Tag: red sox

J.D. Martinez comes through with clutch 2-run double as Red Sox hold on to defeat Royals, 7-6

It was a back-and-forth affair that saw six lead changes and 25 total hits exchanged between both sides, but the Red Sox were able to hold on and defeat the Royals by a final score of 8-7 at Fenway Park on Tuesday night.

Nick Pivetta, making his 16th start of the season for Boston, saw his run of no-hit baseball come to an end moments after he delivered his first pitch Tuesday, as he served up a leadoff home run to the first man he faced in Whit Merrifield.

The Red Sox lineup, however, responded promptly to being put in an early hole. Enrique Hernandez didn’t lead things off in the first with yet another leadoff homer, but he did reach base by getting plunked by Royals starter Brad Keller.

An Alex Verdugo single advanced Hernandez up to third, and both runners came into score on back-to-back RBI base hits from J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.

Despite getting that sort of run support right from the jump, Pivetta gave the lead up when he issued a run-scoring single to Michael A. Taylor in the second.

Again, the Boston bats answered almost immediately, as three straight one-out walks from Keller loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the third for Hunter Renfroe, who drove in Martinez on a sacrifice fly to put his side back up 3-2.

The Sox were unable to enjoy that lead for too long, though, with Pivetta serving up a two-run shot to Taylor with no outs in the top half of the fourth inning, thus putting his side back in a one-run hole at 4-3.

On the contrary, Kansas City was not able to enjoy their lead either, as the bottom of the Boston lineup paved the way for Hernandez to plate the tying run on a line-drive single and later for Martinez to bring in the then go-ahead run on another sac fly with the bases loaded.

Even with his team constantly battling back early on, Pivetta again surrendered the lead in his fifth and — what would turn out to be — final inning of work on a two-run blast off the bat of Ryon O’Hearn with one out in the inning.

At that point, the 28-year-old right-hander had yielded six runs (all earned) on a season-high nine hits (three of which went for home runs) and two walks to go along with five strikeouts, all while throwing 89 pitches (57 strikes).

With that relatively high pitch count in mind, Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave Pivetta the hook in what was at the time a 6-5 in game in favor of Kansas City. With an ERA of 4.43 on the season now, the righty’s next start should come against the Athletics in Oakland on Sunday.

In relief of Pivetta, Yacksel Rios came on, ended the fifth inning in quick fashion, and also tossed a clean top half of the sixth. Five of his six appearances with Boston have been scoreless, and he is now 2-0 in a Red Sox uniform.

In the bottom half of the sixth, Bobby Dalbec led off with a single, Verdugo drew a six-pitch walk off Royals reliever Jake Brentz, and that set the stage for Martinez.

On the first pitch he saw from Brentz, a 91 mph changeup on the outer half of the plate, Martinez came through in the clutch and laced a two-run double down the right field line to score both runners.

That gave the Red Sox a 7-6 lead going into the late innings of this one.

From there, the Red Sox bullpen only did what they have been doing as of late, and that’s keeping the opposition off the scoreboard.

Darwinzon Hernandez hurled a scoreless seventh inning with the help of Verdugo’s fifth outfield assist of the year, Adam Ottavino danced his way around a jam and stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base in the eighth, and Matt Barnes punched out the side in the ninth to preserve the 7-6 win while also notching his 18th save of the season.

With the one-run victory, the Red Sox improve to 49-31 on the season while extending their winning streak to five consecutive games. They now sit two full games ahead of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Dalbec leaves with right hamstring tightness.

On his 26th birthday, Bobby Dalbec was forced to exit Tuesday’s contest in the sixth inning due to right hamstring tightness, Alex Cora said. He likely won’t be in the lineup on Wednesday.

Next up: Minor vs. Perez

Wednesday’s starting pitching matchup between the Red Sox and Royals will feature a pair of veteran left-handers going at it, with Martin Perez getting the ball for Boston and Mike Minor doing the same for Kansas City.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN. Red Sox will be going for their sixth straight win.

(Picture of Red Sox celebrating: Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Red Sox injuries: Christian Arroyo (knee contusion) likely to begin rehab assignment this week, Kevin Plawecki (hamstring strain) suffers minor setback, Alex Cora says

Prior to Tuesday’s game against the Royals at Fenway Park, Red Sox manager Alex Cora provided updates on a pair of key injured position players in Christian Arroyo and Kevin Plawecki.

Arroyo, who has been held out of action since June 20 and on the 10-day injured list with a right knee contusion since June 24, appears to be on the verge of starting a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester — who are at home through July 4 — before rejoining the Sox ahead of their West Coast road trip that begins later this week.

The 26-year-old second baseman sustained a right shin bone bruise last Sunday in Kansas City after colliding with center fielder Enrique Hernandez while going after a fly ball.

At the time, Arroyo was hitting .264/.324/.432 with nine doubles, four home runs, 17 runs scored, 19 RBI, one stolen base, five walks, and 38 strikeouts through his first 42 games of the season.

Because his stint on the IL was backdated to June 21, the soonest Arroyo could be activated would be this coming Thursday, July 1. That said, it seems as though the Sox would like the right-handed hitter to get some playing time in with the WooSox before he is back in the big-league lineup once again.

In terms of proximity to a return date, Arroyo is in better shape than Plawecki. That being the case because the Sox’ backup catcher suffered somewhat of a setback in regards to his hamstring injury while working out at Fenway on Monday.

Plawecki was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 22, two days after straining his left hamstring while chasing down an errant throw last weekend in Kansas City.

Like Arroyo, Plawecki’s stint on the IL was backdated to June 21, but it looks like the 30-year-old backstop will require more than the minimum 10 days.

“Yeah, Arroyo is going to run the bases,” Cora told reporters (including NESN.com’s Alexandra Francisco) earlier Tuesday afternoon. “Kevin, he didn’t feel great throughout the day yesterday. He is going to get treatment. It’s not a big setback, but it’s probably going to slow him down a little bit. If I can guess, it feels like Christian, he’ll be back when he has to, he’ll be OK.

“Probably will send him to Worcester to a rehab assignment to get a few at-bats, and then he should be ready to go for the West Coast trip,” added Cora. “And Kevin, now we have to wait a little bit, I’ll see how he feels today. Nothing major, but like I told him, I said, ‘This is not about this week or next week, this is about the whole season, and we need you, you know? So just make sure you’re patient enough and we’ll see where it takes us.’”

While Arroyo and Plawecki have been sidelined, the Red Sox have had infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis and catching prospect Connor Wong up in their place.

After wrapping up their four-game series with Kansas City on Thursday, Boston will set out to Oakland for the start of a two-city, six-game road trip against the Athletics and Angels that begins on Friday and concludes on Wednesday, June 7 in Anaheim.

(Picture of Kevin Plawecki: Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Alex Cora on Hunter Renfroe: ‘He has been amazing the last two months’

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wants the baseball world to put more respect on Hunter Renfroe’s name.

Playing in the 500th game of his major-league career Monday night, Renfroe came through with two incredibly important home runs as part of a 2-for-4 showing at the plate in the Red Sox’ 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Royals at Fenway Park.

In the fourth inning, Renfroe took Royals starter Danny Duffy 439 feet deep to dead center field on a 1-0 changeup for a 107.5 mph two-run homer that cut the Sox’ deficit down to one run at 5-4.

In the sixth inning of what at the time was a 5-5 ballgame, Renfroe delivered once more, this time depositing a hanging, 2-1 curveball from Royals reliever Josh Staumont 434 feet over the Green Monster for the go-ahead (and what would prove to be game-winning) home run.

“He’s on balance, he’s making good swing decisions,” Cora said of Renfroe late Monday night. “He got a changeup up in the zone, he hit it out of the ballpark. And then a hanging breaking ball. He’s been doing this for a while.”

By going 2-for-4 with a pair of homers, two runs scored, and three runs driven in in Monday’s win, Renfroe raised his batting line on the season to .272/.330/.473, which subsequently bring his OPS over .800 (.803) for the first time this year.

After signing a one-year, $3.1 million deal with Boston over the winter, the 29-year-old’s Red Sox career did not get off to the best of starts as he hit a dismal .167/.235/.250 in the month of April, leaving many to wonder if he was long for remaining on the major-league roster.

Since the calendar flipped to May, however, Renfroe has flipped the switch offensively — all while providing Gold Glove-caliber defense in right field, as has been the case since the start of the season.

Going back to May 1, the right-handed hitter is slashing an impressive .307/.362/.547 to go along with 10 home runs and 32RBI over his last 49 games (196 plate appearances).

Coming into play on Monday, Renfroe had been worth 1.3 fWAR since the start of May, per FanGraphs. That put him ahead of the likes of Alex Verdugo (0.5) and J.D. Martinez (0.3) over that time frame.

“You start looking at his numbers, the average, the RBIs, the home runs, the on-base percentage, the last two months he has been playing All-Star caliber baseball,” said Cora. “And we know what he can do defensively. The way he’s playing, people need to start recognizing him as one of our best players.

“He’s been huge for us,” added Cora. “We always talk about the four guys (Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Martinez, Verdugo), but what he’s doing, he has been amazing the last two months.”

For Renfroe, this rise in offensive production comes at a point in the season where he is getting consistent playing time, the weather is getting warmer, and — probably most importantly — he is healthy and locked in at the plate, as evidenced by his ability to take the ball to the opposite field when necessary.

“I feel good,” Renfroe said. “I like where I am right now. Swinging the bat well, seeing the ball well. I think that’s the biggest part, seeing the ball before you hit it. Seeing the ball as good as I have in a long time so I’ve just got to keep going, staying with my approach and staying with my routine in the cage and just stay healthy.”

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Hunter Renfroe delivers with 2 clutch home runs as Red Sox come back to defeat Royals, 6-5, in slugfest at Fenway Park

The Red Sox were able to extend their winning streak to four consecutive games at Fenway Park on Monday night, though it certainly did not look like it was going to turn that way early on.

Facing off against the Royals in the first of four, Sox starter Garrett Richards stumbled immensely out of the gate, as he issued back-to-back singles to Whit Merrifield and Jorge Soler before serving up a three-run home run to Carlos Santana.

Put another way, Richards had put his side in a three-run hole without recording a single out, and he allowed that hole to increase even more by yielding a pair of solo homers to Michael A. Taylor and Merrifield to make it a 5-1 contest in favor of Kansas City.

While Richards was having a difficult time of things, the Red Sox lineup certainly did their part to back him up.

Matched up against Royals ace left-hander Danny Duffy to begin things on Monday, Enrique Hernandez led off the bottom of the first by crushing a solo home run — his eighth of the season — over the Green Monster for the second straight day to get his side on the board.

An inning later, Bobby Dalbec followed suit by also leaving the yard on a 2-1, 94.5 mph fastball from Duffy that was down and in and deposited 397 feet to left field with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph off the bat. His 10th big fly of the year cut Boston’s deficit down to three runs at 5-2.

Having given up hits to six of the first 10 Royals he faced Monday, it did not seem Richards would be long for this one and Red Sox manager Alex Cora would have to go to his bullpen earlier than anticipated.

Somehow, someway though, Richards recovered and even settled into a decent groove, albeit without being able to put together a 1-2-3 frame.

Still, after surrendering five runs in the first two innings, Richards kept Kansas City off the scoreboard from the top of the second on. In doing so, he provided the Red Sox offense with a sizable window to get back into this one, and they capitalized on that in their half of the fourth.

Following a leadoff double from Xander Bogaerts, Hunter Renfroe — playing in the 500th game of his big-league career — demolished a two-run home run 439 feet to dead center to bring the Sox back to within one.

A pitching change in the fourth that saw righty Kyle Zimmer take over Duffy did not halt Boston’s momentum, as Dalbec greeted the Royals reliever with a single, moved up to second on a groundout, and advanced to third on a wild pitch before Michael Chavis drove him in on a game-tying, RBI single through the left side of the infield.

Richards, meanwhile, retired 12 of the final 17 hitters who came to the plate against him up until Nicky Lopez reached base on a two-out single in the sixth.

At that point, the 33-year-old hurler’s pitch count had reached 94 — 67 of which were strikes –and has night ultimately came to a close. Of those 94 pitches thrown by Richards, 38 were four-seam fastballs, 22 were changeups, 21 were sliders, 11 were curveballs, and two were split changeups.

In relief of Richards, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Boston bullpen, and he recorded the final out of the sixth inning, setting the stage for Renfroe once more in the bottom half of the frame.

There, the right-handed hitting slugger came through with the clutchest hit of the night: a go-ahead, 434 foot solo blast off reliever Josh Staumont that left Fenway Park in a hurry.

Renfroe’s second homer of the contest, and his 11th of the season, gave the Red Sox a 6-5 lead going into the late innings.

Sawamura came back out for the seventh, faced the minimum three batters, and later earned his fourth winning decision of 2021 to improve to a perfect 4-0.

From there, left-hander Josh Taylor extended his scoreless appearance streak to 23 consecutive games by working a perfect eighth inning, while Matt Barnes induced two fly outs and one pop out in the ninth to notch his 17th save of the campaign in addition to preserving a 6-5 victory for the Red Sox.

With the win, their 26th come-from-behind triumph this year, the Red Sox improve to 48-31 (24-17 at home) on the season and move a full game ahead of an idle Tampa Bay Rays team for first place in the American League East.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they will send right-hander Nick Pivetta to the hill on Tuesday as they go for their fifth straight win. The Royals, meanwhile, will counter with fellow righty Brad Keller.

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

(Picture of Hunter Renfroe: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Red Sox injuries: Christian Arroyo (knee contusion), Kevin Plawecki (hamstring strain) ‘progressing well’ and could rejoin team ‘sooner rather than later,’ Alex Cora says

Christian Arroyo and Kevin Plawecki are both progressing well from their respective injuries and could be ready to return to the Red Sox within the coming days, manager Alex Cora said prior to Monday’s game against the Royals at Fenway Park.

Arroyo has been out of action since June 20, when he collided with center fielder Enrique Hernandez while going after a fly ball in the fifth inning of last Sunday’s loss to the Royals in Kansas City.

Later diagnosed with a right shin bone bruise, the infielder was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 24 with what the Red Sox called a right knee contusion.

Because Arroyo’s stint on the IL was backdated to June 21, the soonest the 26-year-old could be activated is this Thursday, July 1.

Plawecki, meanwhile, suffered a left hamstring strain in Kansas City last weekend while chasing after an errant throw from Hernandez.

The veteran catcher was placed on the 10-day injured list on June 22, though, like Arroyo, the move was made retroactive to June 21, meaning he could be activated as soon as Thursday.

While Arroyo and Plawecki have been on the shelf, they have been able to take part in baseball activities, as both were involved in Chris Sale’s live batting practice session at Fenway Park on Saturday.

Taking that into consideration, Cora is hopeful the Sox can get both players back potentially by the end of the week. Infielder/outfielder Michael Chavis and catching prospect Connor Wong have been up with the big-league club in the interim.

“They’re progressing well, both of them,” Cora said earlier Monday afternoon. “Kevin, as you guys saw, he caught Chris [Sale’s] live BP. Christian and Kevin, they should be hitting right now outside. So they’re moving well, they’re feeling better. So they seem like this is going to be something short and they should be with us sooner rather than later.”

The Red Sox will wrap up their seven-game homestand against the Royals on Thursday afternoon before departing for the west coast for the start of a two-city, six-game road trip on Friday. That may be something to keep in mind in regards to upcoming roster moves.

(Picture of Christian Arroyo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Garrett Whitlock on 2021 Red Sox: ‘We’re here to win’

It’s fair to say that Garrett Whitlock has quickly immersed himself into the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.

As a former Yankees prospect who came over to the Sox by way of the Rule 5 Draft over the winter, that was probably to be expected. Still, Whitlock has seemingly exceeded expectations while serving a key role out of the Boston bullpen in his rookie season, especially when going up against his former club.

Sunday afternoon’s outing at Fenway Park proved to be the latest instance of that, as the right-hander was dispatched in the seventh inning of a 6-2 game in favor of the Sox.

Inheriting a situation in which the Yankees had put runners at first and second while only recording one out, Whitlock walked the first man he faced in Gary Sanchez, which brought the tying run to the plate in the form of one of, if not New York’s most dangerous hitter: D.J. LeMahieu.

On just four pitches, Whitlock struck out LeMahieu, getting the two-time batting champ to go down looking on a 96 mph sinker on the outer half of the plate.

Having cleared one hurdle, the next challenge for the young reliever was to retire the vaunted Aaron Judge, who had already gone deep off Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez the inning prior.

This time needing three pitches, Whitlock got Judge to pop out to first baseman Danny Santana in foul territory, thus putting out the flames by leaving the bases loaded going into the bottom half of the seventh.

When asked about what his approach was while going up against a hitter who has the ability to drive one out of the ballpark at any moment such as Judge, Whitlock credited his catcher, Christian Vazquez, for the preparation that went into that anticipated matchup.

“I was trusting Vazqy,” he said. “During our meetings, we knew exactly how we were going to attack him. So I trusted Vazqy and we just stuck to the approach and got some executed pitches and, luckily, he got out.”

The pitch Whitlock got Judge to pop out on was a well-executed, 84 mph slider on the outer half of the plate that the Yankees slugger got under with no real force.

The slider is a pitch Whitlock has been implementing more and more into his repertoire — especially against right-handed hitters — as of late to complement his fastball and changeup as well as add another dimension to his effectiveness. It has proven to be a useful asset thus far.

“It’s something we needed to implement against righties,” said the Georgia native. “Because, as you all saw, once the quote-unquote book got out on me, they were just taking the fastball to the opposite field, and that would make them on-time for the changeup.

“So with the slider, it adds a third speed and a different direction that the ball moves,” he added. “So it’s just something that to try so that the hitters can’t just sit fastball the other way and be on time for changeups. Now we’re just trying to be able to have a three-pitch mix rather than just two.”

After the Red Sox added to their lead in the seventh, Whitlock came back out for the eighth, worked his way around a leadoff single by inducing an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Gio Urshela to face the minimum, and later earned his sixth hold of the season in what would go down as a 9-2 win for Boston.

On the 2021 campaign as a whole, Whitlock has been more than impressive, as the 25-year-old rookie now owns an ERA of 1.42 and batting average against of .234 over 22 relief appearances spanning 38 total innings of work.

Against the Yankees specifically, Whitlock has essentially been lights out. Sunday’s performance marked the righty’s third appearance of the year against the team he began his professional career with, and he has yet to give up a run to them while scattering three hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings pitched in those appearances.

This weekend also marked the first time Whitlock had the opportunity to pitch against the Yankees at Fenway Park, as his only outing against them earlier this month had come in the Bronx.

While taking the mound at either venue has proven to be nothing out of the ordinary for Whitlock performance-wise, he certainly appreciates having the support of the home fans when working at Fenway as opposed to Yankee Stadium.

“I would say it was a lot more fun today because this time the crowd was behind me, rather than cheering on me to not do good,” Whitlock said when asked about the atmosphere the fans created on Sunday. “Got to love the Red Sox faithful. That’s for sure.”

With a 9-2 win over New York, Boston improved to 6-0 on the season against their archrivals, having swept them twice this month alone. From 2019-2020, the Sox went a combined 6-23 when going up against the Yankees.

“Any time we get a win against anybody, it’s great,” Whitlock said. “But obviously, with the history between the Red Sox and Yankees, you love to beat the Yankees any chance you get. To take six of them so far this year, hopefully we take a lot more than just six.”

For someone who is just three months into his major-league career with the Red Sox, Whitlock is certainly establishing himself as a driving force for why the team has been so successful this year.

After being given just a 39% chance to make the postseason by FanGraphs prior to Opening Day, the Sox are nearly halfway into their 2021 campaign and are currently in possession of first place in the American League East with a record of 47-31.

As is the case with Whitlock, this year’s Red Sox — led by Alex Cora — have unquestionably exceeded preseason expectations, but don’t tell that to anyone inside the Boston clubhouse.

“We’re here to win. This isn’t just another year for the Red Sox,” said Whitlock. “We’ve got a competitive team and we’re trying to go out there every single day. We believe we can win every single day.”

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Kiké Hernández thrives in return to leadoff spot as Red Sox clobber Gerrit Cole, finish off sweep of Yankees with 9-2 win

Kiké Hernández was back in the leadoff spot the first time in nearly two weeks at Fenway Park on Sunday, and he did not waste any time in getting the Red Sox on the board.

Matched up against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, Hernandez greeted the right-hander in the first inning by depositing the first pitch he saw — a 96.3 mph fastball on the inner half of the plate — 379 feet over the Green Monster for his seventh home run of the season and his second of the leadoff variety.

A hard-hit double from Alex Verdugo followed by a seven-pitch walk drawn by J.D. Martinez kept the pressure on for Cole, and Rafael Devers took full advantage of that by crushing a 100 mph fastball down the heart of the plate 451 feet over everything in right field.

Devers’ 19th big fly of the year had an exit velocity of 113. 7 mph, and it gave the Red Sox an early 4-0 lead.

In the third inning, Cole fell victim to the long ball once more, this time with Martinez leading things off with his 15th homer of the season — a 421-foot blast to dead center that increased his side’s advantage to five runs.

Christian Vazquez added on to that with a sacrifice fly later in the frame that brought in Bogaerts from third, and the Sox were off to a 6-0 start against one of the best pitchers in the American League.

Given all that run support to work with, Eduardo Rodriguez was able to settle in and put together his second straight quality outing when going up against a divisional foe.

Making his 15th start of the season on Sunday, Rodriguez twirled six solid innings, allowing just two earned runs on five hits and zero walks to go along with eight strikeouts on the afternoon.

For the first time this year, the left-hander got through five innings without yielding a run, as the only two he gave up came on a two-run shot off the bat of Aaron Judge in the top half of the sixth.

After getting taken deep, however, Rodriguez rallied and retired the last three hitters he faced in order to end his day on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 96 (62 strikes), the 28-year-old hurler mixed in a healthy diet of fastballs, cutters, changeups, sinkers, and sliders en route to inducing 11 total swings-and-misses while topping out at 95 mph with his heater.

Ultimately improving to 6-4 on the season in addition to lowering his ERA to 5.83, Rodriguez’s next start should come against the Athletics in Oakland on Friday, the first day of July.

The Boston bats got one of the two runs Rodriguez gave up back in the seventh, with Devers collecting his fourth RBI on a hard-hit single that plated Devers. They tacked on two more on a Vazquez solo homer and Hernandez RBI double an inning later.

The Red Sox bullpen, meanwhile, preserved Rodriguez’s valiant effort. Darwinzon Hernandez ran into some trouble in the seventh, but Garrett Whitlock was able to bail him out by escaping a bases loaded-jam before tossing a scoreless eighth inning as well.

Yacksel Rios got the call in the ninth, and he saw the Red Sox’ 9-2 victory through to its completion by recording the final three outs of the ballgame.

With the win, the Sox finish off their second three-game sweep of the Yankees this month. Boston is now a perfect 6-0 against New York this season.

Having extended their winning streak to three consecutive games, the Red Sox improved to 47-31 (23-17 at home) on the season while moving a half-game ahead of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

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Next up, the Sox will welcome the Kansas City Royals into town for a four-game set that begins at Fenway Park on Monday night.

Right-hander Garrett Richards will be getting the ball for Boston in the series opener, while left-hander Danny Duffy will be doing the same for Kansas City.

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

(Picture of Kiké Hernández and Alex Verdugo: Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo named All-Star finalists

Four Red Sox have advanced into the final stage of All-Star voting, Major League Baseball announced earlier Sunday afternoon.

Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo were all named as American League All-Star finalists, which means they all move onto the next phase of voting and all have a chance to start in this season’s Midsummer Classic in Denver.

Bogaerts came into Sunday ranking first among qualified American League shortstops in batting average (.327), second in on-base percentage (.399), first in slugging percentage (.554), second in weighted on-base average (.401), second in weighted runs created plus (153), and second in fWAR (3.6), per FanGraphs.

As noted by MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, the 28-year-old led all American League shortstops in total votes with 1,570,467.

Toronto’s Bo Bichette and Houston’s Carlos Correa finished second and third behind Bogaerts and join the Red Sox star as All-Star finalists.

Devers, meanwhile, also led all American League third basemen in votes, tallying 1,569,381 of them to finish ahead of Houston’s Alex Bregman and Chicago’s Yoan Moncada.

As of Sunday morning, the 24-year-old slugger was leading qualified AL third basemen in hits (76), doubles (23), home runs (18), runs scored (51), runs driven (60), slugging percentage (.564), OPS (.908), isolated power (.287), wOBA (.379), and wRC+ (139).

Martinez received 755,663 votes to finish second among American League designated hitters, trailing only Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani while finishing ahead of Yordan Alvarez of the Astros.

Verdugo on the other hand, just made the cut, as the 25-year-old finished eighth among nine AL outfield finalists in phase one of voting by receiving 702,560 votes.

With finalists determined for each defensive position (excluding pitcher) in both leagues, the second phase of All-Star voting will commence at 12 pm eastern time on Monday. That will last until 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, at which point starters will be announced later that night on ESPN.

Per MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan, the rest of the 2021 All-Star rosters will be unveiled on July 4, with the 91st installment of the MLB All-Star Game taking place at Coors Field on July 13.

(Picture of Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Nathan Eovaldi dazzles with 7 2/3 1-run innings as Red Sox secure series win over Yankees with 4-2 victory; Connor Wong picks up first big-league hit in Fenway Park debut

The Red Sox did not need to tear the cover off the ball to get the job done against the Yankees at Fenway Park on Saturday night.

Boston scored two runs on two sacrifice flies in the second inning, an additional run on an infield single in the third inning, and one more on another sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.

Things got a bit shaky towards the end, but the Sox were able to hold on and pick up a series-clinching 4-2 victory over New York.

Matched up against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery to begin things on Saturday, Xander Bogaerts proved to be the catalyst for that two-run bottom of the second by dribbling a leadoff single a mere four feet past home plate.

Rafael Devers followed by drawing an eight-pitch walk, and Hunter Renfroe loaded the bases with a hard-hit single that eluded Montgomery on the mound.

Following a brief mound visit, Enrique Hernandez brought in his side’s first run on a sacrifice fly to center field that brought in Bogaerts and advanced Devers to third, while Bobby Dalbec doubled an early lead by plating Devers on yet another sac fly, though this one only traveled 152 feet and was caught by Yankees first baseman Luke Voit in foul territory.

Still, Voit had to catch Dalbec’s pop fly with his back towards home plate, and that allowed Devers to come into score to make it a 2-0 game.

An inning later, the Sox offense struck with two outs, this time with Bogaerts ripping a two-out double, Devers reaching on an infield single, and Renfroe driving in Bogaerts on another infield knock that came as a result of the Yankees infield playing in a shift.

Fast forward to the seventh, and Bogaerts supplied what would prove to be an important insurance run when he brought in Michael Chavis on a run-scoring sacrifice fly to center field.

While the Red Sox lineup was soft-contacting the Yankees to death, Nathan Eovaldi put together one of his more impressive outings of the season against his former team on Saturday.

Over 7 2/3 innings of work, the veteran right-hander surrendered just one run while scattering seven hits and zero walks to go along with six strikeouts on the night.

That lone tally Eovaldi gave up came at the hands of the last batter he faced, as he served up a two-out solo homer to D.J. LeMahieu in the top half of the eighth.

Besides that one miscue, Eovaldi was thoroughly locked in, never facing more than four Yankees in a single frame thanks to keeping the ball on the ground for the most part and inducing a pair of double plays as a result of doing so.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 109 (72 strikes) to set a new season-high, the 31-year-old hurler ultimately improved to 8-4 on the season in addition to bringing his ERA down to 3.67. His next start should come against the Royals on Thursday.

Red Sox bullpen barely holds on

In relief of Eovaldi, Hirokazu Sawamura got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen with one out to get in the eighth, and he proceeded to walk the bases loaded to bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Voit.

That sequence prompted Sox manager Alex Cora to turn to Adam Ottavino, who got Voit to ground out to short to extinguish the threat.

With closer Matt Barnes unavailable, Ottavino was also responsible for the ninth inning as he had a 4-1 lead to protect.

The Yankees made things interesting in their half of the ninth, with LeMahieu plating a run to bring the possible go-ahead run in Aaron Judge. But Ottavino fanned Judge on six pitches, punctuating the at-bat with a nasty 96 mph sinker down and away to preserve the 4-2 victory and notch his fifth save of the year.

With the win, the Red Sox improve to 46-31 (22-17 at home) on the season while remaining a half game back of the Rays for first place in the American League East.

Wong’s first career hit in his first career start

Red Sox catching prospect Connor Wong made his first career start behind the dish on Saturday after debuting as a pinch-runner earlier this week.

The 25-year-old picked up his first big-league hit in the second inning as part of a 1-for-3 night at the plate. He also caught a decent game for Eovaldi and Co.

Next up: Cole vs. Rodriguez

The Red Sox will look to improve to a perfect 6-0 against the Yankees this season by going for the three-game sweep over their division rivals on Sunday afternoon.

Ace right-hander Gerrit Cole will get the ball for New York in the series finale, while left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will do the same for Boston.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. eastern time on NESN and TBS.

(Picture of Nathan Eovaldi: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)

Red Sox’ Chris Sale faces live hitters at Fenway Park for first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery

Red Sox ace Chris Sale reached another important milestone at Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon, as he faced live hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last spring.

Working off the mound at Fenway after warming up in the bullpen as if he were preparing for a start, Sale threw 15 pitches to hitters while mixing in fastballs, changeups, and sliders.

According to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham, Sale threw 45 pitches in all, with the last 15 being to hitters. He faced off against Christian Arroyo, Michael Chavis, and Bobby Dalbec — all right-handed bats.

“Everything went well,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo). “He felt good about it. I think his next one is next week. We’re excited. He looked really good.”

Kevin Plawecki, who appears to have caught Sale on Saturday, added that his outing ‘was nasty’ on Twitter.

This latest achievement for Sale comes less than a full week after the left-hander threw a 45-pitch bullpen session at Double-A Portland’s Hadlock Field this past Tuesday, which came a few short days after he threw his first 45-pitch bullpen at Triple-A Worcester’s Polar Park last Friday.

As for what’s next, Sale will face live hitters once more sometime next week before the Sox depart for their west-coast road trip that begins on July 2 in Oakland.

Per Cotillo, Sale could be lined up to start a rehab assignment with a Red Sox minor-league affiliate sooner rather than later depending on how he reacts to an increase in workload while facing hitters.

The 32-year-old hurler underwent Tommy John surgery last March — on his 31st birthday, actually — and could be on track to rejoin Boston’s starting rotation by mid-August if all goes according to plan.

That being said, the Red Sox first want to ensure that Sale wakes up Sunday morning without feeling any sort of discomfort before deciding on the next steps to be taken.

“Let’s wait how he reacts to this and then we’ll make a decision,” said Cora.

And so the waiting begins.

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