutting the deficit to one by scoring on a Christian Yelich RBI single. Yelich then went from first to third before coming into score on a game-tying sacrifice fly from Willy Adames.

Adames was the last batter Bello faced. The 23-year-old hurler finished with 82 pitches (52 strikes) and induced 12 swings-and-misses in the process of lowering his ERA on the season to 9.82. Richard Bleier received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in relief of Bello. The lefty fanned Tellez to end things in the fifth and then worked his way around a leadoff walk in a scoreless sixth inning.

Kaleb Ort took over for Bleier in the seventh and had a difficult time finding the strike zone. The hard-throwing righty put runners on the corners with one out on a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt. He then spiked a wild pitch while Jesse Winker was up to bat. As a result, Wiemer came in to score the go-ahead run, thus giving the Brewers their first lead of the day at 4-3.

Despite only throwing 10 of his 26 pitches for strikes, Ort avoided any further damage in the seventh by retiring Adames and Tellez. The Red Sox, in turn, wasted no time in re-taking the lead in their half of the eighth as reliever Matt Bush entered the game for the Brewers.

Turner greeted Bush by crushing a game-tying, 388-foot solo shot to left field on the second pitch he saw. Moments later, Yoshida went back-to-back with Turner by clubbing a go-ahead home run 374 feet into the right field seats. An Enrique Hernandez double and one-out walk from Duran knocked Bush out of the game and brought Javy Guerra in.

Duran promptly stole second base before both he and Hernandez scored on a 104.4 mph two-run single from Wong. Following a Yu Chang single and intentional walk of Devers, Turner took ball four with the bases loaded to bring Yoshida to the plate yet again.

Yoshida took full advantage of the opportunity by going deep for the second time in the same inning. The left-handed hitter unloaded on an 0-2, 84.5 mph slider on the inner half of the plate from Guerra and deposited it 407 feet into the second deck in right field for his first career grand slam. Yoshida’s second big fly of the eighth (and third of the season) capped off a nine-run frame and put Boston up, 12-4.

From there, John Schreiber served up another home run to Anderson in the bottom of the eighth before Ryan Brasier retired the side in order in the ninth to end it. With the win, the Red Sox have now won three series in a row and are 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Yoshida makes some history

Masataka Yoshida became the first Red Sox player to homer twice in the same inning since David Ortiz did it in August 2008. Prior to Ortiz, only three players in team history (Nomar Garciaparra in 2002, Ellis Burks in 1990, and Bill Regan in 1928) had accomplished the feat, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier.

All told, Yoshida went 2-for-4 with the two home runs, six RBIs, and two runs scored on Sunday.

Next up: Sale vs. Kremer

The Red Sox will open a three-game series against the 14-7 Orioles in Baltimore on Monday night. Left-hander Chris Sale will get the ball for Boston in the opener opposite right-hander Dean Kremer.

First pitch from Orioles Park at Camden Yards is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida remains out of Red Sox lineup, will be available off bench in series opener against Angels

Outfielder Masataka Yoshida will be available off the bench for the Red Sox in Friday night’s series opener against the Angels, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey) at Fenway Park.

Yoshida is out of Boston’s starting lineup for a third straight game after originally being scratched with right hamstring tightness before Wednesday’s contest against the Rays in St. Petersburg.

While the Red Sox were initially optimistic that Yoshida would be back in time for Friday’s date with the Angels, Cora now says the 29-year-old will return to the lineup for the second game of this four-game weekend series on Saturday afternoon.

Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston over the winter after spending the first seven years of his professional career in Japan, has started in 10 of the Sox’ first 13 games this season. The left-handed hitter is currently batting .216/.356/.324 with one double, one home run, six RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, seven walks, and three strikeouts in 45 plate appearances.

With Yoshida out of the lineup yet again, Rob Refsnyder will start in left field and bat third. Enrique Hernandez will start in center and Alex Verdugo will start in right while Yu Chang — who is hitless in his first 13 at-bats of the season — will round out the lineup and start at shortstop.

Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up on Friday against Angels lefty Patrick Sandoval. Right-hander Tanner Houck will be making his third start of the year for Boston.

Verdugo RF
Turner DH
Refsnyder LF
Devers 3B
K. Hernández CF
Arroyo 2B
Casas 1B
Wong C
Chang SS

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time. The game will be broadcasted exclusively on Apple TV+ as part of the platform’s 2023 ‘Friday Night Baseball’ lineup.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Paul Rutherford/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida scratched from Red Sox lineup due to right hamstring tightness

Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida has been scratched from Wednesday’s starting lineup against the Rays due to right hamstring tightness, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe) at Tropicana Field.

Yoshida was originally starting in left field and batting cleanup for Boston in the second game of this four-game series in St. Petersburg. Now that he has been taken out of the lineup on account of a tight hamstring, Raimel Tapia will move from center to left field while Enrique Hernandez will shift from shortstop to center field and play there for the first time this season.

Bobby Dalbec was not in the original lineup. He will now start at short in Hernandez’s place and bat sixth as the Red Sox go up against Rays rookie right-hander Taj Bradley, who will be making his major-league debut. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

“We had to make some arrangements,” Cora said, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

According to Cora, the Red Sox do not believe Yoshida’s hamstring tightness is a serious issue. The 29-year-old is unlikely to play on Thursday as well, but the hope is he will be able to return to the lineup for Friday’s series opener against the Angels at Fenway Park.

“He showed up here, tried to run,” said Cora. “Obviously, if it’s later in the season, we’d push him to do it and he’d be OK to do it, but it doesn’t make sense to play him tonight.”

Yoshida, who signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston in December after spending the first seven years of his professional career in Japan, has started 10 of the Red Sox’ first 11 games this season. The left-handed hitter is currently batting .216/.356/.324 with one double, one home run, six RBIs, eight runs scored, two stolen bases, seven walks, and three strikeouts in 45 plate appearances.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida homers as part of 5-run first inning, but Red Sox still fall to Pirates, 7-6

The Red Sox homered three times, but it was not enough to overcome another poor starting pitching performance in the first of three against the Pirates on Monday night. Boston fell to Pittsburgh by a final score of 7-6 at Fenway Park to drop to 2-2 on the young season.

Kutter Crawford, making his first start of the year after breaking camp as a member of the starting rotation, struggled in his 2023 debut. The right-hander surrendered seven earned runs on eight hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts over just four innings of work.

Three of those seven runs came right away in the top of the first. Crawford allowed hits to two of the first four batters he faced, including a one-out pop-up single that should have been caught by Rafael Devers. He then gave up a two-out RBI single to Ke’Bryan Hayes. Canaan Smith-Njigba followed with a three-run double to extend the Pirates’ lead to 3-0 right out of the gate.

Despite falling behind early yet again, the Red Sox responded in their half of the first. Matched up against Pirates starter Johan Oviedo, Devers made up for his blunder by crushing a one-out, 424-foot solo shot to dead center for his first home run of the season. After Bryan Reynolds dropped a fly ball that allowed Justin Turner to reach base safely, Masataka Yoshida came through with the first home run of his big-league career: a 390-foot two-run blast over the Green Monster.

Yoshida’s first homer in a Red Sox uniform knotted things up at three runs apiece. That stalemate did not last long, though, as reigning American League Player of the Week Adam Duvall drew a one-out walk and Triston Casas looped a towering two-run shot to the left of Pesky’s Pole to put Boston up, 5-3.

Reynolds, like Devers, made up for his error in the field by mashing a solo home run off Crawford with two outs in the second. The Pirates then pulled back even with the Sox an inning later when Jack Suwinski scored Hayes on a two-out single. Crawford ran into more trouble in the fourth by serving up two more solo shots to Jason Delay and Reynolds, giving Pittsburgh a 7-5 lead.

In his four innings of work, Crawford threw 93 pitches (59 strikes). Though the 27-year-old hurler induced 15 swings-and-misses, he also gave up six hits that had exit velocities of 100 mph or more. With Crawford’s outing in the books, Red Sox starters now own a 12.91 ERA (22 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings) so far this year.

After breaking out for five runs in the first, the Boston lineup quited down for a bit. There were opportunities to score, but Connor Wong was stranded at third in the fourth and struck out with the bases loaded to end things in the fifth. On the heels of two scoreless frames of relief from Zack Kelly, though, the Sox were able to get something going in the latter half of the sixth.

There, Alex Verdugo led off with a single and moved up to second when Yoshida drew a six-pitch walk. Duvall then greeted new Pirates reliever Duane Underwood Jr. with a broken-bat RBI single that plated Verdugo and cut the deficit to one. Yoshida advanced into scoring position on the play, but he and Duvall were left on base when Casas fanned to end the inning.

Richard Bleier and Kaleb Ort combined for two more shutout innings out of the bullpen before Verdugo led off the bottom of the eighth with a single off Colin Holderman. Turner walked and Yoshida advanced both runners on a one-out groundout, but Duvall grounded out himself to extinguish the threat.

Down to their final three outs after Ryan Brasier worked a scoreless top of the ninth, the Red Sox were up against All-Star closer David Bednar. The pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia made things interesting by beating out a one-out infield single, but Bednar prevailed by fanning Enrique Hernandez and Rob Refsnyder to end it.

All told, the Red Sox went 2-for-9 (.222) with runners in scoring position on Monday and left 12 runners on base as a team.

Duvall’s dominance

Adam Duvall s the first player ever to reach base as many as 13 times (10 hits, two walks, one hit-by-pitch) in his first four games as a member of the Red Sox, according to director of baseball communications and media relations J.P. Long.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Contreras

The Red Sox will look to bounce back against the Pirates on Tuesday night. Nick Pivetta will make his season debut for Boston while Pittsburgh will counter with fellow right-hander Roansy Contreras.

First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox rally late, but come up short in 10-9 loss to Orioles on Opening Day

The Red Sox mounted a late rally, but it was not enough to get past the Orioles on Thursday afternoon. Boston fell to Baltimore by a final score of 10-9 on Opening Day at Fenway Park.

Corey Kluber’s first start of the season did not go as planned. Making his Red Sox debut, the veteran right-hander surrendered five earned runs on six hits and four walks to go along with four strikeouts over just 3 1/3 innings of work.

The Orioles got to Kluber right away in their half of the first. After striking out leadoff man Cedric Mullins, Kluber served up a 402-foot solo shot to Adley Rutschman to give Baltimore an early 1-0 lead. He walked two batters in the inning as well, but escaped without giving anything else up.

Despite falling behind right out of the gate, the Red Sox regrouped rather quickly in the latter half of the first. With Kyle Gibson starting for the Orioles, Alex Verdugo led things off by lacing a 369-foot triple off the Green Monster. He scored the then-tying run moments later on an RBI groundout off the bat of Rafael Devers.

It then appeared as though Kluber was about to settle in, as he retired the side in order in the second and worked his way around two hits in the third. But the righty ran into more trouble in the fourth by first issuing a leadoff walk to Gunnar Henderson. Two pitches later, Kluber gave up a towering two-run home run to Ramon Urias that put Baltimore up, 3-1.

Kluber allowed three of the next four batters he faced to reach base. At that point, he was given the hook in favor of rookie Zack Kelly. Kelly, inheriting a bases-loaded jam, allowed two of the three runners he inherited to score on a wild pitch and bases-loaded walk of Ryan Mountcastle, thus closing the book on Kluber’s outing.

The 36-year-old hurler finished with a final pitch count of 80 (48 strikes). He averaged 87.7 mph with his sinker — his most frequently-used pitch — and induced six swings-and-misses in total. The four walks are the most he has given up in a single start since last Opening Day, when he was a member of the Rays.

After watching the Orioles put up a four-spot in the top half of the fourth, Devers led off the bottom half with a hard-hit ground-rule double to right field. He moved up to third on a Justin Turner groundout and remained there after Masataka Yoshida was hit by a pitch. With one out and runners on the corners, Adam Duvall laced a blistering 108.6 mph single off Gibson that allowed Devers to score from third, making it a 5-2 game. Triston Casas followed by drawing a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Christian Arroyo. Arroyo, however, grounded into an inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play to extinguish the threat.

Ryan Brasier took over for Kelly in the fifth and recorded the first two outs of the frame by inducing a twin killing of his own. He then issued a seven-pitch walk to Adam Frazier, who promptly stole second base and scored from there on a Jorge Mateo single. Mateo swiped second and took third while Mullins was in the process of drawing a walk. After Mullins stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position, Rutschman came through with a two-run single to left field that gave the Orioles a commanding 8-2 lead.

The Red Sox managed to cut into that deficit in the sixth. Devers and Turner hit back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and knock Gibson out of the game. Yoshida then greeted new O’s reliever Keegan Akin by driving in Devers on a single through the right side of the infield for both his first hit and RBI as a major-leaguer. Turner, who went from first to third on the play, scored the second run of the inning on an RBI groundout from Casas.

Kaleb Ort, who put up a zero in the top of the sixth, came back out for the seventh. This time around, however, Ort gave up a leadoff double to Frazier, who quickly moved up to third on a successful sacrifice bunt laid down by Mateo. Mullins then plated Frazier with an RBI single before Rutschman followed suit with a run-scoring hit of his own.

Rutschman’s single was hit to Yoshida in left field. Yoshida made a quick throw towards home in an attempt to gun down Mullins at the plate. But Devers, the third baseman, elected to cut the throw off in order to snuff out Rutschman — who was trying to extend his single into a double — at second. Although Devers did get Rutschman out, the Orioles still increased their lead to six runs at 10-4.

Josh Winckowski kept the deficit at six runs in the top of the eighth by maneuvering his way around a leadoff double and Enrique Hernandez throwing error, paving the way for the Boston lineup to have its most productive inning of the afternoon.

With Bryan Baker on the mound for Baltimore, three straight hitters (Turner, Yoshida, and Duvall) all reached base after Devers struck out on a pitch clock violation for the first out. Casas then drove in Turner with a sacrifice fly before Arroyo ripped a two-run double over the head of left fielder Anthony Santander.

That sequence of events cut the Orioles’ lead down to three runs at 10-7. And it remained that way after Chris Martin tossed a scoreless ninth inning. Down to their final three outs now, the pinch-hitting Raimel Tapia drew a leadoff walk off Baltimore closer Felix Bautista. A hard-hit single from Verdugo that was accompanied by a fielding error put runners at second and third with no outs.

Devers struck out for the second time, but Turner delivered with an infield single that scored Tapia from third. It then appeared as though Yoshida was about to ground into a game-ending double play, but a poor throw to first allowed Yoshida to reach base safely while Verdugo crossed the plate for Boston’s ninth run.

Yoshida was able to advance to second as well, which put the tying run in scoring position for Duvall. Duvall, however, went down swinging on three straight strikes to end it there.

With Thursday’s loss, Red Sox manager Alex Cora falls to 0-5 all-time on Opening Day. The nine walks issued by Boston pitchers tied an Opening Day franchise record. It also happened in 1926 against the Orioles and in 1966 against the Yankees.

Yoshida’s MLB debut

After signing a five-year, $90 million contract with the Red Sox in December, Masataka Yoshida made his highly-anticipated big-league debut on Thursday. The 29-year-old out of Japan went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored out of the cleanup spot. He was also credited with an outfield assist when Adley Rutschman was thrown out at second base in the seventh inning.

Casas’ first Opening Day start

Triston Casas became the youngest first baseman to start on Opening Day for the Red Sox since George Scott in 1967. The left-handed hitting 23-year-old went 0-for-2 with a walk, a strikeout, and two RBIs.

Next up: First Sale Day of the season

At 0-1, the Red Sox will have Friday off before returning to action against the Orioles on Saturday. In the middle game of this three-game series, left-hander Chris Sale is slated to take the mound for Boston while right-hander Dean Kremer is expected to do the same for Baltimore.

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

(Picture of Corey Kluber: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Masataka Yoshida, Triston Casas, and Connor Wong all homer as Red Sox fall to Braves, 7-5, in spring finale

In their final game of the spring, the Red Sox came up short against the Braves on Tuesday afternoon. Boston fell to Atlanta by a final score of 7-5 at JetBlue Park.

Kutter Crawford, making his fourth start and fifth overall appearance of the spring, allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts over four innings of work.

The Braves got to Crawford right away in the top of the first, as the right-hander allowed three of the first four batters he faced to reach base on two singles and a walk. With one out and the bases loaded, Michael Harris II drove in Atlanta’s first run by grounding into a force out at second base. Crawford managed to escape any further damage by getting Ozzie Albies to ground out to short.

Despite falling behind early, the Red Sox wasted no time in getting on the board themselves in the latter half of the first. Matched up against veteran starter Charlie Morton to begin things on Tuesday, Rafael Devers ripped a one-out double to center field. Two batters later, Masataka Yoshida torched a two-run shot over the center field wall for his first home run of the spring and his first in a Red Sox uniform.

Triston Casas followed Yoshida’s lead the next inning, as he led off the bottom of the second by taking Morton deep to dead-center for his fourth homer of the spring. The solo blast put Boston up, 3-1, going into the third.

Crawford, who retired the side in order in the second, ran into more trouble by giving up back-to-back hits to Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson to lead off the inning. He then recorded the first two outs of the frame on a pair of strikeouts, but was unable to get out of the jam as he yielded a game-tying, two-run single to Harris II. Albies followed by plating Harris II on an RBI double to give Atlanta a 4-3 lead.

In the fourth, Crawford served up a one-out solo homer to Orlando Arcia before walking Arcia and retiring both Olson and Austin Riley to end his day on a more positive note. The 26-year-old hurler finished with 73 pitches and a 4.15 ERA in 17 1/3 innings pitched this spring. His first start of the regular season will come against the Pirates at Fenway Park next Monday.

Richard Bleier received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the fifth inning. The left-hander got two quick outs before walking Ehire Adrianza and giving up a single to Sean Murphy. He then gave up an RBI single to the pinch-hitting Ethan Workinger that scored Adrianza, but left fielder Jarren Duran managed to gun down Workinger, who tried to stretch his single into a double, at second base to end the inning.

The Red Sox got that run back in the bottom of the fifth to keep the deficit at two. Raimel Tapia led off with a hard-hit double off Braves reliever Jared Shuster and advanced to third on a balk. Yu Chang then drove Tapia in from third with an RBI single to left field.

John Schreiber put together his most impressive outing of the spring by striking out the side in the sixth inning. But Kaleb Ort’s struggles continued in the seventh, as the righty allowed the first two hitters he faced to reach on a double and walk before surrendering a one-out RBI double to Adrianza, which gave Atlanta a 7-4 lead.

After Luis De La Rosa induced a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the top of the eighth unscathed, Connor Wong led off the bottom half by crushing a long home run to deep right-center field off new reliever Jake McSteen. Wong’s first big fly of the spring trimmed Boston’s deficit down from three runs to two at 7-5.

That is where the score would remain, though, as Theo Denlinger put up a zero in the top half of the ninth and the Red Sox went down quietly in the bottom half to put the finishing touches on a 7-5 loss.

With the loss, the Red Sox finish the spring with a 14-14-4 record in Grapefruit League play and a 16-14-4 record in all competitions. Spring training is officially over in Fort Myers.

Next up: Opening Day at Fenway

The Red Sox will head north and enjoy an off day on Wednesday before taking on the Orioles in the first of a three-game series on Opening Day. Corey Kluber is slated to get the ball for Boston while fellow right-hander Kyle Gibson will do the same for Baltimore.

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

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Masataka Yoshida, Yu Chang named to All-World Baseball Classic team

Two members of the Red Sox were named to the 2023 All-World Baseball Classic team after the tournament came to a thrilling end in Miami on Tuesday night.

Shortly after Japan defeated the United States, 3-1, in dramatic fashion to cap off an undefeated run and take home its third WBC title, Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida and infielder Yu Chang were both recognized for what they did for their respective countries.

Yoshida, representing Samurai Japan, was among the tournament’s top offensive performers. The left-handed hitter batted a stout .409/.531/.727 with one double, two home runs, a WBC-record 13 RBIs, five runs scored, four walks, and just one strikeout in seven games spanning 32 trips to the plate.

Were it not for Shohei Ohtani’s heroic efforts in Tuesday’s championship game, Yoshida very well could have been named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Most notably, the 29-year-old came through with a clutch, game-tying three-run homer in the seventh inning of Monday’s 6-5 semifinal win over Mexico. He also threw out a runner at home plate the following half-inning.

Though he went hitless on Tuesday, it was still an encouraging two weeks for Yoshida, who the Red Sox signed to a five-year, $90 million deal back in December. The Fukui native is expected to bat cleanup for Boston this season and is an early favorite to be in consideration for American League Rookie of the Year.

Chang, meanwhile, made headlines earlier in the tournament thanks to his performance in pool play. Representing Chinese Taipei, the Taiwan native went 7-for-16 (.438) at the plate with two doubles, two home runs, eight RBIs, five runs scored, two walks, and two strikeouts in four games. One of those homers was a game-tying two-run shot against Italy and the other was a grand slam against the Netherlands.

Despite the fact that Chinese Taipei failed to advance to the quarterfinals, Chang was still named MVP of his pool (Pool A) for his efforts. The versatile 27-year-old is back with the Red Sox after signing a one-year, $850,000 contract with the club last month. He is expected to be part of Boston’s infield mix as a bench option while Trevor Story (right elbow surgery) and Adalberto Mondesi (left ACL rehab) are sidelined to start the season.

Yoshida rejoined the Red Sox in Fort Myers on Wednesday and will make his return to the lineup on Friday, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne. Chang, on the other hand, has been delayed by visa issues and is slated to report to camp on Thursday.

(Picture of Masataka Yoshida: Eric Espada/Getty Images)

Red Sox have No. 10 farm system in baseball, per Baseball America’s latest organizational rankings

According to Baseball America’s latest organizational talent rankings, the Red Sox have one of the top farm systems in baseball heading into the 2023 season.

Baseball America ranked the Red Sox 10th in its annual rankings. Each year, the publication “looks at the totality of a farm system’s talent, with an emphasis on top prospects but also factoring in the depth of the organization’s prospect ranks.”

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox have steadily climbed Baseball America’s organizational rankings since Chaim Bloom took over as the club’s chief baseball officer in October 2019. Bloom inherited a farm system that finished dead last (30th) in 2019. They were ranked 20th in both 2020 and 2021 before making the jump to No. 11 last year. This time around, the organization cracked the publication’s top-10.

“Slowly but surely, Boston’s system is improving,” Baseball America wrote. “The group isn’t deep, but it’s led by near-ready first baseman Triston Casas and talented shortstop Marcelo Mayer. Breakout prospect Ceddanne Rafaela and toolsy wunderkind Miguel Bleis add upside to the system, and Japanese import Masataka Yoshida gives Boston a plug-and-play outfielder for its new-look lineup.”

In January, the Red Sox landed five players on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list. Mayer is currently ranked 10th, Casas is ranked 28th, Rafaela is ranked 71st, Yoshida is ranked 87th, and Bleis is ranked 88th.

That Yoshida is considered by the publication to be a prospect is certainly interesting when you consider the fact that he is 29 years old, played in Japan for seven seasons, and signed a five-year, $90 million contract with Boston in December. Other experts within the industry, such as Keith Law of The Athletic, do not view Yoshida as a prospect even though he is a rookie with no major-league experience.

Taking that into consideration, though, Yoshida will likely graduate from his prospect status before long since he projects to be Boston’s starting left fielder. The same can be said for Triston Casas after the 23-year-old first baseman debuted last September. Right-hander Brayan Bello, who pitched 57 1/3 innings last season, has already graduated from his prospect status after exceeding his rookie limits in 2022.

Finishing in front of the Red Sox in this year’s preseason organizational rankings are the Orioles, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Guardians, Mets, Rays, Nationals, Reds, and Cardinals. Rounding out the top-15 are the Pirates, Rangers, Brewers, Rockies, and Yankees. The only other American League East team not yet mentioned, the Blue Jays, were ranked 17th.

(Picture of Wilyer Abreu, Matthew Lugo, and Ceddanne Rafaela: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)