Tag: red sox

Red Sox’ Chris Sale on cusp of rehab assignment after latest simulated game goes well

Red Sox ace Chris Sale took another positive step towards his highly-anticipated return to the major-league mound this week.

Sale threw a two-inning simulated game at the Sox’ spring training complex in Fort Myers on Monday and is slated to do so again on Saturday, according to manager Alex Cora.

If all is well with Sale come Sunday, the next step in the process would be for the Red Sox to send the veteran left-hander out on a rehab assignment, though it’s not yet known which affiliate he would report to and how many starts he would make with said affiliate.

“Everything went well,” Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) in Anaheim earlier Tuesday afternoon. “The next one will be Saturday. It’s one more simulated game. This is probably the last one before a rehab start. Obviously, it all depends on how he feels on Sunday but it feels that way. He’s excited. He felt great today. Just stay the course.”

Sale, who last pitched in a big-league game on August 13, 2019, underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, his 31st birthday.

Since that time, the now-32-year-old hurler has worked his way back to a point where he has faced live hitters on multiple occasions within the last few weeks and is seemingly on the cusp of getting into actual, competitive games again, albeit at the minor-league level.

As noted by Cotillo, the Red Sox would like to keep Sale close to Boston so he has easy access to the team’s medical staff if needed. Because of this, he will likely only be rehabbing in Portland and Worcester.

Considering that he last pitched on July 5 and is slated to do so again on July 10, it’s safe to assume that Sale is on a consistent schedule where he is on the mound every five days.

With that in mind, it appears as though the lanky southpaw’s first rehab appearance — and first in-game action in nearly two years — could come for the WooSox when they take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in the fourth game of a seven-game series at Polar Park on July 15.

Again, this all depends on how Sale is feeling after his next sim game on Saturday, but it certainly seems like there is plenty to be optimistic about when it comes to the seven-time All-Stars impending return to Boston’s starting rotation later this summer.

(Picture of Chris Sale: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ J.D. Martinez earns MLB Play of the Week honors for clutch double play against Athletics

J.D. Martinez may be known more for what he does with a bat in his hands as opposed to what he does in the outfield, but the slugger was recently recognized for his defensive work.

Earlier Tuesday, Martinez earned Major League Baseball’s Play of the Week award for the week of June 28 through July 4 for what he did against the Athletics at Oakland Coliseum this past Saturday.

With one out in the bottom half of the 10th inning of that particular contest, the Sox and A’s were deadlocked at four runs apiece, though Oakland was threatening with the bases loaded, meaning the winning run was just 90 feet away from home in the form of Sean Murphy.

On a 1-1, 91 mph fastball from Red Sox reliever Brandon Workman, Elvis Andrus laced a 260-foot, 101 mph screamer to Martinez in left field that had an expected batting average of .730.

Murphy — who ranks 26th among major-league catchers in sprint speed (26.1 feet per second) according to Baseball Savant — took off for home plate at the moment the ball landed in Martinez’s glove.

Wasting no time as his momentum carried him, Martinez gathered himself, cocked back, and unleashed a dart towards an awaiting Christian Vazquez at home plate that arrived in plenty of time for the backstop to snuff out Murphy and complete the inning-ending 7-2 double play.

Per MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, Martinez had a 40% chance of catching Andrus’ waist-high line drive, making it a four-star play based off catch probability.

In nabbing Murphy at home plate, the 33-year-old recorded his third outfield assist of the season already. He notched a total of seven in his first three seasons with the Red Sox from 2018-2020.

While Martinez, who has primarily served as Boston’s designated hitter, is by no means on a Gold Glove sort of run, he has had quite a productive year in the outfield for his standards, particularly on the left side.

In addition to his three assists, Martinez has accrued one Defensive Run Saved over 132 1/3 innings as a left fielder while putting up an Ultimate Zone Rating of 2.0, which translates to an Ultimate Zone Rating of 29.1 over 150 defensive games, per FanGraphs.

Among American League left fielders who have played at least 130 innings at the position so far this season, Martinez ranks 11th in Defensive Runs Saved, third in Ultimate Zone Rating, and first in Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora had said this spring that he believed Martinez would benefit from seeing more playing time in left field this season, and that school of thought has certainly paid off for both sides up to this point in the year.

(Picture of J.D. Martinez: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Christian Arroyo makes impact felt in return as Red Sox hold on to top Angels, 5-4, in dramatic fashion

Christian Arroyo certainly made his impact felt in his first game back with the Red Sox since June 20.

Just hours after being activated from the injured list, Arroyo crushed a solo home run off Angels starter Jose Suarez in his first big-league at-bat in over two weeks.

Arroyo’s fifth homer of the season — a 431-foot blast to left-center field — provided the Sox with the early boost they would need to both spoil Shohei Ohtani’s 27th birthday and secure a series-opening 5-4 victory over the Halos at Angel Stadium on Monday night.

With the win, Boston improves to 54-42 on the campaignand 3-1 on their current West Coast road trip. They, again, remain 4 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Devers stays hot with fifth 3-hit game of season

Rafael Devers recently lost two RBI on account of a scoring change made by Major League baseball, but he wasted no time in getting them back on Monday, with interest.

Moments after Arroyo got the Sox on the board first, Devers followed by doubling his side’s early lead with a run-scoring single that brought in Marwin Gonzalez and made it a 2-0 game.

Fast forward to the fourth, and the slugging third baseman struck again, this time taking Angels reliever Dylan Bundy 405 feet deep to right-center field on a towering two-run shot that put Boston ahead 4-1.

Devers, whose fourth-inning homer was his 21st of the year, also singled in the eighth to bring his batting average on the season up to .290.

Santana’s fine fifth inning on both sides of the ball

Danny Santana was not originally in the Sox’ starting lineup on Monday, but he was forced into action when left fielder Marwin Gonzalez exited with right hamstring tightness in the third inning.

Put on the spot right away, Santana came through in his second trip to the plate in the top of the fifth, as he greeted newly-inserted reliever Tony Watson by ripping an RBI single up the middle that brought in Xander Bogaerts from second and made it a 5-1 contest.

After delivering with the run-scoring knock in the top half of the inning, Santana showed off his arm strength in the bottom half by gunning down Jose Rojas at home plate to prevent the Angels from scoring their second run of the frame off Sox starter Martin Perez.

More outfield assists for the best team in baseball in that department

The Red Sox came into the week leading all of baseball in total outfield assists with 26 of them on the season. Even with that number — and what happened in the fifth inning — in mind, the Angels still tried to run on the likes of Santana, Enrique Hernandez, and Hunter Renfroe, and it cost them.

Following Santana’s defensive display, Hernandez followed suit in the sixth when he snuffed out Max Stassi, who was trying to turn a single into a double, at second base for the second out of the inning.

With Santana and Hernandez tacking on two more, the Red Sox have now tallied 28 outfield assists this season to add on to their league lead in that particular category.

Perez the beneficiary of some outstanding defense

Not only did Martin Perez benefit from the arm strength of his outfielders, he also benefitted from their agility as well.

Making his his 17th start of the season for Boston on Monday, Perez ran into some trouble out of the gate by issuing a one-out walk and one-out single in the second inning that resulted in Los Angeles’ first run of the night crossing the plate on a sacrifice fly.

Things would have been worse for Perez were it not for Enrique Hernandez, who robbed Luis Rengifo of a two-run home run by making a leaping grab at the wall in deep center field for the final out of the inning.

The veteran left-hander settled in a bit from there, stringing together two scoreless frames before putting himself in a jam in the bottom half of the fifth.

There, with one out and one run having already scored, Danny Santana prevented the Angels from pushing anything else across by throwing out Jose Rojas at home.

Hernandez proceeded to do the same in the sixth, as he recorded the second out of the frame by gunning down Max Stassi at second, at which point Perez was given the hook by Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 79 (56 strikes), the 30-year-old hurler wound up surrendering two runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk to go along with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings of work. He did not factor into the decision, but did lower his ERA on the season to 3.89.

Red Sox bullpen holds on

In relief of Perez, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he got out of the sixth by recording the final two outs of the frame in quick fashion.

Sawamura also came back out for the seventh and got the first two outs there, but not before serving up a solo home run to Rojas that trimmed the Angels’ deficit down to two runs at 5-3.

Josh Taylor was next to be dispatched, and the left-hander got Ohtani to fly out to retire the side and punched out a pair in a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth as well to extend his scoreless appearances streak to 26 consecutive games.

Ottavino vs. Ohtani

With Matt Barnes unavailable, Cora had to turn to right-hander Adam Ottavino to lock things down in the ninth.

A leadoff walk issued to old friend Jose Igleasias would come back to bite Ottavino, as he allowed the speedster to score on an RBI single off the bat of Rojas.

David Fletcher singled to advance the potential tying run into scoring position, and that brought the vaunted Ohtani up to the plate in a pivotal spot.

Ottavino, who infamously once said he would ‘strike out Babe Ruth every time’ he faced him, was tasked with going up against the modern-day Ruth in the form of the two-way phenom that is Ohtani.

After falling behind in the count at 3-1, Ottavino got Ohtani to sharply ground out to a perfectly-positioned Arroyo in shallow right field to preserve the 5-4 victory for his side while also notching his seventh save of the year.

Next up: Eovaldi vs. Ohtani

Tuesday’s pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Angels will feature a pair of All-Stars going at it, with right-hander Nathan Eovaldi getting the ball for Boston and Ohtani, also a right-hander, doing the same for Los Angeles.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Shohei Ohtani and Christian Arroyo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Red Sox place Eduard Bazardo on 60-day injured list, opening up spot on 40-man roster

In addition to reinstating Christian Arroyo from the 10-day injured list and optioning Michael Chavis to Triple-A Worcester on Monday, the Red Sox also reinstated right-hander Eduard Bazardo from the minor-league IL, recalled him from Worcester, and placed him on the 60-day IL with a right lat strain.

By essentially transferring Bazardo from the minor-league injured list to the 60-day injured list, the Red Sox have opened up a spot on their 40-man roster, which now sits at 39 “active” players.

Bazardo initially sustained that right lat strain back on May 18 in an outing for the WooSox and was later placed on the minor-league IL on May 24 because of it.

While the injury did require him to be shut down for approximately three weeks, the 25-year-old was able to begin a throwing program in mid-June.

Prior to being shut down, Bazardo had made two appearances across two separate stints with the Red Sox while appearing in four games with the WooSox this season.

The 6-foot, 190 pound hurler made his major-league debut for Boston on April 14 and worked a scoreless inning of relief against the Twins in Minneapolis before again being called upon on May 14, when he tossed two shutout frames against the Athletics at Fenway Park.

In those four outings with Worcester, Bazardo posted a 13.50 ERA by allowing four runs on five hits, one walk, and three strikeouts over 2 2/3 total innings of work.

When he was healthy, the Venezuelan-born righty was unquestionably viewed as one of, if not the top relief option at the Triple-A level after he was added to Boston’s 40-man roster last November.

At the moment, there does not appear to be a timetable for when Bazardo could make his return to the mound, but he will at least be able to accrue major-league service time while on the 60-day IL in the interim.

As for how the Red Sox will fill that spot on the 40-man roster temporarily left vacant by Bazardo, that should be something worth monitoring in the coming days.

(Picture of Eduard Bazardo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitching prospect Brayan Bello added to American League’s All-Star Futures Game roster

Red Sox pitching prospect Brayan Bello has been added to the American League’s All-Star Futures Game roster as an injury replacement, according to Baseball Americs’s J.J. Cooper.

Per Cooper, Bello will be replacing top Mariners pitching prospect Emerson Hancock, who suffered an apparent non-structural arm injury within the last few days.

Bello, 22, is regarded by Baseball America as the No. 20 prospect in Boston’s farm system, ranking ninth among pitchers in the organization.

The young right-hander initially opened the 2021 minor-league season with High-A Greenville, where he went 5-0 across six starts and posted a 2.27 ERA and 2.62 xFIP to go along with 45 strikeouts to just seven walks over 31 2/3 innings of work.

Those consistently strong performances throughout May and into early June resulted in Bello getting promoted to Double-A Portland on June 8.

In the four weeks since that move, the lanky 6-foot-1, 170 pound hurler has pitched to the tune of a 3.45 ERA and 3.89 xFIP in four starts spanning 15 2/3 total innings for the Sea Dogs. He struck out a season-high of 10 batters in his second outing with Portland back on June 18.

“I saw through social media that he was dominant and then I saw the report today,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bello’s performance the following day while the team was in Kansas City (via MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith). “I haven’t seen video (of him). Just got the report and he’s been very good so far this season. Yesterday was eye-opening. The report said he was very aggressive, very efficient and with good stuff. So I should probably start watching video and see what we have in him.”

Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic for $28,000 during the 2017 international signing period, Bello’s pitch mix consists of a high-octane fastball that has reached triple digits this season, a plus changeup, and an improving slider, per Smith.

In being selected to play this weekend’s All-Star Futures Game, which takes place at Coors Field on July 11, Bello joins fellow prospect Jeter Downs as the two players who will be representing the Red Sox in the seven-inning exhibition.

The showcase certainly represents an enticing opportunity for Bello, as he will have the chance to show the baseball world what he is capable of ahead of what has the makings to be an extremely important offseason for the righty.

That is the case because Bello, who does not turn 23 until next May, can become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career this December if he is not added to the Sox’ 40-man roster by the November 20 deadline.

As has been written on here before, that is definitely something worth keeping in mind as the minor-league season continues.

(Picture of Brayan Bello: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox activate Christian Arroyo from injured list, option Michael Chavis to Triple-A Worcester

Before opening up a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim on Monday night, the Red Sox activated infielder Christian Arroyo from the 10-day injured list.

In a corresponding move, infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, per MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo.

Arroyo returns to the Sox after missing a little more than two weeks with a right shin bone bruise that he sustained on a collision with center fielder Enrique Hernandez in Kansas City back on June 20.

He will start at second base and bat seventh in Boston’s series-opening game against the Angels Monday night.

The 26-year-old was placed on the 10-day injured list with what the team described as a right knee contusion on June 24, and he was later sent out on a rehab assignment with the WooSox last Thursday.

While inclement weather in the vicinity of Polar Park limited him to just two games in his most recent rehab stint, Arroyo did go 1-for-5 (.200) at the plate with a single and one run scored while DH’ing on Friday and playing seven innings of second base in Sunday’s contest against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Prior to hitting the shelf last month, Arroyo was proving to be quite the clutch hitter in addition to providing Boston with consistently solid defense at second base.

On the 2021 campaign — his first full season with the Red Sox — as a whole, the right-handed hitter is slashing .264/.324/.432 (105 wRC+) with four home runs, nine doubles, 19 RBI, one stolen base, five walks, and 38 strikeouts over 41 games (138 plate appearances) thus far.

Among American League second basemen who have played at least 250 innings at the position this year, Arroyo, who has played 296 innings at second, ranks second in Defensive Runs Saved (3), first in Ultimate Zone Rating (2.0), and first in Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games (8.4), according to FanGraphs.

Chavis, meanwhile, was optioned back down to the WooSox after spending approximately 11 days with the big-league club.

The 25-year-old was initially recalled from Worcester at the same time Arroyo was placed on the IL on June 24. In nine games (seven starts) between then and July 4, he hit just .120/.179/.120 with three singles, four runs scored, two RBI, one stolen base, one walk, and nine strikeouts.

Taking that stretch into consideration, Chavis is now slashing .207/.230/.328 to go along with one homer, four RBI, one walk, and 22 strikeouts across four stints with the Red Sox so far this season.

“I think he’s batting right now,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Chavis on Saturday. “He has done some good things for us, especially defensively. But offensively, kind of like still expanding the (strike) zone, obviously. I think he’s done a better job not expanding up, but I think now it’s east-west. So, keep working with him, keep him upbeat, and we’ll see what happens.”

While Chavis will not be able to work on those things at the major-league level, he will be able to do so in Worcester, where his currently hitting .263/.327/.474 with six homers and 17 RBI over 24 total games.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Matt Barnes, Nathan Eovaldi, J.D. Martinez named to American League All-Star team, joining Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers for 91st Midsummer Classic in Denver

In addition to Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, the Red Sox will be sending three more players to the All-Star Game in Denver next week.

Right-handers Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Barnes, and designated hitter J.D. Martinez were all selected to represent the American League as All-Stars, Major League Baseball announced earlier Sunday afternoon.

Eovaldi and Barnes will be two of the 12 pitchers on Rays manager Kevin Cash’s staff, while Martinez will be one of three designated hitters on the AL roster alongside Angels two-way phenom and starter Shohei Ohtani as well as fellow reserve Nelson Cruz of the Twins.

For Eovaldi and Barnes, Sunday marks the first time in their respective careers that they were chosen to play in the All-Star Game. The same can be said for Devers, who was voted in as a starter at third base on Thursday, as well.

Martinez, meanwhile, will be heading to his fourth Midsummer Classic and his third as a member of the Red Sox organization.

Bogaerts, like Devers, was voted in as a starter at shortstop for the second time in his career and will be making his third overall All-Star Game appearance.

By sending the likes of Barnes, Bogaerts, Devers, Eovaldi, and Martinez to Denver to represent them, the Red Sox will have the highest number of All-Stars among any major-league team partaking in the festivities at Coors Field from July 11 through July 13.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, this is the second time in four years that Boston has had at least five All-Stars. They most recently did so in 2018 with Mookie Betts, Craig Kimbrel, J.D. Martinez, Mitch Moreland, and Chris Sale.

(Picture of Matt Barnes: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Nick Pivetta punches out 10 over 7 strong innings as Red Sox take series from Athletics with 1-0 victory

This year’s version of the Red Sox seem to have a knack for not letting tough losses get to them.

After getting blown out by the Blue Jays, 18-4, on June 13, they came back the next night to walk off Toronto, 2-1. After falling to the Rays, 1-0, in heartbreaking fashion on June 24, they bounced back by topping the Yankees, 5-3, on June 25 for what would be the start of an eight-game winning streak.

That same winning streak was snapped in Saturday night’s soul-crushing 7-6 loss to the Athletics in 12 innings at Oakland Coliseum, but the Sox again showed just how resilient they are in Sunday’s series finale against the A’s, which also served as a rubber match between the two teams.

Nick Pivetta made his 17th start of the season for Boston, and he, too, rebounded from his worst outing of the year in his last time out against the Royals.

That being the case because over seven dominant innings, the right-hander kept Oakland off the scoreboard while scattering just two hits and two walks to go along with a season-high 10 strikeouts on the afternoon.

Pivetta was put in a tough spot out of the gate, as he issued a two-out walk and two-out single to the dangerous duo of Matt Olson and Matt Chapman in the bottom half of the first, but he escaped the early jam by fanning Jed Lowrie on seven pitches.

From there, Pivetta proceeded to retire 18 of the next 20 hitters he faced, and his day came to a close when he got Seth Brown to fly out to center field for the final out of the seventh inning.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 101 (65 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler ultimately improved to 7-3 on the season while lowering his ERA to 4.09. His next start should come against his former team in the Phillies back at Fenway Park next Saturday.

While Pivetta was in the process of stringing together seven scoreless frames, the Red Sox lineup was having a difficult time in scoring themselves with right-hander James Kaprielian on the mound for the A’s.

It took until the top half of the sixth inning, but a leadoff double off the bat of Alex Verdugo followed by a hard-hit single by J.D. Martinez put runners at the corners with no outs for Rafael Devers, who came through by grounding into a run-scoring double play that brought in Verdugo from third to make it a 1-0 game.

Even though Devers was not credited with an RBI on that particular play, what he did was good enough to give the Sox the only lead they would need.

After Pivetta recorded the final out of the seventh, Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned to rookie Garrett Whitlock for the eighth since Adam Ottavino was unavailable.

Whitlock, working in a rare one-inning role, put the potential tying run on base and allowed that runner to advance into scoring position on a wild pitch, but maneuvered around that by getting Tony Kemp and Elvis Andrus to pop out for the final two outs of the frame.

That paved the way for first-time All-Star Matt Barnes to get the call for the ninth in a 1-0 game, and he also played with fire a bit by yielding a leadoff single to Olson and a one-out walk to Jed Lowrie to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Barnes was able to recover, though, as he got Ramon Laureano to ground into a force out before fanning Brown on three straight knee-buckling knuckle-curveballs.

When all was said and done, Barnes needed 33 pitches to get through the ninth, but he did secure the 1-0 victory for his side while also notching his 19th save of the year.

With the win, not only do the Red Sox take the three-game weekend series from the A’s, but they also improve to 53-32 on the season and remain 4 1/2 games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will head south for Orange County to open up a three-game set against the 42-41 Los Angeles Angels that begins on Monday night.

Left-hander Martin Perez is slated to get the ball for Boston in the series opener, and he will be opposed by fellow Venezuelan southpaw Jose Suarez for Los Angeles.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 9:38 p.m. eastern time on NESN and ESPN.

(Picture of Nick Pivetta: Theoron W. Henderson)

Red Sox blow pair of late 2-run leads, see 8-game winning streak snapped in 7-6 loss to Athletics in 12 innings

The Red Sox began their eight-game winning streak the night after a soul-crushing 1-0 loss to the Rays on June 24.

After stringing together eight consecutive victories from June 25 through July 2, it just so happened that the Sox’ winning ways were abrupted by yet another back-breaking defat at the hands of the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday night, though this one came in the form of a 7-6 loss in 12 innings.

Garrett Richards made his 17th start of the season for Boston to begin things on Saturday, and he stumbled out of the gate a bit by walking and beaming the first two hitters he faced before yielding a run-scoring triple to Sean Murphy an inning later.

The Red Sox offense was able to pick up Richards, however, and they did so on account of some sloppy defense from the Athletics.

Matched up against Oakland starter Cole Irvin, Xander Bogaerts proved to be the catalyst for a two-run top of the fourth by reaching base on a fielding error committed by second baseman Tony Kemp.

Bogaerts advanced up to second on a hard-hit single from Rafael Devers and was also able to score all the way from there on a throwing error on a failed pickoff move from catcher Sean Murphy.

That same miscue allowed Devers to move up to third, and he scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Hunter Renfroe to give Boston their first lead of the night at 2-1.

The Sox and A’s traded blows over the next few innings, with J.D. Martinez ripping an RBI single in the fifth, and Richards serving up a pair of hits to the first two hitters he faced in the sixth, resulting in Frank Schwindel driving in Matt Chapman and Red Sox manager Alex Cora giving the right-hander the hook.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 92 (60 strikes), Richards wound up surrendering two earned runs on five hits, three walks, and just two strikeouts over five-plus innings of work. The 33-year-old hurler did not factor into the decision, though he did lower his ERA on the season to 4.88.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura was inserted into somewhat of a jam in the bottom of the sixth, but he escaped said jam on just 12 pitches.

From there, Kiké Hernández provided what at the time was much-needed insurance in the seventh when he clubbed a solo home run — his 10th of the season — off Irvin to put Boston ahead at 4-2.

The Athletics countered with two runs of their own in the eighth, though, as they took advantage of the fact that the Red Sox were without two of their high-leverage relievers in Garrett Whitlock and Matt Barnes.

Instead, after Josh Taylor tossed a scoreless seventh inning to extend his scoreless appearances streak to 25 straight games, Yacksel Rios got the call for the eighth, and he allowed a run to score while also put the tying run on base on a pair of hits before getting pulled in favor of Darwninzon Hernandez.

Hernandez issued a one-out walk to Kemp, which brought Elvis Andrus to the plate in a prime scoring spot, and he did just that by plating the tying run in Seth Brown on a line-drive single to right field. 4-4.

Boston threatened in their half of the ninth when the pinch-hitting Marwin Gonzalez reached base on a one-out walk off Oakland reliever Lou Trivino, but he — representing the potential go-ahead run — was gunned down at second base by Murphy on a failed stolen base attempt.

With no Barnes, Adam Ottavino was responsible for the ninth. The veteran right-hander did allow the winning run to reach base on a leadoff single from Chapman, but retired the next three A’s he faced in 1-2-3 fashion to strand that all important runner and send this one to extras.

In extras, Danny Santana represented the go-ahead run for the Sox in the 10th since he recorded the final out of ninth. Like Gonzalez, Santana had the chance to create offense with his legs, but he was instead thrown out while trying to swipe third base.

The A’s ran into an out themselves in the 10th, however, as Brandon Workman first put himself in a bases loaded jam before recording the first out of the frame on a poorly-executed bunt from Kemp.

Workman proceeded to get Andrus to line out to Martinez in left field, and the runner at third (Murphy) made a poor decision in taking off for home since he was thrown out at the plate by Martinez, who was doing his best (Kiké) Hernández impression in notching his team’s league-leading 26th outfield assist of the season.

That clutch double play sent this one to the 11th, where the Boston bats went down in order and Workman again maneuvered his way around a sticky situation by inducing two fly outs and a ground out.

Gonzalez made up for his baserunning blunder in his side’s half of the 12th, as he plated Devers from second on a then go-ahead single off A’s reliever and former Red Sox farmhand J.B. Wendelken before scoring himself on another RBI single courtesy of Hernández.

Again, the Red Sox found themselves in possession of a two-run lead at 6-4, but they were unable to hang on to said lead while simultaneously being down to their last available reliever in Matt Andriese.

Andriese failed to record a single out in the bottom half of the 12th, as the veteran righty yielded three straight hits to the likes of Murphy, Brown, and old friend Jed Lowrie to knot things up at six runs apiece.

He then got Kemp to fly out to center field, but despite Hernández’s best efforts, the ball was hit deep enough to bring in Brown from third base and give the A’s a 7-6 come-from-behind win in 12 innings.

Andriese was charged with the loss and blown save while also inflating his ERA on the year to 5.70.

With the crushing loss, the Red Sox see their eight-game winning streak come to an end and fall to 52-32 on the season, though they remain four games up on the Rays for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the mound on Sunday afternoon as they go for the series win over the A’s, who will counter with fellow righty James Kaprielian.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 4:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Tony Kemp: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández providing boost for Red Sox since moving back into leadoff spot

Remember when the Red Sox were struggling to find a consistent leadoff hitter? Neither does Kiké Hernández.

Over his last six games batting out of the leadoff spot for Boston, Hernández is slashing .364/.481/.818 with one double, three home runs, six RBI, four runs scored, four walks, and two strikeouts.

He may have collected just one base hit in Oakland on Friday night, but it proved to be the most important and clutchest one of the game since it drove in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Hernández showed off his defensive prowess in center field as well, as he gunned down the potential tying run — Seth Brown — at home plate to keep the score at 3-2 in the Sox’ eventual one-run win over the Athletics.

“I like playing defense,” Hernández said Friday night. “I take a lot of pride in it. Hunter (Renfroe’s) really good, he does the same thing. We work really hard at it. Every day, we’re out there taking live reads off the bat in (batting practice). (Alex Verdugo) is a gifted athlete as well. Everybody talks about our lineup but at the end of the day, pitching and defense is what wins ballgames.”

Hernández’s run of success on both sides of the ball as of late comes at a time when he was recently moved back up to the leadoff spot.

The 29-year-old, who signed a two-year, $14 million deal with Boston over the winter, opened the 2021 season as Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s leadoff hitter, but struggled in that role out of the gate.

From April 2 until June 15, Hernández hit .229/.287/.385 (80 wRC+) in 195 plate appearances out of the leadoff spot, resulting in Cora dropping him down in the lineup for a week’s worth of games beginning on June 19.

While he did not necessarily produce in terms of batting average (.227) over that stretch, Hernández did post an exceptional .845 OPS, which prompted a move back up to the leadoff spot on June 27 against the Yankees at Fenway Park.

On the very first pitch of his first at-bat that Sunday, Hernández cranked a 379-foot leadoff home run off Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. He followed that up by crushing another leadoff homer against the Royals the next night, and then again this past Thursday.

In clubbing three leadoff home runs in the span of five days, Hernández became the first Red Sox player to accomplish that particular feat, per Red Sox Notes.

Prior to Hernández’s move back into the leadoff spot on June 27, Red Sox leadoff hitters ranked dead last in the majors in OPS (.638), weighted on-base average (.280), and wRC+ (71).

As of Saturday afternoon, Boston leadoff hitters (primarily Hernández) ranked second in the majors in OPS (1.282), third in wOBA (.513), and third in wRC+ (226) since June 27, per FanGraphs.

The Red Sox offense has pushed across the most runs in the American League (46) since Hernández reclaimed the top spot in Boston’s lineup, so it goes without saying that that move has made an impact.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Sox are 8-0 in their last eight games, the last six of which featured Hernández batting leadoff. At 52-31 on the season, they have opened up a 4 1/2 game lead over the Rays, who have dropped four straight, for first place in the American League East.

“It feels nice to be able to breathe a little bit as far as having the division lead,” said Hernández. “For a second there, it felt like Tampa Bay wouldn’t lose, even if they played themselves. You know, we’re getting hot at the right time and they’re kind of scuffling a little bit right now and we’re trying to get away from the teams that are under them as well.

“This doesn’t matter right now if, come the end of September, we’re not in first place,” he added. “So, we’re trying to play good baseball, we’re hot right now, and we’re trying to ride it out for as long as we can. We’re trying to minimize mistakes, we like where we’re at right now, and hopefully we can keep it going for a little longer.”

(Picture of Kiké Hernández: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)