Tag: mitch moreland

Eduardo Rodriguez Impresses and Rafael Devers Homers as Red Sox Blank Orioles to Extend Winning Streak to Four

After cruising to a 9-1 win to open up a three-game weekend set with the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, the Red Sox took the series with a 4-0 shutout win over the O’s on Saturday to extend their winning streak to four and improve to 66-59 on the season.

Making his 26th start of the season for Boston and third against Baltimore was Eduardo Rodriguez, who came into the weekend having given up a season-high 10 hits in his last time out against the Cleveland Indians.

Working into the eighth inning this time around, the left-hander kept his former club off the scoreboard, scattering just four hits, two walks, and one HBP to go along with four strikeouts on the night.

The most trouble Rodriguez came into on Saturday came in the top half of the fourth, when a leadoff walk of Trey Mancini and two-out walk of Jonathan Villar put runners at first and second for Pedro Severino.

Rodriguez did not waver though, as he got the Baltimore backstop to ground into an inning-ending out at second and proceeded to sit down 10 of the next 12 Orioles he faced before yielding a one-out single to Hanser Albeto in the eighth, which is the point where the Venezuela native’s evening came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 106 (70 strikes), the 26-year-old hurler relied on both his four-seam fastball and changeup a combined 58% of the time he was on the mound Saturday, inducing four swings and misses with the heater and five with the change. He also topped out at 95.7 MPH with the four-seamer while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately earning his 14th winning decision to reach a new career-high while lowering his ERA on the season down to 4.10, Rodriguez will look to build on this strong performance in his next time out, which should come against the San Diego Padres next weekend.

In relief of Rodriguez, Matt Barnes entered the eighth with a four-run lead to protect and an inherited runner on at first, and he allowed that runner to advance to third on a Mancini single and wild pitch before escaping the jam by punching out Anthony Santander and Renato Nunez in consecutive order.

And in the ninth, Brandon Workman preserved the 4-0 shutout win by fanning a pair himself in a scoreless frame of relief.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against O’s right-hander Adrian Wojciechowski, someone who held them scoreless in Baltimore just last month.

Able to get on the board against the Orioles starter in his first ever appearance at Fenway Park, Brock Holt kicked off the scoring in the fifth with a bang, as he led the inning off by mashing his second home run of the season off a first-pitch, 90 MPH four-seamer at the top of the zone.

That was also Holt’s first homer since returning to the Sox after mourning the loss of his junior college baseball coach Derwood “Pops” Penney. A pretty special moment for him to say the least.

A Jackie Bradley Jr. triple to follow up that big fly kept the pressure on Wojciechowski, and he faltered even further by allowing Bradley Jr. to score from third on a wild pitch with Mookie Betts at the plate.

Fast forward to the seventh, with left-handed reliever Paul Fry in for Baltimore, and Betts put a runner in scoring position for Rafael Devers with a two-out double off the left field wall.

Three pitches later, Devers came through and doubled his side’s lead with a two-run, 365-foot blast off an 0-2, 93 MPH heater from Fry.

Devers’ 26th home run of 2019 put the Red Sox ahead 4-0, which would go on to be Saturday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

From the Eagle-Tribune’s Chris Mason:

Rafael Devers’ last seven games: .500/.543/.969 with three homers and 10 RBI.

—

With the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays both winning on Saturday, the Red Sox still stand 6 1/2 games back of the Rays for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the finale of this three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the ball for Boston in his first start since April 17th, while left-hander Ty Blach will do the same for Baltimore.

Eovaldi is expected to throw between 55-60 pitches and hopes to work the first four innings Sunday before increasing his workload next week.

In his career against the O’s, the 29-year-old is 3-0 with a 4.67 ERA and .310 batting average against over seven prior starts and 34 2/3 innings of work.

Blach, meanwhile, allowed seven runs, six of which were earned, in his Orioles debut against the New York Yankees on August 12th after being claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants earlier in the month.

The 28-year-old has never faced the Red Sox nor pitched at Fenway Park before in his career.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for the weekend sweep.

Rick Porcello Tosses Six Strong Innings, Mookie Betts Homers as Red Sox Cruise to 9-1 Victory over Orioles

After taking a competitive series from the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday and an off day on Thursday, the Red Sox picked up where they left off by opening up a three-game weekend set against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday with a 9-1 win to mark their third consecutive victory.

Making his 25th start of the season for Boston and second against Baltimore was Rick Porcello, who came into the weekend fresh off allowing five runs on five hits over five innings in his last time out against the Los Angeles Angels.

Working six full frames this time around to surpass the 2,000 mark for his career, the right-hander yielded just one earned while scattering four hits and two walks to go along with two strikeouts on the night.

That lone Orioles tally came in the the top half of the third inning, when with two outs and Jonathan Villar at first following a two-out single, Trey Mancini laced an RBI double to right field off a 1-1, 90 MPH two-seam fastball from Porcello to put his team on the board.

Other than that one blip though, Porcello escaped the third by fanning Anthony Santander on three pitches before retiring eight of the final 11 Orioles he faced from the beginning of the fourth up until the middle of the sixth, which is the point where his evening came to an encouraging close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 84 (47 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his four-seamer more than 38% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing one swing and miss and topping out at 91.7 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Eventually earning his 11th winning decision while lowering his ERA on the year to 5.49, Porcello’s next start should come against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

In relief of Porcello, left-hander Josh Taylor entered the seventh inning with a brand new five-run lead to protect, and he did so by needing just 11 pitches to sit down the side in order.

From there, the recently called up Travis Lakins saw this one through to its completion by working his way around a leadoff single and one-out walk in the eighth before punching out the side in the ninth to secure the 9-1 victory.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Orioles right-hander Aaron Brooks, someone they faced twice in April when he was a member of the Oakland Athletics pitching staff.

Perhaps aided by that level of familiarity, a Mookie Betts double to lead things off the first set up Rafael Devers right away with a runner in scoring position.

On the fifth pitch he saw from Brooks, a 2-2, 86 MPH changeup on the outer edge of the plate, the red-hot Devers managed to rip an RBI single to the opposite field to get his side on the board first.

Fast forward to the fourth, after Baltimore came back to tie things up at one run apiece, and Andrew Benintendi took that lead back by driving in J.D. Martinez from second on a one-out, run-scoring triple to the triangle.

Two batters later, Mitch Moreland followed that Benintendi triple with an RBI three-bagger of his own, this one coming with two outs and on a pop fly to right field to make it a 3-1 contest.

In the sixth, a Martinez HBP, a Benintendi single, and Christian Vazquez sacrifice bunt set up the pinch-hitting Sam Travis with runners at second and third against new O’s reliever Richard Bleier.

Travis was put on intentionally, filling the bases for another pinch-hitter in the form of Chris Owings.

Having not played since going 0-for-5 in his Sox debut this past Sunday, Owings made up for that by plating a pair on a two-run double to left off the first pitch he saw from Bleier. Owing’s first hit in a Red Sox uniform put his new team ahead 5-1.

Jackie Bradley Jr. added on to that lead with a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Travis from third, and just like that, Boston had themselves a five-run lead.

An inning later, up against Tom Eshelman, a Devers leadoff walk and Bogaerts double put runners in scoring position once again for Martinez, who came through with yet another sac fly, driving in Devers from third.

Benintendi followed with his third hit and second of the extra-base hit variety, plating Bogaerts from third on an RBI double to give the Sox a seven-run advantage.

And in the eighth, Betts put the exclamation point on this blowout by mashing his 21st home run of the season with two outs in the inning.

That 358-foot blast over the Green Monster gave the Red Sox a 9-1 lead, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

From Red Sox Stats:

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

Rafael Devers’ last six games: 15-for-28 (.536) with six doubles, two home runs, and eight RBI.

Andrew Benintendi’s August thus far: .356/.406/.593 with nine doubles, one homer, and nine RBI. He has multiple hits in four of his last five games.

—

With their winning streak now at three, the Red Sox currently sit 6 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the second American League Wild Card Spot.

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game set on Saturday night.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will get the ball for Boston, while right-hander Asher Wojciechowski will do the same for Baltimore.

Rodriguez surrendered a season-high 10 hits in his last time out against the Cleveland Indians on Monday before being hit with the no-decision.

In two outings against the organization he began his pro career with this season, the 26-year-old is 2-0 with a minuscule 1.98 ERA and .188 batting average against over 13 2/3 quality innings of work.

Wojciechowski, meanwhile, held the Sox scoreless while taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning of a 5-0 win for the O’s in Baltimore back on July 21st.

The 30-year-old has since allowed 14 runs over his last four starts and 21 2/3 innings pitched. He has never made an appearance at Fenway Park.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their fourth straight win.

 

 

J.D. Martinez Crushes Two of Red Sox’ Five Homers in 16-4 Blowout Win over Angels

After shutting out the Los Angeles Angels behind eight dominant innings from Chris Sale on Thursday, the Red Sox picked up their second straight win over the Halos on Friday, as they took the second of the four-game set by a final score of 16-4 to improve to 62-56 on the season.

Making his fourth start of the season for Boston and second since being activated off the injured list this past Saturday was Brian Johnson, now taking the spot of the recently shelved David Price in Boston’s rotation.

Working into the third inning on Friday, the left-hander surrendered three runs, all of which were earned, on two hits and two walks to go along with one strikeout on the night.

All three of those Angels runs came around to score right away in the top half of the first, when with two outs and runners on first and second following a one-out double from Mike Trout and two-out walk drawn by Justin Upton, Albert Pujols unloaded on a 1-2, 77 MPH slider from Johnson and deposited it well over the Green Monster.

That three-run blast put Los Angeles up 3-0, but Johnson should have been out of the first before all that went down. Why? Because ball four on that walk to Upton should have gone for strike three for the final out of the frame. Instead, it wasn’t called a strike by home plate umpire Mark Ripperger, Upton was granted first, and that set up Pujols.

Other than that one major blip though, Johnson recovered nicely enough to sit down six of the next seven hitters he faced after serving up that bomb before getting the hook with Shohei Ohtani on first, two outs in the third, and Upton due up next to hit for the Angels.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 50 (28 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler relied on his four-seam fastball 42% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing zero swings and misses and topping out at 90.8 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately hit with the no-decision while bumping his ERA on the season up to 7.32, Johnson’s next start should come against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday.

In relief of Johnson, Marcus Walden entered the top half of the third with one out still to get and one runner on, and he got that out thanks to Vazquez, who nabbed Ohtani at second on an unsuccessful stolen base attempt.

Walden also came back out for the fourth and fifth innings, where he faced the minimum of six Angeles hitters over two scoreless to eventually earn his seventh winning decision of the year before making way for Nathan Eovaldi in the sixth.

There, the right-hander began his evening by sitting down David Fletcher, Trout, and Ohtani in order on 20 pitches. Not too shabby.

Eovaldi’s second inning of work in the seventh though? Well, it could have gone better, as a leadoff double off the bat of Upton, a one-out HBP of Kole Calhoun, and two straight walks of Luis Rengifo and Brian Johnson brought Los Angeles’ fourth run of the night.

The Texas native did manage to escape any further damage in the seventh by getting Matt Thaiss to ground into an inning-ending, 4-6-3 double play, but it certainly wasn’t pretty.

Regardless of that, Hector Velazquez and Josh Taylor wrapped things up in a contest the Sox ended up running away with by combining for two perfect innings of relief in the top halves of the eighth and ninth to secure the 16-4 win.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Angels right-hander Jaime Barria, who came into the weekend having yielded 17 runs in his last four starts since the All-Star break.

Kicking off the scoring started right away in the bottom half of the first, J.D. Martinez responded to an early three-run deficit by driving in Mookie Betts from second on a two-out, line-drive RBI double. 3-1.

Fast forward all the way to the fourth, and Martinez struck again, this time plating Xander Bogaerts, as well as himself, on a 402-foot, two-run shot off a 3-1, 93 MPH heater down the heart of the plate from Barria to knot things up at three runs apiece.

An inning later, a one-out single off the bat of Jackie Bradley Jr. would turn out to be the catalyst for another two-run rally in the fifth, as Betts followed suit with his 20th big fly of the year off a 3-2, 87 MPH slider on the inner half of the plate to give the Sox their first lead of the night at 5-3.

In the sixth, Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, and Vazquez all reached to fill the bases with one out for the pinch-hitting Sam Travis, who greeted new Angels reliever Adalberto Mejia by drawing a five-pitch walk, which brought Martinez in from third and made it a 6-3 contest.

Bradley Jr. collected an RBI despite driving in a pair with a grounder that got under the glove of Rengifo. 8-3.

A six-pitch walk of Betts re-loaded the bases for Rafael Devers, and the 23-year-old took full advantage by lacing another two-run single through the right side of the infield, putting his side up 10-3 in the process of going so.

A red-hot Martinez stayed hot in the seventh, mashing his second homer of the night and 27th of the season to lead the inning off against Angels right-hander Trevor Cahill. 11-4.

Benintendi and Vazquez followed that up by both reaching base on a HBP and walk, and Mitch Moreland came through with an RBI double of his own to drive in Benintendi and make it an eight-run game at 12-4.

In the eighth, after taking over for Bogaerts defensively in the top of the inning, Devers took the first pitch he saw from Cahill and led off with not only his 24th dinger of 2019, but also his first career homer as a shortstop.

Four batters later, a wild pitch allowed Martinez to go from second to third after he reached on a throwing error, and Vazquez proved once more that mistakes can be costly, as he plated Martinez with an RBI single to left. 14-4.

And finally, Moreland put the exclamation point on this blowout with his first home run in nearly three months. This particular one, his 14th of the year, was good for two runs as it soared over the Green Monster.

That opposite field blast gave the Red Sox a 16-4 edge, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

J.D. Martinez’s August thus far: .469/.553/.938 with four homers and eight RBI.

The Red Sox are 14-1 this season when scoring 10-plus runs in a game.

The Red Sox are 3-1 in their last four completed games.

—

With the win on Friday, the Red Sox now sit five games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the second American League Wild Card spot.

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

Right-hander Rick Porcello will get the ball for Boston, while left-hander Andrew Heaney will do the same for Los Angeles.

Porcello is coming off his best outing in weeks in his last time out against the Kansas City Royals, as he held the opposition to just one run on four hits over six strong innings of work.

In his career against the Angels, the 30-year-old owns a lifetime 5.56 ERA and .291 batting average against over 18 starts and 103 2/3 total innings pitched.

Heaney, meanwhile, will be making his first start in over three weeks after being sidelined due to inflammation in his left elbow.

In one prior start at Fenway Park back on June 27th of last season, the 28-year-old allowed six runs in less than four innings in an eventual losing effort.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 4:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their third straight win.

 

Andrew Cashner Gets Taken Deep Three Times as Red Sox Fall to Lowly Royals

After snapping an eight-game losing streak with a 7-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday, the Red Sox were unable to gain any momentum from that win, as they dropped the middle game of this three-game set by a final score of 6-2 to fall back to 60-56 on the season.

Making his fifth start for Boston and 22nd of the season as a whole was Andrew Cashner, who came into the week having only faced off against divisional opponents since being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles last month.

Working into the sixth inning of this one, the right-hander surrendered six runs, all of which were earned, on seven hits and two walks to go along with four strikeouts on the night.

The first two of those Royals runs came across on one swing of the bat in the top half of the fourth, when with two outs and a runner at first, Cashner served up a two-run mammoth shot to Jorge Soler on a first-pitch, 94 MPH four-seam fastball on the inner half of the plate.

The Texas native had been cruising up until that point, retiring nine of the first 11 hitters he faced before walking Hunter Dozier on seven pitches to set up Soler in that spot.

A Cheslor Cuthbert ground out Cashner out of the fourth, but the home run ball came back to bite him an inning later, when Ryan O’Hearn led things off in the fifth by crushing a solo homer to right off a 3-2, 85 MPH changeup at the top of the zone to make it a 3-1 game.

In the sixth, a Whit Merrifield single, followed by a Cashner wild pitch and Alex Gordon groundout to short, set up Dozier in a prime run-scoring spot with a runner at third, and he capitalized with an RBI single to right. 4-1.

With Soler due up next to hit for Kansas City, Cashner remained in the game and proceeded to give up another two-run shot to the Royals slugger, this one coming off a 1-0, 87 MPH slider down the middle of the plate.

That put the lowly Royals up 6-1, and a single off the bat of Cuthbert would signal the end of the line for Cashner.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 83 (58 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler relied on his four-seamer nearly 46% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing two swings and misses and topping out at 96.2 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately falling to 10-7 while raising his ERA on the year up to 4.68, Cashner’s first five starts with the Red Sox have been far from memorable.

Since the beginning of play of on July 16th, Cashner has given up six home runs in 28 2/3 innings pitched. Compare that to just the 11 homers he gave up in 96 1/3 innings pitched as an Oriole, and it becomes clear that something isn’t quite right.

Regardless, Cashner’s next start should come against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.

In relief of Cashner, Josh Taylor entered the top of the sixth with one runner on and two outs to get, and he got both of those outs with the help of a 4-6-3 double play started by Michael Chavis off a ground ball from O’Hearn.

Taylor also worked his way around a two-out walk in a scoreless seventh before making way for Marcus Walden in the eighth.

There, Walden received some great help from a sprawling Chavis on a pop fly off the bat of Dozier while also walking one in another scoreless frame of relief.

And in the ninth, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez came on for his 11th appearance out of the Red Sox ‘pen, and he punched out the side on 20 pitches to keep the deficit at four runs.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Royals right-hander Jakob Junius, who only had one prior start at Fenway Park under his belt before Tuesday.

Kicking off the scoring in the bottom half of the third, Andrew Benintendi got his side on the board first by knocking in Rafael Devers from second on a two-out bloop of an RBI single to right.

Brock Holt managed to move Benintendi up to third on a single of his own, but Christian Vazquez could not come through, as he flew out to center to strand Benintendi and Holt at the corners.

An inning later, after falling behind by a run in the top half of the fourth, Devers had the chance to take that lead back with two outs and runners at first and second following a Betts walk.

Instead, the 23-year-old flew out to center on the first pitch he saw from Junis, thus extinguishing another threat.

Fast forward all the way to the eighth, with reliever Richard Lovelady in for Kansas City and the Red Sox trailing by five runs, and J.D. Martinez broke up a string of 10 straight Boston hitters being retired by lacing a leadoff ground-rule double down the right field line.

Neither Benintendi nor Holt were able to do anything with that, but Vazquez cut the deficit down to four runs with a line-drive RBI single to left-center.

That made it a 6-2 contest in favor of Kansas City, and that would go on to be Tuesday’s final score after Vazquez was stranded at second and Chavis, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Betts were retired in order by Ian Kennedy in the ninth.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday. They left eight men on base as a team.

From The Eagle-Tribune’s Chris Mason:

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

—

So, the Red Sox are 1-9 in their last 10 games and now stand 6 1/2 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the second American League Wild Card spot.

They still have the chance to take this series from the Royals on Wednesday, but you have to beat inferior teams at home. Playing .500 baseball at Fenway Park is simply not a sustainable model of success.

With that, it will be left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez getting the ball for Boston in the series finale, while right-hander Glenn Sparkman will do the same for Kansas City.

Rodriguez took the loss in his last time out against the New York Yankees this past Friday, allowing four earned runs over 6 2/3 innings of work to mark his worst start in terms of runs given up since June 24th.

In his career against the Royals, the 26-year-old owns a lifetime 5.46 ERA and .285 batting average against over six starts and 31 1/3 innings pitched. That includes an outing back on June 4th at Kauffman Stadium, where he held the opposition to two runs over 5 2/3 innings to pick up the win.

Sparkman, meanwhile, has yielded 14 earned runs over his last two starts and 9 2/3 innings to raise his ERA on the season up to 5.58.

The 27-year-old also opposed Rodriguez in that June 4th tilt, and he too put together a solid performance where he allowed just one run over 5 1/3 innings of work.

Sparkman has never pitched at Fenway Park.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for the series win.

Chris Sale Gets Lit up for Eight Runs in Shortest Start Since Opening Day as Red Sox Fall to Yankees in First Game of Doubleheader

After being limited to two runs on three hits on Friday, the Red Sox were held in check by the New York Yankees yet again on Saturday, as they dropped the first of a day-night doubleheader to extend their losing streak to six.

Making his 23rd start of the season and fourth against New York for Boston was Chris Sale, who came into the weekend fresh off surrendering five runs in less than six innings in his last time out against this same Yankees squad this past Sunday.

The losing streak for the Sox began that night, and it increased to six in this one, as the left-hander got lit up for a season-high eight runs, all of which were earned, on nine hits and zero walks to go along with four strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of work.

The first of those eight Yankees tallies came right away in the bottom half of the first, with D.J. LeMahieu leading things off by blasting his 16th home run of the season, a 389-foot solo shot that got his side on the board first.

Sale did settle in a bit from there, retiring eight of the next 10 hitters he faced following that homer before running in to a great deal of trouble in the bottom of the fourth.

There, an Edwin Encarnacion leadoff single, as well as one-out and two-out singles from Gio Urshela and Kyle Higashioka, filled the bases for Breyvic Valera, who drove in the runner from third on an RBI single to right to break the 1-1 tie.

Now, there had been instances of Sale getting squeezed by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook, so when Sox manager Alex Cora came out to talk to his starter directly, he also exchanged some words with Estabrook on his way back to the visitor’s dugout, which resulted in him getting ejected from this game.

Once the dust had settled from that, Brett Gardner picked up where Valera had left off by lacing a two-run single up the middle. 4-1.

LeMahieu added on to that, taking Sale deep once more off a 2-1, 89 MPH changeup on the outer half of the zone that he snuck just over the right field wall for a three-run homer. 7-1.

An Aaron Judge ground-rule double would be how Sale’s afternoon came to a frustrating close, but it should not have even happened, as the pitch before the double clearly should have been called strike three, but it was called a ball by Estabrook instead.

Following said double and receiving the hook from bench coach Ron Roenicke, Sale let some of his frustration out on Estabrook as he was headed back to the Sox’ dugout, and he too was ejected as a result.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 76 (52 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his slider more than 39% of the time he was on the mound Saturday, inducing four swings and misses with the pitch. He also topped out at 96.2 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he went to 20 times while Sandy Leon was behind the plate.

Ultimately falling to 5-11 while inflating his ERA on the season up to 4.68, Sale’s struggles against the Yankees continue. His next start should come against the Los Angeles Angels back at Fenway Park on Thursday.

In relief of Sale, Colten Brewer entered the fourth with one runner on second and one out to get, and he allowed that runner to score on an RBI base hit from Encarnacion to close the book on Sale’s outing before escaping the inning.

Josh Smith, just recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday, took over in the fifth, and he took over by yielding one run on an Encarnacion RBI single in the sixth in an otherwise four solid innings of mop up duty.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Yankees right-hander Domingo German, who also opposed Sale last Sunday.

Starting the scoring in the top of the second, a red-hot Andrew Benintendi led off the inning by mashing his 12th big fly of the season, this one coming off a 3-2, hanging curveball from German that was sent a booming 436 feet to right-center field.

That knotted things up at one run apiece, but German did not buckle, and the only run the Boston bats got off him came in the fifth, when Jackie Bradley Jr. led the frame off with his 12th homer of 2019.

A 344-foot solo shot for Bradley Jr. off a first-pitch, 85 MPH changeup from German made it an 8-2 contest in favor of New York.

As it turns out though, the Sox did not get a single hit the rest of the way, as German and right-hander Jonathan Holder combined to sit down the last 15 Red Sox who came to the plate in order. And that is how 9-2 went on to be the final score in Game 1 on Saturday.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position on Saturday. They left three men on base as a team.

Andrew Benintendi’s last seven games: .500/.516/1.067 with four homers and nine RBI.

From MLB.com’s Ian Browne:

From Red Sox Stats:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

—

Left-hander Brian Johnson will get the start for Boston in the second installment of this doubleheader, while right-hander Chad Green will do the same for New York.

Johnson had been out since June 29th with a non-baseball related medical issue before being activated off the injuredΒ  list earlier Saturday.

Through seven appearances (two starts) with the Sox this season, the 28-year-old owns an ERA of 6.43 and batting average against of .349 over 14 total innings pitched.

Green, meanwhile, has posted a a 5.06 ERA and .303 batting average against over 36 outings (eight starts) and 42 2/3 innings of work.

Neither starter is expected to pitch deep into his game, I would assume.

First pitch Saturday night is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to put a stop to this skid.

David Price Can’t Make It Through Five Innings as Red Sox Falter with Runners in Scoring Position in 6-5 Loss to Rays

After taking three out of four from the New York Yankees over the weekend and an off day on Monday, the Red Sox dropped their second straight on Tuesday, as they opened a three-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays with a 6-5 loss to fall back to 59-59 on the season.

Making his 19th start of the season for Boston and fifth against Tampa Bay was David Price, who came into Tuesday fresh off allowing three runs over six quality innings in his last time out against this same Rays club.

Working into just the fifth inning this time around, the left-hander surrendered four runs, all of which were earned, on nine hits and two walks to go along with nine strikeouts on the night.

The first of those four Rays tallies came in the top half of the third, when with two outs and a runner at second following a one-out double from Matt Duffy, Austin Meadows drove him in by ripping a 1-1, 92 MPH two-seam fastball from Price to right field for an RBI triple.

In the fifth, with his team up by two runs, the Tennessee native gave that lead up by first grooving a first-pitch, 90 MPH two-seamer to Travis d’Arnaud, who led the frame off by depositing said pitch 453 feet over everything in left field.

Just seven pitches and one out later, Avisail Garcia punished another first pitch from Price, this one a hanging, 89 MPH cutter that was sent 394 feet over the Red Sox bullpen.

That knotted things up at 3-3, and Price’s evening came to a close quickly thereafter with the last two Rays he faced both reaching with one out.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 94 (61 strikes), the 33-year-old hurler relied on his four-seamer more than 34% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing four swings and misses and topping out at 94.7 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately hit with the no-decision while his ERA on the year jumped up to 3.86, Price’s July probably did not end the way he planned. In his final three outings of the month, the southpaw yielded 13 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings pitched. That’s good for an ERA of 8.16.

He’ll look to right the ship in his next time out, which should come against the Yankees on Sunday.

In relief of Price, Marcus Walden entered the fifth with runners at second and third and two outs to get, and he allowed that runner to score from third on an RBI groundout off the bat of newest Ray Eric Sogard before getting out of the inning.

From there, Walden came into the sixth with Boston now up 5-4, and got the first two outs before walking d’Arnaud on five pitches, which in turn led to Sox manager Alex Cora going with the left-handed Josh Taylor against the left-handed Meadows.

Unfortunately, that move did not pan out as expected, as Meadows ripped a single to right to advance d’Arnaud to second with still one out to get.

So, Colten Brewer got the next call, and he saw his side’s lead disappear by serving up a two-run double off the Green Monster to Garcia.

d’Arnuad and Meadows came around to score as a result of the crushing two-bagger, and that gave Tampa Bay a one-run lead at 6-5.

Darwinzon Hernandez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Matt Barnes combined to toss three scoreless innings of relief to keep the deficit at one, but the damage had already been done.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a fairly familiar foe in Rays right-hander Charlie Morton, who opposed Price the last time these two clubs met this past Wednesday.

Getting the scoring started right away in the first, Mitch Moreland came through with two outs and the bases loaded by lacing a two-run single off Morton to right field for an early 2-0 lead.

Fast forward to the third, and the middle part of the order delivered once more, this time with a red-hot Andrew Benintendi plating Rafael Devers from third on a one-out, RBI single that just got through the right side of the infield. 3-1.

In the fifth, after Tampa Bay had claimed a one-run lead of their own in their half of the fifth, Benintendi got that right back in the bottom half, and the way it happened was pretty spectacular.

That being the case because, with Devers at first and two outs in the inning, Rays manager Kevin Cash wanted to turn to lefty reliever Adam Kolarek with the left-handed Benintendi due up next to hit for Boston.

Morton, with a pitch count of 85, was clearly displeased with his manager’s decision as they argued in the visitor’s dugout.

While that was happening though, Benintendi didn’t waste any time and crushed his 11th homer of the season off the first pitch he saw from Kolarek, an 88 MPH sinker over the heart of the plate.

The Red Sox went up 5-4 on that 358-foot blast, but failed to score again the rest of the night.

Sure, they had their chances, like with runners at first and second in the bottom of the seventh.

Again, Cash turned to left-hander Colin Poche with Benintendi due up, and it paid off in that instance.

Or in the eighth, when Devers came to the plate with the bases loaded, two outs, his team trailing by one run and the bases loaded.

Up against righty Emilio Pagan, the young infielder swung for the fences on a 1-0, 97 MPH heater, came up empty-handed, and eventually flew out to left on the sixth pitch of the at-bat.

Finally, in the ninth, back-to-back two-out singles from Benintendi and Sam Travis off Pagan gave the Sox one more shot in the form of Christian Vazquez.

Having faced Pagan three times before Tuesday, Vazquez worked the count in his favor at 2-1, but could only come away with a pop fly to the warning track in left off an 86 MPH sinker.

That was good for the final out of the ninth, and that is how this one ended with a final score of 6-5.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday. They left 11 men on base as team.

From Red Sox Notes:

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

From MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith:

Over his last seven games, Andrew Benintendi is slashing: .500/.531/.900 with three home runs and 11 RBI.

Since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on July 15th, Sam Travis is slashing .360/.407/.720 with two homers and five RBI.

—

Well, that was the final game before the 4 PM EDT trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon. As things stand right now, the Red Sox sit 1 1/2 games back of the Rays for second place in the American League East and 1 1/2 games back of the second American League Wild Card spot.

Despite dropping their last two games, I still think it’s safe to say that the Sox will be buyers at the deadline. Whether that means major or moderate upgrades are coming has yet to be determined, but it will probably be more moderate ones.

Tuesday night’s loss also proved that this Red Sox bullpen could definitely use some reinforcements. It’s up to president of baseball operations of Dave Dombrowski whether to go for the premium relievers such as Edwin Diaz or Shane Greene, or the cheaper options such as Andrew Chafin or Daniel Hudson.

Anyway, the Red Sox will be hosting the Rays Wednesday night regardless.

Right-hander Rick Porcello will get the ball for Boston, while fellow righty Andrew Kittredge will open for Tampa Bay before left-hander Ryan Yarbrough takes over.

Porcello recently ended a stretch of four straight outings with four or more runs given up in his last time out against the Yankees, where he allowed just three runs over six quality innings of work.

In two starts against the Rays this season, the New Jersey native has surrendered a total of six runs over 11 2/3 innings of work. The Red Sox are 1-1 in those games.

Yarbrough, meanwhile, has both started and been used after the opener for Tampa Bay this year.

Through 12 appearances as a “reliever,” the 27-year-old is 7-1 with an ERA of 3.64 and batting average against of .218 over 47 innings pitched.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to halt a two-game skid.

Chris Sale Struggles, Surrenders Six Runs as Red Sox Fail to Finish off Sweep of Yankees

After guaranteeing a series win with a 9-5 win over the New York Yankees on Saturday, the Red Sox were unable to finish off the four-game sweep in prime time, as they fell to their divisional foes Sunday by a final score of 9-6 to drop back down to 59-48 on the season.

Making his 22nd start of the season and third against New York for Boston was Chris Sale, who came into Sunday with back-to-back outings of at least six innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed under his belt.

Struggling out of the gate and working into the sixth inning this time around, the left-hander surrendered six runs, all of which were earned, on five hits and three walks to go along with seven strikeouts on the night.

The first pair of those Yankees tallies came around to score in the top half of the third, when following seven straight outs to begin things on Sunday, Sale walked Cameron Maybin on five pitches before serving up a first-pitch, two-run home run to Austin Romine off a hanging, 87 MPH changeup.

It was more of the same for Sale an inning later, with Luke Voit drawing a one-out walk on six pitches and Didi Gregorius unloading on a 1-1, 81 MPH slider for another two-run blast and a four-run lead.

An important punchout of Voit to end the fifth with runners stranded on the corners in a two-run contest went for naught in the sixth, as Gregorius led things off by drawing a walk and Gio Urshela drove him in two batters later on a line-drive RBI double back up the middle.

That put the Yankees ahead 5-2, and that would be how Sale’s underwhelming evening ended.

Finishing with a final pitch count of exactly 100 (56 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 36% of the time he was on the mound Sunday, inducing just one swing and miss and topping out at 97.7 MPH with the pitch while Sandy Leon was behind the plate. It’s also worth noting that the Yankees averaged exit velocities of 97.3 MPH and 94.9 MPH off of Sale’s heater and slider, the two pitches he threw the most in this one.

Eventually falling to 5-10 while inflating his ERA up to 4.26 on the season, Sale certainly did not have a July to remember. In five starts this month, the Florida native went 2-3 with 5.86 ERA and .250 batting average against over 27 2/3 innings pitched.

Things won’t get any easier for Sale either, as his next start should also come against these same Yankees sometime on Saturday.

In relief of Sale, Colten Brewer entered with two outs to get and a runner at second, and he allowed that runner to score on a Maybin RBI single to officially close the book on Sale’s outing before picking off Maybin at first, as well as getting Romine to ground out to third, to retire the side.

From there, Darwinzon Hernandez got the call for the seventh, and all hell broke loose when with the bases loaded and one out in the frame, Jackie Bradley Jr. came up with the second one of the inning on a fly ball off the bat of Gregorius.

With the chance to potentially double up Voit at first, Bradley Jr. followed Xander Bogaerts’ instruction and made the throw over to first. The only problem was that no one was covering the bag, which in turn resulted in a wild throw and two unearned Yankees runs crossing the plate to make it an 8-3 game.

More sloppy play came back to bite the Sox with two outs in the eighth, when a Marcus Walden wild pitch with Aaron Hicks at the plate allowed Cameron Maybin to easily score from third after he reached on a one-out double. 9-4.

Finally, Heath Hembree was responsible for the ninth, and he put together one of his best outings since being activated off the injured list on July 4th by sitting down the only three hitters he faced in order to keep his club’s deficit at five runs.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Yankees right-hander Domingo German, who proved to be a formidable opponent, as he put together the best start of any New York starter in this series.

Falling behind by four runs early, a red-hot Andrew Benintendi got the scoring started for Boston in the bottom half of the fourth by driving in Xander Bogaerts, as well as himself, on his 10th home run of the season and second in as many days. This one a 415-foot, two-run no doubter that cut the Yankees’ lead in half at 4-2.

Fast forward to the sixth, trailing 6-2 now, and Rafael Devers and Bogaerts led things off with a walk and a double to put runners in scoring position with no outs for J.D. Martinez.

The best Martinez could do was plate Devers from third on an RBI groundout to short, and that was all the Sox could manage in the inning with Benintendi and Brock Holt coming up short against new Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle.

An inning later, Jackie Bradley Jr. reached base on a one-out single, bringing the pinch-hitting Christian Vazquez up in the place of Sandy Leon.

Up against right-hander Adam Ottavino, Vazquez moved Bradley Jr. up to third while reaching first safely himself.

Mookie Betts cut New York’s advantage back down to four runs with another sacrifice fly to drive in Bradley Jr., but once again, that’s all the run-scoring the Red Sox could muster with Bogaerts stranding Devers and Vazquez at second and third on an inning-ending fly out.

In the eighth, a Martinez leadoff walk, a Benintendi single, and a one-out walk drawn by the pinch-hitting Sam Travis against the left-handed Zack Brittion presented another opportunity for Boston.

Unfortunately though, Bradley Jr. fanned on six pitches and Vazquez grounded into a force out at second, thus extinguishing another threat.

Benintendi made things a bit interesting in the ninth by lacing a two-out, two-run double against Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman to make it a 9-6 contest, but the rally fell short, and 9-6 went on to be Sunday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Sunday. They left nine men on base as a team.

From Red Sox Notes:

All three hitters Chris Sale walked on Sunday scored in the same inning they drew said walks in, if that makes sense.

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

Andrew Benintendi’s last seven games: .484/.500/.903 with three home runs and nine RBI. Potential American League Player of the Week candidate?

—

So, with an off day on Monday, the Red Sox wrap up the first half of 14 straight games against the Tampa Bay Rays and Yankees with a 5-2 record. As things stand right now, they currently sit one game back of the Oakland Athletics for the second American League Wild Card spot.

It didn’t end all that pretty, but taking three out of four from the best team in the division proved that the Red Sox can still make something out of this season. They should be buyers at the trade deadline, not sellers.

The Rays come into Fenway Park next, with a three-game series set to begin on Tuesday night.

Left-hander David Price is set to get the ball for Boston, while veteran right-hander Charlie Morton will do the same for Tampa Bay. The same pitching matchup when these two teams last faced off this past Wednesday.

In that contest, Price took the loss despite yielding just three runs over six quality innings, while Morton dominated by punching out 11 and giving up two runs over seven strong innings.

In his career at Fenway Park, the 35-year-old Morton is 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA and .213 batting average against over three starts and 16 1/3 innings of work.

Price, meanwhile, now owns a lifetime 3.23 ERA against the club he started his career with over 18 appearances (17 starts) and 108 2/3 innings pitched.

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

Red Sox Go off for Season-High 19 Runs and 23 Hits in Record-Setting Blowout Win over Yankees

After taking two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays to cap off a six-game road trip on Wednesday, the Red Sox welcomed the American League East-leading New York Yankees into Fenway Park for the first time this season and opened up a four-game weekend series on Thursday with a blowout 19-3 victory over their divisional foes.

Making his 21st start of the season for Boston and third against New York was Rick Porcello, who could only make it through 1/3 of an inning the last time he faced off against the Bronx Bombers back on June 29th in London.

Tossing six full innings this time around, the right-hander yielded just three runs, all earned, on six hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts on the night.

The first pair of those Yankees runs came across to score in the top half of the second, when following four straight outs to begin his outing, Porcello fell victim to a string of four straight one-out hits from Didi Gregorius, Luke Voit, Gleyber Torres, which plated Gregorius, and Mike Tauchman, which filled the bases.

An eight pitch punchout of Kyle Higashioka, as well as getting ahead in the count at 0-2 against D.J. LeMahieu meant that Porcello was just one pitch away from escaping the jam, but the New Jersey native lost the Yankees’ leadoff man on ball four, and Voit scored as a result.

Fortunately for Boston, Porcello rebounded by getting the always dangerous Aaron Judge to fly out to Jackie Bradley Jr. in deep center field, and that extinguished the threat.

In total, Porcello needed 47 pitches to get through a strenuous second, but he relatively cruised from there, as he sat down the next six Yankees he faced before serving up a solo shot to Higashioka in the fifth.

Outside of that one blip, Porcello retired the side in order in that fifth inning and worked his way around a two-out double in an otherwise 1-2-3 top of the sixth, where his evening came to an impressive close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 112 (76 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler relied on his four-seam fastball 34% of the time he was on the mound Thursday, inducing six swings and misses and topping out at 92.6 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately improving to 9-7 while lowering his ERA on the season down to 5.55, Porcello continues to be the benefactor of a high volume of run support and has thus improved to 4-0 since the start of July. He’ll look to keep that run going in his next time out, which should come against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

In relief of Porcello, rookie left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez came on in the seventh with his team ahead by a sizable margin, and he fanned two in a clean inning.

Colten Brewer did the same while punching out one in the eighth, and Nathan Eovaldi bounced back from a rough debut out of the bullpen on Monday by hurling a scoreless ninth inning to secure the 19-3 win for his club.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, who was also Porcello’s opponent when these two clubs met up in London.

Unlike Porcello though, Tanaka did not bounce back from a rough experience across the pond. It was almost the exact opposite of that, really.

Kicking off the scoring right away for Boston in the bottom of the first, a Mookie Betts leadoff single and Rafael Devers walk set up Xander Bogaerts in an early RBI spot.

Bogaerts, after working a 3-1 count in his favor, absolutely demolished a 93 MPH fastball on the inner half of the plate and deposited it 451 feet over the Green Monster. His 22nd home run of the season, this one good for three runs, was also the longest of his career.

A string of three straight hits from Andrew Benintendi, Brock Holt, and Mitch Moreland sandwiched in between the first two outs of the inning brought Jackie Bradley Jr. to the plate.

Coming into Thursday 0-for-his-last-13, Bradley Jr. broke out of that slump immediately, as he laced a two-run double down the right field line to bring in two runs and move Moreland up to third for Betts yet again.

On the first pitch of his second at-bat against Tanaka already, the reigning MVP cleared the bases with a two-run two-bagger of his own off a 92 MPH sinker. Just like that, the Red Sox were ahead 7-0.

Fast forward to the fourth, with it now a 7-2 contest, and Devers began the charge to re-widen the gap by leading off the inning with his 21st big fly of the year off a first-pitch, 92 MPH heater on the outer half of the plate that was sent 437 feet over everything in left.

A Bogaerts single and one-out walk drawn by Benintendi put a runner in scoring position for the just-inserted Michael Chavis, who replaced Holt after he was ejected by home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn for arguing balls and strikes in the third.

Anyway, Chavis took advantage of this opportunity, as he blooped an RBI double just deep enough to left to drive in Bogaerts and advance Benintendi to third.

Moreland extended his side’s lead to 11-2 by ripping a two-run, ground-rule double to right, and that was how Tanaka’s night ended.

Facing off against lefty Stephen Tarpley now, Christian Vazquez picked up where Chavis and Moreland had left off by lacing a two-run double of his own down the left field corner, scoring Moreland and making it a 10-run game at 12-2.

An inning later, four straight knocks from Bogaerts, Martinez, Benintendi, and Chavis to lead off the fifth against Tarpley brought in two more Boston runs, with Benintendi and Chavis picking up their first and second RBI of the contest respectively.

Vazquez brought in run number 15 on a grounder to short that gave Benintendi more than enough time to score from third, and the Red Sox had themselves a 15-3 advantage.

In the sixth, Devers greeted new Yankees reliever Luis Cessa by collecting his second RBI on a double to right that allowed Betts to score all the way from first following a leadoff walk. Devers was caught trying to turn that double into a triple, though.

Finally, in the eighth, with catcher Austin Romine on the mound for New York, Bradley Jr. led things off with a double, and Sandy Leon, in his first and only at-bat of the night, scored him, as well as himself, on his fourth homer of the season. This one marking the second time in the past week that the backstop has taken an opposing position player yard.

Fittingly, the man who got the Red Sox on the board also wrapped up an exciting offensive outpouring, as Bogaerts too took Romine deep to left-center for his second dinger of the day and 23rd of the season to tie his previous career-high.

That put Boston ahead 19-3, and that would go on to be Thursday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

From The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

From Red Sox Stats:

Xander Bogaerts’ last 15 games: .419/.478/.790 with six home runs and 17 RBI.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the second of this four-game weekend series on Friday night.

Right-hander Andrew Cashner will get the ball for Boston, while left-hander James Paxton will do the same for New York.

In his first two starts with the Red Sox, Cashner is 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA over 11 innings pitched.

When he was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles earlier in the month, one of the first things Cashner told the Boston media is that he’s, “looking forward to playing the Yankees.” He’ll have the chance to prove he can handle the American League East’s top team on Friday.

In his career against the Yankees, the 32-year-old is 2-5 with a 3.96 lifetime ERA and .247 batting average against over 10 starts and 61 1/3 innings of work.

Paxton, meanwhile, has not been the same pitcher he was earlier in the year since he was shelved with inflammation in his left knee back in early May.

In 10 starts since his return on May 29th, the 30-year-old has posted a 5.06 ERA and .303 batting average against over his last 48 innings pitched. That includes surrendering seven runs, only four of which were earned, in his last time out against the Colorado Rockies on July 21st.

Paxton has never pitched at Fenway Park before in his career. Against the Red Sox, he owns a lifetime 1.89 ERA over five prior starts and 33 1/3 innings pitched, including an eight-inning shutout back on April 16th of this year at Yankee Stadium.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their second straight win.

 

David Price Allows Three Runs over Six Innings as Red Sox Drop Series Finale to Rays Under Protest

After just hanging on to take the middle game of their three-game set on Tuesday night, the Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays were engaged in another one-run contest in the series’ finale on Wednesday. The only difference this time around being that it was Boston, not Tampa Bay, that fell by a final score of 3-2 under protest to drop back to 56-47 on the season.

Making his 19th start of the season for Boston and fourth against his former club was David Price, who saw his streak of five straight outings with at least five innings pitched and two or fewer earned runs given up come to an end in his last time out against the Baltimore Orioles.

Tossing six full innings in this one, the left-hander surrendered three runs, all of which were earned, on four hits and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

The first of these three Rays runs came across in the bottom half of the fourth, when after maintaining a no-hitter up until that point, Price served up a leadoff home run to outfielder Tommy Pham off a 1-1, 83 MPH changeup to cut the Sox’ lead in half at 2-1.

An inning later, three straight hits, with the last two going for RBI, from Michael Brosseau, Joey Wendle, and Guillermo Heredia to lead off the fifth gave Tampa Bay their first lead of the day at 3-2. A wild pitch was mixed in there as well.

It appeared as though Price’s then-solid start was on the brink of blowing up, but fortunately for Boston, the Tennessee native buckled down, got out of the fifth with an inning-ending double play, and sat down the side in order in the sixth, the point in which his day came to a close on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 98 (63 strikes), the 33-year-old hurler relied on his two-seam fastball nearly 35% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing zero swings and misses and topping out at 94.9 MPH with the pitch He also topped out at 93.7 MPH with his four-seamer, a pitch thrown 28 times while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately falling to 7-4 while raising his ERA on the season from 3.61 to 3.66, Price’s 20th start of the year should come against this same Rays club once again next Tuesday.

In relief of Price, Heath Hembree came on for the bottom of the seventh and got the first two outs of the frame, but not before allowing a pair of Rays to reach on a one-out double and intentional walk of Ji-Man Choi, which in turn led to Colten Brewer coming on to face Travis d’Arnaud.

Brewer proceeded to walk d’Arnaud on six pitches to fill the bases for a dangerous Pham, but won that battle by getting the outfielder to ground out to Rafael Devers at third.

The bottom half of the eighth inning is where things got a bit sticky, and that was due to what transpired in the top half of the frame, which I’ll explain later.

Regardless of that, left-hander Josh Taylor had to wait nearly 10 minutes until this contest was ready to resume, and with it now under protest, worked his way around a one-out walk in an otheriwise clean frame of relief to keep his side within the one run they trailed by.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Rays right-hander and two-time All-Star Charlie Morton, someone who entered the finale on Wednesday with a league-best 2.90 ERA on the season.

Starting the scoring in the third inning for Boston, a Brock Holt leadoff single and Mookie Betts two-out double brought Rafael Devers to the plate with runners at second and third.

On the third pitch he saw from Morton, a 2-0, 80 MPH curveball, Devers snuck a two-run single to left field with the Rays infield playing in, allowing both Holt and Betts to easily score to give the Red Sox their first lead of the afternoon at 2-0.

Other than that though, Morton dominated the rest of the way, as he retired 14 of the final 15 Red Sox hitters he faced after giving up that single to Devers.

Heading into the eighth trailing by one run, the Boston bats were greeted by Rays left-handed reliever Adam Kolarek to begin the inning.

Sam Travis, pinch-hitting for Jackie Bradley Jr., popped up to first for the first out of the frame, and that led to Rays manager Kevin Cash making the call to his bullpen for right-hander Chaz Roe with Betts due up next for Boston.

The only thing was, instead of making a conventional change, Cash put Kolarek in as the first baseman, thus removing Choi from the game.

Betts, too, flied out to left for the second out, so Cash went back out to bring Kolarek back in to pitch against the left-handed Devers, which in turn led to Nate Lowe replacing Roe at first.

What ensued after that was somewhat head-scratching, as Sox manager Alex Cora argued that since Kolarek took the spot of Austin Meadows in Tampa Bay’s lineup, the Rays should then have to forefiet the designated hitter. Essentially, the Rays could have had 10 players in a nine-man lineup.

I’m not the most fit to explain this, so here are some tweets from WEEI’s Rob Bradford to clarify:

Either way, all that came out of this was that the game was protested by Cora and Kolarek was able to remain in the game as the pitcher. He got Devers to ground out to first of all places for the final out of the inning after a 20-minute delay. Fun times!

Finally, in the ninth, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Andrew Benintendi all went down in order against right-hander Emilio Pagan, and 3-2 would wind up being Wednesday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss, which is still under protest:

From MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo:

Rafael Devers’ July thus far: .321/.382/.704 with eight home runs and 29 RBI.

J.D. Martinez has multiple hits in four of his last five games.

—

So, the Red Sox finish their six-game road trip with a 3-3 record and have won two of their first three games as part of this pivotal 14-game stretch against the Rays and New York Yankees.

Speaking of the Yankees, the Red Sox will welcome the American League East leaders to Fenway Park for the first time this season to kick off a four-game weekend series on Thursday night.

Right-hander Rick Porcello will get the ball for Boston in the opener, while fellow righty Masahiro Tanaka will do the same for New York.

Last time these two hurlers matched up against each other, their teams combined for 30 total runs in the opening game of the London Series back on June 29th. Porcello and Tanaka themselves combined to record just three total outs.

In his career against New York, Porcello owns a lifetime 3.68 ERA and .250 batting average against over 24 total starts and 146 2/3 innings pitched.

Tanaka, meanwhile, has posted a career 4.82 ERA and .257 batting average against in 19 previous starts against the Red Sox.

Since tossing that seven-inning shutout against the Minnesota Twins on June 27th, Porcello has yielded five, six, six, four, and six runs in each of his last five outings. That’s good for an ERA of 10.57. Not ideal.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to get back to 10 games over .500.

 

 

Christian Vazquez Comes Through with Go-Ahead, Pinch-Hit Home Run as Red Sox Hold on to Take Series from Rays and Improve to 10 Games over .500 for First Time This Season

After kicking off the most important stretch of their season with a 9-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, the Red Sox narrowly escaped with their second consecutive victory on Tuesday, taking the series from their divisional foes by a final score of 5-4 to improve to 10 games over .500 on the year at 56-46.

Making his 21st start of the season and second against Tampa Bay for Boston was Chris Sale, who came into Tuesday fresh off his best outing in quite some time with six scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays last Thursday.

Tossing six more strong innings this time around, the left-hander surrendered just two earned runs on four hits and three walks to go along with 10 strikeouts on the night.

Both of those two Rays tallies came in their half of the third, when with two outs and Mike Zunino at first following a hard-fought nine-pitch walk, Sale got up 0-2 against his next opponent in Travis d’Arnaud, but could not sneak a third-pitch, 82 MPH slider past the ex-Met, and he deposited it 370 feet to left field to make it a 2-2 game at the time.

Other than that one blip, Sale stranded runners at first and third in the fourth with a five-pitch punchout of Willy Adames, stranded Tommy Pham at second following a two-out double, in the fifth, and managed to convince Sox manager Alex Cora to let him come back out for the sixth.

There, the Florida native fanned Michael Brosseau for the second out of the frame with a runner at first, and it looked as though Cora was about to turn to his bullpen.

Already with a pitch count north of the century mark, Sale told his manager that he needed just three more pitches to complete the inning. And fortunately for Boston, he delivered on that promise, as he got Guillermo Heredia to line out to short on the second pitch of the at-bat, thus retiring the side and ending his evening on a positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 116 (75 strikes) to set a new season-high, the 30-year-old hurler turned to both his four-seam fastball and slider nearly 83% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing three swings and misses with the four-seamer and 10 with the slider. He also topped out at 97.6 MPH and averaged 95 MPH with that heater while Sandy Leon was behind the plate.

Ultimately improving to 5-9 while lowering his ERA on the season down to 4.00 on the dot, Sale’s latest two starts in July certainly went better than his first two did. He’ll look to keep this recent run of success going in his next time out, which should come against the New York Yankees on Sunday.

In relief of Sale, Matt Barnes entered the seventh with a brand new one-run lead to protect, and he did just that by sitting down the only three Rays he faced in order.

Brandon Workman got the call for the eighth, and he, like Barnes, before him, came in with a new three-run lead to work with.

The 30-year-old got the job done by hurling a scoreless eighth, but when called upon once more for the ninth is where things got a bit sticky.

That being the case because Workman yielded a leadoff single to Matt Duffy, nearly induced a double-play off the bat of Joey Wendle, which instead went for just one out at second, and struck out Nate Lowe on four pitches.

All was looking fine there, but Workman proceeded to allow the next three hitters who came to the plate to reach base, with Adames drawing a seven-pitch walk, Ji-Man Choi ripping an RBI single through the middle part of the infield, and d’Arnaud taking another ball four to load the bases.

All of a sudden, Boston’s three-run cushion had been cut down to two, and in came Marcus Walden with still one out to get in the ninth.

Walden immediately walked Tommy Pham on four straight balls, allowing Adames to score from third to make it a one-run game.

It really looked like the Red Sox were about to pick up their 19th blown save of the season, but Walden did not allow that to happen, as he got Austin Meadows to sharply ground out to Christian Vazquez at first to secure the 5-4 win as well as his second save of 2019.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Rays right-hander Yonny Chirinos, someone who held them scoreless over eight quality innings back on June 7th.

Rafael Devers made sure history did not repeat itself on Tuesday though, as reached on a one-out, first-pitch single in the first and plated his team’s first run by scoring from third on a wild pitch from Chirinos with Andrew Benintendi at the plate.

In that same at-bat, with J.D. Martinez having advanced to second himself on that wild pitch, Benintendi laced an RBI single up the middle off a 3-2, 93 MPH sinker, driving in Martinez to make it a 2-0 contest early on.

Fast forward all the way to the seventh, after the Rays had knotted things up at two, and Cora turned to his bench with left-handed reliever Colin Poche in for Tampa Bay.

Batting in the place of Mitch Moreland, who went 0-for-2 in his return from the injured list Tuesday, Christian Vazquez came through with his side’s clutchest hit of the night, as he led off the seventh with a towering go-ahead, 403-foot solo shot for his 16th home run of the season to put the Sox ahead 3-2.

An inning later, Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and Martinez all reached with no outs to fill the bases for Benintendi against new Rays lefty Adam Kolarek.

On the second pitch he saw from Kolarek, Benintendi grounded into what should have been a crushing double-play, but instead went for just one out at first thanks to a defensive miscue from Brosseau at second.

Devers was able to score on the play as well, making it a 4-2 game.

A strikeout of Michael Chavis and intentional walk of Vazquez brought Jackie Bradley Jr. to the plate, representing the final out of the inning.

In what should have been a tough lefty-on-lefty matchup, Bradley Jr. did not even see one competitive pitch, as he was immediately plunked by Kolarek to bring Bogaerts in from third.

That gave the Red Sox the 5-2 edge, and after a late scare from the Rays in their half of the ninth, 5-4 would go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

From NESN’s Tom Caron:

From The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

From MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith:

J.D. Martinez’s last four games: .444 (8-for-18) with one home run, two doubles, and six RBI.

Rafael Devers’ last seven games: .323/.344/.774 with three homers and 11 RBI.

Through eight appearances this month, Matt Barnes has posted an ERA of 0.00 and batting average against of .105 over his last 5 2/3 innings of work.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll have the chance to go for the three-game sweep and surpass the Rays in the American League East standings on Wednesday afternoon.

Left-hander David Price is set to get the ball for Boston, while veteran right-hander Charlie Morton will do the same for Tampa Bay.

Coming off his worst outing since that six-run blow up against the Texas Rangers in his last time out against the Baltimore Orioles last Friday, Price brings a 3.61 ERA through 18 starts this season with him into Wednesday’s contest.

In 94 career appearances (92 starts) at Tropicana Field, the former Ray owns a lifetime 2.84 ERA and .221 batting average against over 628 1/3 total innings pitched.

Morton, meanwhile, has had a fantastic first season in Tampa Bay, pitching to the tune of a 2.61 ERA and an All-Star selection through his first 21 starts of 2019.

As it turns out though, the 25-year-old’s worst start of the year in terms of Game Score took place in his last time out against the New York Yankees on July 18th, where he surrendered five earned runs in less than six innings pitched and took the loss.

In six previous starts against the Red Sox, Morton is 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA and .246 batting average against over 32 2/3 total innings of work.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 12:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for the sweep.