Tag: rafael devers

Franchy Cordero leads the way with 3 hits as Red Sox battle back to take series from Tigers with wild 12-9 win

It took all of four hours and 13 minutes, but after trading punches back and forth for 8 1/2 innings the Red Sox were able to come away with a series-clinching, 12-9 win over the Tigers at Fenway Park on Thursday.

Winning Thursday’s game was no easy task, as the two sides scored a total of 21 runs, notched a total of 30 hits, and committed a total of six errors while exchanging leads on six separate occasions.

Boston was ultimately able to come away with a drama-filled victory over Detroit, though, and they improved to 19-13 on the season because of it.

Hernandez injured injured in first inning

After leading the bottom of the first off with a hard-hit double off Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull, Enrique Hernandez would have to leave the game due to right hamstring tightness. He was replaced by Franchy Cordero.

Cordero would prove to play a pivotal role in a contest he did not even start. The outfielder came into the day in the midst of an 0-for-25 rut and wound up reaching base four times on an RBI double, a pair of singles, and a fielding error.

Early lead does not suffice

Cordero took over for Hernandez after the utilityman had advanced to third on an Alex Verdugo groundout in the first. J.D. Martinez then drove him in on an RBI single to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead.

Inserted into the leadoff spot, Cordero collected an RBI of his own in the second by plating Kevin Plawecki on an opposite field double to make it a 2-0 contest.

Rafael Devers and Plawecki doubled their side’s run total in the third on a pair of RBI singles, putting the Red Sox up 4-1.

At that point, Nathan Eovaldi — Thursday’s starter — had been rolling, allowing just one run to cross the plate over his first three innings of work.

The top half of the fourth, however, was a different story for the right-hander, as he gave up five hits in an inning that saw the Tigers bring across three runs of their own to knot things up at four runs apiece.

Back-and-forth in the middle innings

Eovaldi’s struggles continued in the fifth, as he yielded back-to-back leadoff singles before getting the hook in favor of Josh Taylor with one out in the inning.

Taylor allowed the lead runner he inherited to score on a wild pitch before allowing the second inherited runner to score on a run-scoring single off the bat of Niko Goodrum.

That gave the Tigers a 6-5 edge, and it closed the book on Eovaldi’s day. The 31-year-old hurler ended up getting tagged for six earned runs on seven hits, one walk, and five strikeouts over just 4 1/3 innings pitched. His ERA on the season now sits at 4.62.

Phillips Valdez allowed Detroit to double their lead in the sixth, but Boston answered back right away with Martinez ripping an RBI single and Devers lacing a two-run single up the middle to make it an 8-7 game.

Again, the Tigers responded by scoring two more runs over the seventh and eighth innings to go up 9-8.

Vazquez comes off the bench and delivers

Down to their final six outs, Devers — representing the tying run — led off the bottom half of the eighth by reaching on a fielding error. He would advance to second with two outs due to a wild pitch.

Plawecki then drew a six-pitch walk to put runners at first and second and was replaced by Christian Arroyo.

With the No. 9 hitter due up next, Christian Vazquez emerged from the Red Sox dugout to pinch-hit for the slumping Bobby Dalbec.

Fresh into the game, Vazquez came through with one of the biggest hits of the day by hitting a game-tying single off Tigers reliever Alex Lange to score Devers and make it a 9-9 contest.

Cordero followed suit by reaching on a fielding error committed by Jeimer Candelario that allowed Arroyo to score from third.

Now with a one-run lead in hand, Alex Verdugo provided some much-needed insurance with a two-run single off Gregory Soto to put the Sox up 12-9.

Ottavino picks up first save of the season

With Matt Barnes unavailable, fellow righty Adam Ottavino got the call for the ninth inning, worked his way around a leadoff walk, and retired the next three hitters he faced in order to preserve the 12-9 win and record his first save of the year.

Next up: On to Baltimore

The Red Sox will travel to Baltimore for a four-game weekend series at Camden Yards that commences on Friday night.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will get the ball for Boston in the opener, and he will be opposed by veteran right-hander Matt Harvey.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Franchy Cordero and Rafael Devers: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Rafael Devers returns to Red Sox lineup for Wednesday’s game against Tigers; Alex Verdugo scratched due to lower back tightness

UPDATE: Per the Red Sox, Alex Verdugo was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup due to lower back tightness. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo adds that “Verdugo was prepared to play but the Red Sox removed him from the lineup as a precaution.”

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After a day off on Tuesday, Rafael Devers returns to the Red Sox lineup for the second of a three-game series against the Tigers at Fenway Park on Wednesday night.

Devers was left out of Tuesday’s lineup due to a sore right shoulder that he aggravated in Texas over the weekend.

During his pregame media availability Tuesday afternoon, Red Sox manager Alex Cora did not seem all that concerned that Devers would miss a prolonged period of time after the 24-year-old received some treatment on his shoulder during the team’s off day on Monday.

He echoed that same sort of sentiment once again when speaking with reporters on Wednesday.

“Raffy, he was OK to play yesterday,” Cora said. “But why push him? We give him two days off.”

Devers will make his 28th start of the season at third base for Boston while batting out of the two-hole in Wednesday’s contest against Detroit.

The left-handed hitter is currently slashing .283/.368/.566 with seven home runs and 21 RBI through 114 plate appearances so far this year.

The Red Sox will be opposed by rookie right-hander Casey Mize for the Tigers.

Mize, who was selected by Detroit with the first overall pick in the 2018 amateur draft out of Auburn, comes into play Wednesday sporting a career 6.05 ERA over 12 starts (55 innings pitched) since making his major-league debut last August.

The 24-year-old hurler will be matched up against veteran left-hander Martin Perez, who will be making his sixth start of the season for Boston after lowering his ERA on the year to 4.70 in his last time out against the Rangers.

Here is how the rest of the Red Sox will be lining up behind Perez for the middle game of this three-game set. Verdugo was initially slated to bat second, but he has since been scratched due to a back issue, per MLB.com’s Ian Browne.

Of these nine hitters, Marwin Gonzalez is the only one who has faced Mize before. The switch-hitter is 1-for-2 with a walk, HBP, and strikeout against the Tigers starter.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. The Red Sox will be looking to improve to 19-12 on the season.

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Brandon Wade/Getty Images)

Rafael Devers out of Red Sox’ lineup for Tuesday’s game against Tigers due to sore shoulder

As the Red Sox prepare to open up a three-game set against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park on Tuesday night, they will be without third baseman Rafael Devers for the series opener.

The reason for Devers being out is due to what transpired in Texas over the weekend.

In the ninth inning of Saturday’s 8-6 loss to the Rangers, the 24-year-old took a violent swing at a 93 mph fastball from Ian Kennedy, but came up empty and immediately appeared to be in pain after dropping his bat and indicating to Red Sox manager Alex Cora and a team trainer that he had done something to his right shoulder.

Devers was able to remain in the game and finish his at-bat, and he even played the entirety of Sunday’s contest as well, though there was a moment in the third inning where you could tell he was still experiencing some discomfort.

After fielding a grounder off the bat of Jonah Heim, Devers made a relatively routine throw to first to record the first out of the third. Upon making the play, however, he could be seen briefly stretching and massaging that same right shoulder.

Devers finished Sunday’s contest by going 0-for-3 at the plate with a walk and strikeout.

He was one of a handful of Red Sox players who went to Fenway during the team’s off day on Monday to receive treatment on his shoulder. The decision was later made that a second straight day of rest would de most beneficial for the young infielder.

“We’re going to give him one more day,” Cora said on Tuesday when asked why Devers was not in his starting lineup. “He came in for treatment yesterday for his shoulder, but felt like one more day was going to benefit him. So he’s not starting today.

Devers, who came into the week having played in 27 of Boston’s first 29 games this season, is currently slashing .283/.368/.566 with seven home runs and 21 RBI over 114 plate appearances.

Marwin Gonzalez will be making his third start of the year at third base in Devers’ place.

Here is how the rest of the 17-12 Red Sox will be lining up behind right-hander Nick Pivetta for Tuesday’s game against fellow righty Michael Fulmer and the 8-21 Tigers.

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

(Picture of Rafael Devers: Aric Becker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Hunter Renfroe homers, but Red Sox squander scoring chances while Eduardo Rodriguez allows 4 runs over 5 innings in 8-6 loss to Rangers

The Red Sox lost a game they very well could have won against the Rangers at Globe Life Field on Saturday night.

In the fifth inning of what at the time was a 3-3 game, the first five Red Sox hitters to come to the plate reached base, resulting in two more runs crossing the plate on back-to-back RBI singles from J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.

Now up 5-3, Boston had the chance to really blow this one open as Rafael Devers drew a five-pitch walk to re-load the bases for the bottom of the lineup.

Matched up against hard-throwing left-hander Taylor Hearn for Texas, Christian Vazquez grounded into a 5-2 force out at home plate while both Bobby Dalbec and Hunter Renfroe struck out on foul tips to retire the side.

Even while adding two runs in their half of the fifth, the Red Sox could have done more to put this game out of reach. They later paid for their inability to do much with runners in scoring position when the Rangers came back to secure an 8-6 win for themselves.

Rodriguez allows four runs in five innings

Eduardo Rodriguez made his fifth start of the season for the Sox on Saturday, but was unable to improve to 5-0.

Over five innings of work, the left-hander yielded a season-high four earned runs on eight hits and one walk to go along with five strikeouts on the night.

The Rangers first got to Rodriguez for three runs in the third inning on a run-scoring base hit from Nick Solak and a two-run knock from Nate Lowe.

They got to him once more in the fifth inning when Isiah Kiner-Falefa led things off by belting a booming solo shot to left field, which at the time broke a 4-4 deadlock.

Rodriguez then sat down the final three hitters he faced in order, but his outing came to an end relatively quickly when considering the fact he only threw 67 pitches — 46 of which were strikes.

Of those 67 pitches, the 28-year-old hurler mixed in a healthy diet of 19 cutters, 14 sinkers, 14 changeups, 12 four-seam fastballs, and eight sliders. He topped out at 93.4 mph with his four-seamer.

Andriese, Sawamura struggle out of bullpen

In relief of Rodriguez, Matt Andriese got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen for the bottom half of the sixth inning.

Facing off against the bottom half of the Rangers’ lineup, the veteran right-hander allowed Jose Trevino to reach base on a one-out single before serving up a two-run blast to Willie Calhoun that put Texas ahead by one run at 6-5.

Andriese walked the next man he faced in Charlie Culberson, who came around to score on a two-out RBI triple off the bat of Kiner-Falefa moments later.

Josh Taylor managed to stop the bleeding by working a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh, but Hirokazu Sawamura’s struggles in the Lone Star State continued as he allowed the Rangers to score what would prove to be an important insurance run on an RBI double from Culberson in the eighth.

Renfroe homers to give Red Sox early lead

Before any of Saturday’s mid-inning drama took place, Hunter Renfroe gave the Sox an early 2-0 lead when he crushed his second home run of the season: a towering 417-foot two-run blast to deep left field off Rangers starter Jordan Lyles in the top of the second.

There was a moment in the sixth inning where Renfroe had the opportunity to perhaps prevent Kiner-Falefa’s RBI triple from ever happening, but he could not come up with the hard-hit groundball that wound up rolling all the way to the right-center field wall.

Late comeback attempt falls short

After the Rangers took a 7-5 lead in the sixth, the Sox attempted to get back into it in the seventh with a leadoff double courtesy of Bogaerts.

The star shortstop moved up an additional 90 feet by swiping third base, then scored on a Vazquez sacrifice fly to make it a 7-6 game.

In the eighth, Bogaerts essentially had the game in his hands when with two outs, the Rangers intentionally walked Martinez to fill the bases for Boston’s No. 4 hitter.

On an 0-1, 89 mph changeup from Joely Rodriguez, Bogaerts laced a sharply-hit ground ball to the left side of the infield, but it was one that could be fielded by Culberson at third base and went down as an inning-ending 5-3 groundout.

Rangers closer Ian Kennedy struck out the side in order in the top of the ninth to pick up the save.

Some notes from this loss:

From The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

From MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith:

Next up: Richards vs. Foltynewicz

The 17-11 Red Sox will look to wrap up their six-game road trip on a positive note in Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Rangers.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will be getting the ball for Boston, and he will be opposed by fellow righty Mike Foltynewicz for Texas.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 2:35 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Eduardo Rodriguez and Co.: Aric Becker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

J.D. Martinez crushes 2 homers; Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers each go deep once as Red Sox bounce back with 6-1 win over Rangers

After managing to score just four total runs over their last three games, the Red Sox broke out of their offensive slump in a big way on Friday with a 6-1 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

All six runs Boston scored came by way of the home run ball, with J.D. Martinez hitting a three-run homer and Xander Bogaerts crushing a solo homer in the first inning, and Martinez and Rafael Devers clubbing a pair of solo shots in the fourth.

Nathan Eovaldi improved to 4-2 for the Sox, while Josh Taylor, Darwinzon Hernandez, and Austin Brice closed things out out of the bullpen.

Martinez goes yard twice, Bogaerts and Devers once

Matched up against Japanese right-hander Kohei Arihara, for the Rangers, a leadoff walk drawn by Christian Arroyo in the top half of the first proved to be the catalyst for an explosive inning.

That being the case because Alex Verdugo followed by drawing yet another free pass to put runners at first and second for Martinez.

On the very first pitch he saw from Arihara, the Sox slugger crushed a three-run homer to left-center field to give his side an early 3-0 lead.

Xander Bogaerts followed by mashing his fourth home run of the season — a 405-foot bullet to left field — off Arihara to make it a 4-0 game.

Fast forward to the third, and Martinez struck once more, this time depositing an Arihara splitter a whopping 440 feet to dead center for his second big fly of the night and his major-league leading ninth big fly of the season. 5-0.

Devers tacked on one more run by collecting his seventh homer of the season later inning, and that would prove to be all the scoring the Red Sox would need to secure the victory.

Eovaldi eclipses 1,000 innings plateau

Coming into his start on Friday with 994 2/3 career innings pitched under his belt, Eovaldi would need to go at least 5 1/3 innings deep against the Rangers to reach the 1,000-inning mark.

In his home state of Texas, the veteran right-hander did just that — and more– by providing the Sox with six strong innings of work in which he yielded just one earned run on four hits, two walks, and one hit batsman to go along with five strikeouts on the night.

The lone Rangers run Eovaldi surrendered came in the bottom half of the second, when he plunked Adolis Garcia with a pitch and allowed him to score on a two-out RBI single off the bat of old friend Brock Holt moments later.

Outside of that, the 33-year-old was able to keep things in check, retired nine of the last 12 hitters he faced, and finished with a final pitch count of 91 (59 strikes). His next start should come against the Tigers back at Fenway Park on Thursday.

Arroyo makes impressive throw while on the move

In Eovaldi’s final inning of work, Garcia tapped a sharply-hit groundball towards the middle side of the infield.

Christian Arroyo, who started at second base for Boston on Friday, managed to corral the ball with a slide and, while on his knees, made a quality throw to first base in order to get the runner out.

Next up: Rodriguez vs. Lyles

After wrapping up the month of April at 17-10, the Red Sox will hand the ball to Eduardo Rodriguez to kick off the month of May on Saturday night. The left-hander will be matched up against Rangers right-hander Jordan Lyles.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

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

Red Sox manage just three hits off Kyle Gibson; Hirokazau Sawamura gets taken deep twice in 4-1 loss to Rangers

The Red Sox did not arrive in Arlington until about 2:30 a.m. local time on Thursday morning, just hours ahead of their series-opening matchup against the Rangers at Globe Life Field.

In said contest, the Sox bats could manage all of one run on three hits as they saw their three-game winning streak come to an end following a 4-1 loss to Texas.

Rafael Devers was responsible for that lone Red Sox run. The 24-year-old plated Alex Verdugo from second on a two-out RBI double off Rangers starter Kyle Gibson in the top half of the sixth.

Devers’ 20th RBI of the year knotted things up at one run apiece. But outside of that, Gibson proved to be a tough opponent in this one. The veteran right-hander worked his way around three hits and three walks while limiting Boston to one run over six innings of work.

Perez puts together solid outing

Opposing Gibson was a former teammate of his in the form of Martin Perez for Boston.

Coming off back-to-back outings in which he pitched just 3 2/3 innings, the left-hander put together his best start of the season on Thursday.

Over 5 2/3 innings, Perez yielded two runs — only one of which was earned on zero walks and one hit batsman to go along with a season-high seven strikeouts on the night.

Fielding errors prove costly

In Perez’s fourth inning of work, the Rangers’ Joey Gallo laced a one-out double to the opposite field.

Alex Verdugo tracked down the ball in the left field corner, appeared to bobble it for a moment, and then made a casual throw back to the infield.

Verdugo’s throw was a casual one at best, and it wound up eluding the cutoff man in Devers and rolled to the other side of the infield, allowing Gallo to advance to third.

The Rangers took full advantage of the Red Sox’ sloppiness, as Adolis Garcia plated Gallo on a sacrifice fly to deep center field to give his side an early 1-0 lead.

Fast forward to the sixth, and Xander Bogaerts failed to come up with a groundball off the bat of Garcia, which allowed the Rangers outfielder to reach base safely with one out in the inning.

Perez’s outing came to an end after he retired Nate Lowe for the second out of the inning, leading to Hirokazu Sawamura coming on with one out to get in the sixth.

Sawamura wound up serving up a two-run home run to the very first man he faced in Nate Lowe, and the Red Sox suddenly found themselves down by two runs at 3-1.

In the seventh inning, Sawamura got taken deep once again, this time by Isiah-Kiner Falefa to raise his ERA on the year to 3.18.

Hernandez strikes out the side

In relief of Sawamura, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez needed all of 13 pitches to punch out Texas’ 3-4-5 hitters in order in a scoreless bottom half of the eighth.

Martinez dealing with migraine

J.D. Martinez left Thursday’s game in the eighth inning due to migraine-like symptoms. He was pinch-hit for by Christian Arroyo. It sounds like the Red Sox will be staying away from Martinez on Friday.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Arihara

Friday’s pitching matchup between the 16-10 Red Sox and 11-15 Rangers will feature a pair of right-handers, with Nathan Eovaldi getting the ball for Boston and Kohei Arihara doing the same for Texas.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Hirokazu Sawamura: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Garrett Richards fans 10 over 7 strong innings, Bobby Dalbec hits first home run of season as Red Sox top Mets, 2-1

Garrett Richards had said last week that his “delivery was off a little bit” following an erratic outing against the Blue Jays in which he walked six batters while only 48 of his 92 pitches went for strikes.

“I just think the delivery was off a little bit tonight,” he had said. “I was kind of fighting it the whole night. And then obviously, couldn’t get my release point under control. Just kind of a combination of things. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

On Tuesday, Richards put the adjustments he made over the past six days into action and had his best start as a member of the Red Sox to this point as a result.

Over seven strong innings of work against the Mets at Citi Field, the veteran right-hander yielded just one earned run on seven hits and no walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts on the night.

The lone run Richards gave up came in the bottom of the second, when with two outs he served up a solo home run to Jeff McNeil on a heater down the heart of the plate.

Outside of that, Richards was thoroughly impressive in spite of dealing with a fair amount of traffic on the base paths. He did wrap up his evening by retiring the final three Mets he faced in a scoreless seventh inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 93 — 70 of which were strikes — the 23-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 35% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday, inducing 11 swings-and-misses and topping out at 95.8 mph with the pitch.

Able to pick up his first winning decision as a member of the Sox, Richards will go for win No. 2 in his next time out, which should come against the the Rangers in Arlington on Sunday.

Martinez records outfield assist, Vazquez thwarts steal attempt

While Richards was in the process of tossing seven innings of one-run ball Tuesday, he got a boost from his defense on two occasions in his fifth frame of work.

There, Mets catcher James McCann led things off by ripping a line drive to left field.

J.D. Martinez, starting in place of Alex Verdugo (hamstring) in left, fielded the ball on a run and with a quick throw to second base, snuffed out McCann while he was trying to extend a leadoff single into a leadoff double. Marwin Gonzalez, Boston’s second baseman on Tuesday, also made a nice effort to get the tag on McCann in the first place.

After punching out Mets starting pitcher David Peterson for the second out of the inning, Richards surrendered a single to old friend Kevin Pillar. But like McCann, Pillar did not last long on the base paths thanks to Christian Vazquez throwing him out attempting to steal second base.

Andriese and Barnes close it out

In relief of Richards, Matt Andriese — not Adam Ottavino — got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen in the middle of the eighth, and he needed all of 16 pitches to sit down Pillar, Francisco Lindor, and Dominic Smith in order.

From there, Matt Barnes came on for the ninth and fanned two of the three hitters he faced in a perfect inning of relief to notch his fifth save of the year and preserve the 2-1 victory for his side.

Dalbec hits long-awaited first home run of season

While Richards and Co. did an effective job of keeping the Mets off the board, the Red Sox did not find themselves in many scoring situations on Tuesday, but they took advantage of the opportunities they had.

One of those opportunities arose in the top half of the third inning, when Bobby Dalbec led things off by crushing his first home run of the season 390 feet to right-center field off Peterson.

Fast forward to the sixth, and the top of the lineup got the job done this time when Enrique Hernandez led the inning off with a double and came in to score on a Rafael Devers bloop RBI single moments later.

Devers’ 19th RBI of the season gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead, which would go on to be Tuesday’s final score.

Next up: Pivetta vs. deGrom

Things will not get any easier for the 15-9 Red Sox on Wednesday, as they will be matched up against two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, who struck out 15 in a two-hit, complete game shutout bid in his last time out for the Mets against the Nationals.

Nick Pivetta will be tasked with opposing deGrom for Boston. The 28-year-old righty took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his last start against the Blue Jays, but wound up allowing two runs in a game the Red Sox lost 7-3.

First pitch for Wednesday’s series finale is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Bobby Dalbec: Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

José Devers, cousin of Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers, to make MLB debut for Marlins

Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers may have some interest in Saturday night’s game between the Miami Marlins and San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

That being the case because Devers’ younger cousin, Jose Devers, will be making his major-league debut for the Marlins after getting called up by the club on Thursday.

Jose, who is three years younger than Rafael, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 10 prospect in Miami’s farm system. He has never played above High-A ball.

Listed at 6-foot and 174 pounds, Jose — a shortstop by trade — was originally signed by the Yankees out of the Dominican Republic for $250,000 in 2016, three years after his older cousin signed with the Red Sox.

Just a year after signing with New York, Jose was included in the blockbuster trade that sent Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees in December 2017.

Since then, the left-handed hitting, right-handed throwing infielder has risen through the prospect ranks to the point where he is ready to make his big-league debut. He will be starting at second base and batting seventh for Miami on Saturday.

As noted by Ely Sussman of FishStripes.com, Jose, who will be donning the No. 61, is about to “become the youngest Marlins player to appear in a regular season game since the late, great José Fernández in 2013.”

The Marlins are slated to visit the Red Sox in Boston from May 28-May 30, so it should be interesting to see if Jose and Rafael will be able to play against one another next month.

(Picture of Jose Devers: Eric Espada/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta takes no-hitter into sixth inning, but Red Sox still fall to Mariners, 7-3, in extras

Despite giving up just three hits over 10 innings, the Red Sox’ struggles at Fenway Park continued on Thursday with a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Seattle Mariners.

The Sox are now 12-8 on the season, 6-7 at home, and 3-5 in their last eight games coming off that nine-game winning streak earlier this month.

Nick Pivetta is not to blame for Boston’s second consecutive defeat. The right-hander took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and retired 16 of the first 17 hitters he faced Thursday before issuing a pair of two-out walks to J.P. Crawford and Mitch Haniger in the top half of the sixth.

Moments after walking Haniger, Pivetta surrendered his first hit — a two-run double off the bat of Ty France that appeared catchable for left fielder Franchy Cordero — and saw the Mariners take a 2-0 lead before France was tagged out between second and third base.

That would turn out to be Pivetta’s final inning. So over six frames of work in total, the 28-year-old yielded two runs on one hit, three walks, and four strikeouts. 55 of the 86 pitches he threw went for strikes.

His next start should come against the Mets in Queens on Wednesday.

Ottavino charged with blown save

After Matt Andriese tossed a scoreless seventh inning in relief of Pivetta, Adam Ottavino got the call for the top half of the eighth with a 3-2 lead to protect.

The veteran righty put the first two Mariners he faced in Luis Torrens and a pinch-hitting Jose Marmolejos on base via a pair of free passes.

Crawford, Seattle’s No. 9 hitter, followed by laying down a sacrifice bunt towards the left side of the infield. Ottavino fielded the ball rather quickly and attempted to make the throw to the third to get the lead runner out.

The throw instead got away from Ottavino, which allowed Sam Haggerty (pinch-running for Torrens) to score from third base and knot things up at three runs a piece.

Hernandez gives up three-run bomb in extras

Matt Barnes managed to hold the M’s at three runs and needed all of 12 pitches to toss a 1-2-3 top half of the ninth. But even after getting through that portion of the game rather effortlessly, Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned to Darwinzon Hernandez rather than Barnes for the 10th.

Hernandez, in turn, allowed the runner who starts each extra inning at second base to score on a sac bunt and an RBI double from Haggerty, then proceeded to walk Crawford with two outs as the Mariners lineup flipped back over.

As the adage goes, “walks will haunt.” And the walk to Crawford did indeed haunt Hernandez when he served up a three-run home run to Haniger moments later.

That three-run blast from Haniger put the Mariners up 7-3 and would prove to be the final dagger in this one.

Devers homers, but team’s offensive struggles continue

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Mariners right-hander Justin Dunn, who pitched at Boston College from 2014-2016 before getting drafted by the Mets.

Rafael Devers greeted Dunn by crushing a 427-foot solo home run to lead off the second inning to give the Sox a 1-0 advantage. His sixth homer of the season left his bat at 108.2 mph.

In the fourth, Devers would again prove to be the catalyst for more offensive production, as he led things off with a single and would later come in to score on an RBI knock off the bat of Hunter Renfroe.

Enrique Hernandez tacked on his side’s third run of the night when he led off the bottom of the seventh with a hard-hit triple off the Green Monster and scored from third on a wild pitch from Mariners reliever Casey Sadler.

At the time, Seattle’s blunder put the Sox up 3-2, but the Boston bats were unable to do anything from that point forward and wound up recording nine consecutive outs from the eighth inning on.

All in all, the Red Sox went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position Thursday.

Next up: Kikuchi vs. Perez

Friday’s pitching matchup between the Mariners and Red Sox will feature a pair of foreign-born southpaws.

Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi will be getting the ball for Seattle, and he will be opposed by Venezuelan left-hander Martin Perez for Boston.

First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Garrett Richards issues 6 walks as Red Sox fall to Blue Jays, 6-3

On a rainy Wednesday night at Fenway Park that caused first pitch of their game to be pushed back by about 31 minutes, the Red Sox fell short of their pursuit of another come-from-behind-victory and were instead beaten by the Blue Jays, 6-3, to drop to 12-7 on the season.

Garrett Richards struggled mightily and battled control issues in his fourth start of the year for Boston in this one.

Over 4 2/3 innings of work, the veteran right-hander yielded four runs — all of which were earned — on four hits, one hit batsman, and a season-high six walks to go along with two strikeouts on the night.

Richards put the first three Blue Jays he faced — Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — on base on a walk, a HBP, and an RBI single off the bat of Guerrero Jr.

He managed to escape the top half of the first having just given up the one run, but more trouble arose for Richards in the second when he surrendered an additional three runs in an inning that included three hits, two walks, a sacrifice fly and run-scoring groundout, and a wild pitch.

After recording the final out of the second, Richards did string together a decent stretch in which he retired eight out of 10 Toronto hitters at one point, but a two-out walk of Marcus Semien in the fifth that put runners on first and second would mark the end of his day.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 92 — only 48 of which were strikes, the 32-year-old hurler turned to his four-seam fastball 72% of the time he was on the mound Wednesday, inducing just two swings-and-misses while topping out at 95.7 mph with the pitch.

Falling to 0-2 on the year while seeing his ERA inflate to 6.48, Richards will look to bounce back in his next time out, which should come against the Mets in Queens next Tuesday.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura came on with two outs and two runners on in the top half of the fifth, recorded the final out of the frame, then faced the minimum three batters in a scoreless sixth inning.

From there, Phillips Valdez continued his impressive season-opening run by punching out two in a perfect top of the seventh, Austin Brice danced his way around traffic while keeping the Jays off the board in the eighth, and Josh Taylor got rocked for two runs on two hits and three walks in the ninth, which resulted in Toronto going from having a 4-3 lead to a 6-3 lead.

Taylor now owns a 10.80 ERA through his first eight appearances of the season.

On the other side of things, a Red Sox lineup that welcomed back the likes of Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers was matched up against Blue Jays right-hander Trent Thornton to begin things on Wednesday.

After falling behind 4-0 early on, Devers got the scoring started for his side in the fourth inning by driving in J.D. Martinez from third on an RBI groundout to short off reliever Tommy Milone.

A double and single from Marwin Gonzalez and Bobby Dalbec to lead off the fifth put the Sox in a prime position to score, and they did so when Enrique Hernandez greeted David Phelps and drilled a one-out, run-scoring double down the left field line that brought in Gonzalez from second.

Now trailing by just two runs with one out and runners in scoring position, Boston appeared ready to turn this game on its head with the meat of their lineup due to hit.

Instead of that happening, though, Verdugo was called out on strikes, Martinez walked to fill the bases, and Xander Bogaerts grounded out to retire the side and thus extinguish the threat.

Bogaerts was able to cut into the deficit by crushing his second home run in as many days in the bottom of the eighth, but three runs is all the Red Sox could manage offensively in what would go down as a 6-3 defeat.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position on Wednesday.

The Red Sox are 11-4 in games not started by Garrett Richards.

The Red Sox are 6-6 at Fenway Park and 6-1 away from Fenway Park.

After winning nine in a row from April 5-14, the Red Sox are 3-4 in their last seven games.

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The Red Sox — after settling for a series-split against the Jays — will welcome the Mariners into town for a four-game weekend series that begins Thursday night.

Right-hander Nick Pivetta will be getting the ball for Boston, and he will be opposed by fellow righty Justin Dunn for Seattle.

Dunn, a former first-round pick of the Mets back in 2016, spent three years at Boston College from 2014-2016.

First pitch Thursday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Garrett Richards: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)