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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 13:51:13 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 48s Schreiber has allowed a run on a) a flyball that should have been caught at the Wall, b) a swinging bunt single to third, and c) a bunt single to first.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 14:05:49 GMT -5
Mitch Keller has allowed one hit thru 6
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 14:08:35 GMT -5
Ort comes out for the 7th gives up a lead off 2B grounder to 1B, instead of going for the sure out Casas throws to 3rd pop fly, Yoshida error on the throw, where in hell was the SS there?
sloppy red Sox.
3-0 and counting for Pitt
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 14:09:44 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 1m A mess of a play by the Red Sox on a sac fly to left, with Devers letting the throw from Yoshida to the plate through... and the throw going astray, permitting Oneil Cruz (who'd alertly gone to second) to take third by virtue of Devers having vacated third base.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 14:18:47 GMT -5
Santana rips a 2B down the 1B line Ort is just horrible
4-0 Pitt.....
just about enough of this today
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 17:57:21 GMT -5
Red Sox notebook: Corey Kluber’s redemption start not enough to prevent sweep Corey Kluber’s five solid innings wasn’t enough to keep the Red Sox from getting swept by the Pirates.
By Gabrielle Starr | gstarr@bostonherald.com | PUBLISHED: April 5, 2023 at 4:51 p.m. | UPDATED: April 5, 2023 at 4:56 p.m.
On Wednesday afternoon, Corey Kluber took the mound for his second start of the season, looking to bounce back from a rough Opening Day in which he’d allowed five earned runs in just 3 ⅓ innings.
Bounce back he did, though without a crumb of run support.
It’s a puzzling phenomenon in Boston: when Red Sox pitchers dominate, the bats go silent, and vice versa. It happened with Chris Sale for years before the injuries took hold. Eduardo Rodriguez typically received avalanches of run support (a 15-2 victory over the White Sox comes to mind). Just last week, Kluber and Sale gave up a combined 12 earned runs in less than seven innings combined between their respective season debuts, and the lineup scored 18 runs over their first two games.
The first time through the rotation had gone poorly, confoundingly so. Starting from the top with Kluber felt like a chance to hit the reset button for everyone.
Over five innings, the two-time Cy Young Award-winner held the Pittsburgh Pirates to one run on three hits, walked one, and struck out two.
After a 19-pitch first inning that included loading the bases, the veteran righty buckled down. He faced the minimum in the second and third, and would have three-peated in the fourth, if not for a leadoff home run to Carlos Santana. It was no bomb; rather, a cheap shot by the Pesky Pole in shallow right.
“I think it was much better in terms of making quality pitches and being competitive,” Kluber assessed.
It was 38 degrees at first pitch for his debut, and 41 on Wednesday, far from an optimal pitching climate. “Not ideal conditions for feeling the baseball, but I think we all try to adjust as necessary, and I think I just did a better job today,” he said.
That he retired 14 of his last fifteen batters faced backs up that claim.
Despite his starter only throwing 67 pitches (44 strikes), Alex Cora didn’t think about keeping him in longer.
“That was good enough for us,” his manager said. “Five innings, he did his job.”
Kluber’s sequel probably would feel more encouraging if they’d won. The lineup was unable to get going at the plate, and fell to the Pirates 4-1 for the second time in 24 hours. Forget getting swept – which they did – this is the first time they’ve ever lost a Fenway series to the Pirates.
“We didn’t do much,” Cora said. “They kicked our butt.”
Chris Sale takes the mound next, on Thursday afternoon in Detroit.
Hopefully, the bats are making the trip, too. Keller karves ‘em up
Pirates starter Mitch Keller didn’t give an inch until the last minute on Wednesday.
Over the first six innings, he allowed three baserunners. Between the third and sixth, he faced the minimum each frame. Prior to issuing a one-out walk to Alex Verdugo in the bottom of the sixth, he’d retired 12 consecutive batters.
In the bottom of the seventh, Keller allowed a two-out double to Triston Casas and an RBI single to Christian Arroyo, the first run scored by Boston since the first inning of the previous game. For a moment, it looked like he’d given up a game-tying three-run homer to Reese McGuire, but it was overturned for a foul instead. Given a second chance, he struck McGuire out to end the inning and his start on a high note. Arroyo awakens
After only collecting one hit through his first five games of the year, Christian Arroyo led the way on Wednesday. Through the first six innings, he had the only Red Sox hit of the game, then added an RBI single and stolen base in the seventh. Before that, the Red Sox hadn’t scored since the first inning the night before. They didn’t score again, either. Bad decisions
The defense has been indefensible.
“You make bad decisions, you put yourself in a bad spot,” Cora said postgame. “We have a lot of work to do.”
At least Masataka Yoshida can make the excuse that he’s new to the ballpark and league; most of his teammates have no such absolution. Cora called out Rafael Devers for not cutting Yoshida’s throw home.
Blame the cold, the bigger bases, the players new to Fenway, it’s all moot. The defense is lacking on fundamentals, and it will take them about as far as a hot air balloon ride in a hailstorm. Injury Updates
James Paxton made a 3-inning rehab appearance on Tuesday, throwing 49 pitches in an intrasquad game at the team’s spring training complex in Fort Myers.
Brayan Bello made his first rehab appearance on Wednesday afternoon, throwing 72 pitches over five innings. He reported ‘no issues.’
The two were originally scheduled to join Triple-A Worcester at the beginning of their road trip to Buffalo, but were rerouted to Florida. Good thing, too; The WooSox’ Tuesday and Wednesday games were postponed due to weather. They now have to play doubleheaders on Thursday and Saturday, instead.
Joely Rodríguez (oblique) has begun throwing. Next up
The Red Sox head to Detroit for the Tigers’ home opener at 1:10 PM on Thursday. They have a scheduled off day on Friday, then games at 4:10 PM on Saturday and 1:10 PM on Sunday.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 17:59:27 GMT -5
Red Sox swept by Pirates after 4-1 loss in series finale; Corey Kluber pitches well
Updated: Apr. 05, 2023, 5:00 p.m.|Published: Apr. 05, 2023, 4:07 p.m.
Red Sox
The Red Sox are 2-4 so far this season. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)AP Signed-in readers now can bookmark stories to read later. NEW! By
Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
BOSTON -- Any early season goodwill the Red Sox accumulated with two fun wins over the weekend has officially been erased.
The Pirates — expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball this season — finished off their sweep of Boston with a 4-1 victory Wednesday afternoon. The Red Sox, who had just five hits in the series finale, were particularly sloppy on a chilly day at Fenway Park, throwing the ball around and getting fundamentally outclassed by an opponent thought to be inferior.
Boston finished 2-4 on its opening homestand after winning its first series against the Orioles. The Sox will hit the road Thursday to open a seven-game road trip with stops in Detroit and St. Petersburg.
The bright spot of Wednesday’s defeat was Corey Kluber, who bounced back from a poor Opening Day start to allow just one run on three hits in five innings. The only blemish against Kluber was a solo homer by Carlos Santana in the fourth. With Kluber at just 67 pitches through five innings, manager Alex Cora made the somewhat surprising decision to pull him in favor of John Schreiber. A bullpen that had been steady for the Red Sox through the first handful of games this season quickly unraveled.
Schreiber allowed two quick hits before Ke’Bryan Hayes caught the Sox off guard with a perfectly executed safety squeeze to the right side that scored Bryan Reynolds and put the Pirates up, 2-0. In the seventh, with Kaleb Ort pitching, Jason Delay doubled to lead off the inning, then advanced to third when Triston Casas inexplicably tried to throw him out on a grounder to first base. Reynolds’ sacrifice fly made it 3-0 and gave the Pirates a chance to add on when Masataka Yoshida’s errant throw sailed past home plate. Santana drove in Oneil Cruz with an RBI double to make it a four-run game.
Young Pirates righty Mitch Keller shut Boston down for most of the day, allowing just three baserunners through his first six innings. Boston finally got its offense going in the seventh with a two-out rally as Christian Arroyo followed a Triston Casas double with an RBI single. The Red Sox came within inches of tying the game, as a deep Reese McGuire fly ball to right field was initially called a three-run homer before being ruled foul. Keller struck out McGuire to end the threat and finished his day having allowed a single run while striking out seven batters in seven innings. He threw 107 pitches.
Close call goes against Sox
For a few seconds, the Red Sox thought they had tied the game in the seventh. McGuire blasted a Keller pitch down the right field line near Pesky’s Pole and the umpires initially ruled it a fair ball (despite the fact McGuire didn’t initially jog out of the box). After a crew consultation, the ball was ruled foul. A quick replay review confirmed the foul ruling.
McGuire struck out looking on a Keller fastball to end the inning.
Sale on tap for road opener
The Red Sox will travel to Detroit on Wednesday night ahead of a rare back-to-back afternoon start with the Tigers in their home opener Thursday. Here are the pitching probables for the three-game series, which includes an off day Friday:
Thursday, 1:10 p.m. ET -- LHP Chris Sale (0-0, 21.00 ERA) vs. RHP Spencer Turnbull (0-1, 27.00 ERA)
Saturday, 4:10 p.m. ET -- RHP Tanner Houck (1-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. LHP Joey Wentz (0-1, 5.06 ERA)
Sunday, 1:10 p.m. ET -- RHP Kutter Crawford (0-1, 15.75 ERA) vs. LHP Matthew Boyd (0-0, 4.15 ERA)
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 18:02:51 GMT -5
The Analytic team runs the Red Sox Alex. Bloom Ball.
b]Why did Red Sox’s Alex Cora lift Corey Kluber after 67 pitches? ‘Five innings, he did his job’ [/b] Published: Apr. 05, 2023, 5:39 p.m.
By
Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
BOSTON -- The Red Sox, like they have in recent seasons, have vowed to be conservative with their starting pitchers early in the season in an effort to keep everyone healthy at the start of a long season. Even with that in mind, manager Alex Cora’s early hook on starter Corey Kluber in Wednesday’s loss still was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser.
Kluber cruised through five innings against the Pirates, needing just 67 pitches to record the first 15 outs. He had allowed just one run (on a Carlos Santana homer) and three hits while retiring the final six batters he faced. The Red Sox were very much in the game, trailing 1-0. Yet Cora decided Kluber, making his second start of the season, had done his part. Boston turned to reliever John Schreiber for the sixth, when star outfielder Bryan Reynolds was due up for the third time.
“We’re good right there,” Cora said. “We feel like that was good enough with where we were with the bullpen.
“Five innings, he did his job,” Cora added. “Reynolds was coming up and we had one of our best relievers coming up in that spot.”
The decision backfired as Reynolds led off with a double, then scored after Andrew McCutchen singled and Ke’Bryan Hayes executed a perfect safety squeeze down the first base line. The Pirates added two more runs in the seventh inning against righty Kaleb Ort and won, 4-1, with Boston’s defense making a handful of sloppy plays that led to runs.
It’s impossible to know how Kluber would have navigated the sixth or seventh innings if he had stayed in the game. But Schreiber and Ort combined to let seven baserunners reach in those two innings, which was three more than Kluber allowed in his five frames.
Considering Kluber had thrown 80 pitches in a poor Opening Day start against Baltimore, it was a bit surprising Cora didn’t allow him to at least pitch the sixth. On the other side, Pirates starter Mitch Keller carried his strong start through seven innings and tossed 107 pitches. Just two days ago, Cora let a starter (Kutter Crawford) throw 93 pitches.
Kluber, who was pleased with his outing, didn’t complain about being lifted early. He’s set to pitch again a week from today against his former team, the Rays.
“The way I view it now, and I think I always have, is that my job is to pitch as long as the manager says, whether it’s five innings or nine innings,” Kluber said. “There’s a lot of things that go into the decisions on their part that’s beyond me, beyond just the way I’m feeling or things like that. I’ve always tried to approach it as going out there and giving it my all for as long as they deem necessary. When they say it has been enough, then that’s their call.”Why did Red Sox’s Alex Cora lift Corey Kluber after 67 pitches? ‘Five innings, he did his job’
”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 18:04:37 GMT -5
Red Sox’s Alex Cora on being swept by Pirates: ‘Overall, they kicked our butt’
Updated: Apr. 05, 2023, 6:45 p.m.|Published: Apr. 05, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
By
Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
BOSTON -- There was excitement around the Red Sox after their offense exploded for two big wins against the Orioles over the weekend. Now, not so much.
Boston fell to 2-4 on its opening homestand after being swept by the Pirates, who won just 62 games in 2022 and were once again projected to finish in the cellar of the National League Central entering the season. Over the last three games, Pittsburgh outplayed the Red Sox in every facet. Boston’s starters struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark. The offense went cold after a historic weekend. The run game continued to be an issue, as opponents are now 14-for-14 on stolen base attempts against Red Sox catchers. And defensive lapses proved costly, especially on Wednesday, when a couple of curious decisions in the field allowed Pittsburgh to add on late in a 4-1 win.
“Overall, they kicked our butt,” said manager Alex Cora. “They came to Fenway Park and they swept us.”
Adam Duvall’s heroics on Saturday and a strong offensive performance Sunday helped hide the warts of what was generally an alarming homestand for the Red Sox, who preached the importance of getting off to a hot start throughout spring training. Cora left the first six games of the season displeased with the brand of baseball his team is playing.
“We didn’t play good baseball. We didn’t,” Cora said. “Obviously, the running game, we’ve got to do a better job. We showed some flashes of good stuff but overall, like today, that wasn’t good. When you aren’t scoring runs, like the last two days, you’ve got to be on point. Even when you’re scoring runs, you’ve got to play better defense.”
Things came to a head for Boston’s defense in a particularly sloppy seventh inning Wednesday. After Jason Delay doubled off Kaleb Ort to start the inning, Triston Casas fielded an Oneil Cruz chopper near first base and made the unusual decision to try to nab Delay at third instead of taking the easy out. That backfired, as the throw was off target, allowing runners to reach the corners. The next batter, Bryan Reynolds, made it 3-1 with a sacrifice fly. On the play, Masataka Yoshida threw home instead of to second base and Rafael Devers did not cut the ball off, allowing Cruz to advance to third. Cruz came around to score to make it a 3-1 game.
“We made two bad decisions,” Cora said. “The one with Triston to third, if it’s a one-hopper to him, he has it at third. But it wasn’t. Then the throw by Yoshida... it’s a hard throw, so you go to second and keep him at first. If they score one, we limit the damage. We made the throw, we have to cut off the ball. With Raffy being the cutoff guy, nobody was at third.
“You make bad decisions, you put yourself in a bad spot and that’s what happens,” Cora said.
Perhaps more alarming than the play made by Casas was how the first baseman was not on the same page as his manager about what he should have done. Minutes after Cora said Casas should have gone to first base, the rookie first baseman offered a lengthy explanation of his thought process on the grounder, then said he would make the exact same decision again in a similar situation.
“I knew it was going to be a tough play going to my right and then either feeding Ort or beating Cruz to the bag,” Casas said. “I thought, with just where we were in the game, it would be a good play to try and take a shot to cut him down at third and keep the double play in order and hopefully get us out of the inning with the next pitch.
“With where we were, I felt like that was the right decision to try to cut him down at third before the rest of the lineup came up, the middle of the order,” he said. “I didn’t want them to have the opportunity to score there with one out.”
The last-place 2022 Red Sox lacked fundamentals throughout the season, causing frustration among Cora and his coaches at points throughout the season. It has only been six games, but there’s still a clear understanding that those issues have carried over into the early part of 2023.
“I feel like we could have played better baseball for sure on this homestand,” said catcher Reese McGuire. “I think we all know that and we also know it’s a long season and we’re about to make our first road trip together. I think there’s a lot of positives from these two series that we can take but also a lot of learning points.”
The Red Sox don’t have much time to stew over being swept by the Pirates. Boston will be back on the field in less than 24 hours when they start a tough opening road trip to Detroit and St. Petersburg with a matinee date with the Tigers. Cora hopes the lack of clean play ended Wednesday.
“We’ll just get on that plane and go to Detroit and play better baseball,” he said. “We know wave a lot of work to do. We knew that before we played Baltimore, in spring training. We’re going to keep working to be better, but games like this, they’re disappointing to everybody.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 18:06:28 GMT -5
Red Sox lose again after game-changing home run is reversed
By Rob Bradford WEEI 93.7 2 hours ago The top prospects talk about living life as a top prospect
It was a series the Red Sox will want to forget. And it was punctuated with one swing of the bat which gave them hope, until it didn't.
The Red Sox dropped another to the Pirates, this time losing, 4-1, Wednesday afternoon at Fenway Park, finishing off a three-game sweep for Pittsburgh.
For a moment, it looked like Reese McGuire's fly ball to right field was going to recapture the optimism garnered over the weekend, seemingly tying the game with two outs in the seventh inning thanks to a three-run homer over the Pesky Pole. But after initially being called fair, a review overturned the ruling, leading to an inning-ending strikeout and the continuation of the Sox' three-run deficit.
The Red Sox ultimately had no solution for Pittsburgh starting pitcher Mitch Keller, whose 107-pitch outing ended with the strikeout of McGuire. The Bucs' Opening Day starter allowed just one run on four hits over seven innings.
The Sox got perhaps their best start of the season with Corey Kluber giving up one run on three hits over five innings. He ended up throwing just 67 pitches before giving way to John Schreiber.
The Pirates' pitching controlling the Red Sox' bats continued to be a familiar storyline. The Red Sox combined for just two runs and nine hits over the lat two games after averaging 8.25 runs and 11.5 hits per game over the first four contests. They have now been held scoreless in 23 of their last 26 innings (3 runs) after scoring in nine of their previous 12 frames (18 total runs).
"I don't think we necessarily played bad baseball. I think they just played really well," said Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas. "Keller threw the ball really well today. They had a couple of good starts and their bullpen was good. It’s a funny game. We scored a lot, they scored a lot in that Orioles series but, credit to their pitching staff, keeping us at bay. Our pitchers did really well trying to keep us in the ballgame. But yeah, it's a funny game. I can't really explain why we couldn't put runs together. We were all grinding. I know yesterday we had a lot of hard hit balls. Today we didn't strike out very much, put the ball in play. Some days it's gonna find holes, some days it's not. But let's squash this, go to Detroit with a clean slate. Tough series overall. I think that we’ve got a lot to learn, a lot to get better at, but it’s a long season.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 18:12:07 GMT -5
A few rough minutes tell the story as the Red Sox get swept by Pirates at Fenway By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated April 5, 2023, 4:08 p.m.
Numbing cold befell the Red Sox on Wednesday Thursday at Fenway Park, yet the 41-degree game-time temperature was only partly responsible.
The Red Sox absorbed a 4-1 loss to the Pirates to conclude a hit-the-road, three-game brooming in their home ballpark. As they packed for their first road trip of the season, the Sox carried not only a sub-.500 (2-4) record but also a sense of disconcertment about their performance.
“We didn’t play good baseball,” rued manager Alex Cora. “Games like this, they’re disappointing to everybody, not just me.”
A few minutes distilled a day of discombobulation. With the Sox trailing, 2-0, in the seventh inning, Pirates catcher Jason Delay thumped a leadoff double off the wall in left-center against reliever Kaleb Ort.
When Oneil Cruz followed with a grounder to first, first baseman Triston Casas eschewed the sure out and instead elected to make a cross-diamond throw in hopes of getting the lead runner. The throw was tardy, turning a man-on-third, one-out situation into a two-on, no-out mess.
“I feel like we needed a big play to shift some of the momentum,” said Casas. “I’m not saying I was trying to get it all back on that one play. I knew the man at the plate was the fastest man on the field, and I knew the catcher was running at second base. I guess I didn’t have a feel for where [Delay] was and probably should have just tried to give it to Ort or tried to beat Cruz to the bag, looking back on it. But I think in the moment it was the right decision.”
Cora disagreed, believing the ball hadn’t been hit hard enough for Casas to consider a play at third. The manager would have preferred the sure out at first.
The consequences of Casas’s choice almost immediately became evident. Bryan Reynolds — who continued his outrageous series by going 1 for 3 with a double, sac fly, and walk — lofted a fly ball to left-center.
Left fielder Masataka Yoshida caught the ball flat-footed after drifting to his lift, leaving little chance for a play at the plate. But he threw home anyway, permitting Cruz to take off for second.
Yoshida’s decision was compounded by both an errant throw — well wide of the plate for an error — and by third baseman Rafael Devers (who could not hear catcher Connor Wong calling for him to cut off the ball) electing not to catch a ball that sailed wide of the batter’s circle.
With Devers by the plate, Cruz saw daylight in an unguarded bag, and took off for third. Devers sprinted back but was late for Ort’s throw, the third baseman colliding with the diving Cruz as the ball trickled loose. Cruz was safe, an error was charged to Yoshida, Devers got banged up (though he stayed in the game and pronounced himself fine), and the Red Sox manager stewed when Carlos Santana soon doubled home Cruz.
“You make bad decisions, you put yourself in a bad spot and that’s what happens,” said Cora.
Sox starter Corey Kluber, by contrast, had done what he could to put his team in a solid position. The veteran bounced back from his rough Opening Day performance (five runs, four walks in 3⅓ innings) to sail through five innings in which he was touched only for a solo homer lined just inside the Pesky Pole by Santana to open the fourth.
Though Kluber threw just 67 pitches (44 strikes), Cora elected to turn to his bullpen. Kluber didn’t resist.
“My job is to pitch as long as the manager says whether it’s five innings or nine innings. I think there are a lot of decisions that go into it on their part that are beyond me and just the way I’m feeling,” shrugged Kluber. “So I’ve always tried to approach it as go out there and give it my all for as long as they deem necessary.”
The Pirates, however, quickly broke open the game, adding a run in the sixth against John Schreiber and — aided by the Sox’ sloppiness — two more in the seventh against Ort for a 4-0 lead. The Sox offense, meanwhile, was shut down by Pirates starter Mitch Keller, who carved the strike zone with a far-ranging mix, allowing him to carry a shutout into the seventh.
“He’s got three different fastballs with command of a changeup and two breaking balls,” said Casas. “That six-pitch mix, attacking the zone with all of them, made him tough.”
Still, on an otherwise gray day, a moment of hope glistened for the Sox in the seventh. Casas doubled and scored on a Christian Arroyo single, and another single brought the tying run to the plate with two outs. Pinch hitter Reese McGuire lofted a high fly ball down the line and into the grandstand beyond the Pesky Pole.
The moonshot was initially ruled fair for a three-run homer that awakened the Fenway crowd. However, the umpiring crew reassessed the verdict of first base umpire Clint Vondrak, determining that the ball had been foul. A video review confirmed that conclusion, and with two strikes, McGuire went down looking at a 96-mile-per-hour fastball on Keller’s 107th and final pitch of the game.
The Sox never again threatened. The seemingly explosive offense that had amassed 32 runs through the first 28 innings of the season managed just three over the final 26 frames against Pittsburgh’s pitchers.
“Overall, [the Pirates] kicked our butt. They came to Fenway Park and they swept us,” said Cora. “We know we have a lot of work to do.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 5, 2023 19:08:03 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK Josh Winckowski showing he could be a valuable piece in Red Sox bullpen By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated April 5, 2023, 16 minutes ago
When Josh Winckowski made the Red Sox’ season-opening roster, there appeared a reasonable chance he would do so merely as a placeholder on the pitching staff.
Garrett Whitlock, Brayan Bello, and James Paxton are potentially in line to rejoin the team this month. With their anticipated returns, Winckowski seemed like a multi-innings option to start the year who would then head into the Triple A rotation if and when the trio of rehabbing pitchers joined the club.
That thinking may be shifting. Winckowski has been among the most impressive pitchers on the Sox staff, allowing one run over six innings in three relief appearances. He’s attacked the strike zone (six strikeouts, one walk), avoided hard contact, and shown the ability to handle varying appearance lengths, with outings of one, two, and three innings.
As a rookie last season, Winckowski took his lumps, forging a 5.89 ERA in 70⅓ innings with one of the lowest strikeout rates (13.9 percent) in the big leagues. He worked to sharpen his mix in the offseason, shaping his cutter to more effectively dart onto the hands of lefties and his slider to miss bats. While throwing out of the bullpen, he’s also featured an early uptick in velocity, averaging 95.2 miles per hour on his sinker, up from 94 last year.
“It’s obviously a smaller sample size, but so far, pretty happy with it. I feel like I’ve been executing and hitting better locations so far this year compared to last year,” said Winckowski. “Every pitch has gotten a little bit sharper and then just filling up the zone with strike one, I’ve been ahead a lot early on, and that obviously helps a ton and opens up the pitch-calling.”
The combination of stuff and strike-throwing has commanded the attention of the Sox. So, too, have the conversations between Winckowski and Whitlock — whose multi-innings bullpen role had a huge impact on the Red Sox in 2021.
“[Whitlock] has been huge for [Winckowski], kind of walking through the process and talking to him about how to attack hitters, routines, the role,” said manager Alex Cora. “That’s how Garrett started in ‘21 and you saw what happened. Hopefully that happens [with Winckowski], too.
“(Winckowski’s) stuff is a lot better compared to last year. He understands who he is and what he needs to do. With all that, he’s striking out people, which is different from last year.” Trio working way back
Righthander Bello — who was shut down briefly in February with elbow soreness — made his fourth game appearance in his buildup toward the season, throwing five innings and 72 pitches in an extended spring training game in Fort Myers, Fla. He’s expected to get at least one more rehab start next week, but could become an option for the big league rotation by the middle of the month.
Righthander Whitlock will start for Double A Portland on Thursday in what the Red Sox expect to be his final tuneup before joining the rotation next week in Tampa, likely on Tuesday. Lefthander Paxton, who threw three innings on Tuesday in Fort Myers, is scheduled to make his next rehab start on Sunday against Triple A Buffalo, should weather permit — a matter not taken for granted after Worcester’s games were postponed Tuesday and Wednesday. Paxton, who was slowed by a hamstring strain in spring training, has made a pair of starts in extended spring training, working two and three innings.
No theft protection
The Pirates executed an uncontested double-steal in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 4-1 win at Fenway Park with reliever Zack Kelly on the mound. Through six games, opponents are 14 for 14 in stolen base attempts against the Red Sox.
The Sox are the first team since the 1987 Expos to allow 14 steals while failing to catch a thief through six games. All 14 steals have occurred with Reese McGuire behind the plate.
“Obviously the running game, we’ve got to do a better job,” said Cora. Slow start bad omen?
The Red Sox have made the playoffs just three times when carrying a sub-.500 record after a half-dozen games — most recently in 2009. The Red Sox, of course, downplayed any broader significance of a lackluster record after two series.
“I guess we got off to a good start in the first few and these last few games didn’t go the way we would have liked them to. I don’t think anybody would disagree with that,” pitcher Corey Kluber said after the Sox were swept by the Pirates. “The one good thing about baseball is we have an opportunity tomorrow to come and right the ship and put these three behind us. Nothing that happened the last three days has any effect on the way we’re able to play the game tomorrow.” Story staying put
Shortstop Trevor Story will stay in Boston to continue his rehab during the team’s road trip. Now three months removed from the placement of an internal brace on his throwing elbow, Story recently began picking up a plyo ball as he moves closer to a throwing program … The Sox will be staying outside of the city during their three-game, four-day series in Detroit. Cora suggested the team might try to take advantage of the 30- to 40-minute commute. “[Bench coach Ramón Vázquez] was saying we’re going to have our advance meeting on the bus [Thursday],” said Cora. “I want to see that happen. to happen.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 6, 2023 4:09:12 GMT -5
'Bad decisions' come back to hurt as Sox swept by Bucs April 5th, 2023 Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
BOSTON -- For a moment, all the frustration of the day for the Red Sox was gone on what was initially ruled a game-tying three-run homer from pinch-hitter Reese McGuire in the seventh inning.
If that felt too good to be true for the hearty souls who braved the chilly air to be at Fenway Park on Wednesday afternoon, it turned out it was.
The umpires convened and decided it was a foul ball on the wrong side of Pesky’s Pole. The moment symbolized the irritation from not only a 4-1 defeat in the series finale vs. the Pirates, but also a three-game sweep, turning what started as a potentially promising season-opening homestand into one that moved Boston’s record to 2-4.
“We actually kind of practice that in BP, where we try to keep the ball fair there down by the foul pole and see if you can keep your backspin true so it doesn’t fade like that,” said McGuire. “When I made contact, I thought it was a tie ballgame, and it took a hard right turn at some point. It was definitely the highest of high excitement right there in the moment, and then it’s like, got to battle with two strikes.”
McGuire struck out to end the seventh inning with Boston still trailing by three.
What really came back to haunt the Red Sox on getaway day were two costly fielding mistakes in the top of the seventh inning, when the Pirates plated two insurance runs.
With a runner on second and no outs, Oneil Cruz hit a hard chopper to first baseman Triston Casas. The play for Casas was to step on first and take the out. Instead, he fired across the diamond, and Jason Delay beat the throw without sliding.
“If it's a one-hopper to him, oh yeah, he has it at third, but it wasn’t,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
Casas said he was anticipating the ball being hit to him and firing to third, because he felt his team needed a big play. What threw him off was the way the ball was hit.
“I think with the way it was chopped, it kind of moved my eyes a little bit from being able to have a feel for where that runner was, going from second to third,” Casas said. “I guess I didn't have a feel for where he was and should have tried to give it to [reliever Kaleb] Ort or tried to beat Cruz to the bag, looking back on it."
Then came the next mistake -- actually, two on the same play.
Bryan Reynolds lofted a fly ball to medium depth in left-center field. Given that Masataka Yoshida doesn’t have the strongest arm, it looked like a sacrifice fly off the bat.
Mistake No. 1: Yoshida should have thrown to second to prevent the runner from tagging up from first.
Mistake No. 2: Once Yoshida threw home, Rafael Devers needed to cut the throw off. Devers let the ball go through, and it went to the backstop. He then had to scramble to get back to third base to take the throw there, but he was too late and Cruz was safe after a collision.
Devers acknowledged after the game that catcher Connor Wong yelled “cut," but the third baseman said he didn’t hear his teammate over the crowd noise.
“We made two bad decisions,” said Cora.
Cora was asked about another key decision: lifting Corey Kluber. He made only 67 pitches over five strong innings, allowing three hits and one run in the best performance by a Boston starting pitcher through the first six games.
“We’re good right there,” said Cora. “We feel like that was good enough, where we were with the bullpen, bringing in [John] Schreiber. They scored one and they kept adding on, but that was good enough for us [from Kluber]. He did his job. Reynolds was coming up, and we have one of our best relievers coming up in that spot.” Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag. Get the latest from the Red Sox
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If the Red Sox had scored like they did in the first four games, pounding out 33 total runs, that line of questioning to the manager wouldn’t have even come up. But Boston’s bats went cold, starting in the second inning of Monday’s opener against the Pirates. The Sox scored three runs in the final 26 innings of the series sweep.
“When you are not scoring runs like the last two days, you’ve got to be on point,” said Cora. “Even when you score runs, you’ve got to play better defense. And I think we just make bad decisions. Overall, they kicked our butt. They came to Fenway Park, and they swept us.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 6, 2023 4:19:51 GMT -5
Good Morning Mr. Henry
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 7h #RedSox announced 24,477 as the attendance at Fenway today.
That's the smallest home crowd (outside of the 2020 + 2021 Covid seasons) since May 2, 2000 (22,897).
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