Red Sox @ Twins Game Thread/ 29th- 31rst August 2022

and how in the hell
did Brasier survive again?


Red Sox shake up 'pen, DFA Sawamura, Davis
Kelly, Ort to be called up from Triple-A to take their roster spots
August 28th, 2022

Ian Browne
@ianmbrowne

BOSTON -- After another mid-game malfunction in the bullpen in Sunday’s 12-4 loss to the Rays, the Red Sox designated struggling relievers Hirokazu Sawamura and Austin Davis for assignment, a source told MLB.com.

When the Red Sox open a three-game series in Minneapolis on Monday night, righty relievers Zack Kellyand Kaleb Ort will be added from Triple-A Worcester to fill the open spots on the roster.

The Red Sox have struggled all season in the bullpen, as evidenced by a 4.54 ERA, which ranks 27th in the Majors.


Sawamura, a 34-year-old righty, gave up four hits, three runs and two walks in one inning on Sunday, throwing 37 pitches. The Sox signed Sawamura, out of Japan, to a two-year contract in February of 2021. In 104 career games, Sawamura has a 3.39 ERA, walking 59 and striking out 101 in 103 2/3 innings.

Davis, a 29-year-old lefty, gave up three hits and four runs (two earned) in two innings. He threw 37 pitches in a particularly frustrating eighth inning. The Red Sox acquired Davis at the July 31 Trade Deadline in ’21. In 134 games in his career, Davis has a 5.49 ERA.

The 27-year-old Kelly has never pitched in MLB. In 44 games for Worcester this season, he has a 2.72 ERA.

Ort, 30, pitched in 12 games for the Red Sox earlier in the season, giving up 24 hits and 15 earned runs in 15 innings. He has been solid for Worcester, notching a 2.88 ERA in 39 games.

Martinez, 'grinding' through, ends HR drought
August 28th, 2022
Ian Browne

Ian Browne
@ianmbrowne


BOSTON -- The drought had reached epic proportions, no matter how hard J.D. Martinez worked behind the scenes to end it.

Sunday, Martinez finally experienced that feeling again of hitting a baseball over the fence.

It is something he did with ridiculous ease when he was at his best, but a skill he had lost for most of this season.

The home run that Martinez belted to left-center in Boston’s 12-4 loss to the Rays exited his bat at 106.5 mph and traveled a projected distance of 410 feet, per Statcast.

It ended a dry spell of 129 at-bats, 143 plate appearances and 34 games without a home run. At last, Martinez got into double digits with his 10th long ball of the season. The only time Martinez ever went longer without a homer was June 23, 2013, through May 18, 2014, when he went 145 at-bats and 151 plate appearances without a round tripper.

“I’ve been grinding the last three months,” Martinez said. “All we can do is just control what we can control. Keep grinding, and I know that I work as hard, if not harder, than anyone, and I'm not going to stop until I get it right.”


Martinez is a technician in the batter’s box. He labors over his swing and has multiple coaches inside the Red Sox and outside the ballclub to help him with his craft. But it has been hard for him to get any of it to work these last few weeks.

Perhaps the most frustrating part for Martinez is that he knows what the issue is and still hasn’t been able to fix it. Maybe Sunday’s shot will be the start of the repair.

“I’ll just put it easy for you,” said Martinez. “I’m not using my hips as I once was. It’s not like they don’t work. It’s just a mapping thing from my brain and finding a drill, finding something that gets me to fire my hips correctly. I can do it in drills. When I grab the bat with two hands, it’s been a grind.”


Never was Martinez turning his hips with more force than down the stretch in 2017. After getting traded from the Tigers to the D-backs, he smashed 29 homers in just 62 games.

He rode that momentum into Boston in 2018, roping 43 homers for a World Series championship team and 36 more the next year.

Martinez struggled to find his way in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and he hated that rules that year prevented him from studying his swing on his iPAD between at-bats.

In 2021, Martinez got his iPAD back during games and got off to a monster start. Though he cooled off at times, it was ultimately a solid season in which Martinez ripped 28 homers to go with an .867 OPS. He added three more homers, including a grand slam, during a postseason run that ended in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

When this season started, there was no warning that it was going to be one of the most frustrating in Martinez’s career.

On May 26, he was hitting .380. And on June 11 in Seattle, Martinez stopped another lengthy home run drought at 78 at-bats and 92 plate appearances. But it was easy to laugh that one off because he was hitting .349 at the time, and manager Alex Cora was playfully calling him Ichiro.


Perhaps Martinez -- who is now hitting .275 -- is finally starting to put something together. He has an eight-game hitting streak during which he’s hitting .294 (10-for-34).

“His swing has been getting better, a lot tighter, not chasing so many pitches,” said Cora. “In that at-bat, he laid off the 0-1 breaking ball, he got a two-seamer and put a good swing on it. So little by little, he's been putting quality at-bats and hitting the ball hard. So those are good signs.”

“I’m able to still put some barrels on balls, and produce, but getting that extra gear behind it hasn’t been there for me. It’s clear as day for me,” said Martinez. “I can see it as clearly as I can see your shirt. Fixing it, it’s a grind. But i know, this offseason if not this next month … it’s just one of those things I’ve got to continue to work on, and I know that once I put my brain to something, I’ll fix it one way or another.”

RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Red Sox shake up bullpen as Hirokazu Sawamura, Austin Davis both designated for assignment
By Julian McWilliams and Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated August 28, 2022, 7:18 p.m.

The Red Sox changed the look of their bullpen after Sunday’s 12-4 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays. Lefthander Austin Davis and righthander Hirokazu Sawamura were designated for assignment after the game according to major league sources.

Righthanders Zack Kelly and Kaleb Ort will be added to the roster on Monday in Minnesota.

Sawamura allowed four runs on three hits and two walks in the sixth inning on Sunday. He has a 6.46 earned run average and 2.02 WHIP in 15 appearances since the All-Star break. The 34-year-old righthander is 6-2 with a 3.39 ERA in 104 regular-season games for the Sox since being signed as a free agent for a modest $3 million out of Japan.

Davis gave up four runs, two earned, in two innings on Sunday.

Acquired at the 2021 trade deadline from Pittsburgh for Michael Chavis, Davis had a 2.16 ERA through his first 31 outings this season, but has allowed 25 earned runs in his last 21 innings.


“It’s more about command. You see the WHIP, you see the walks, you see the counts. He hasn’t been able to put people away,” manager Alex Cora said.

Ort appeared in 12 major league games earlier this season and allowed 15 earned runs on 24 hits and seven walks over 15 innings. But he has pitched well for Triple A Worcester, posting a 2.88 ERA.

Kelly, 27, has no major league experience. He joined the Sox last season as a minor league free agent. He has a 2.72 ERA in 44 games for Worcester.
J.D. Martinez breaks six-week home run drought

J.D. Martinez finally hit his 10th home run of the season Sunday. Martinez stroked a Corey Kluber sinker left in the heart of the plate for a solo shot in the fourth inning. Martinez’s homerless streak, at 129 at-bats and 34 games, was the longest of the designated hitter’s Red Sox career.


Martinez has been taking better swings as of late, driving the ball to the wall despite not always getting results. He followed a 404-foot flyout to straightaway center on Friday with a two-run single off the Green Monster on Saturday.

It’s been a grind to get to this point and feel good about his swing, Martinez said, something that’s still a process. He admitted that it felt good to see one travel over the wall, even if Boston’s hopes for a sweep crashed.

“I know I work real hard, if not harder than anyone,” Martinez said. “I’m not going to stop until I get it right.”

The grind has been rooted in his hips. Martinez said he hasn’t been able to unleash them the way he typically does.

“It’s a mapping thing for my brain. Finding a drill, finding something that gets me to fire my hips correctly,” Martinez said. “I can do them in drills, but when I grab the bat with two hands, it’s been a grind. I’m able to still put some barrels on balls and produce, but getting that extra gear behind it hasn’t been there for me.”

Cora believes Martinez is finally moving toward that gear.

“He swing has been getting better, a lot tighter,” Cora said. “Not chasing so many pitches that are bad. He’s been putting together quality at-bats and hitting the ball hard, so those are good signs.”
Brayan Bello hoping to build something

Rookie Brayan Bello will start Monday’s series opener against the Twins. Bello showed encouraging stuff Wednesday against the Blue Jays, going five innings and yielding two runs on six hits. Bello struck out seven and walked just one in the longest start of his brief major-league career.


“I think when there’s conviction behind his pitches, like everybody else, he’s really good. His stuff is that good,” Cora said.

Bello’s struggles, Cora said, are in part because he had to get used to a big league strike zone. A called strike at the Triple A level isn’t always a called strike in the majors, and hitters haven’t been chasing. And, for what it’s worth, Bello did not have any soft landings. The 23-year-old’s first two starts came against the Rays and Blue Jays.

He began to show promise when the Sox utilized him as the pitcher who followed the opener. He tossed 4⅓ innings against the Brewers, yielding two runs. His next appearance, on Aug. 3 against Houston, Cora and the coaching staff began to see Bello’s true stuff play out, albeit briefly.

“He was about to turn the corner,” Cora said.

A groin strain put him on the injured list for three weeks, but he returned the same pitcher fans saw in Houston.

The Sox aren’t sure how they’ll utilize Bello beyond Monday’s start, but with the team likely out of contention, it could be a benefit to give him some runway into September.

“For now, he’s in the rotation,” Cora said. “There’s no talk about innings limits and all that stuff. He’s one of the best five that we have and he’ll be out there.”


Injury decisions

Tanner Houck (back), Eric Hosmer (back), and Nate Eovaldi (shoulder) will stay in Boston while the Sox are in Minnesota. Everything is trending in the right direction for all three: Eovaldi will likely throw a bullpen Monday, and Houck could Tuesday. Hosmer will swing a bat Monday . . . Tyler Danish was reinstated from the 15-day injured list and optioned to Triple A Worcester . . . Dylan Bundy is scheduled to oppose Bello on Monday at Target Field, followed by Kutter Crawford vs. Chris Archer on Tuesday, and Michael Wacha vs. Joe Ryan Wednesday.

Game 129: Red Sox at Twins lineups and notes
By Andrew Mahoney Globe Staff,Updated August 29, 2022, 1 hour ago

After taking two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, the Red Sox head to Minnesota for a three-game series with the Twins.

Despite a sweep of the San Francisco Giants, Minnesota is still on the outside looking in with regard to the wild-card standings. They are three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final spot. Here are the standings.

The Red Sox entered Sunday’s game with a chance for a sweep, but lost, 12-4.

Rookie Brayan Bello gets the start on Monday in Minnesota.

Here is a preview.
Lineups

RED SOX (62-66):


1. Tommy Pham (R) LF
2. Alex Verdugo (L) RF
3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS
4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B
5. J.D. Martinez (R) DH
6. Trevor Story (R) 2B
7. Franchy Cordero (L) CF
8. Christian Arroyo (R) 1B
9. Reese McGuire (L) C



Pitching: RHP Brayan Bello (0-3, 7.36 ERA)

TWINS (65-61):


1. Luis Arraez (L) 1B
2. Carlos Correa (R) SS
3. Max Kepler (L) RF
4. Jose Miranda (R) DH
5. Nick Gordon (L) 2B
6. Gio Urshela (R) 3B
7. Jake Cave (L) LF
8. Gilberto Celestino (R) CF
9. Sandy Leon (S) C


Pitching: RHP Dylan Bundy (7-6, 4.56 ERA)

Time: 7:40 p.m.

TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7

Red Sox vs. Bundy: Christian Arroyo 1-2, Xander Bogaerts 14-39, Franchy Cordero 1-2, Bobby Dalbec 1-3, Rafael Devers 6-23, Kiké Hernández 0-6, J.D. Martinez 4-22, Reese McGuire 3-11, Tommy Pham 2-11, Kevin Plawecki 1-7, Rob Refsnyder 0-2, Trevor Story 0-2, Alex Verdugo 3-5

Twins vs. Bello: Has not faced any Minnesota batters

Stat of the day: The Red Sox have belted at least 10 hits in three of their last four games.

Notes: In his last start, Bello allowed two runs and six hits in five innings on Wednesday against the Blue Jays. … In four starts this month, Bundy is 1-1 with a 2.33 ERA. He’s 4-9 in 21 career appearances against the Red Sox, including 16 starts, with a 5.36 ERA. … Franchy Cordero has four home runs in his last six games. … J.D. Martinez is 10-for-34 with two doubles and one walk during his eight-game hitting streak. … Tommy Pham is batting .290 with a .825 OPS in 22 games for the Sox.

Def Leppard - Rocket

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpcc43NV394