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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 13, 2022 14:53:16 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 4m Kevin Plawecki is back with the team.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 13, 2022 16:52:15 GMT -5
Julian McWilliams @byjulianmack · 1h Story says he’s not sure if his hand contusion will require an IL stint. Says the ball got him kind of flush in the knuckle area near the fourth metacarpal. Right now he’s just getting treatment.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 13, 2022 16:56:25 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 15m Sounds like Garrett Whitlock will be activated in NYC on Friday for a 3-6 out relief role.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 13, 2022 16:58:24 GMT -5
I have no idea what to expect tonight after last nights shit show I do know McLanahan is one one tough hombre
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 13, 2022 17:55:01 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 46m #RedSox moves:
* Plawecki activated.
* Wong optioned.
* Barnes transferred to 60-day IL.
(Barnes has already been on the IL 43 days.)
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:02:59 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox can’t solve Rays’ Shane McClanahan in 4-1 loss; series loss is their 9th in 10 tries against AL East opponents Updated: Jul. 13, 2022, 9:41 p.m. | Published: Jul. 13, 2022, 9:40 p.m.
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Red Sox starter Josh Winckowski pitched well Wednesday night, only to be outdueled by another southwest Florida product in Shane McClanahan.
McClanahan, who entered with a league-leading 1.73 ERA, held the Red Sox to a single run and three hits in 6 ⅓ innings as Boston fell, 3-1, for its third consecutive loss at Tropicana Field. Winckowski’s strong start (he gave up three runs on four hits and recorded five strikeouts in six innings) resulted in a loss as the Red Sox clinched yet another series loss to an American League East opponent.
McClanahan and Winckowski dueled early, with the Red Sox not getting a runner on base until Rafael Devers doubled (and was promptly thrown out trying to advance to third on a ball in the dirt) in the fourth. Tampa Bay opened the scoring with a two-run third after Winckowski walked the No. 8 batter, Josh Lowe, and allowed a single to the No. 9 hitter, Francisco Mejía, to start the inning. Ji-Man Choi and Harold Ramirez each plated runs with RBI singles to make it 2-0.
After Taylor Walls’ solo home run made it 3-0 in the fourth, the Red Sox plated their lone run of the game in the top of the fifth. Xander Bogaerts and Alex Verdugo led off with back-to-back singles before Bogaerts scored on a Christian Vázquez double play ball. The Sox failed to get much more going against McClanahan, who got the win and improved to 10-3.
Tampa Bay added a fourth run against Jake Diekman in the seventh. Lowe walked, then raced around to score on a Yandy Díaz single through the right side when Rob Refsnyder slowly threw the ball in to third base. The latest mental lapse from Boston’s defense made it 4-1.
With the loss, the Red Sox fell to 47-42. They have lost seven of nine games and nine of their last 13. Boston is now 0-9-1 in 10 series against AL East opponents this season. They’ll look to avoid a sweep in Thursday night’s finale.
Crawford likely to pitch finale
Right-hander Kutter Crawford (2-2, 4.50 ERA) is the likely starter for the Red Sox in Thursday’s finale. The Rays will start righty Drew Rasmussen (5-3, 3.11 ERA) as they go for the sweep. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:04:48 GMT -5
Alex Cora calls out Boston Red Sox for sloppy play: ‘It’s costing us games,’ he says after third straight loss to Rays Updated: Jul. 13, 2022, 10:54 p.m. | Published: Jul. 13, 2022, 10:51 p.m.
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Red Sox have been playing sloppy baseball for a while now. And Alex Cora is getting sick of it.
Boston’s latest defeat -- a 4-1 loss to the Rays -- didn’t come without its share of ugly moments. There was Rafael Devers getting thrown out at third base by catcher Francisco Mejía after notching Boston’s first hit against starter Shane McClanahan. And there was Rob Refsnyder’s indecision in the seventh inning allowing Josh Lowe to score all the way from first base on a Yandy Díaz single.
For the Red Sox, who have now lost seven of nine games and are 4-9 in July, those plays aren’t an aberration. They’re a continuation of a concerning theme. Whether it was Christian Arroyo losing a ball in the lights at Fenway against the Yankees, dropped infield pop-ups or Monday’s crucial double-error play, the local nine has not been playing clean ball. And that’s frustrating for a manager who constantly preaches the importance of doing so.
“We’re not playing good baseball right now,” Cora said. “It’s a lot of mistakes. It’s costing us games. We need to start playing better baseball if we want to be the team we envisioned in spring training.”
The Red Sox lost their third straight game Wednesday night because they were unable to solve Shane McClanahan, who allowed one run and struck out six in 6 ⅓ strong innings. But any chance of a comeback died in the seventh, when Lowe raced around to score.
Lowe was off on the pitch and took third when Díaz singled through the right side. Refsnyder held onto the ball for a second, then short-hopped cutoff man Xander Bogaerts. Lowe raced to score from third and made it 4-1. Refsnyder was indecisive on the play and lost track of where Bogaerts was in the infield.
“Completely my fault. Just a bad play,” Refsnyder said. “I’m still pretty frustrated about it.”
Cora said the coaching staff is constantly talking with players about playing cleaner. He said that the fact 11 Red Sox -- including key contributors Nate Eovaldi, Kiké Hernández, Garrett Whitlock, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill -- are on the injured list isn’t a valid excuse for playing this way. The Rays, as Cora noted, also have key injuries with Wander Franco, Kevin Kiermaier and others out. That hasn’t stopped them from playing well as they have taken five of six from the Red Sox in the last week-plus. Enter your email address here to receive the Fenway Rundown email newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday.
“There’s a lot of moving parts, but you know what? They have a lot of moving parts,” Cora said. “They have a lot of injuries. They keep playing. They play 27 outs and they’re playing good baseball. They’re pitching. They’re hustling. That’s why they keep winning. There’s no surprise. It’s not analytics or this or that. They play 27 outs. They play hard. When you see them on the other side, it’s impressive what they’re doing. They’ve got a lot of injuries, too, and they’re playing very, very hard.”
Pressed on if his comments implied that the Red Sox weren’t giving full effort, Cora bristled.
“I’m not implying that,” he said. “I’m saying (the Rays) are playing hard.”
Both Refsnyder and Bogaerts said that the Red Sox can’t keep giving outs away to the Rays, who are known for being fundamentally sound and taking advantage of opponents’ mistakes.
“We’re making too many mistakes. It’s not for lack of effort or anything like that.,” Refsnyder said “They’re playing better baseball than that. You can’t give runs, can’t give outs to the Rays or anyone in our division.”
The Red Sox will try to avoid a sweep Thursday night behind rookie Kutter Crawford, then end the first half of their season with a tough three-game series at Yankee Stadium. To go into the All-Star break on a high note, they’ll need to be better on the defensive side of things.
“I’m not going to blast them, but you’ve got to keep playing,” Cora said. “Like I said, nobody’s going to feel sorry for your injuries or who’s playing or whatever. You’ve got to show up every day. We’ve been very sloppy lately and we’ve got to get better.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:32:42 GMT -5
Cora: 'We're not playing good baseball right now' 1:05 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
ST. PETERSBURG -- Of late, things have been exasperating for the Red Sox, because they are making life too hard for themselves with sloppy defense and baserunning.
Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Rays marked the second straight night the Red Sox left the ballpark stewing over mental mistakes.
Given that the Sox are amid a stretch in which they are beat up by injuries and have lost 11 out of 16, lack of execution could not be happening at a worse time.
"We're not playing good baseball right now," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "It's a lot of mistakes and it's costing us games. We need to start playing better baseball if we want to be the team we envisioned in Spring Training."
The moment that symbolized the recent frustration took place in the bottom of the seventh inning when Tampa Bay's Josh Lowe scored from first on a one-out single through the hole at second base and into right field by Yandy Díaz.
No, that's not a misprint. Lowe scored from first on a single to make it 4-1, Rays. How did it happen?
Right fielder Rob Refsnyder fielded the ball and hesitated before making an indecisive lob back to the infield and it bounced and got away from cutoff man Xander Bogaerts.
Rays third-base coach Rodney Linares never took his eye off the play and immediately had Lowe running home. There was no error on the play. At least not one the official scorer could tag anyone with.
"Yeah, I mean, completely my fault, just a bad play," said Refsnyder. "I'm still pretty frustrated about it. Yeah, I mean, I take full responsibility for it. Yandy hit a hard ground ball, Jeter [Downs] dove for it, the runner was going to third on the play, I picked it up and I kind of lost track of where Bogey was, so as I was running in, I was trying to find him."
Lowe and Linares deserve credit for forcing the action. For a Tampa Bay team that leads the Majors by making 44 outs on the bases, this play was satisfying to pull off.
"I was stealing on the pitch, and Yandy's a really good hitter," said Lowe. "Found the hole. Thankfully I was able to look up and see the ball was in right, and I just kept running. I know as an outfielder, you've got to get that ball and get it to the cut quickly. I kept running hard. I looked to see the throw then I looked at Rodney, and he was still waving me, so I just put my head down and ran and scored."
Earlier in the game, Rafael Devers, who has been battling back woes for the last week and has been in and out of the lineup, pushed the envelope too much when a Shane McClanahan pitch to J.D. Martinez bounced out of catcher Francisco Mejía's mitt but not far enough. Devers had just doubled and took off for third, but he was easily thrown out.
"That one, that's the thing when we talk, you've got to slow it down and he saw it pop and he took off," said Cora. "We're upset because he made the out, but I'm more upset that he tried to go over there knowing we don't want him to do that [on his balky back]. But that's who he is and he's going to play hard and keep going. The effort was there, obviously the decision was OK, but yeah, Mejía threw the ball, it was a good throw."
Injuries, Cora said, are no excuse. This is particularly true the last three days because the Rays might be even more beat up than Boston.
"There's a lot of moving parts but they've got a lot of moving parts, they have a lot of injuries and they keep playing," said Cora. "They play 27 outs and they're playing good baseball and they're pitching and they're hustling and that's why they keep winning."
Coming into the Trop, the Sox had won two emotional games at Fenway against the Yankees to pull out a split of a four-game series. But that momentum has swiftly been erased by losses to the Rays in the first three games of this four-game series. The Red Sox are now 0-9-1 in series play against American League East foes and have a record of 11-23 in the division.
Boston will try to salvage something out of this trip to St. Petersburg in Thursday's finale. It gets even harder after that, with a three-game set at Yankee Stadium looming heading into the All-Star break.
"We had a great weekend, I'm not going to blast them," said Cora. "But you have to keep playing. Like I said, nobody is going to feel sorry for your injuries or whatever. You have to show up every day and we've been very sloppy lately and we've got to get better."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:33:55 GMT -5
Injuries & Moves: Story, Strahm X-rays are negative July 13th, 2022
Keep track of the Red Sox’s recent transactions and injury updates throughout the season. LATEST NEWS
July 13: X-rays negative on 2B Trevor Story (right hand contusion) Story and the Red Sox breathed a sigh of relief when X-rays on his right hand came back negative. Story took an awkward swing at a fifth-inning pitch from righty Corey Kluber that hit him on the right hand on Tuesday night. In his first season with the Red Sox, Story is hitting .221 with 15 homers and 58 RBIs. His biggest contribution has been on defense, where he has been superb while learning a new position on the fly. A best-case scenario for Story would be a return over the weekend, when the Red Sox play a three-game series at Yankee Stadium leading into the All-Star break.
"I'm pretty sore today," Story said prior to Wednesday's game at Tropicana Field. "I'm thankful that it wasn't worse. It was a scary situation. Those hands are pretty tough when it comes to getting hit. It was certainly painful. You just never know until you get in there for the X-ray. Initially, I didn't feel great about it."
July 13: X-rays negative for LHP Matt Strahm (left wrist contusion) Just an inning after Trevor Story's injury on Tuesday, Strahm was hit on the left wrist on a 98 mph grounder off the bat of Taylor Walls. Just like Story, Strahm's X-rays came back negative. The lefty has been a key part of Boston's bullpen this season. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he will have a better idea on Thursday on when Strahm might be available again.
July 13: RHP Garrett Whitlock should be activated in Bronx Whitlock, who is returning to a bullpen role that he dominated in earlier this season and all of last season, is expected to be activated for this weekend's three-game series in New York against the Yankees. Whitlock threw the second game of his Minor League rehab assignment on Tuesday, firing two scoreless innings. Whitlock will join Tanner Houck and John Schreiber as key members of the bullpen.
"We’ll try to do like the same thing we did last year," said manager Alex Cora. "Multiple innings, different spots in the game. It can be the eighth and the ninth, it can be earlier."
July 13: C Kevin Plawecki reinstated from COVID-19-related IL Two days after going into COVID protocol, Plawecki was reinstated to the roster because he never produced a positive test. Earlier in the season, Plawecki, who is vaccinated, missed a week after testing positive. The veteran has played in 31 games for Boston this season, batting .156 (12-for-77). The Red Sox are 13-11 in his 24 starts, all at catcher, winning eight of the last 12.
July 13: RHP Matt Barnes transferred to 60-day injured list Barnes (right shoulder inflammation) last pitched for Boston on May 30. He is currently on a Minor League rehab assignment and his first two appearances have been in the Florida Complex League. For Boston this season, Barnes has a 7.94 ERA in 20 appearances.
July 13: C Connor Wong optioned to Triple-A Worcester Wong's latest stint in the Majors was necessitated by Kevin Plawecki missing two games. Wong went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter in Tuesday's 3-2 loss.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:35:49 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h Awful mental lapse from Rob Refsnyder. Absolutely awful.
Far too much of that from the #RedSox in this series. Completely inexcusable.
Strahm, Cordero and Verdugo were guilty last night. Devers (to a lesser degree) and Refsnyder are guilty tonight.
This team isn't talented enough -- even when completely healthy -- to get away with this sort of thing. The roster is flawed. They can't compound it with mistakes.
#RedSox are 47-42. This will be a losing road trip if they don't capture the four remaining games.
Just not good enough right now.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:36:46 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 6h The #RedSox obviously aren't playing to their talent level right now. The mental mistakes are tough to take. The injuries are a real issue.
Give this team a reason to rally. Invest in them. Trade for a real first baseman and an everyday corner outfielder. Use the system depth.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:38:50 GMT -5
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne · 6h Red Sox lose, 4-1. Are now 0-9-1 in series against AL East teams this season. 11-23 in games against the AL East. Will try to get out of Tropicana Field with a win tomorrow and salvage something out of this four-game series.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:40:27 GMT -5
Dan Shaughnessy @dan_Shaughnessy · 8h What a crock of shit
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:40:56 GMT -5
Dan Shaughnessy @dan_Shaughnessy · 6h The illusion of contention. Fools Gold Red Sox are 0-9-1 in ten series vs AL East. 11-23. Fact. Not opinion.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 14, 2022 3:45:09 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK X-rays on Matt Strahm (wrist) and Trevor Story (hand) are negative By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated July 13, 2022, 8:32 p.m.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — X-rays on Matt Strahm (left wrist confusion) and Trevor Story (right hand contusion) came back negative, the Red Sox said Wednesday.
Story was struck on the hand on a swing during Tuesday’s loss to the Rays. Story offered at the pitch, which was called a strike, and it caught a part of the bat along with Story’s knuckle, near his fourth metacarpal. Strahm got hit with a comebacker in the seventh inning. He and Story had to be removed from the game.
“‘I’m feeling pretty sore today,” Story said before Wednesday’s game. “But just feeling thankful that it wasn’t worse because it was a scary situation. Those things on the hands are pretty tough when it comes to getting hit, but yeah, thankful that it wasn’t worse.”
Story’s status moving forward is still to be determined as it is for Strahm. While speaking to the media, Story was hooked up to a stem treatment machine that he had placed on his hand to reduce some of the swelling .
Story said he’s unsure if this will require a stint on the injured list.
“I think it’s too early to tell right now,” Story said. “We’re just gonna kind of see how it reacts the next couple of days. I think that’s gonna be really important. But I’m hoping not.”
Timing might be on both Strahm’s and Story’s side. After Wednesday night’s game, the Sox have just four games left before the All-Star break, meaning the pair could elude the IL. The Sox’ next game following the break isn’t until next Friday against the Blue Jays. Whitlock returning
Garrett Whitlock (right hip inflammation) will likely rejoin the team for their three-game series against the Yankees which begins Friday in New York.
The Sox originally placed Whitlock on the injured list on June 10 (retroactive June 9) when he was a member of the rotation. Since then, the Sox made the decision to place Whitlock back in the bullpen. Whitlock’s return is good news for a Red Sox relief group that has lacked depth and success. The Sox bullpen had 19 blown saves this season before Wednesday, second to the Rays who have 21. Whitlock’s emergence back into the fold as a late-inning reliever will keep the Sox from having to depend on Ryan Brasier, who has a 4.59 ERA in 33 ⅓ innings this year, and Jake Diekman, the Sox’ biggest offseason signing for their bullpen who currently has 10 meltdown performances, per Fangraphs.
Manager Alex Cora said they will utilize Whitlock in a multi-inning role, taking some pressure off of John Schreiber and Tanner Houck late in games.
“It can be the eighth or ninth or it could be earlier,” Cora said regarding when the Red Sox might use Whitlock. “It all depends on where we’re at, understand that it’s a different bullpen now. I think it helps us sometimes be more aggressive with one guy understanding that Whitlock is going to be available the next day. Or, being aggressive with Whitlock and we can rest the other ones. So it’s a good mix, obviously. Having that structure and understanding how we’re going to do it, we feel good about it.” Hill to throw bullpen sessions
Rich Hill (left knee sprain) will throw a bullpen session Thursday and Michael Wacha (right shoulder inflammation) has a bullpen session on Saturday. Hill will have a rehab outing as well and likely rejoins the team (in the bullpen) … The team still doesn’t have an update on Kiké Hernández (right hip flexor strain) who was returned from his rehab assignment and is scheduled to see a hip specialist … Kevin Plawecki presented a second negative COVID test and was taken out of COVID protocol and activated for Wednesday’s game. To make room for Plawecki, Connor Wong was optioned to Triple A Worcester. Matt Barnes (right shoulder inflammation) was placed on the 60-day IL.
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