Tag: michael chavis

#RedSox Halt Dustin Pedroia’s Rehab Assignment Due to Minor Left Knee Soreness

Nearly two weeks after sending him out on one for the second time this season, the Red Sox have returned second baseman Dustin Pedroia from his rehab assignment with Double-A Portland due to what the club is describing as “minor left knee soreness”, per multiple reports.

Pedroia, 35, was scratched from the Sea Dogs’ lineup against the Trenton Thunder this past Saturday for essentially the same reason.

Placed on the 10-day injured list back on April 19th after appearing in six games for the Red Sox, the veteran infielder was sent out to Portland on May 2nd, where he went 4-for-16 with one run and one RBI over a six-game span.

According to the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, the plan now is for Pedroia to go back out on another assignment following this delay. This works out for the team, because as Abraham notes, 12 of the 20 days available for a rehab assignment had already been used up, so this now gives Pedroia and the Red Sox more time to prepare.

In Pedroia’s place, the Red Sox currently have rookie Michael Chavis and Eduardo Nunez available to man second base when necessary, while Brock Holt and Tzu-Wei Lin, like Pedroia, remain on Boston’s injured list.

The timetable for the California native’s return to the majors is not yet known, but that doesn’t mean he still can’t contribute to the big league club when healthy.

All on Twitter, I see people indirectly urging Pedroia to retire due to these extended knee issues, hoping the remainder of his six-year, $85 million contract could somehow be voided if he did indeed hang them up.

I don’t know where things took a sour turn, I really don’t. But Dustin Pedroia deserved more respect than that. Literally the best second baseman not named Bobby Doerr to ever don a Red Sox uniform.

The bottom line is: show that man some respect.

JD Martinez Goes Yard Twice, Michael Chavis Drives in Five Runs as #RedSox Finish off Sweep of Mariners for Fifth Straight Win

Don’t look now, but the Red Sox have won 11 of their last 13 games, as they extended their current winning streak to five on Sunday afternoon with an 11-2 Mother’s Day triumph over the Seattle Mariners to finish off the weekend sweep.

On what was more of a bullpen day for the Sox, it was Hector Velazquez making his sixth start of the season for Boston in this one.

Pitching in mostly unfavorable conditions at Fenway Park, the right-hander twirled five solid innings of work, limiting the M’s to just two runs on two hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts on the day.

Right from the get go, it did not look as though Velazquez was going to go too deep into his outing, as Seattle led things off in the first by having runners on second and third without an out yet recorded.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, the Mexico native held the opposition to one run in the frame on an Edwin Encarnacion sacrifice fly before really settling in.

Retiring 10 of the next 11 he faced following that Encarnacion at-bat, Velazquez did not run into any more trouble up until the start of the fifth inning, when Omar Narvaez launched a leadoff homer to right field for Seattle’s second run of the afternoon.

Still, Velazquez showed the ability to bounce back by again sitting down the M’s 7-8-9 hitters in order to retire the side in the fifth and end his outing on a more positive note by being eligible for the winning decision, which he did eventually pick up.

Finishing with a final economical pitch count of 63 (37 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler relied on his sinker 30% of the time he was on the mound Sunday, inducing zero swings and misses and getting three called strikes with the pitch. He also topped out at 92.6 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he turned to 13 times with Christian Vazquez behind the plate.

Finally able to pick up that first W and improve to 1-2 on the year while lowering his ERA down to 3.95, the whereabouts on Velazquez’s next start are not yet known. I would expect him to make his next appearance out of the bullpen, though.

In relief of Velazquez, as has been the case regularly, Marcus Walden received the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen to begin the sixth inning.

Making his 14th appearance out of the ‘pen this season, the right-hander continued to impress with two more scoreless innings of relief on Sunday in addition to just one hit given up and three punch outs.

That made way for Josh Smith, who worked his way around a single and a fielding error in the eighth before shutting things down with a clean ninth to secure the 11-2 win for his club.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a familiar foe in Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales, who picked up the win against the Sox in his second start of the year back on March 28th.

This time around, the Boston bats had a much better time of figuring out the Seattle southpaw, and the scoring got kicked off right away in the first inning.

Already trailing by a run, JD Martinez erased that deficit very quickly with a two out, 384 foot solo shot off of Gonzales to put the Red Sox on the board.

Three batters later, after Xander Bogaerts reached on a five-pitch walk and Rafael Devers advanced him to third on a line drive single, Michael Chavis broke out of an 0-for-19 slump by driving in Bogaerts on an RBI line drive single that should have been caught by Mariners rookie second baseman Shed Long.

That was followed up by another defensive miscue on Seattle’s behalf, with Rafael Devers coming in from third on a passed ball with Christian Vazquez at the plate. And just like that, the Red Sox had themselves a 3-1 lead.

An inning later, more two trouble for the Mariners led to more scoring for the Red Sox, this time with Andrew Benintendi scoring all the way from first on a Mookie Betts pop up that again should have been caught by right fielder Jay Bruce. Instead, Bruce never really had control of the ball, dropped it, and in came Benintendi on the fielding error. 4-1.

Fast forward to the fifth, and Chavis was set up in a prime RBI spot again thanks to Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers reaching base with two outs against Mariners reliever Parker Markel.

With both runners in scoring position, the Red Sox rookie infielder snuck a single through the right side of the infield, plating Bogaerts and Devers to give his team the 6-2 advantage.

Two innings later, three straight walks drawn by Betts, Martinez, and Bogaerts off righty Dan Altavilla put the Red Sox in a spot to put this one out of reach, and they did just that with a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Devers and a two-run single from Chavis to make it a 9-2 game.

For Chavis, those two runs marked his fourth and fifth RBI of the day, setting a new-career high for a single game. Quite a way to break out of an offensive slump.

And in the eighth, just like how he started this one off, JD Martinez put the exclamation point on his team’s fifth straight win by depositing his second big fly of the afternoon over the Green Monster to plate both Mookie Betts as well as himself.

That put the Red Sox ahead 11-2, which would go on to be the final score in this series finale. Sweep completed.

Some notes from this win:

The Red Sox are 16-6 in their last 22 games.

With yet another three-hit performance on Sunday, Rafael Devers is slashing .426/.462/.638 with two home runs and 13 RBI over 11 games this month.

Two from Red Sox Notes:

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s an off day on Monday before welcoming the Colorado Rockies into town for a quick, two-game interleague series on Tuesday.

The first of those two will feature a starting pitching matchup between left-hander Kyle Freeland for Colorado and fellow southpaw Chris Sale for Boston.

Coming off eight innings of one run ball in his last time out against the Baltimore Orioles, Sale has posted a 1.73 ERA, .165 batting average against, and 14.54 K/9 over his last four starts. The Red Sox are unbeaten in the lefty’s last two outings.

Freeland, meanwhile, has never pitched at Fenway Park, nor against the Red Sox, as this is just his third season in the majors.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN.

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone.

 

Eight-Run Third Inning Lifts #RedSox to 9-5 Win over Mariners for Fourth Consecutive Victory

After finally getting over the .500 hump on Friday, the Red Sox took their fourth straight contest on Saturday afternoon, improving to 21-19 with a 9-5 win over the Seattle Mariners.

Making his eighth start of the season for Boston in this one was Rick Porcello, who entred Saturday unbeaten in his last four outings.

Pitching into the seventh inning on Saturday, Porcello extended that run, as he surrendered four runs, all earned, on five hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts on the day.

All four of those Mariners runs and all five of those hits came around to score in the first, with Porcello getting downright bombarded, really.

Back-to-back RBI doubles from Dan Vogelbach and Domingo Santana, followed by a two-run shot off the bat of veteran slugger Jay Bruce put Porcello in a fairly deep hole early, but the righty turned things around.

In fact, from the beginning of the second all the way to the two out point in the top half of the seventh, Porcello did not yield a single hit, as he retired 17 of the final 19 Seattle hitters he faced.

A two out walk of Shed Long in that seventh inning would wind up being how the New Jersey native’s up and down afternoon came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 107 (76 strikes), Porcello relied on his four-seam fastball 38% of the time he was on the mound Saturday, as he induced six swings and misses and topped out at 92.5 MPH with the pitch.

Improving to 3-3 on the year, Porcello will look to extend his unbeaten run in his next time out, which should come against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park next weekend.

In relief of Porcello, Brandon Workman came on with a five-run lead to protect and one out to get with a runner on in the seventh.

Making his 20th appearance of the season, the righty worked his way around walking the first hitter he faced by getting JP Crawford to ground out to first and retire the side.

From there, Ryan Brasier needed just 14 pitches in a 1-2-3 eighth frame of work before Colten Brewer served up a solo home run to Omar Narvaez in the ninth in an otherwise clean inning, thus securing the 9-5 win for his club.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against veteran right-hander Felix Hernandez for Seattle, and for the second time in less than 24 hours, a Mariners starting pitcher was charged with seven runs.

The scoring for Boston opened in the second, when already faced with an early four-run deficit, Mitch Moreland put the Red Sox on the board with his 12th home run of the year and second of the series, a 384 foot solo shot to right field. 4-1 Mariners.

Just an inning later, as they seem to be making a habit of doing lately, the Sox bats broke out for eight runs, and it all started with Mookie Betts drawing a one out walk off of Hernandez.

Following consecutive singles from JD Martinez and Moreland, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers chipped in with RBI base hits of their own, driving in the first three hitters to reach base in the third to tie this thing up at four runs a piece.

That tie would not last long, however. Not with Michael Chavis drawing another walk to reload the bases and end the day for Hernandez after only recording seven outs.

Enter ex-Red Sox lefty Reonis Elias for Seattle, who was greeted immediately by a Jackie Bradley Jr. RBI single up the middle to plate Bogaerts and Devers and put the Red Sox ahead for the first time.

A few moments after that commotion, Sandy Leon, manning the ninth spot in Boston’s lineup, essentially delivered the finishing blow in this one, taking Elias deep over the Monster for a three-run dinger.

Leon’s first big fly of the season, registering at a nice 369 feet and 95.5 MPH off the bat, put the Sox ahead 9-4, and they would not have to look back in this eventual four-run victory.

Some notes from this win:

The Red Sox drew 11 walks on Saturday, with each starter one through nine accounting for at least one. According to @RedSoxStats on Twitter, that’s the first time that’s happened in the majors since 2010.

Felix Hernandez became the sixth-youngest and 36th overall pitcher in major league history to record 2,500 career strikeouts.

With another three-hit performance on Saturday, Rafael Devers has lifted his on-base percentage up to .402, currently second best on the team behind only Mookie Betts.

12 of Mitch Moreland’s 27 hits this season have gone for home runs. His slugging percentage currently stands at .566 on the year.

The Red Sox are 15-6 in their last 21 games.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll look to complete the three-game sweep of the Mariners on Mother’s Day.

Hector Velazquez will be getting the ball for Boston, as announced by Sox manager Alex Cora postgame Saturday.

As a starter this season, the Mexico native owns a 4.40 ERA over five outings and 14.1 innings of work.

Opposite Velazquez will be Mariners lefty Marco Gonzales, who surrendered four runs over six innings in a winning effort against the Red Sox back on Opening Day.

First pitch Sunday afternoon is scheduled for 1:05 PM EDT on NESN. Both clubs will be donning pink caps and pink ribbons on their uniforms to support the fight against breast cancer.

#RedSox Homer Three Times in 14-1 Rout over Mariners to Improve to 20-19 on Season

Coming off a 5-2 road trip and an off day on Thursday, the Red Sox opened up an eight-game homestand on Friday with a blowout 14-1 win over the Seattle Mariners to improve their record to 20-19 and pass the .500 plateau for the first time this season.

Making his eighth start of the season for Boston was Eduardo Rodriguez, who entered the weekend fresh off a six strikeout performance in his last time out against the White Sox.

Tossing seven full innings in this one, the left-hander held the Mariners scoreless while scattering just five hits and one walk to go along with five K’s on the night.

Retiring nine of the first 10 he faced, Rodriguez faced more than four hitters in an inning just two times in the fourth and seventh, stranding the runners on base on both occasions to preserve the shutout effort.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 103 (68 strikes), the 26-year-old turned to his four-seam fastball 39% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing three swings and misses with the pitch and topping out at 93.8 MPH with it. He also induced a team-high eight swinging strikes with his changeup, a pitch he threw 26 times.

The Red Sox are now 6-0 in Rodriguez’s last six starts. Over that span, the Venezuela native himself is 4-0 and owns an ERA of 2.78. They’ll look to make it seven wins in a row in Rodriguez’s next time out, which should come against the Houston Astros next week.

In relief of Rodriguez, the Red Sox bullpen was not faced with much pressure, as their team’s lead stood at 10 runs by the time Tyler Thornburg took the mound to begin the eighth inning.

Having given up runs in his last four appearances out of the ‘pen before Friday, Thornburg saw his ERA inflate to 8.04 on an Edwin Encarnacion RBI double in his lone inning of relief.

And in the ninth, making his second appearance for the Sox since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket last Monday, Ryan Weber closed things out in a scoreless frame to secure the blowout victory.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Mariners rookie left-hander Erik Swanson, and they really had their way with them beginning in the third inning.

After collectively going 0-for-their-first-7, a Jackie Bradley Jr. leadoff double in that third would turn out to be the catalyst for a four-run inning to get the scoring started in this one.

All coming with two outs, back-to-back singles from Mookie Betts and JD Martinez plated Bradley Jr. and put runners on the corners for Mitch Moreland, who absolutely demolished a first pitch fastball and deposited 436 feet into the bleachers with an exit velocity of 109 MPH. 4-0, just like that.

An inning later, Rafael Devers joined in on the moon bomb party, leading off the fourth with a 397 foot shot off Swanson to pad the Red Sox’ lead even further.

In the fifth, the pair of corner infielders were at it again, with Moreland collecting his fourth RBI of the night on a line drive double to the opposite field to score Andrew Benintendi all the way from first and Devers driving in Moreland on an RBI single off new M’s reliever Mike Swarzak to make it a 7-0 contest.

Fast forward to the sixth, and Benintendi went yard for the second time in the last two games, as he took Swarzak 393 feet deep to right for his fifth big fly of the season. That ball had an exit velocity of over 106 MPH.

Another inning later, with lefty Zac Rosscup on for Seattle, Xander Bogaerts got on the board with his 24th ribbie of the year, plating Steve Pearce, who pinch-hit for Moreland the at-bat prior, on a screamer of a double to right field.

After advancing to third on a Rafael Devers groundout, Bogaerts scored his club’s 10th run on another RBI groundout from the slumping Michael Chavis. 10-0.

And in the eighth, even with this one already out of reach, the Red Sox went ahead and struck four more times off Mariners reliever and former Baltimore Oriole Mike Wright.

Benintendi, Betts, and Eduardo Nunez got the rally started by loading the bases without recording an out to begin the inning, and Xander Bogaerts drove in the reigning AL MVP by grounding into a force out at third to put runners at first and second for Devers.

On the very first pitch he saw from Wright, the 22-year-old capped off a stellar night at the plate in style, emptying the bases on a two out, two-run, 100 MPH double to right to give Boston the 14-1 advantage, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

In nine games this month, Rafael Devers has recorded multiple hits in six of them. He is currently batting .314 with an OPS of .826.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game set on Saturday afternoon with a starting pitching matchup featuring two veteran right-handers.

For Boston, it will be Rick Porcello making his eighth start of the season. Since April 20th, the 30-year-old is 4-0 over his last four starts with an ERA of 2.45.

Opposite Porcello will be the 33-year-old righty Felix Hernandez for Seattle, who owns a lifetime 4.09 ERA over nine career starts and 57.2 innings of work at Fenway Park.

It took more than six weeks to get there, but the Red Sox are back to playing winning baseball with a record of 20-19.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their first four-game winning streak of the season.

 

 

 

 

 

Xander Bogaerts’ Grand Slam Caps off Seven-Run Eighth Inning for #RedSox in 9-2 Win over White Sox

After going off for a season-high 15 runs on Saturday night, the Red Sox followed that up with a seven-run eighth inning on Sunday in a 9-2 rout over the Chicago White Sox to take the series three games to one.

Making his sixth start of the season and coming off his best outing last time out in this one was Rick Porcello.

Well-versed in working at Guaranteed Rate Field, the right-hander surrendered just two earned runs on five hits and no walks to go along with seven strikeouts over six quality innings on the afternoon.

Both of those Chicago runs came on a pair of solo home runs, with the first coming off the bat of Ryan Cordell in the fifth and the second coming from Jose Abreu an inning later.

That Abreu solo shot tied the game at two at the time it was mashed, but Porcello responded in a positive way by sitting down the final two White Sox hitters he faced in the sixth to kill any shot of a multi-run inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 102 (74 strikes), the 30-year-old turned to his four-seam fastball 35% of the time he was on the mound Sunday, inducing six swings and misses and topping out at 93.1 MPH with the pitch.

Unable to pick up the winning decision because of that second home run, Porcello did lower his ERA on the season down 5.11 thanks to his third consecutive quality start dating back to April 25th. He’ll look for his third W of the year in his next time out, which should come against the Seattle Mariners back at Fenway Park next weekend.

In relief of Porcello, the Red Sox bullpen was responsible for the final three innings of this one.

Brandon Workman got the call for the seventh in a tie-game situation, and he worked his way around a leadoff walk to pick up his second winning decision of the season with another scoreless frame of relief.

From there, after the Red Sox jumped out to a seven-run advnatage in their half of the eighth, Marcus Walden shut down the White Sox in their half of the inning before Colten Brewer locked down the 9-2 win with a scoreless, yet erratic ninth.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against White Sox right-hander Dylan Covey, someone who went unbeaten in two appearances (one start, one relief outing) against Boston last season.

Coming off an offensive outpour on Saturday, the Red Sox bats were held in check by Covey through the fifth, managing to push across just two runs on a second inning RBI single from Mitch Moreland and more of the same from JD Martinez in that fifth inning.

They certainly had their chances to score even more off the White Sox starter, but it wasn’t until the eighth where the offense really picked things up, just like what they did in the third inning Saturday.

Entering the frame in a 2-2 contest with flame throwing reliever Kelvin Herrera on the bump for Chicago, a one out single from Rafael Devers, followed by some sloppy fielding from the White Sox that allowed the Red Sox infielder to reach third base safely, would end up being the catalyst for another massive inning.

After a mound visit and a five-pitch walk drawn by Michael Chavis, Moreland came through in the clutch yet again, beating the shift with another RBI single up the middle to drive in Devers from third and give his team a lead they would not have to look back from.

Three batters and one Jackie Bradley Jr. walk to load the bases later, Eduardo Nunez, pinch-hitting for Sandy Leon, knocked in Boston’s fourth run of the afternoon with a little RBI dribbler down the third base line that barely stayed fair. 4-2 and keeping the line moving.

With the lineup turning back over, Chicago turned to left-hander Caleb Frare in relief of Herrera, and he walked the lone hitter he faced in Andrew Benintendi by nearly striking him in the head with a wild pitch. Regardless, Moreland scored and the Red Sox had a 5-2 lead.

That three-run lead would not last long though, as Xander Bogaerts essentially put this game on ice by greeting new White Sox reliever Juan Minaya with his first grand slam and sixth homer of the season.

The Red Sox’ second granny of 2019 belongs to Bogaerts, and it all but sealed a 9-2 win to close out a successful weekend in the Windy City.

Some notes from this win:

In his last five games, Rafael Devers is slashing .364/.400/.591 with one home run and six RBI.

Michael Chavis may not have recorded a hit on Sunday, but he did make this outstanding diving play in shallow right field in the eighth inning.

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

—

Unbeaten in their last two series, the Red Sox will head to Baltimore for the first time in 2019 for a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles scheduled to begin on Monday.

31-year-old right hander Josh Smith will get the start for Boston, while lefty John Means will do the same for Baltimore.

Recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on April 26th, Smith closed out Boston’s 6-1 win over the White Sox this past Friday in his only big league appearance so far this season.

Means, meanwhile, owns a lifetime 6.48 ERA over two career outings (one start) and 8.1 innings against the Red Sox.

First pitch of the series opener Monday is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their fourth straight win.

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone.

 

Nine-Run Third Inning, Michael Chavis’ First Multi-Homer Game Carry #RedSox to 15-2 Blowout Win over White Sox

After bouncing back with a 6-1 win on Friday night, the Red Sox really poured it on against the White Sox on Saturday, pouring on a season-high 15 runs for their second straight victory on the South Side.

Making his seventh start of the season in this one for Boston was Eduardo Rodriguez, who struck out 12 White Sox in his previous start at Guaranteed Rate Field last September.

This time around, the left-hander yielded just one run on six hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts over six quality innings of work, eventually earning his third winning decision of the year.

Things started out a bit shaky for Rodriguez in the first, with Chicago plating their first run of the night and all, but after getting out of the inning and escaping a bases loaded jam in the second, it was relatively smooth sailing, and that was mostly thanks to what his lineup did in their half of the third.

Retiring 11 of the last 14 hitters he faced, the 26-year-old finished his evening with a final pitch count of exactly 100, 61 of which went for strikes.

Out of those 100 pitches, Rodriguez turned to his four-seam fastball 30% of the time he was on the mound Saturday, inducing two swings and misses and topping out at 93.2 MPH with the pitch.

Now with quality starts in two of his last three starts, the Venezuela international will look to build on a solid beginning to May in his next time out, which should come against the Seattle Mariners next Friday.

In relief of Rodriguez, the Red Sox bullpen was responsible for the final three innings of Saturday’s contest, and they had quite the comfortable cushion to work with.

Working both the seventh and eighth, Tyler Thornburg allowed just one run on one hit, a solo home run off the bat of Jose Abreu while fanning four.

Hector Velazquez, meanwhile, who started as recently as Wednesday, locked down the 15-2 win for the Sox with a scoreless ninth, and that was that.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against an unfamiliar opponent in White Sox left-hander Manny Banuelos to start this one off.

For never facing off against the Red Sox before in his career, Banuelos held his own through the first two-and-two-thirds innings Saturday by sitting down the first eight hitters he faced in order.

Despite the early success though, a Christian Vazquez two out single changed everything, and it all unraveled for the 29-year-old southpaw the second time through the Boston lineup.

Including the base hit from Vazquez, 10 straight Red Sox hitters all reached base off Banuelos and drove in a total of NINE runs in that span.

An Andrew Benintendi single advanced Vazquez into scoring position for Mookie Betts, who plated both runners on two-run RBI double to pull his team ahead 2-1.

Two pitches after that, JD Martinez collected his 17th RBI of the season by pulling a line drive double to left and driving in Betts from second to make it a 3-1 contest.

Following a brief mound visit, Xander Bogaerts and Michael Chavis went back-to-back with one two-run and one solo homer to pad Boston’s lead even further to 6-1.

With the bases once again empty, a Rafael Devers double and Steve Pearce RBI single gave the Red Sox a six-run advantage, which then inflated to eight on another two-runshot, this one coming from Eduardo Nunez in his first game back since being activated from the injured list. 9-1. End run-scoring outburst.

Just like how he started the rally, another Christian Vazquez single would result in the end of the line for Banuelos, who saw a potential no-hitter through three innings turn into an absolute disaster.

From there, the Red Sox struck for four more runs in their half of the fourth.

With reliever Carson Fulmer now in for Chicago, back-to-back leadoff walks drawn by Martinez and Bogaerts presented Chavis with another prime run-scoring opportunity, and the rookie capitalized on it by grounding an RBI single to right field, scoring Martinez and pushing his team’s lead to 10-1.

Rafael Devers would pick up an RBI by reaching on a fielding error following that Chavis single, and Steve Pearce notched his second multi-hit game of the season with another RBI single up the middle to plate Chavis from second. 12-1.

Devers wound up scoring the Red Sox’ 13th run of the night thanks to a throwing error comitted by Jose Abreu on an Eduardo Nunez grounder, and Pearce also scored on two-out RBI double off the bat of Andrew Benintendi in the same frame to make it a 14-1 game.

And finally, in the fifth, Chavis capped off his team’s impressive offensive tear by launching his second big fly of the night, a 438 foot solo shot with an exit velocity registering at 108 MPH off White Sox reliever Josh Osich.

That dinger made it a 15-1 contest at the time it was mashed, and 15-2 would go on to be the final score in this one.

Some notes from this win:

From the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

Through his first 14 big league games, Michael Chavis has hit six home runs and collected 13 RBI. He is currently slashing .354/.466/.771.

The Red Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 ballgames.

—

Looking to finish off the series win over the White Sox Sunday, it will be right-hander Rick Porcello getting the start for the Red Sox, as he’ll be opposed by fellow righty Dylan Covey.

Coming off his best start of the season in which he tossed eight shutout innings against the Oakland A’s last Tuesday, Porcello brings a lifetime 3.81 ERA over 12 career starts at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Opposing Porcello, Covey went 2-0 in one start and one relief appearance against the Red Sox last season.

First pitch for the series finale Sunday is scheduled for 2:10 PM EDT on NESN.

Chris Sale Fans 10, Michael Chavis and Rafael Devers Each Homer as #RedSox Bounce Back with 6-1 Win over White Sox

After getting walked off on to open up a seven-game road trip on Thursday night, the Red Sox bounced back in impressive fashion Friday with a 6-0 shutout victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Leading the charge and making his seventh start of the season against his former club in this one was Chris Sale, who entered the weekend looking to avoid his seventh losing decision of the year already.

Working the first six innings Friday, the left-hander turned in a masterful performance, holding the White Sox scoreless on just three hits, two HBPs, and one walk to go along with 10 strikeouts on the night.

With Sandy Leon behind the plate, Sale did not face more than five hitters in any of the six innings he appeared in while retiring 11 of the first 13 hitters he faced before former Red Sox prospect Yoan Moncada broke up any chance of a no-hitter with a two out single in the fourth.

That was snuffed out almost immediately though, as the Cuba native was picked off by Leon while trying to steal second for the third and final out of the inning.

Less than a full frame after that, the White Sox were threatening to get on the board with runners on first and second and three outs still get.

Fortunately for the Sox, the southpaw responded in classic Chris Sale fashion by fanning the next three hitters he faced on 12 pitches to put an end to any threat.

Ending his night by working his way around a two out double in the sixth and getting Moncada looking for his 10th and final strikeout of the night, Sale did indeed earn his first winning decision of 2019.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 104 (70 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his slider 37% of the time he was on the mound Friday while inducing three swings and misses with the pitch. He also topped out at 96.5 MPH and averaged 93.1 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he went to 37 times.

Improving to 1-5 on the year and lowering his ERA by more than one run, Sale will look to keep things rolling in his next time out, which should come against the Batimore Orioles on Wednesday.

In relief of Sale, the Red Sox bullpen had a relatively comfortable six-run lead to protect heading into the seventh.

Heath Hembree sat down the only three White Sox hitters he faced in order in that seventh inning, Colten Brewer allowed Chicago’s lone run of the night to cross the plate in the eighth, and Josh Smith tossed a scoreless ninth in his Red Sox debut to lock down the 6-1 win.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez, who like Thursday’s starter Lucas Giolito, was part of the trade that sent outfielder Adam Eaton to the Washington Nationals prior to the start of the 2017 season.

Only pitching against Boston one previous time before Friday in his young career, the Red Sox bats took advantage and struck right away in the first inning of this one.

As it turns out, all the damage done off Lopez in the first came with two outs in the frame, and it started with a red-hot JD Martinez roping a ground-rule double to right field.

Two batters later, after Xander Bogaerts advanced Martinez to third with an infield single, Rafael Devers came through with his first home run of the season, and it was a doozy.

Registering at 436 feet and 111 MPH off the bat, you could say Devers’ first big fly of the 2019 came at a good time following that costly ninth inning error on Thursday.

Fast forward to the sixth, after Devers led things off by reaching first on a single, Michael Chavis essentially one upped the first home run of the night by tattooing a 459 foot, 110 MPH, two-run dinger of his own to give the Red Sox a five-run advantage.

And still in the sixth, with Lopez out and reliever Jose Ruiz in for Chicago, Mookie Betts put the exclamation point on this one for the Red Sox by drawing a five pitch, bases loaded walk to drive in Mitch Moreland from third and make it a 6-0 game at the time.

The Red Sox did have the chance to add on in the ninth, but were unable to get anything across against second baseman Jose Rondon, who made his first career appearance as a reliever for the White Sox Friday.

Given the fact that Rick Renteria’s team was only trailing by five runs, it was honestly pretty odd to see a position player pitching in that situation. Still, credit to Rondon for holding his own and tossing a scoreless inning to keep his team within striking distance.

Some notes from this 6-1 win:

On a down note, Tzu-Wei Lin had to depart from this contest in the second inning after injuring his left leg while sliding into second on a failed stolen base attempt.

Later diagnosed with a sprained left knee, Lin will be placed on the 10-day injured list and infielder Eduardo Nunez will be activated from the IL in a corresponding move Saturday.

Michael Chavis has hit four home runs in 13 games with the Red Sox so far. The distances of those homers goes as follows: 374 feet, 441 feet, 441 feet, and 459 feet. His slugging percentage currently stands at .619.

Rafael Devers, meanwhile, has hits in eight of the last nine games he has played in. He is currently slashing .298/.382/.395 with 15 walks, one home run and 13 RBI this season.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the third game of this four-game weekend set on Saturday.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is set to get the ball for Boston, while fellow southpaw Banuelos will do the same for Chicago.

Last time out at Guaranteed Rate Field on September 1st of last season, Rodriguez dazzled with 12 strikeouts and just one earned run allowed on three hits and one walk over 5.2 innings of work. The Red Sox won that game over the White Sox by a final score of 6-1.

On the other side of this lefty-on-lefty matchup, Banuelos, 29, has never pitched against the Red Sox before.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to start a new winning streak.

 

 

 

Mitch Moreland and Christian Vazquez Homer as #RedSox Open up May by Completing Sweep of Athletics

After finishing off a forgettable April by clinching their first home series win of 2019 on Tuesday, the Red Sox went ahead and kicked off the new month by completing their three-game sweep over the Oakland Athletics with a 7-3 victory on Wednesday afternoon.

Making his fourth start and ninth overall appearance in this on was Hector Velazquez, who served more as the opener Wednesday after working out of the bullpen as recently as Monday.

Working just the first two innings, the right-hander surrendered one run on two hits, no walks, and one HBP to go along with three strikeouts on the day.

That one Oakland run came around to score on a two out RBI single off the bat of Ramon Laureano in the second, and that would wind up being the second to last hitter Velazquez faced.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 43 (28 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler topped out at 92.9 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw just 9% of the time he was on the mound in this brief outing.

In relief of Velazquez, Marcus Walden was really the star of the show from the third inning on, as he ended up tossing three scoreless frames while also fanning three and allowing one of the 10 hitters he faced to reach base in that span.

An effort certainly worthy of the winning decision, which is exactly what the right-hander got for the fourth time this season. His ERA now stands at a miniscule 1.65 through 11 appearances so far.

From the beginning of the sixth inning on, the Red Sox bullpen was essentially nails sans another rough ninth for Tyler Thornburg.

Brandon Workman struck out one in a clean sixth, Colten Brewer worked his way around a two out single from Chad Pinder in a shutout seventh, and Heath Hembree retired the only three hitters he faced in order in the eighth.

Entering the final frame with another sizable lead to protect, Thornburg nearly made something out of nothing for the second time in less than 24 hours by allowing the Athletics to trim their deficit down to four with run-scoring doubles from Khris Davis and Pinder.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, the ex-Brewer was able to hold his own enough to get the aforementioned Laureano to ground out to Tzu-Wei Lin for the third and final out, wrapping up the 7-3 win as well as the three-game sweep.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against another familiar opponent in Athletics right-hander Mike Fiers, who held Boston scoreless over six innings in his last start against them in early April. But, like I have mentioned before during this series, things were different this time around.

Kicking off the scoring in the second, Mitch Moreland got a productive day at the plate started by driving in Rafael Devers from third on a sacrifice fly to left field.

None of that would have been possible, however, had not it been for this crazy hop the ball took off the second base bag on a Michael Chavis single one at-bat prior, which allowed Devers to advance to third in the first place.

Fast forward to the fourth, Moreland struck again by continuing his run of dominating A’s pitching and launching his team-leading ninth home run over the Monster for his second dinger of the series. 399 feet and 103 MPH off the bat, per Statcast.

In the fifth, a Tzu-Wei Lin leadoff double would later result in Boston’s fifth run of the afternoon crossing the plate on another sac fly from Mookie Betts for his 16th RBI of the season. 3-1.

An inning later, with JB Wendelken now in for Oakland, back-to-back two out, bases loaded singles from Lin and Andrew Benintendi drove in three more Red Sox runs, with Lin accounting for one and Benintendi for two, to make it a 6-1 contest.

And in the eighth, Christian Vazquez put the finishing touches on this one by greeting new A’s reliever Ryan Dull with a 372 foot moonshot to left on the very first pitch of the inning for his fifth big fly of the year already.

That gave Boston a 7-1 advantage, and after a mini rally from the A’s in their half of the ninth, 7-3 would go on to be Wednesday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

Somehow, some way, the Red Sox won the season series against the A’s 4-3.

Playing in six of those games, Mitch Moreland slashed .313/.400/.750 with two home runs and six RBI.

Since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on April 19th, Marcus Walden owns a 0.00 ERA and a .111 batting average against over his last six appearances.

The Red Sox are 8-4 in their last 12 games.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox on the South Side in the first stop of a two-city road trip.

Left-hander David Price is set to get the ball in the opener for Boston, while right-hander Lucas Giolito will do the same for Chicago.

In his career at Guaranteed Rate Field, Price owns a lifetime 4.41 ERA over eight starts.

Giolito, meanwhile, has only started against the Red Sox once before in his young career. An outing last August in which he allowed one run over 6.1 innings in a losing effort.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 8:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their fourth straight win.

 

 

Rick Porcello Twirls Eight Shutout Innings as #RedSox Win First Home Series of 2019

For the first time in five tries, the Red Sox have finally won their first home series of the 2019 season, wrapping up their April with a 5-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics Tuesday night.

Making his sixth start of the year in the middle game of this series was Rick Porcello, who did not pitch in the Red Sox’ first series against the A’s out in Oakland earlier in the month.

Coming off his first quality outing in his last time out against the Detroit Tigers, the right-hander was even better in this one, holding the Athletics scoreless on just two hits and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts over eight superb innings of work. It is the longest start for a Red Sox starting pitcher so far this season.

One of those two free passes came in the second inning, but nothing came of it. That final walk though, which came in the third against Robbie Grossman, put runners on first and second with two outs in a two-run game.

Porcello was able to get out of the jam by getting Matt Chapman to ground into an inning-ending force out at second, and that would turn out to be the only frame the righty allowed multiple runners to reach base.

Retiring 15 of the final 16 hitters he faced from the start of the fourth inning on, Porcello nearly lost the final batter he faced in Marcus Semien with two outs in the eighth, but ended up getting the Athletics shortstop to line out to Mookie Betts in right to retire the side, thus capping off the hurler’s fine night in emphatic fashion.

Finishing with a final season-high pitch count of 114 (78 strikes), Porcello relied heavily upon his slider with Sandy Leon behind the plate, as he turned to the pitch 36% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday and induced five swings and misses with it. He also topped out at 92.4 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 23 times.

Improving to 2-3 on the season and lowering his ERA from 7.43 down to 5.52, Porcello’s next start should come against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

In relief of the New Jersey native, Tyler Thornburg was the only Red Sox reliever used for the ninth, and despite giving up a home run to Robbie Grossman, managed to preserve his team’s 13th win of the season.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a familiar opponent in right-hander Aaron Brooks for Oakland.

Brooks, 29, tossed six innings of scoreless baseball in his previous start against Boston back on the first of April. This time around, things went a little more in the Red Sox’ favor.

Starting right away in the first inning, Mookie Betts stayed hot and got the Sox on the board almost immediately in this one, launching a one out, 396 foot solo shot off Brooks for his sixth home run of the season.

An inning later, the bottom of Boston’s lineup came through this time around, with Sandy Leon collecting his second RBI of the year on a two out single to score Michael Chavis, who reached base on a one out single himself, from third. 2-0.

Fast forward to the fourth, and Mitch Moreland followed up another one out single from Chavis and broke out of a little 1-for-20 slump by mashing his team-leading eighth big fly of the season on a 3-1 fastball from Brooks.

423 feet to dead center, 110 MPH off the bat, 4-0 Red Sox.

And in the fifth, after JD Martinez reached base on a fielding error and Xander Bogaerts was walked on six pitches, Rafael Devers wrapped up a solid night of solid offensive play by ripping a line drive RBI double down the right field line to plate Martinez and make it a 5-0 contest.

According to Statcast, that hit had an exit velocity of 105 MPH, and it all but provided the Red Sox with the protection they needed to pick up the 5-1 win Tuesday night.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

Rafael Devers accounted for three batted balls on Tuesday, one of which went for an RBI double. The three exit velocities of those batted balls are as follows: 104.7 MPH, 104.7 MPH, 110 MPH.

Finishing April with a 12-14 record, it was certainly a month to forget for the defending World Series champions, but with two straight wins to close things out, May could be the time to really get back on track in a tremendous way.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll go for the three-game sweep of the A’s Wednesday afternoon at Fenway Park.

In a pitching matchup featuring two right-handers, it will be Mike Fiers going for Oakland, and Hector Velazquez going for Boston.

First pitch of the series finale Wednesday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EDT on NESN.

#RedSox Come Back from Early Four-Run Deficit in Series Opening Win over Athletics

After getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, the Red Sox bounced back in the opener of the last series of their homestand with a 9-4 win over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.

Making his sixth start of the season for Boston in this one was Eduardo Rodriguez, who entered the week with two consecutive quality outings at Fenway Park under his belt.

This time around though, things it did not go as well for the left-hander, as he surrendered four earned runs on seven hits and two walks to go along with seven strikeouts while pitching into the fifth inning of this one.

Right from the jump, it was pretty clear that the A’s had the advantage over Rodriguez in their second time seeing him already this season.

The first inning wasn’t all that bad, but when the lefty began his second frame of work by walking back-to-back hitters, both of whom were down in an 0-2 hole, that is where it got a bit ugly.

Plating four runs on two straight one out RBI singles from Jurickson Profar and Josh Phegley, as well as a two out run-scoring double off the bat of Matt Chapman to give the A’s the early advantage, it seemed as though Rodriguez’s night would be short-lived.

However, the 26-year-old did rebound after that second inning by retiring the next six batters he faced in order before running into more trouble in the fifth.

There, a Marcus Semien leadoff single was canceled out thanks in part to Rodriguez and rookie Michael Chavis, who was making his first career big league start at first base, on a pickoff attempt that ended with Tzu-Wei Lin getting the runner at second.

Following a Matt Chapman ground out moments after that successful pickoff attempt, Rodriguez was just one out away from getting through give full innings with his team in the lead, meaning he had the chance to earn his third winning decision of the year.

Instead, back-to-back two out singles from Stephen Piscotty and Khris Davis prevented that from happening, and the Venezuela native’s night came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 97 (63 strikes), Rodriguez relied on his four-seam fastball 42% of the time he was on the mound Monday, inducing three swings and misses and topping out at 95 MPH with the pitch. His next start should come against the Chicago White Sox this coming weekend.

In relief of Rodriguez, Heath Hembree was released into the fire right away with one out to get, a two run lead to protect, and runners on first and second.

Known for his ability to succeed with inherited runners on for parts of the 2018 season, Hembree did just that this time around by getting Chad Pinder to ground into an inning-ending force out at second base.

From the beginning of the sixth inning on, Colten Brewer, Brandon Workman, Ryan Brasier, Hector Velazquez, and Matt Barnes combined to work the final four innings of this contest without yielding a single run.

Brewer faced the minimum three hitters despite a walk in a scoreless sixth, Workman walked the first two hitters he faced in the seventh and struck out the final two before making way for Brasier, who fanned Khris Davis to end the inning and also tossed a 1-2-3 eighth.

With the Red Sox up by a comfortable five runs, Hector Velazquez came on to begin the ninth, but inevitably allowed three of the first four hitters he faced to reach base to load the bases for the Athletics.

Needing to get outs quickly all of a sudden, Alex Cora turned to Matt Barnes to get out of the jam, and the right-hander needed just two pitches to pick up the final two outs and secure his second save of the year.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against right-hander and former Boston international signee Frankie Montas for the A’s.

Having never pitched inside Fenway Park before in his young career, the Red Sox eventually got to Montas starting in their half of the third, after grounding into a pair of double-plays in their first two attempts at the plate.

Kicking off the scoring for Boston was Christian Vazquez, whose one out walk wound wind up being the catalyst for a six-run inning.

It all could have been avoided, really. Jurickson Profar could have made a quality throw over to Marcus Semien covering second on a grounder off the bat of Tzu-Wei Lin to both nab Vazquez and make the throw over at first to turn the DP, but Profar instead threw the ball into the dirt, meaning everyone was safe for the top of the Boston lineup.

Again, a dribbler from Andrew Benintendi could have resulted in another out for Oakland, but it turned out that Montas actually missed the bag with his left foot on the attempted put out, which in turn loaded the bases for Mookie Betts.

On a 2-2 heater from Montas, the reigning AL MVP lined an RBI single to right, plating Vazquez from third and putting the Red Sox on the board.

One batter later, after missing the weekend series against the Rays due to back spasms, JD Martinez made his presence felt by driving in Lin from third on another RBI single to make it a 4-2 game and keep the line moving.

That base knock was followed by a two-run double to center off the bat of Xander Bogaerts to tie this contest up, which only lasted briefly because Michael Chavis gave the Sox a 6-4 lead two batters later on a two out, two-run single of his own. And just like that, six runs had come around to score in an inning Boston sent 10 hitters to the plate. All six of those runs were unearned, by the way.

Fast forward to the fifth, after a Rafael Devers one out double, and Chavis was at it again, this time collecting his third RBI of the night on a pop fly single to right field to simultaneously score Devers and put an end to Montas’ outing.

Two innings later, Jackie Bradley Jr. broke out of a 3-for-19 skid with a one out RBI single off old friend Fernando Rodney to drive in Devers yet again, who led the seventh off by drawing a walk and stealing second base.

And in the eighth, JD Martinez put the exclamation point on this one by plating Boston’s ninth and final run of the night on an RBI sac fly, scoring Andrew Benintendi from third and giving his team a 9-4 lead, which would go on to be Monday’s final score.

Some notes from this one:

In his last seven games (six starts), Rafael Devers is slashing .409/.500/.500 with four RBI. The power has not been there yet, but the run the third-year infielder has been on at the plate has been exciting to see.

Including a three-hit performance Monday, Mookie Betts is slashing .423/.521/.692 with one home run and six RBI in his last seven games.

Through his first nine career big league games, Michael Chavis is sporting a .643 slugging percentage. Minimum 25 plate appearances, that is currently the 10th best SLG in the American League.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game set against the A’s.

Right-hander Aaron Brooks is set to get the ball for Oakland, while fellow righty Rick Porcello will do the same for Boston.

Looking for just their second series win of the year, first pitch Tuesday is schedlued for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN.