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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 4:00:58 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 5h Why Whitlock down a run?
Cora: "We were pretty short. We were very short. Going there, it was more out of necessity than anything else. I mean, nothing against their guy (Holmes) but we know what's going on, the last month, so keep it in check, too..."We had the two lefties coming up with Raffy and Verdugo hitting behind Xander. So we rolled the dice there. It was out of necessity, but at the same time, tried to maximize our lineup, understanding that he was coming in and he has struggled since the last time he was here."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 4:11:11 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK J.D. Martinez has been out of sorts at the plate, but three-hit night could put him on right track By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated August 12, 2022, 8:42 p.m.
Before his three-hit night that included two RBIs in Friday night’s win over the Yankees, J.D. Martinez had been scuffling. Grinding, he says, since early June. His bat speed was a tick or two too slow. Frankly, he’s looked old, at times. His pitch selection is out of sorts, too, chasing pitches out of the zone at least half the time in each of his last two games heading into Friday’s matchup with the Yankees.
After Martinez’s 0-for-4 effort against the Braves Wednesday that included a whopping 77.8 percent chase rate, his manager didn’t hold back on what he thought was plaguing the Sox slugger.
“We can talk mechanics and all that but we need to swing at strikes,” Alex Cora said. “He’s chasing a lot of pitches. When you don’t swing in the zone, that’s what is going to happen.”
Martinez is obsessed with his mechanics. He looks at video between each round of batting practice, trying to figure out what he’s doing wrong. Now he’s wearing a K-Motion vest during batting practice. The vest synchs his mechanics against the 2018 season when Martinez won two Silver Slugger awards after hitting .330/.402/.629 with 43 homers. He’s trying to get back to those mechanics.
He can make in-game adjustments with his mechanics. He can even make adjustments during an at-bat.
Nevertheless, he’s compiled too much information, thinking about the tweak during at-bats, thus, leading to the high chase rate.
“I’m thinking about my swing in the box. That’s when everything just goes to crap,” Martinez said before the Red Sox’ 3-2 win Friday — a contest that he sent into extra innings with a single in the ninth. “[But] when I don’t think about my mechanics I fly out, or I roll it over. I make contact but it’s very weak contact. Then I’m like, I’ve got to think about it. If not, it’s going to be an out anyways. You know, it’s the only chance to fix it. But it’s part of it. I’ve got to get through it.”
Since June, Martinez had hit just .211 with just four homers (nine on the season), but believes he can still turn it around. Are the bad habits causing the lack of power?
“100 percent,” he said.
Perhaps Friday’s performance gets him going.
“It was great, honestly,” Martinez said . “Especially with this being a big series.” Jon Lester pays a visit
A familiar figure took an unfamiliar route to the field Friday night.
Roughly two hours before game time, former Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester and his family made their way through the Fenway grandstand to come onto the field for a visit with friends during batting practice. Lester — enjoying his first season of retirement — accompanied his wife, Farrah, and their three children to catch up with Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo as well as members of the Red Sox organization, including assistant GM Raquel Ferreira.
It wasn’t Lester’s first visit to Fenway as a spectator.
“This is actually the first big league stadium I came to as a kid,” said Lester. “So beyond just playing, it’s been a pretty significant place for me.”
Still, a return to Fenway hadn’t been top-of-mind for Lester after he announced his retirement in January. He’s been enjoying life in Georgia — he noted that he’s carpooling to get his sons to football practices, with school soon to start — with little engagement with baseball.
“I kind of separated from all of it,” said Lester.
But his wife suggested a trip to Fenway for a Red Sox-Yankees game so that they could catch up with Rizzo, and so that their kids — particularly 12-year-old Hudson, whose fourth birthday party occurred on July 31, 2014, the same day Lester was traded to the A’s — could enjoy the setting. And so citizen Lester arrived at the park, carrying bags of merchandise purchased for his kids before taking in the game from a suite.
He suggested that he’d been able to maneuver through the park with little fanfare.
“I’ve always been kind of able to hang under the radar,” he said. “It’s been good.” Injury updates
The Red Sox hope to have news on Tanner Houck Saturday. Houck went on the injured list this week with lower back inflammation and is undergoing further testing … Kiké Hernández (right hip flexor strain) was 0 for 3 with a walk Friday in his second rehab game for the Portland Sea Dogs … Rob Refsnyder (right knee sprain) will likely play in rehab games Saturday and Sunday … Matt Strahm (left wrist contusion, Josh Taylor (lower back strain), and James Paxton (Tommy John) pitched a simulated game Friday at the team’s spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla. Taylor tossed one inning while Paxton tossed two. The Sox are maintaining optimism that Paxton will pitch for the big league club before season’s end. The minor league season finishes September 28. Cora intimated that if Paxton doesn’t pitch any rehab games, they will find an alternative plan in order to ready him for big league action.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 4:13:21 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 6h “I don’t know,” Cora said when asked if a sign was missed in the 10th when McGuire bunted. So that’s a yes.
Sox (56-58) have won two in a row. Yankees (71-42) have dropped 8 of 9.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 4:34:51 GMT -5
Mastrodonato: Nathan Eovaldi clearly isn’t right, but the Red Sox’ ace is making it work Eovaldi’s fastball velocity is way down
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald August 13, 2022 at 5:32 a.m.
Chris Sale is out for the year and Nathan Eovaldi is throwing with his lowest average fastball velocity since 2012.
Without an ace, the Red Sox season should be over.
And yet?
Eovaldi’s Friday night start at Fenway Park might not be remembered by many, but it should go down as one of his most impressive in a Red Sox uniform.
Clearly not fully recovered from a mid-season injury, something manager Alex Cora and pitching coach Dave Bush have both hinted at, Eovaldi managed to piece together six innings of two-run ball while throwing a season-high 108 pitches against the American League’s best offense as the Sox walked off on the Yankees, 3-2, on Friday.
It was perhaps their best win of the season – either first or second, with their 6-5 win over the Yankees at Yankee Stadium in early July, when Xander Bogaerts manufactured an extra-innings run all on his own, being the other in contention.
And it shouldn’t have happened.
When Eovaldi threw a 93-mph fastball that Aaron Judge demolished over the Green Monster to start the third inning, the sellout crowd at Fenway Park couldn’t contain its reaction. Yankees fans jumped to their feet. Red Sox fans had their jaws on the floor.
Judge smacked that thing so hard and so far it should’ve ended the Sox’ season right there.
Or at the very least, shattered the confidence of the man on the mound.
Here’s a guy who made a career out of throwing 100-mph fastballs, touched 102 mph in a game in 2015 and hit 101 mph as recently as 2020. But behind Eovaldi’s cannon for an arm is also a five-pitch repertoire that would make most pitchers envious.
And while he’s averaging just 94 mph on his fastball since he came back from the injured list on July 15, he’s starting to figure out how to survive with what he’s got.
“He has a lot of skills as a pitcher,” Bush said Friday. “Sometimes when guys throw hard it overshadows the other things he can do. He’s always been a four- or five-pitch guy. He’s just showing the skills he has.”
This is why former Red Sox boss Dave Dombrowski felt comfortable handing Eovaldi a four-year, $68-million contract after the 2018 postseason, when Eovaldi threw 97 pitches over six innings of one-run ball in Game 3 of the World Series, two days after he pitched in Games 1 and 2.
It was a remarkable feat of athletic endurance and perseverance. And now he’s doing it again.
When he went on the injured list in early June, the Red Sox identified his injury as being back-related, but also said it was hip-related, and somewhere along the lines there was confusion over what the injury actually was.
Perhaps this offseason, they’ll share more. But the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding indicates Eovaldi hasn’t been healthy since.
Don’t forget that when Eovaldi first came back to pitch a key Friday night game at Yankee Stadium before the All-Star break, Cora later said, “it’s not that we rushed him, but we needed him in that outing in New York.”
And on Friday, Bush said something similar, noting that Eovaldi is still recovering.
“The fastball isn’t where he wants it to be,” Bush said. “He’s confident it’s going to come back. As he recovers, the velo is down a little bit. But he still makes it work. He knows how to use his pitches and he pitches. Instead of trying to overthrow, he just pitches.”
Without a healthy Eovaldi, it looked like the Sox would never get hot again.
And when Judge homered off him for the Yankees to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning on Friday, any remaining hope from the crowd at Fenway seemed to be shattered.
Eovaldi didn’t see it that way.
“He’s on fire right now,” he said of Judge. “He’s locked in at the plate. I felt like I located that pitch. It was 93 mph, which, if I had a little more velo behind it, maybe it sinks by him. But you just tip your cap to him. He’s having an outstanding year.”
As fast as the ball left the park, Eovaldi turned the page.
Over the next four innings, he allowed just one walk and three singles while holding the Yankees’ high-powered offense scoreless.
He finished the night with 36 fastballs and generated just a single whiff. Why keep throwing fastballs when the pitch isn’t doing much?
“He’s smart enough and experienced to know when to use his fastball, as well as his other pitches,” Bush said. “It’s just being smart about how he approaches it. Command becomes more important.
“This is just another example of what he can do.”
Eovaldi entered Friday’s game with a 7.11 ERA in five starts since returning from the injured list. And yet somehow, the Sox are now 3-3 in those starts.
He’s a big-game pitcher who is clearly pitching through some health problems and still showing up.
He’s one of the few reasons, if any, to think the Red Sox can crawl back into the playoff chase.
Oh, and he’s playing for a contract.
“He’s been around a while, he knows how to post,” Bush said. “He wants to go out there and compete. He’s going to give us as much as he can.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 4:41:13 GMT -5
Yankees @ Red Sox Saturday, August 13th 7pm @ Fenway
Montas 4-9/3.18
Crawford 3-4/4.30
New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox Saturday, August 13, 2022 at 7:15pm EDT Written by Jordy
The slumping New York Yankees hope to avoid a fourth straight loss in Saturday’s clash at Fenway Park with the Boston Red Sox. It was more offensive silence from the Yankees on Friday night as they were held to only two runs by the division rival Red Sox. It has been a rough season for Boston, but they have consistently proven they’re capable of playing the AL East-leading Yankees tough. Frankie Montas is expected to start for the Yankees at pitcher opposite of Boston’s Kutter Crawford.
Seven innings of silence for the Bombers The Yankees scored two runs in the first three innings of Friday’s game against the Red Sox, and it was absolute silence at the plate the rest of the way. It was an eerie silence from a Yankees team averaging the most home runs per game and ranked second only to the Los Angeles Dodgers in average runs scored (5.28).
This isn’t Yankees baseball.
Things are starting to unravel at the seams for a team that has spent the majority of the season being perceived as the hottest in baseball. Injuries, attrition and just flat-out bad luck have all fallen on the Yankees in the second-half of the season. Someone has to join the Aaron Judge party, and they need to come quick.
Kutter Crawford pitched circles around them when they last faced him in early July. Now, they’ll get a rematch with Boston’s starting pitcher when they’re at their most vulnerable. It’s a tough matchup on paper, but the Yankees have to find a way to get something—anything—going. They also have to count on Frankie Montas (3.59 ERA) avoiding a complete come apart on the mound.
The veteran righty got crushed in his debut with the Yankees last Sunday, when he yielded five hits and six earned runs in three innings to the St. Louis Cardinals. That won’t fly on Saturday if New York has any hopes of ending their three-game losing streak.
Can the Red Sox even things up with the Yankees? A win on Saturday would make the Red Sox dead even with the Yankees in the regular season series. Opportunity is knocking with the Yankees struggling and on a three-game losing streak. It has been a year of disappointment for the Red Sox, but there would be no better moral victory for them than knocking off their division rivals.
A little déjà vu courtesy of Kutter Crawford (4.30 ERA) on the mound would go a long way towards sending making that happen.
The second-year big-leaguer held the Yankees to only one run in five innings when he last stared them down on the mound. Boston has all of the momentum. Can they capitalize on it, or will they just revert back to their old ways?
Their pitching rotation has the sixth-worst ERA in the league. With such a shaky defense, the momentum could swing in the complete opposite direction at the snap of a finger. The Yankees are in a fog, but they still have the bats to find daylight if the Red Sox let their guard down.
Yankees at Red Sox Saturday, at 7:15 PM EST Partly Cloudy According to Forecast.io, it's expected to be 68° F with a 0% chance of precipitation and 5 MPH wind blowing right to left in Boston at 7:15 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com Forecast.io
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 7:09:37 GMT -5
Frankie Montas, Yankees bid to rebound vs. Red Sox FLM
Frankie Montas will try to make a better impression on Saturday night when he takes the mound for the New York Yankees in the second contest of their three-game series against the host Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees also could use a shot in the arm after losing for the eighth time in their past nine games in the series opener on Friday night.
New York carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth before dropping a 3-2 decision in 10 innings.
Montas (4-9, 3.59 ERA) was ineffective in his debut with the Yankees on Sunday, but it was a scramble for the right-hander just to make it to the road game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
He was traded from the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 1 and then went on the bereavement list following the death of his mother-in-law.
After arriving in St. Louis the night before his start, Montas struggled through three innings in the 12-9 loss. He surrendered six runs and five hits while striking out two and walking three.
"Certainly a tough situation for him, but he wanted to be out there. He wanted to compete," New York manager Aaron Boone said. "We felt like he was ready to go and got this first one (out of the) way. He's going to do big things for us."
Montas said he didn't feel in sync with his mechanics.
"I wasn't having the best delivery," he said. "I was all over the place, but my arm feels good, and that's what I care about."
While pitching for the A's, Montas allowed four runs on six hits in six innings of a 5-2 setback to the Red Sox on June 5. He's 0-2 with a 1.83 ERA in five career appearances (three starts) against them.
Boston third baseman Rafael Devers is 5-for-8 with two doubles and two RBIs in his career vs. Montas.
The Red Sox plan to start right-hander Kutter Crawford on the mound on Saturday.
Crawford (3-4, 4.30) earned his first major-league win against the Yankees on April 10, throwing two innings of scoreless relief in a 4-3 victory. He took the loss out of the bullpen vs. New York two days earlier after surrendering an RBI single to the first batter he faced in the 11th inning.
All three of his appearances against the Yankees, including the lone start, occurred this season. He is 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in those games.
After giving up just one earned run in back-to-back starts, Crawford wasn't as effective his last time out. He yielded five runs on as many hits in five innings of a 13-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
"I did some pretty good things (in that game). I threw a pretty good splitter, so that's come along," he said. "Little bump in the road. We're going to learn from it and keep working."
Yankees left fielder Andrew Benintendi returned to Fenway Park for the first time since he left Boston following the 2020 season, his fifth with the Red Sox. He went 1-for-4 in the series opener Friday.
"Obviously, the connections I have with all those guys over there go beyond baseball," Benintendi said before the game. "To come back, be able to see a lot of the familiar faces I've seen in the past and play against some old teammates, I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be fun."
--Field Level Media
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Aug 13, 2022 11:02:31 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 1h Andrew Benintendi returns to Fenway Park tonight for the first time since 2020.
He's been worth 4.7 bWAR since being traded.
The players the Sox got back in return: minus-0.6. Abraham has lost it. Everyone in America knows that, if you trade a vet for prospects, the vet will have the higher WAR over the first couple of years. That's about 100% certainty.
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Aug 13, 2022 11:53:30 GMT -5
So far, so good.
2 innings from Schreiber for the win. 2 innings from Whitlock for the win.
But with Houck on the IL, who goes for two tonight?
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 13:13:54 GMT -5
So far, so good. 2 innings from Schreiber for the win. 2 innings from Whitlock for the win. But with Houck on the IL, who goes for two tonight? Wally?
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 13:27:52 GMT -5
Game 115: Red Sox can take first series win against Yankees after walkoff win, plus lineups and notesBy Amin Touri Globe Staff,Updated August 13, 2022, 11:05 a.m. Off the back of a thrilling walkoff win on Friday thanks to new outfielder Tommy Pham, the Red Sox can finally take a series win against the Yankees — their first against an American League East opponent in a multi-game series this season — with another win on Saturday night. Kutter Crawford is tasked with shaking the proverbial monkey off Boston’s back. The rookie has been pretty successful against the Yankees this season, holding them scoreless over two innings back in April and allowing just one run in five innings to take the win on July 9. New York will counter with deadline acquisition Frankie Montas, whose 4-9 record has far more to do with the ineptitude of his former team in Oakland than the righthander’s own performance. Montas is looking to bounce back from a rough Yankees debut, having been shelled for six earned runs in just three innings by the Cardinals last Sunday. YANKEES (71-42):1. DJ LeMahieu (R) DH 2. Aaron Judge (R) RF 3. Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B 4. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B 5. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B 6. Andrew Benintendi (L) LF 7. Jose Trevino (R) C 8. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R) SS 9. Aaron Hicks (S) CF Pitching: RHP Frankie Montas (4-9, 3.59 ERA) RED SOX (56-58): 1. Tommy Pham (R) LF 2. Rafael Devers (L) 3B 3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS 4. Alex Verdugo (L) RF 5. J.D. Martinez (R) DH 6. Eric Hosmer (L) 1B 7. Christian Arroyo (R) 2B 8. Jarren Duran (L) CF 9. Reese McGuire (L) C Pitching: RHP Kutter Crawford (3-4, 4.30 ERA) Time: 7:15 p.m. TV, radio: Fox, WEEI-FM 93.7 Yankees vs. Crawford: Donaldson 2-4, Hicks 1-2, Higashioka 1-2, Judge 1-4, Kiner-Falefa 0-3, Rizzo 0-3, Torres 1-3, Trevino 0-1 Red Sox vs. Montas: Bogaerts 1-9, Dalbec 1-2, Devers 5-8, Duran 1-3, Hosmer 2-6, Martinez 2-6, Pham 2-6, Plawecki 1-4, Verdugo 2-6 Stat of the day: The Red Sox have not won a series against the Yankees since July 2021. Notes: After giving up just one earned run in back-to-back starts, Crawford wasn’t as effective his last time out. He yielded five runs on as many hits in five innings of a 13-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday. He is 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA in three appearances against the Yankees ... Andrew Benintendi returned to Fenway Park for the first time since he left Boston following the 2020 season, his fifth with the Red Sox. He went 1-for-4 in the series opener Friday ... Montas is 0-2 with a 1.83 ERA in five career appearances against the Red Sox ... Boston third baseman Rafael Devers is 5-for-8 with two doubles and two RBIs in his career against Montas ... The Red Sox enter the day four games back of the final wild card spot. Song of the Day: The Lemonheads - "Mrs Robinson" www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvMFm5nKeUc
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 14:34:47 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 40m Sox moves:
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 16:41:14 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 1h The #RedSox still won’t acknowledge Michael Wacha is starting tomorrow. But he is. Hernández has rehab games today and tomorrow. He’s close.
Trevor Story looks pretty comfortable on the field. Going on the road next week and will start taking BP.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 16:43:36 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 1h Cora on Familia: “The stuff is good. Obviously he had a hard time in Philly. We feel like there are a few things we can adjust and maximize his repertoire. … His stuff is really good.”
Familia said he went home to the Dominican after being released by the Phillies and worked with a pitching coach there on both his mechanics and mentality. He said he felt like “a completely different person” with Worcester than he’d been with Philly.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 16:48:12 GMT -5
another big crowd enjoying a good game with the Jays and Guardians and the Orioles/ Rays game is not shabby either
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 13, 2022 18:14:22 GMT -5
Verducci in the FOX booth rambling on might as well be wearing a Yankees hat.
mute activated
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