Tag: mlb

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 injured  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.

Red Sox Promote Second-Ranked Prospect Bobby Dalbec to Triple-A Pawtucket

The Red Sox have promoted third baseman Bobby Dalbec from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Pawtucket, per the PawSox’ official Twitter account.

Dalbec, 24, is ranked as Boston’s number-two prospect behind Triston Casas on MLB.com, and has slashed .234/.371/.454 to go along with an Eastern League-leading 20 home runs and 57 RBI over 105 games with the Sea Dogs this season.

Selected by the Sox with the 118th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2016 amateur draft out of the University of Arizona, Dalbec made quite the impression in his first major league camp earlier in the year.

With the PawSox, Dalbec should have the chance to display even more of his power tool, since the same baseballs being used in the majors this year are also being used across the Triple-A level.

In what will be his Triple-A debut, the Washington native is set to start at third and bat sixth against the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, on Saturday night at McCoy Stadium.

 

 

Red Sox Held in Check by James Paxton, Drop Fifth Straight in 4-2 Loss to Yankees

After getting swept by the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park during the week, the Red Sox’ fortunes did not change in the first of a four-game set against the New York Yankees on Friday, as they dropped the series opener by a final score of 4-2, marking their fifth consecutive loss.

Making his 23rd start of the season and third against New York for Boston was Eduardo Rodriguez, who picked up the win while allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings in his last time out against these same Yankees to close out a strong July.

Working into the seventh inning this time around, the left-hander surrendered four runs, all of which were earned, on five hits and a season-high six walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the night.

All four of those Yankees runs came right away in the bottom half of the first, immediately after the Sox had jumped out to an early two-run lead in their half of the first.

With one out and the bases filled following a leadoff single from D.J. LeMahieu and back-to-back walks drawn by Aaron Judge and Edwin encarnacion, Gleyber Torres unloaded on the very first pitch he saw from Rodriguez, a 95 MPH four-seam fastball on the inner half of the strike zone, and deposited it 384 feet into the right field seats.

The second grand slam of Torres’ young career put his team ahead 4-2, which as already indicated, would be all they needed.

Other than that one huge blip though, Rodriguez settled in nicely from the middle of the second inning up until the bottom of the seventh, retiring 15 of the next 21 hitters who came to the plate with the help of two double-plays before giving up a two-out double to the last Yankee he faced in the form of LeMahieu.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 113 (65 strikes), the 26-year-old hurler turned to his four-seamer nearly 37% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing two swings and misses and topping out at 95.4 MPH with the pitch while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately falling to 13-5 while inflating his ERA on the season up to 4.19, Rodriguez hadn’t lost a decision before Friday since June 9th, or 10 outings ago to be exact. He’ll look to get off to a better start in his next time out, which should come against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

In relief of Rodriguez, Marcus Walden entered the seventh with one runner on second and one out to get in the frame, and he got that out fairly easily by fanning Aaron Judge on four pitches to retire the side.

Nathan Eovaldi got the call for the eighth inning, and he punched out one while putting together his first 1-2-3 appearance as a reliever since being activated off the injured list last month to preserve the two-run hole his side was in. It’s not like it made that much of a difference in the end, but a positive development nonetheless.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Yankees left-hander James Paxton, someone they took deep four times and got seven runs off of last Friday.

Kicking off the scoring right away in the top half of the first, a two-out walk drawn by Xander Bogaerts brought J.D. Martinez to the plate with the chance to strike early.

On the second pitch he saw from Paxton, Martinez did just that, as he punished an 0-1, 87 MPH cutter that was down and inside and pulled it 355 feet over everything in left field for his 24th big fly of the season.

That gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead, and it looked as though they were on their way to teeing off against Paxton once again.

But, to his credit, Paxton held the Boston bats in check the rest of the way and never faced more than five hitters in a single frame from the beginning of the second through the middle of the sixth.

New York’s bullpen didn’t simplify things either, as Tommy Kahnle yielded a two-out single to Christian Vazquez in a scoreless seventh inning, Zack Brittion sat down Mookie Betts, Rafael Devers, and Bogaerts in order in the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman notched his 28th save of the year by retiring Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, and Sam Travis in consecutive order in the ninth.

4-2 would go on to be Friday’s final score, extending the Sox’ current losing streak to five, which is the most regular season games they have lost consecutively since 2015, when they dropped eight straight from July 12th to July 23rd.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position on Friday. They left four men on base as a team.

From The Eagle-Tribune’s Chris Mason:

—

Having lost five games in a row, the Red Sox now stand 11 1/2 games back of the Yankees for first place in the American League East and four games back of the Rays for the second American League Wild Card spot.

The Red Sox are also now 5-6 since July 22nd, when that crucial stretch of 14 straight games against Tampa Bay and New York started.

A day-night doubleheader is set to take place on Saturday, with left-hander Chris Sale opposing right-hander Domingo German in the first installment, and southpaw Brian Johnson making his return against TBD in the second.

Sale struggled mightily in his last time out against the Yankees this past Sunday, surrendering six earned runs on five hits in less than six innings in a contest the Red Sox eventually lost.

On the 2019 campaign as whole, the 30-year-old is 0-3 with an ERA of 7.71 and batting average against of 2.79 over three starts and 16 1/3 innings of work against New York.

German, meanwhile, also opposed Sale last Sunday and picked up the win, as he held the Sox to three runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings pitched.

First pitch for the first game on Saturday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to snap this skid.

 

Red Sox Place David Price on Paternity Leave, Recall Marco Hernandez from Triple-A Pawtucket

In addition to placing right-hander Heath Hembree on the 10-day injured list on Friday, the Red Sox also placed left-hander David Price on the paternity list. Utility infielder Marco Hernandez was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket in a corresponding move.

Price was scheduled to start in the series finale against the New York Yankees on Sunday, but that has been left in the air for the time being.

As The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham notes, a player on the paternity list can return within one to two days after placement, and with Price’s wife, Tiffany, giving birth to the couple’s second child on Thursday, there’s still a chance that the 33-year-old hurler will be good to go.

The same can be said for Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ, as he too was scheduled to oppose Price on Sunday night before being placed on the paternity list himself earlier Friday.

On the other side of this move, Marco Hernandez was recalled from the PawSox 10 days after surprisingly being demoted.

In that time with Pawtucket, the 26-year-old went 14-for-35 (.400) with one double, one stolen base, and rwo RBI.

While with the Red Sox this season, the resurgent Hernandez is slashing .339/.359/.500 to go along with two home runs and seven RBI over 27 games played.

Red Sox Place Heath Hembree on Injured List, Recall Josh Smith from Triple-A Pawtucket

Before kicking off a four-game weekend series with the first place New York Yankees on Friday, the Red Sox announced that right-hander Heath Hembree had been placed on the 10-day injured list due to right lateral elbow inflammation. I

n a corresponding move, right-hander Josh Smith was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Hembree’s spot on the 25-man roster. The club made the transaction official earlier Friday.

Hembree had struggled since his return from the IL back on July 4th, posting a 9.00 ERA and .350 batting average against over his last 12 appearances and nine innings pitched.

Compare that to the 0.60 ERA and .118 batting average against Hembree owned from the beginning of May up until June 10th, and it becomes quite clear that the 30-year-old was still dealing with some elbow issues.

That much is evident in how the velocity of Hembree’s four-seam fastball has dipped over recent weeks. Per Statcast, the South Carolina native averaged 94.5 MPH on his heater in five June appearances. That average velocity shrunk down to 92.5 MPH in July.

In that initial injured list stint, Hembree was shelved for a little more than three weeks with what the Red Sox described as a ‘right elbow extensor strain.’

On the other side of this move, Josh Smith was recalled from the PawSox for the fifth time this season.

Since he was last optioned to Triple-A on June 25th, the 31-year-old allowed 15 earned runs on 32 hits and eight walks over a span of five starts and 27 1/3 innings pitched. That’s good for an ERA of 4.94.

While with Boston this season, Smith owns an ERA of 5.40 and xFIP of 4.54 over 10 appearances, two of which have been starts, and 18 1/3 innings pitched, per FanGraphs. He is also 1-for-1 in save opportunities.

In other roster-related news, left-hander Brian Johnson is expected to re-join the Sox in New York on Saturday and get the start in either the first or second game of the double-header that day.

Because he is out of options, I can’t imagine Johnson can be Boston’s 26th man, so another roster move will probably have to be made in order to make room for the 28-year-old.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT on NESN.

Xander Bogaerts’ Two-Homer Night Goes for Naught as Red Sox Get Swept by Rays to Extend Losing Streak to Four

The Red Sox were swept in a three-game series at Fenway Park for the first time this season on Thursday, as they fell to the Tampa Bay Rays by a final score of 9-4 to mark their fourth consecutive loss overall.

Making his fourth start of the season for Boston was Andrew Cashner, who came into this series’ finale fresh off his best outing in a Red Sox uniform in his last time out against the New York Yankees.

Working into the sixth inning this time around, the right-hander yielded a season-worst seven runs, all of which were earned, on seven hits and a season-high five walks to go along with one lone strikeout on the night.

The first of those Tampa Bay tallies came right away in the top half of the first, when with two outs and a runner at third following a Ji-Man Choi leadoff double, Matt Duffy reached first safely on an infield single, narrowly beating out the throw from Cashner to drive in Choi for the early lead.

In the second, Cashner put himself in a tough spot by allowing the first three Rays he faced in the frame to reach base on a pair of walks and an Eric Sogard single, which in turn resulted in three more Tampa Bay runs crossing the plate on a Choi bases-loaded walk, a wild pitch with Tommy Pham at the plate, and an RBI double off the bat of Pham that very well could have gone for two had it not been for Andrew Benintendi and Michael Chavis completing a nice relay to nab Choi at the plate.

To Cashner’s credit, he did settle in a bit by sitting down eight of the next 10 Rays hitters who came to the plate from the start of the third up until the sixth, but that is the point where things really started to fall apart.

That being the case because two-straight hits from Jesus Aguilar and Eric Sogard, as well as a four-pitch walk drawn by Mike Zuninno filled the bases for Tampa Bay once more, and Willy Adames nearly bailed Cashner out by grounding out to Xander Bogaerts at short, but since Bogaerts had to play the ball on the hop, only one out was recorded at second and Aguilar scored from third.

So, instead of escaping another tight spot with the help of an inning-ending, 6-4-3 double play, Cashner’s disappointing evening came to a close with still one out to get in the sixth.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 110 (64 strikes), the 32-year-old hurler relied on his changeup nearly 41% of the time he was on the mound Thursday, inducing five swings and misses with the pitch. He also topped out at 96.5 MPH with his four-seam fastball, a pitch he threw 44 times while Sandy Leon was behind the plate.

Since being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles, Cashner has taken the loss in three of his four outings with Boston. Over that span, he has allowed 19 earned runs in 23 1/3 innings of work. That’s good for an ERA of 7.93, which is not ideal.

His next start should come against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.

In relief of Cashner, Darwinzon Hernandez entered with runners on the corners and still one out to get in the sixth, and he allowed two more Rays runs to cross the plate on a wild pitch and a RBI double from Pham to officially close the book on Cashner’s night before retiring the side with a five-pitch punchout of Austin Meadows.

From there, Colten Brewer tossed a scoreless seventh before serving up a leadoff homer to Zunino in an otherwise clean eighth, while Heath Hembree did the same by serving up a leadoff solo shot to Meadows in the ninth.

Meadows’ 17th home run of the season put Boston in a 9-4 hole, or a hole they could not dig out of, in other words.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against rookie left-hander Brendan McKay for the Rays, someone ranked as Tampa Bay’s top pitching prospect who had never pitched at Fenway Park before Thursday.

Perhaps taking advantage of that unfamiliarity, Xander Bogaerts came to the plate with his team down by one run early and got that one-run lead right back by mashing a one-out, two-run homer 383 feet over the Green Monster to score Mookie Betts, as well as himself, to make it a 2-1 contest.

Fast forward all the way to the fifth, and Bogaerts struck again, this time taking McKay deep off a two-out, 2-0, 94 MPH for his 25th big fly of the year. A new career-high for the 26-year-old.

Bogaerts’ second blast of the evening cut Tampa Bay’s lead to just one run at 4-3, but a three-run rally of their own a half-inning later essentially put this one out of reach.

Still, that did not stop Mookie Betts, as the reigning AL MVP came through with a rare opposite field homer off of Rays reliever Oliver Drake with one out in the seventh.

Betts’ 19th of 2019 trimmed Boston’s deficit back down to three runs at 7-4, but as already mentioned, the Rays plated a run of their own in the eighth and ninth innings, and 9-4 would go on to be Thursday’s final score.

Some notes from this loss:

There were three instances on Thursday where Andrew Benintendi led an inning off with a double. He did not score in any of those situations.

The Red Sox went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position on Thursday. They left seven men on base as team.

The Red Sox have been outscored 32-20 during their four-game losing streak.

Andrew Benintendi’s last seven games: .516/.545/1.000 with three homers and nine RBI. He has multiple hits in five of those games.

From Red Sox Notes:

From MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith:

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

—

Having dropped four straight, the Red Sox now sit 10 1/2 games back of the Yankees for first place in the American League East and 3 1/2 games back of the Rays for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s a four-game, three-day series against those Yankees in the Bronx over the weekend.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez is set to get the ball for Boston, while fellow southpaw James Paxton will do the same for New York.

Both of these starters will be facing the same opponent on Friday as they did in their last time out.

Rodriguez picked up his 13th win of the year this past Saturday by holding the Yankees to three runs over 5 2/3 strong innings.

Paxton, on the other hand, got shellacked for seven runs on nine hits, four of which were homers, in a 10-5 loss this past Friday.

In his career at Yankee Stadium, Rodriguez owns a lifetime 3.74 ERA and .240 batting average against over eight career starts and 45 2/3 total innings pitched.

Paxton’s first start as a Yankee against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium came back on April 16th, where he tossed eight shutout innings en route to the 8-0 win for New York.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to play with some urgency and put a stop to this skid.

 

No, the Red Sox Should Not Fire Dave Dombrowski

In case you missed it, the Red Sox stood pat at Wednesday’s trading deadline, meaning no new reinforcements from the outside will be added to Boston’s 25-man roster.

Given the club’s inconsistent play as of late, especially out of the bullpen, that news, or lack of news, upset a great deal of Red Sox fans.

That being the case because as of right now, the Sox are on the outside looking in in the American League playoff picture, as they sit 10 games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East and 2 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the second American League wild card spot.

So, with that information, one had to figure that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would make a move to solidify his bullpen or something to that effect.

But, as already mentioned, the deadline came and went and nothing came of it.

“Realistically, we’re probably playing first for a wild card spot,” Dombrowski said in a press conference Wednesday. “We’re playing for a one-game wild card. You look at that a little bit differently as far as what you’re willing to do and the risks you’re willing to take.”

If the Red Sox were closer to first place in the division though, Dombrowski’s approach to the deadline may have been different, saying that, “I think if we were closer to first place, I would have been more open-minded to some of the other things.”

Part of the reason why Boston is not closer to first place does fall on Dombrowski. He had an adequate amount of time to find replacements for both Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel over the offseason, and acquiring Colten Brewer from the San Diego Padres was the only move made.

Through 109 games this season, the Red Sox bullpen ranks seventh in the American League in ERA (4.54), seventh in innings pitched (414 1/3), sixth in batting average against (.243), 10th in WHIP (1.40), and second in blown saves (19).

It hasn’t all fell on them this year, but it is clear that the group of relievers the Red Sox have compiled does not stack up well against what clubs such as the Yankees or Houston Astros have put together.

Building a competent bullpen has always been thought of as one of Dombrowski’s weaknesses as an executive, even going back to his Detroit Tigers days.

The way money was allocated over the winter may play into Boston’s bullpen struggles as well, as more than $23 million was committed to Nathan Eovaldi and Steve Pearce alone for this season, eventually leading to Dombrowski having very little room to work with in trying to stay under the luxury tax threshold.

All and all, 2019 has not been a banner year for the reigning World Series champions. But, they are the defending World Series champions for a reason.

Yes, Dombrowski aided the Red Sox in notching their fourth World Series title since the turn of the century with the moves he made last July and even before that.

Nathan Eovaldi, J.D. Martinez, Steve Pearce, David Price, and Chris Sale were all either signed or acquired under Dombrowski’s watch since taking over as president of baseball operations in 2015. Each of those five players played a key role during that World Series run.

Since Dombrowski’s first full season as president of baseball operations in 2016, the Red Sox have won three straight division titles for the first time in franchise history and capped that stretch off with a historic 2018 campaign.

So, I get that if the season ended on Thursday, the Red Sox would be out of the postseason. I get that that is not a good look given how this team’s competitive window should still be open. But, what I can not understand is the rationale behind wanting to fire Dombrowski.

The architect behind the 2018 team? Red Sox fans want to him run him out of town? Less than a year after winning the World Series? That is something I simply can’t get behind.

 

Rick Porcello Surrenders Six Runs in Less Than Six Innings as Red Sox Drop Third Straight in 8-5 Loss to Rays

After doing nothing as the trade deadline came and went earlier in the day, the Red Sox dropped their second straight to the Tampa Bay Rays and third straight overall in an 8-5 loss on Wednesday to fall to 59-50 on the season.

Making his 22nd start of the season and third against Tampa Bay for Boston was Rick Porcello, who came into the middle game of this three-game set fresh off his best outing in weeks in his last time out against the New York Yankees.

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

The first of those six Tampa Bay tallies came right away in the top half of the first, when with one out and a runner at second following a Ji-Man Choi double to lead off the contest, Travis d’Arnaud got his team on the board with a line-drive RBI single to center. Two monitors in the Red Sox dugout were totaled by Porcello as a result of that run crossing the plate.

An inning later, the first pitch out of Porcello’s hand went for a home run, as Kevin Kiermaier punished a 90 MPH four-seam fastball on the inner half of the plate to make it a 2-0 game.

Porcello nearly escaped the second without yielding any more damage, but a two-out, broken-bat single from Willy Adames and seven pitch-walk drawn by Choi resulted in more trouble for the New Jersey native with Austin Meadows also sending the first pitch he saw, a 91 MPH heater at the top of the zone, 393 feet into the right field seats.

Once more in the sixth, Porcello was again just one out away from tossing his first 1-2-2 inning of the night, but served up his third big fly of the night, this one a solo shot off the bat of Adames.

That put the Rays up 6-2, and that would be how Porcello’s disappointing outing came to a close.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 98 (70 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler turned to his two-seam fastball nearly 28% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing one swing and miss with the pitch. He also topped out at 92 MPH with his four-seamer, a pitch he threw 26 times while Christian Vazquez was behind the plate.

Ultimately falling to 9-8 while inflating his ERA on the season up to 5.74, Porcello’s July went like this: five games started, 28 1/3 innings pitched, 43 hits, 25 earned runs, four walks, and 23 strikeouts. That’s good for an ERA of 7.94, which is far from ideal.

He’ll look to try and turn things around in his next time out, which should come against the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

In relief of Porcello, Darwinzon Hernandez entered with one out to get in the top of the sixth, and he got that out by fanning Meadows on five pitches immediately after giving up a two-out double to Choi.

From there, Heath Hembree allowed two more Rays runs to cross the plate on back-to-back, two-out RBI knocks from Kiermaier and Matt Duffy, and those runs would prove to be costly later on.

Left-hander Josh Taylor impressed by punching out a pair in a scoreless eighth to keep the deficit at three runs, while Marcus Walden struck out the side to do the same in the ninth, although it did not make much of a difference when all was said and done.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was first matched up against Rays opener and right-hander Andrew Kittredge, who eventually made way for the left-handed Ryan Yarbrough in the bottom of the third after Jackie Bradley Jr. reached on a one-out fielding error committed by Nate Lowe and Mookie Betts moved him up to third on a single.

Rafael Devers got the scoring started for Boston by greeting the just-entered Yarbrough with a sacrifice fly to left that allowed Bradley Jr. to come in and score from third.

In the fourth, J.D. Martinez led things off by taking Yarbrough deep to right off an 0-2, 79 MPH curveball for his 23rd big fly of the season to cut the deficit down to three runs at 5-2.

Fast forward all the way to the seventh, after the Rays had added three runs to their lead in the top halves of the sixth and seventh, the Red Sox got all three of those runs back, and it started with a one-out solo shot off the bat of Michael Chavis. His 17th of the year made it an 8-3 game.

Consecutive two-out hits from Betts and Devers trimmed the Rays’ lead to four, with Devers collecting his second RBI of the night on a run-scoring, line-drive single to center.

Following a pitching change that saw Diego Castillo take over for Yarbrough, Xander Bogaerts and Martinez kept the line moving, as Martinez too picked up his second RBI by driving in Devers from third on a run-scoring, bloop single of his own.

That put runners at the corners in an 8-5 contest for Andrew Benintendi, representing the tying run.

Rays manager Kevin Cash responded by turning to the left-handed Colin Poche out of his bullpen, and I have to tip my cap to Poche, as he fanned Benintendi on five pitches to escape the jam in the seventh before getting each of Christian Vazquez, Chavis, and Bradley Jr. to whiff in order in the eighth as well.

Down to their final three outs in a three-run game in the bottom of the ninth, a Betts leadoff single and two-out walk drawn by Martinez off of Chaz Roe brought Benintendi to the plate in another crucial spot.

Having faced off against Roe four times before Wednesday, Benintendi fell behind in the count at 0-2, took a third-pitch ball outside, and struck out looking on a 1-2, 92 MPH two-seamer that was nearly in the same spot the first pitch was.

A rather anticlimactic way to end things, but that is how 8-5 would go on to be Wednesday’s final score. A night of frustration and missed opportunities.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday. They left nine men on base as a team.

From The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier:

From MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith:

Sam Travis, since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on July 15th: .317/.419/.690 with two homers and five RBI.

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The Red Sox have lost three straight to fall 10 games back of the Yankees for first place in the American League East and 2 1/2 games back of the Rays for the second American League Wild Card spot.

Between the lack of activity ahead of the trade deadline and the results on the field, Wednesday was not an encouraging day for this club.

Right-hander Andrew Cashner will take to the hill for Boston in this series’ finale on Thursday, while rookie left-hander Brendan McKay will do the same for Tampa Bay.

Since joining Boston’s rotation earlier in the month, Cashner is 1-2 with a 6.11 ERA over his last three starts, all of which have come against AL East opponents.

That trend will continue on Thursday, as the 32-year-old will bring with him a lifetime 4.03 ERA and .266 batting average against over five career starts against the Rays.

McKay, meanwhile, entered the 2019 season ranked as Tampa Bay’s number-two prospect after being drafted fourth overall in the 2017 amateur draft out of the University of Louisville.

McKay is a two-way player, meaning he both pitches and DH’s.

Through his first four career starts, the 23-year-old is 1-1 with an ERA of 3.72 over a total of 19 1/3 innings pitched.

As a hitter, McKay is 0-for-4, with all four-at bats coming July 1st against the Baltimore Orioles.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox looking to put an end to this skid.

Red Sox Stand Pat at Trade Deadline

The 4 PM EDT trading deadline has come and gone and the Red Sox did not make a single move, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

Dombrowski went into further detail in front of reporters on Wednesday, explaining that, “If we were closer to first place, I would have been more open-minded,” meaning more premium prospects may have been up for grabs if the Red Sox were closer to the New York Yankees, as MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith notes.

“We’re battling for a spot. … Realistically, you’re playing for a one-game wild card. I look at that a little bit differently,” Dombrowski added. “The club here needs to play better on a consistent basis.”

At 59-49 on the season, the Red Sox currently sit nine games behind the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East and two games behind the Oakland Athletics for the second American League wild card spot.

The expectation was for the Red Sox to add at least one reliever before the 4 PM deadline on Wednesday. Instead, they will be turning to internal options, such as Nathan Eovaldi and Darwinzon Hernnadez.

“If we play up to our capabilities, we can beat anyone.” That seemed to be the sentiment Dombrowski was echoing Wednesday.

The 2019 Red Sox are set. No reinforcements from the outside are coming. If this club is going to compete for another World Series title, everyone needs to step up. The rotation, the bullpen, even the lineup.

First pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 PM EDT on NESN.

Red Sox Were Reportedly ‘Intrigued’ by Giants Closer Will Smith, but Believed Asking Price Was Too High

The Red Sox were reportedly interested in acquiring the services of San Francisco Giants reliever Will Smith, but found the asking price for the left-hander to be too high, per The Boston Sports Journal’s Sean McAdam.

Smith, 30, would be a rental for the Red Sox, as he is set to become a free agent this winter.

Through 46 appearances with San Francisco in 2019, Smith has posted a 2.72 ERA and 2.41 xFIP over 46 1/3 innings of work. He has converted 26 of a possible 28 save opportunities as well.

Given how the Giants currently sit just 2 1/2 games back of the second wild card spot in the National League, it’s tough to determine whether they will be buyers or sellers come the 4 PM EDT deadline on Wednesday.

The Red Sox could certainly use Smith out of the back end of their bullpen, that much is evident by how they have blown the second-most saves in the American League this year at 19. However, if the asking price for the 2019 All-Star is too high, perhaps president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski would be wiser to purse cheaper, maybe even more controllable bullpen arms.

Names such as Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Andrew Chafin and Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Daniel Hudson have been linked to the Red Sox.

The trade deadline is at 4 PM EDT on Wednesday. Stay tuned if any Red Sox-related move goes down.