Tag: steve pearce

Former Red Sox World Series Hero and Noted Patriots Fan Steve Pearce Is Now a Tampa Bay Buccaneers Season Ticket Holder

When Tom Brady officially signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Friday, that decision was met with plenty of distraught from New England Patriots fan across the country.

One Patriots fan who wasn’t all that upset with Brady’s decision to move on from the Pats was former Red Sox first baseman Steve Pearce.

The self-proclaimed “unofficially retired” 2018 World Series MVP makes his residence in Tampa, and he now has the chance to watch a future Hall of Famer who used to play for his favorite team up close and personal.

“I’m a Tampa Bay season ticket holder as of three days ago,” Pearce told WEEI‘s Rob Bradford via text message. “I’m still rooting for the Pats. [Brady’s] been my QB for the last 20 years. I’m just glad I get to see him still playing. He’s the GOAT. I’m a Tom Brady fan, as well. But…Go Pats!”

Pearce, who was born and raised in Florida, grew up a fan of all Boston sports teams thanks to his father, Steve Sr., who grew up in Rehoboth and North Attleboro before moving to Lakeland, Fla. as a 13-year-old.

Steve Jr. “unofficially retired” from baseball back in December after surpassing 10 years of Major League Baseball service time last season, meaning he is now entitled to a fully-vested pension.

The 36-year-old will forever be remembered in Red Sox lore for his performance during the 2018 World Series, when he slashed .333/.500/1.167 with three home runs and eight RBI over five games against the Dodgers en route to being named the series’ Most Valuable Player.

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Red Sox Reportedly ‘Monitoring’ White Sox’ Jose Abreu’s Availability as Trade Deadline Looms

The Red Sox are reportedly among a handful of clubs monitoring the availability of Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu as the trade deadline nears, per Forbes’ Phil Rogers.

Abreu, 32, is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of the 2019 season and is slashing .273/.309/.500 with 21 home runs and 66 RBI through 92 games this year.

As things stand right now, the White Sox are about halfway through a five-year rebuild, and with a record of 42-51, currently sit 11 games back of the Minnesota Twins for first place in the American League central.

Abreu and the Red Sox have been linked since the Cuba native defected from his country back in 2013.

Boston did make a lucrative offer to the then-26-year-old infielder, but ultimately came up short of the six-year, $68 million proposal from Chicago.

Now, the White Sox are in a position to deal Abreu for prospects and perhaps re-sign him in the winter.

Against left-handed pitching this season, Abreu owns an OPS of .947 to go along with four homers and 15 RBI. His OPS falls by nearly 200 points when facing off against right-handed pitching, but the power numbers go up as well.

With those splits in mind, would it necassarily make sense for the Red Sox to pursue a right-handed first baseman? Probably not, because Michael Chavis is already holding things down and Steve Pearce should be able to make his return from the injured list at some point this season.

Sure, going after a vaunted slugger like Abreu, who owns a career 1.063 at Fenway Park, would be nice, but given how financially pressed president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowsk and the Red Sox seem to be, the main objective heading into July 31st should be to acquire bullpen help.

Red Sox Call up Trevor Kelley from Triple-A Pawtucket, Option Mike Shawaryn in Slew of Roster Moves

UPDATE: Catcher Oscar Hernandez was designated for assignment in order to make room for Kelley on Boston’s 40-man roster. He’ll probably clear waivers.

Before kicking off a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, the Red Sox recalled right-hander Trevor Kelley from Triple-A Pawtucket. In a corresponding move, right-hander Mike Shawaryn was optioned back down to the PawSox, while first baseman/outfielder Sam Travis was returned there after serving as Boston’s 26th man during the London Series over the weekend.

Steve Pearce was also recalled from his rehab assignment after suffering a setback, while Tzu-Wei Lin was activated from the 10-day injured list and optioned to Pawtucket. The club made the transactions official earlier Monday.

Kelley, 25, was drafted by Boston in the 36th round of the 2015 amateur draft out of the University of North Carolina.

Beginning the 2019 season with Triple-A Pawtucket, the Rhode Island native has posted 0.96 ERA and .204 batting average against through 28 appearances and 37 2/3 innings pitched this year.

Since May 16th, Kelley has only allowed one run over his last 16 outings and 21 1/3 frames of work.

Known for his sidearm delivery, Kelley features an 86-88 MPH fastball that tops out at 89 MPH and a 75-77 MPH slider, according to SoxProspects.com

Per FanGraphs, Kelley owns a FIP of 3.69 and an xFIP of 5.82 with the PawSox so far, and has averaged nearly four walks per nine innings this season, meaning he, as Red Sox Stats puts it, “puts men on base, isn’t a strikeout or swing and miss guy, and is an extreme air ball pitcher.”

As mentioned earlier, Mike Shawaryn was optioned to make room for Kelley on Boston’s 25-man roster.

The 24-year-old out of the University of Maryland began his big league career on a high note after being recalled from Pawtucket on May 30th, as he yielded just one earned run on four hits and five walks over his first six appearances and 10 innings pitched.

Over his last two outings though, it’s been a much different story for the right-hander, surrendering 11 runs, all earned, on nine hits and two walks since June 22nd. Eight of those runs came in this past Saturday’s loss to the New York Yankees.

Given that he was used as a reliever in his first stint with the Sox, it will be interesting to see if Shawaryn maintains that role or goes back to being a starter in Pawtucket.

As for the injury-related side of this news, Steve Pearce was supposed to be activated from the injured list for this upcoming series in Toronto, but was instead returned from his rehab assignment after suffering a setback in the rehab process, which was most likely caused by knee pain, a source says.

Pearce, 36, was placed on the 10-day IL with a lower back strain on June 1st and began that now-cancelled rehab assignment on the 14th. The 2018 World Series MVP has not appeared in a game for Boston since May 31st.

Lastly, Tzu-Wei Lin was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket after completing a rehab assignment with them that lasted five games.

The 25-year-old utility man has missed considerable time this year due to a left knee sprain suffered back in May against the Chicago White Sox, and is slashing .286/.357/.381 with no home runs and eight RBI through 17 games with the PawSox this season.

Red Sox Place Steve Pearce on 10-Day Injured List, Recall Sam Travis from Triple-A Pawtucket

After departing from Friday night’s loss against the New York Yankees in the middle of the second inning, the Red Sox on Saturday placed first baseman/outfielder Steve Pearce on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain.

In Pearce’s place, first baseman/outfielder Sam Travis has been recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket. The club made the roster move offical earlier Saturday.

According to Sox manager Alex Cora, Pearce left Friday’s game early because of back spasms, and less than a full day later, the 36-year-old veteran was shelved for the second time this year.

Initially opening his first full season with Boston on the injured list due to a left calf injury suffered back in March, Pearce is currently slashing .180/.245/.258 with just one home run and nine RBI through 29 games played and 99 plate appearances in 2019.

The reigning World Series MVP may not have missed much time with that injured calf earlier in the season, but this time around, perhaps it would be wise of the Red Sox to send Pearce out on a rehab assignment so that he could maintain his form that was so valuable to the club last year.

On the other side of this transaction, just like it was in March, Sam Travis has been recalled from the PawSox.

The 25-year-old broke camp this year by making his first big league Opening Day roster and went 2-for-7 with a pair of singles before being optioned down on April 4th.

Through 49 games with Pawtucket this season, Travis is slashing .251/.359/.371 with three home runs and 20 runs driven in.

Without both Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce on the 25-man roster for the time being, expect Michael Chavis, Brock Holt, and of course Travis to see the majority of playing time at first base for the Red Sox.

#RedSox Bullpen Implodes, Blows Three-Run Lead in Crushing 7-5 Loss to Indians

In a game that took over five hours to complete from start to finish due to a not so nice 69-minute rain delay, the Red Sox blew their chance to pick up their third straight win Tuesday night thanks to a ninth inning implosion courtesy of their bullpen.

Before said implosion though, David Price was actually solid, as he usually he is against the Indians, on a night where the conditions certainly were not in his favor.

Making his ninth start of the season for Boston three days after flu-like symptoms cut his outing short in Houston, the left-hander held the Tribe scoreless over six quality innings of work, scattering just three hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts in what should have been his third win of the year.

When this contest went into a delay in the middle of the second, it was unclear whether or not the Sox would be able to get Price back, given the fact they were probably going to take a more cautious approach anyway.

But, since the rain stoppage was brief, the 33-year-old was good to go and dazzled from the beginning of the third up until the middle of the sixth.

Never facing more than four hitters in a single inning, Price also received some help from his middle infield to rob Greg Allen of a hit in the third.

Capping off his night by sitting down eight of the last 10 Indians he faced, Price finished this one with a final pitch count of 96, 63 of which went for strikes.

Out of those 96 pitches, the Tennessee native turned to his two-seam fastball nearly 39% of the time he was on the mound Tuesday while inducing two swings and misses with it. He also topped out at 93.8 MPH with his four-seamer, a pitch he threw 13 times with Christian Vazquez behind the plate.

Lowering his ERA on the year down to 2.83 while also receiving the tough luck no-decision, Price will look for win number three in his next time out, which should come against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium, a venue the lefty has not found much success at.

In relief of Price, the Red Sox bullpen held it together enough up until the start of the ninth, with Brandon Workman tossing a scoreless seventh,…

…Marcus Walden having one of his worst outings of the season by allowing two runs to score in the eighth on a two-RBI double from Francisco Lindor, and Matt Barnes cleaning up Walden’s mess to get his team out of the top half of the eighth with a one-run lead still intact.

That was all fine and good, and even more so with them tacking on a pair of insurance runs in their half of the eighth to make it a 5-2 contest, but then Ryan Brasier came on for the save, and it all went downhill from there.

Entering Tuesday with four straight shutout appearances under his belt, Brasier got his 25th appearance of the season started by serving up a leadoff home run to Indians catcher Roberto Perez. Not ideal, but it was only one run.

Well, an eight-pitch walk of Jake Bauers all of a sudden brought the tying run to the plate for Cleveland, and Greg Allen, not known for his power, took full advantage by ripping an 0-1 fastball from Brasier and sending it 394 feet into the right field seats. Just like that, this one was tied.

Allen would be the last hitter Brasier faced Tuesday, meaning the right-hander did not retire any of the three Indians he matched up against. Not great.

So, with the bases empty and three outs still to get, in came Travis Lakins for just the third big league appearance of his young career, and boy, did he have some control issues.

A HBP, followed by a seven-pitch walk of Lindor, a huge play made by Steve Pearce to nab the lead runner at third on a bunt attempt off the bat of Oscar Mercado, and another four-pitch walk of Carlos Santana meant that the bases were full of Indians with only one out recorded.

With no one warming in the Boston bullpen, this one fell on Lakins, and he delivered the crushing blow to the very next hitter he faced in Jordan Luplow, who, on a 2-1 cutter, laced a two-run double just out of the reach of a twisting Mookie Betts in right field that allowed Lindor and Mercado to come in and score to put the Indians ahead for the first time all night.

Lakins would be able to escape without yielding another run, but the damage was already done in an inning the Sox entered with a three-run lead and left trailing by two.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against a young right-hander making his big league debut for Cleveland in Zach Plesac.

For never facing Boston before in his career, or let alone toeing a major league rubber before Tuesday, the 24-year-old rookie held his own in this one, limiting the Sox to one lone run in his 5 1/3 innings of work.

That lone run came in the sixth, when after Rafael Devers collected his first career triple to force Plesac out of this contest…

…Xander Bogaerts drove him in on a one-out RBI single off new Indians reliever AJ Cole to put his team on the board first.

Staying in the sixth, JD Martinez advanced Bogaerts to third on his second double of the night, and Brock Holt plated both runners by reaching first on a two-out fielding error committed by Indians second baseman Mike Freeman. 3-0.

Fast forward to the eighth, after Cleveland trimmed their deficit down to one run, a pair of RBI base knocks from Michael Chavis and Steve Pearce, Chavis’ a single and Pearce’s a double, off right-hander Nick Wittgren provided the Red Sox with that looked to be much-needed insurance to put them up 5-2.

But, after the Indians staged their comeback with a five-run rally in the ninth, 7-5 would go on to be Tuesday’s final score. Just a crushing blow, really. Without a doubt the worst loss of the season thus far.

Some notes from this loss:

According to FanGraphs, the Red Sox had a 96.2% chance of winning this game going into the ninth inning. 96.2%!

From Red Sox Notes:

Rafael Devers during his nine-game hitting streak: .415/.429/.829 with four home runs and nine RBI.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the finale of this three-game series against the Indians before heading out on another seven-game road trip.

Right-hander Ryan Weber, fresh off six quality one-run innings in his first start of the season against the Blue Jays last Thursday, will get the ball for Boston, while fellow righty Shane Bieber (3-2. 3.11 ERA) will do the same for Cleveland.

First pitch Wednesday is scheduled for 6:10 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for the series win.

 

 

 

#RedSox Comeback Attempt Falls Short in Sloppy 4-3 Loss to Astros

After experiencing some air travel issues on their way to Houston and arriving much later than expected, the Red Sox opened up another three-game weekend series against the Astros Friday with a frustrating and sloppy 4-3 loss.

Making his 11th start of the season and second straight against Houston in this one was Chris Sale, fresh off a 10-strikeout, five-walk performance in his last time out this past Sunday.

This time around against the ‘Stros, the left-hander made it through six full innings, yielding four runs, only two of which were earned, on three hits and two walks to go along with five strikeouts on the night.

Despite what those numbers may say, Sale did not receive too much help from the defense behind him, with the Sox accounting for three total errors in only the first four innings Friday.

The first came from Steve Pearce at first base, who had the chance to record the final out of the second inning on a simple throw to Chris Sale as he was headed towards the bag on a grounder off the bat of Josh Reddick.

Instead, the ball was hurled way behind Sale and headed towards the backstop, where Sandy Leon had the chance to get the third out yet again with Aledmys Diaz, who was initially at first, rushing towards the plate.

While going for the tag though, it appeared as if Leon went for Diaz’s legs rather than the plate itself, which in turn allowed the runner to swerve his way around Leon’s mitt and score untouched to make it a 1-0 game.

An inning later, Astros center fielder and the eventual star of this contest Jake Marisnick led things off against Sale by blasting his sixth home run of the season, a 336 foot shot into the Crawford Boxes in left field. 2-0.

In the fourth, we were back to the sloppy play with runners on the corners and one out for the aforementioned Marisnick.

On the first pitch he saw from Sale, Marisnick grounded into what looked to be an out-inducing play at short, but Xander Bogaerts instead decided to try and get the out at home and failed miserable with a poor, off-balanced toss to the plate that got past Leon and Robinson Chirinos scored from third anyway.

During that same sequence, Josh Reddick advanced up to third while Marisnick should have been caught dead in a rundown between first and second, but instead retreated back to first safely thanks to a miscommunication between Michael Chavis and Steve Pearce.

Since Reddick was able to move into scoring position, George Springer was able to plate him with a sacrifice fly to left on the very next pitch of the ballgame to put his team ahead 4-0. Why Andrew Benintendi didn’t even attempt to make a throw towards home is beyond me.

Once all the dust settled from that craziness, Sale did settle down a bit from the middle of the fifth inning on by retiring the last six hitters he faced to end his outing on a more positive note.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 89 (56 strikes), the 30-year-old turned to his four-seam fastball 39% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing six swings and misses while topping out at 95.5 MPH with the pitch.

Falling to 1-6 on the season now with his ERA dropping to 4.19, Sale will look for better results in his next time out, which should come in that series back at home against the Cleveland Indians.

In relief of Sale, Marcus Walden put together another impressive performance in the seventh inning of this one by working his way around a leadoff single in an otherswise clean frame, while Heath Hembree had his work cut out for him by walking the bases loaded in the eighth before escaping the jam by striking out Marisnick on four pitches to keep his team’s deficit at two runs.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against an old friend and a familiar foe in Astros left-hander Wade Miley, who, like Sale, started in last Sunday’s contest at Fenway Park as well.

Known as a rampant worker, Miley took a perfect game into the fourth inning before surrendering a one-out double to Mookie Betts.

Unable to score there or in the fifth, the Boston bats finally got to the Houston southpaw in the sixth, when Xander Bogaerts opened up the scoring for his team with a 394 foot solo shot over everything in left field.

Fast forward to the eighth, with Miley out and Ryan Pressly in for the Astros, and Jackie Bradley Jr. cut into that lead even more by depositing his third big fly in the last five days to left center to make it a two-run game.

That 433 foot homer actually broke up Pressly’s record-setting run of 40 consecutive scoreless appearances dating back to last season.

And after failing to tack on any more runs off of Pressly, it came down to the top half of the ninth with closer Roberto Osuna on the mound for Houston.

Leading off the inning, it really seemed as though Andrew Benintendi had given his team a shot by belting what would have surely been a double to deep center field, but like I mentioned earlier, the star of this game, Jake Marisnick, came up with a spectacular grab to rob the Red Sox outfielder of extra bases.

Instead of going to his bench with Rafael Devers available to pinch-hit, Sox manager Alex Cora stuck with Eduardo Nunez, who proceeded to fan on six pitches for the second out of the frame.

Down to their final out now, Christian Vazquez came on for Sandy Leon and provided a glimmer of hope by tattooing his seventh home run of the season to cut the Astros lead to one.

Unfortunately for Boston, Jackie Bradley Jr., who of couse had already homered in this one, could not put on a repeat of that at-bat, as he struck out on three straight hittable pitches to retire the side, and thus end the ballgame with a final score of 4-3.

Some notes from this loss:

The Red Sox are now 1-3 against the Astros this season. They have been outscored 17-11 in those four games.

JD Martinez went 0-for-3 with a walk in his return to the Red Sox lineup out of the cleanup spot.

Jackie Bradley Jr. has lifted his batting average from .144 to .170 in his last five games played. In other words, he is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game series with David set to start for Boston.

Entering Saturday with an ERA of 3.29 through seven starts this season, Price impressed in his return from the injured list this past Monday in Toronto, limiting the Blue Jays to two runs in five innings of work.

In five career starts at Minute Maid Park, the left-hander is 5-0 with a 4.06 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over a total of five starts and 31 innings pitched.

Opposite Price will be right-hander Brad Peacock for Houston, who owns a lifetime 8.36 ERA in five appearances (four starts) against the Red Sox.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 7:15 PM EDT on FOX. Red Sox looking to bounce back.

 

 

 

Ryan Weber Allows One Run over Six Innings and Steve Pearce Homers for First Time This Season as #RedSox Take Series from Blue Jays with 8-2 Victory

After needing 13 innings to top the Blue Jays in a marathon game on Wednesday, the Red Sox needed just nine innings to wrap their four-game set with Toronto up on Thursday, taking the series finale by a final score of 8-2.

Making his first start and fourth overall appearance for Boston was Ryan Weber in what was supposed to be a bullpen day for the Red Sox.

As it turned out though, the right-hander worked the first six innings of this one, yielding just one run while scattering three hits, one HBP, and zero walks to go along with four strikeouts on the afternoon.

That one run came in the second, when with no outs and runners on first and second, a Freddy Galvis RBI double put Toronto on the board.

It looked as though things really could have taken a turn for the worst there with three straight Blue Jays reaching base to leadoff the inning, but Weber rallied by sitting down the next three hitters he faced to get out of the jam and didn’t have to look back from there.

Retiring 15 of the last 16 hitters he faced, the 28-year-old hurler’s fine outing came to a close with a six-pitch lineout of Rowdy Tellez to end the sixth.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 93 (59 strikes), Weber relied heavily on his sinking fastball, turning to the pitch nearly 55% of the time he was on the mound Thursday with Christian Vazquez behind the plate. He also induced three swings and misses and topped out at 90 MPH with the same sinker.

Although his ERA did slightly inflate to 1.29 on the season, Weber did earn his first winning decision in a Red Sox uniform to improve to 1-0 on the year. At this point, it’s not known if the Florida native will remain in Boston’s rotation, but if he does, his next start will likely come sometime next week back at home against the Cleveland Indians.

In relief of Weber, the recently called up Travis Lakins came on for his second career appearance out of the Sox bullpen in the seventh and worked his way around a leadoff double in an otherwise perfect frame of work with the help of the infield behind him.

From there, Ryan Brasier recorded his third consecutive scoreless appearance with a 1-2-3 eighth before Hector Velazquez allowed one run on a Justin Smoak home run in the ninth en route to securing the 8-2 win for his team.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against veteran left-hander Clayton Richard for the Blue Jays, making his first start of 2019 after opening up the season on the injured list.

Opening up the scoring for Boston in this one was the hitter responsible for Wednesday’s win in Michael Chavis, whose third inning RBI groundout to plate Eduardo Nunez from third put the Sox on the board.

That was all they could muster off of Richard, and it wasn’t until the top half of the sixth when the bats really started to get going.

With Sam Gaviglio in for Toronto to start the inning, a leadoff single from Xander Bogaerts followed by back-to-back RBI base knocks off the bats of Rafael Devers and Steve Pearce broke the 1-1 tie and gave Boston the two-run advantage.

An inning later, it was more of the same against Jays reliever Elvis Luciano, this time with Jackie Bradley Jr, Michael Chavis, and Mookie Betts reaching base to leadoff the seventh and the reigning American League MVP collecting his 25th RBI of the year on a line-drive double to score Bradley Jr. from third and make it a 4-1 contest.

In the eighth, an Andrew Benintendi leadoff single would result in another insurance run being pushed across on an RBI single from Eduardo Nunez moments later. 5-1.

And finally, in the ninth, Devers and Pearce capped off fine days at the plate, with the former driving in Bogaerts from second on an RBI infield single, and the latter coming through with his first home run of the season, a two-out, 399 foot two-run shot to left off Toronto reliever Ryan Feierabend.

Pearce’s third knock of the afternoon made it an 8-1 game, and after the Blue Jays tacked on a run of their own in their half of the ninth, 8-2 would go on to be Thursday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

The Red Sox are four games over .500 (27-23) for the first time this season.

Through 20 games this month, Rafael Devers is slashing .345/.383/.609 with six home runs and 21 runs driven in.

Before Thursday, Ryan Weber hadn’t won a big league game since April 19th, 2016 when he was a member of the Atlanta Braves.

Xander Bogaerts has recorded multiple hits in four of his last five games played.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s off to Houston for another three-game weekend series against the Houston Astros.

The ‘Stros took two out of three from the Sox at Fenway Park last weekend in what was a tightly-contested series outside of a few poor innings.

In the opening game, it will be a pitching matchup featuring a pair of left-handers representing Red Sox present and past, with Chris Sale getting the ball for Boston and Wade Miley doing the same for Houston.

Last time these two southpaws met up this past Sunday, Sale allowed three runs and struck out 10 over 5.1 innings while Miley surrendered three runs, two of which were earned,  in five innings of work. The Red Sox won that game 4-3.

First pitch of the series opener on Friday is scheduled for 8:10 PM EDT on NESN.

#RedSox Homer Three Times in 14-1 Rout over Mariners to Improve to 20-19 on Season

Coming off a 5-2 road trip and an off day on Thursday, the Red Sox opened up an eight-game homestand on Friday with a blowout 14-1 win over the Seattle Mariners to improve their record to 20-19 and pass the .500 plateau for the first time this season.

Making his eighth start of the season for Boston was Eduardo Rodriguez, who entered the weekend fresh off a six strikeout performance in his last time out against the White Sox.

Tossing seven full innings in this one, the left-hander held the Mariners scoreless while scattering just five hits and one walk to go along with five K’s on the night.

Retiring nine of the first 10 he faced, Rodriguez faced more than four hitters in an inning just two times in the fourth and seventh, stranding the runners on base on both occasions to preserve the shutout effort.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 103 (68 strikes), the 26-year-old turned to his four-seam fastball 39% of the time he was on the mound Friday, inducing three swings and misses with the pitch and topping out at 93.8 MPH with it. He also induced a team-high eight swinging strikes with his changeup, a pitch he threw 26 times.

The Red Sox are now 6-0 in Rodriguez’s last six starts. Over that span, the Venezuela native himself is 4-0 and owns an ERA of 2.78. They’ll look to make it seven wins in a row in Rodriguez’s next time out, which should come against the Houston Astros next week.

In relief of Rodriguez, the Red Sox bullpen was not faced with much pressure, as their team’s lead stood at 10 runs by the time Tyler Thornburg took the mound to begin the eighth inning.

Having given up runs in his last four appearances out of the ‘pen before Friday, Thornburg saw his ERA inflate to 8.04 on an Edwin Encarnacion RBI double in his lone inning of relief.

And in the ninth, making his second appearance for the Sox since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket last Monday, Ryan Weber closed things out in a scoreless frame to secure the blowout victory.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against Mariners rookie left-hander Erik Swanson, and they really had their way with them beginning in the third inning.

After collectively going 0-for-their-first-7, a Jackie Bradley Jr. leadoff double in that third would turn out to be the catalyst for a four-run inning to get the scoring started in this one.

All coming with two outs, back-to-back singles from Mookie Betts and JD Martinez plated Bradley Jr. and put runners on the corners for Mitch Moreland, who absolutely demolished a first pitch fastball and deposited 436 feet into the bleachers with an exit velocity of 109 MPH. 4-0, just like that.

An inning later, Rafael Devers joined in on the moon bomb party, leading off the fourth with a 397 foot shot off Swanson to pad the Red Sox’ lead even further.

In the fifth, the pair of corner infielders were at it again, with Moreland collecting his fourth RBI of the night on a line drive double to the opposite field to score Andrew Benintendi all the way from first and Devers driving in Moreland on an RBI single off new M’s reliever Mike Swarzak to make it a 7-0 contest.

Fast forward to the sixth, and Benintendi went yard for the second time in the last two games, as he took Swarzak 393 feet deep to right for his fifth big fly of the season. That ball had an exit velocity of over 106 MPH.

Another inning later, with lefty Zac Rosscup on for Seattle, Xander Bogaerts got on the board with his 24th ribbie of the year, plating Steve Pearce, who pinch-hit for Moreland the at-bat prior, on a screamer of a double to right field.

After advancing to third on a Rafael Devers groundout, Bogaerts scored his club’s 10th run on another RBI groundout from the slumping Michael Chavis. 10-0.

And in the eighth, even with this one already out of reach, the Red Sox went ahead and struck four more times off Mariners reliever and former Baltimore Oriole Mike Wright.

Benintendi, Betts, and Eduardo Nunez got the rally started by loading the bases without recording an out to begin the inning, and Xander Bogaerts drove in the reigning AL MVP by grounding into a force out at third to put runners at first and second for Devers.

On the very first pitch he saw from Wright, the 22-year-old capped off a stellar night at the plate in style, emptying the bases on a two out, two-run, 100 MPH double to right to give Boston the 14-1 advantage, which would go on to be Friday’s final score.

Some notes from this win:

From Red Sox Notes:

In nine games this month, Rafael Devers has recorded multiple hits in six of them. He is currently batting .314 with an OPS of .826.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, it’s the middle game of this three-game set on Saturday afternoon with a starting pitching matchup featuring two veteran right-handers.

For Boston, it will be Rick Porcello making his eighth start of the season. Since April 20th, the 30-year-old is 4-0 over his last four starts with an ERA of 2.45.

Opposite Porcello will be the 33-year-old righty Felix Hernandez for Seattle, who owns a lifetime 4.09 ERA over nine career starts and 57.2 innings of work at Fenway Park.

It took more than six weeks to get there, but the Red Sox are back to playing winning baseball with a record of 20-19.

First pitch Saturday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EDT on NESN. Red Sox going for their first four-game winning streak of the season.

 

 

 

 

 

#RedSox Come out Flat in 4-1 Series-Opening Loss to Orioles

Coming off a successful weekend in Chicago, the Red Sox headed to Baltimore with the chance to improve their record to over .500 by the time they got back to Fenway Park this Friday, but instead took a few steps back in a frustrating 4-1 loss at the hands of the last place Orioles on Monday.

Making his first start and second appearance for the Red Sox in this one was Josh Smith, who last worked out of the bullpen in the club’s 6-1 win over the White Sox this past Friday.

Signed as a minor league free agent in January, the 31-year-old right-hander surrendered four runs, all earned, on five hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts over the first 3.1 innings Monday.

All four of those Baltimore runs came on one swing of the bat, when, after loading the bases with the first three hitters he faced in the second and striking out the next two, Smith served up a bases-clearing grand slam to Orioles second baseman Jonathan Villar.

He nearly escaped the jam, but that granny would wind up being all the offense the O’s would need in this one.

After sitting down the next four Orioles in a row, Smith’s night would come to an end after allowing two of the first three hitters he faced to reach in the fourth, making way for Heath Hembree.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 70 (42 strikes), Smith relied on his four-seam fastball 33% of the time he was on the mound Monday, inducing three swings and misses and topping out at 92 MPH with the pitch.

In relief of Smith, as previously mentioned, Heath Hembree came on with runners on first and second and two outs to get.

Last working on Saturday, Hembree needed just four pitches to retire the side and lower his ERA on the year down to 3.86.

From the middle of the fifth inning on, Ryan Weber, who was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket Monday in correspondence with David Price being placed on the 10-day injured list, throughoughly impressed in his Red Sox debut.

Like Smith, Weber, 28, signed a minor league pact with Boston back in December and made five starts with the PawSox, where he posted a 5.04 ERA over 25 innings pitched.

Last appearing in the majors with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018, the right-hander held the Orioles scoreless in four innings of relief, yielding just three hits and one HBP as well as four punch outs on the night.

The Orioles had two real opportunities to pad their lead off Weber, once with a runner on third and one out in the seventh, and once with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth right after Steve Pearce robbed them of a run by nabbing Renato Nunez trying to score from third on a grounder off the bat of Stevie Wilkerson. They came up empty on both occasions though, sealing the solid debut for the newest member of Boston’s pitching staff.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was held in check by Orioles left-hander John Means and company, and that couldn’t be highlighted more by the fact that Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, JD Martinez, Michael Chavis, and Rafael Devers went a combined 0-for-19 with five strikeouts Monday. Not great.

The only two Red Sox to collect hits in this one were Christian Vazquez and Eduardo Nunez, whose fifth inning sacrifice fly to plate Vazquez from third provided Boston with their only run of the night.

No one even drew a walk.

Some notes from this 4-1 loss:

In two starts against the Red Sox this season, Means is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA over 12 total innings pitched.

Over his last 10 games (nine starts), Christian Vazquez is slashing .387.472/.516 with one home run and three RBI.

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Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll look to rebound in the middle game of this three-game series Tuesday night.

Right-hander Hector Velazquez will be getting the start for Boston in the place of David Price, while right-hander David Hess will do the same for Baltimore.

In three career appearances (one start) at Orioles Park, Velazquez owns a lifetime 3.00 ERA over six total innings.

Hess, meanwhile, is 0-3 in three career starts against the Red Sox, so at least they have that going for them.

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

 

Nine-Run Third Inning, Michael Chavis’ First Multi-Homer Game Carry #RedSox to 15-2 Blowout Win over White Sox

After bouncing back with a 6-1 win on Friday night, the Red Sox really poured it on against the White Sox on Saturday, pouring on a season-high 15 runs for their second straight victory on the South Side.

Making his seventh start of the season in this one for Boston was Eduardo Rodriguez, who struck out 12 White Sox in his previous start at Guaranteed Rate Field last September.

This time around, the left-hander yielded just one run on six hits and two walks to go along with six strikeouts over six quality innings of work, eventually earning his third winning decision of the year.

Things started out a bit shaky for Rodriguez in the first, with Chicago plating their first run of the night and all, but after getting out of the inning and escaping a bases loaded jam in the second, it was relatively smooth sailing, and that was mostly thanks to what his lineup did in their half of the third.

Retiring 11 of the last 14 hitters he faced, the 26-year-old finished his evening with a final pitch count of exactly 100, 61 of which went for strikes.

Out of those 100 pitches, Rodriguez turned to his four-seam fastball 30% of the time he was on the mound Saturday, inducing two swings and misses and topping out at 93.2 MPH with the pitch.

Now with quality starts in two of his last three starts, the Venezuela international will look to build on a solid beginning to May in his next time out, which should come against the Seattle Mariners next Friday.

In relief of Rodriguez, the Red Sox bullpen was responsible for the final three innings of Saturday’s contest, and they had quite the comfortable cushion to work with.

Working both the seventh and eighth, Tyler Thornburg allowed just one run on one hit, a solo home run off the bat of Jose Abreu while fanning four.

Hector Velazquez, meanwhile, who started as recently as Wednesday, locked down the 15-2 win for the Sox with a scoreless ninth, and that was that.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox lineup was matched up against an unfamiliar opponent in White Sox left-hander Manny Banuelos to start this one off.

For never facing off against the Red Sox before in his career, Banuelos held his own through the first two-and-two-thirds innings Saturday by sitting down the first eight hitters he faced in order.

Despite the early success though, a Christian Vazquez two out single changed everything, and it all unraveled for the 29-year-old southpaw the second time through the Boston lineup.

Including the base hit from Vazquez, 10 straight Red Sox hitters all reached base off Banuelos and drove in a total of NINE runs in that span.

An Andrew Benintendi single advanced Vazquez into scoring position for Mookie Betts, who plated both runners on two-run RBI double to pull his team ahead 2-1.

Two pitches after that, JD Martinez collected his 17th RBI of the season by pulling a line drive double to left and driving in Betts from second to make it a 3-1 contest.

Following a brief mound visit, Xander Bogaerts and Michael Chavis went back-to-back with one two-run and one solo homer to pad Boston’s lead even further to 6-1.

With the bases once again empty, a Rafael Devers double and Steve Pearce RBI single gave the Red Sox a six-run advantage, which then inflated to eight on another two-runshot, this one coming from Eduardo Nunez in his first game back since being activated from the injured list. 9-1. End run-scoring outburst.

Just like how he started the rally, another Christian Vazquez single would result in the end of the line for Banuelos, who saw a potential no-hitter through three innings turn into an absolute disaster.

From there, the Red Sox struck for four more runs in their half of the fourth.

With reliever Carson Fulmer now in for Chicago, back-to-back leadoff walks drawn by Martinez and Bogaerts presented Chavis with another prime run-scoring opportunity, and the rookie capitalized on it by grounding an RBI single to right field, scoring Martinez and pushing his team’s lead to 10-1.

Rafael Devers would pick up an RBI by reaching on a fielding error following that Chavis single, and Steve Pearce notched his second multi-hit game of the season with another RBI single up the middle to plate Chavis from second. 12-1.

Devers wound up scoring the Red Sox’ 13th run of the night thanks to a throwing error comitted by Jose Abreu on an Eduardo Nunez grounder, and Pearce also scored on two-out RBI double off the bat of Andrew Benintendi in the same frame to make it a 14-1 game.

And finally, in the fifth, Chavis capped off his team’s impressive offensive tear by launching his second big fly of the night, a 438 foot solo shot with an exit velocity registering at 108 MPH off White Sox reliever Josh Osich.

That dinger made it a 15-1 contest at the time it was mashed, and 15-2 would go on to be the final score in this one.

Some notes from this win:

From the Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham:

Through his first 14 big league games, Michael Chavis has hit six home runs and collected 13 RBI. He is currently slashing .354/.466/.771.

The Red Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 ballgames.

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Looking to finish off the series win over the White Sox Sunday, it will be right-hander Rick Porcello getting the start for the Red Sox, as he’ll be opposed by fellow righty Dylan Covey.

Coming off his best start of the season in which he tossed eight shutout innings against the Oakland A’s last Tuesday, Porcello brings a lifetime 3.81 ERA over 12 career starts at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Opposing Porcello, Covey went 2-0 in one start and one relief appearance against the Red Sox last season.

First pitch for the series finale Sunday is scheduled for 2:10 PM EDT on NESN.