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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 18, 2023 18:25:59 GMT -5
Devers single makes it 1-0
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:10:06 GMT -5
Verdugo couldn't believe his knock won the game ... can you?
2:18 AM ADT
Ian Browne
Ian Browne
@ianmbrowne
BOSTON -- One of the zaniest nights you are likely to see at Fenway Park this season ended with delayed elation.
It was the bottom of the 10th inning and the Red Sox had already come back from two runs down to tie it. Alex Verdugo went for the parting shot to end the madness, a drive that curled down the line in right short of Pesky’s Pole, but off the side wall in right.
Was it fair or foul? It was just about impossible to tell in real time.
The Red Sox stood together on the dirt between first and second base and did what spectators at the ballpark and at home did. They watched the replay many times. At last, it was announced that the call on the field was upheld. The crazy game was over, and Boston beat Minnesota, 5-4.
“Every time we hit a ball down the right-field line, we say, ‘Pesky,'” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It kind of stayed true, like a golf shot. He thought it was going to be foul, and then you saw him running and they made the call. And we called [Red Sox replay coordinator] Mikey [Brenly] right away. And he's like, ‘Fair ball.’ And we call again. He's like, ‘Fair ball,’ and then we call again and he's screaming, ‘It’s a fair ball, game over, Trust me.’”
Brenly nailed it, and the Red Sox celebrated.
Verdugo wasn’t exactly 1975 Carlton Fisk with his body English, but he had similar thoughts.
“Stay fair,” Verdugo said. “I knew I made a good swing through it. Instead of hooking it [foul], I kind of brought that slice back to it. It fooled me like three times. I stopped, ran, stopped, ran, stopped. I was like, ‘That ball looks really foul.’ And then just as it went down, it just kept slicing, slicing, slicing, so [it was] just lucky.”
There is no denying the Red Sox had their share of fortune in this one. That furious final frame started with Kiké Hernández reaching base on a strikeout/wild pitch.
Prior to the climactic moment of Verdugo’s walk-off hit, a bunch of weird stuff happened on a night that Chris Sale’s vintage performance (six innings, one run, 11 strikeouts) got lost in the shuffle.
Here is a sampling.
Cora double switched and a pitcher pinch-ran
You weren’t seeing things in the bottom of the 10th inning when Kutter Crawford, fresh off of 6 1/3 innings of brilliant relief a day earlier, was deployed as the automatic runner at second base. Why did it happen? Because the Red Sox ran out of bench players on a night Christian Arroyo (right hamstring) wasn’t unavailable. Cora put Rob Refsnyder into the No. 9 spot in the order and Crawford into the cleanup spot. Masataka Yoshida had made the last out in the bottom of the ninth before Refsnyder replaced him on defense, which is why Crawford was the runner.
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Crawford avoided getting injured. In fact, he scored on Reese McGuire’s equalizing two-run single with one out in the 10th.
“When they called my name in the bullpen, I couldn't believe it,” Crawford said. “I asked [bullpen coach Kevin Walker], ‘Are you serious? Like me?’ He said, ‘Yeah get your legs loose, you’re pinch-running, and I said, ‘All right, well, here we go.’”
Hernández joked to Crawford that he should have asked to take home plate with him as a souvenir, being that it was his first career run scored.
Catcher’s interference … sort of
The Red Sox came from behind on Saturday in part because the Angels had two catcher’s interference plays in the same inning.
Somehow, it happened again on Tuesday in the bottom of the eighth, with Boston trailing by a run. And as was the case on Saturday, McGuire was the one who was interfered with by a fellow catcher -- this time Christian Vázquez. McGuire got enough of the baseball to awkwardly chop it to third base. Knowing it was interference, McGuire stopped running. That confused the Twins. Third baseman Jose Miranda made a nonchalant throw across the diamond, and first baseman Donovan Solano fielded it short of the bag, thinking it was a dead ball.
Meanwhile, Hernández kept running, going first to third on the play. The ball stays live on catcher’s interference, and the team that gets interfered with has the option of playing on or accepting the interference. The Red Sox played on. Everybody was safe. Hernández narrowly scored on a fielder’s choice to Jarren Duran in which Vázquez dropped the throw.
“Obviously, it wasn’t perfect overall but it was a big league W,” Cora said.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:11:23 GMT -5
Injuries & Moves: Arroyo (hamstring) out 'a few days'
April 18th, 2023
April 18: 2B Christian Arroyo out with right hamstring tightness
Arroyo felt his right hamstring cramp up on him while running out a grounder in the sixth inning of Monday's loss. He stayed in the game until Alex Verdugo pinch-hit for him in the ninth. However, the Red Sox did not put him in the lineup on Tuesday due to what manager Alex Cora referred to as tightness. Cora added his second baseman could be out "a few days." It is unlikely Arroyo will be in the lineup during this three-game series against the Twins that started Tuesday. Perhaps Arroyo will be back Friday night in Milwaukee for the start of a six-game road trip. Cora said he didn't think the inury would require an IL stint.
Kiké Hernández, who typically plays shortstop or center field, played second base in place of Arroyo on Tuesday. Yu Chang started at short with Jarren Duran in center.
April 18: LHP James Paxton to make bulk-inning rehab outing
Paxton will try a different role as he continues his rehab assignment on Wednesday at Triple-A, pitching five innings in relief after Worcester deploys an opener. The Red Sox are already using a six-man rotation this week, so the rotation will be even more crowded when Paxton returns.
"It's just a matter of, just let him try it, he's never done it," manager Alex Cora said. "So that's something everybody's doing around baseball. Kind of like, why not try it once? You never know what can happen. He can come as a starter here or maybe in September, he might have to come out of the bullpen. We haven't made decisions yet. But I think it's good for him to get at least one trial [run] of that."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:15:22 GMT -5
Chris Sale strikes out 11, Red Sox get wacky comeback win over Twins, 5-4, in extra innings
Updated: Apr. 19, 2023, 2:15 a.m.|Published: Apr. 18, 2023, 10:27 p.m.
By
Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
BOSTON -- Tuesday’s Red Sox-Twins game may need some Pedialyte in the morning.
Boston came back to win, 5-4, in a game that included a wacky catcher’s interference call, a rare late double switch and a pitcher pinch-running in 10 wild innings. Early on, Chris Sale looked like his vintage self, striking out 11 batters in six strong innings. After allowing two runs in the top of the 10th, the Sox plated three to come back and win in the bottom half, claiming victory on a strangely placed Alex Verdugo RBI single that barely snuck into fair territory and scraped the right field wall.
Before the madness, Sale came out with his best stuff of the season and dominated Minnesota’s hitters early. The first seven outs he recorded came on strikeouts and he had eight through four innings. Behind him, the Sox’ offense opened the scoring almost immediately in the first. Verdugo doubled to lead off the inning then scored on a Rafael Devers single to put Boston up, 1-0.
Sale and Twins starter Sonny Gray exchanged zeroes through the fourth, but spotty command from Sale (a single, hit-by-pitch and walk) loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth. Sale struck out Donovan Solano, then allowed a run when Carlos Correa drove a sacrifice fly to left field. Boston avoided further damage when Sale ended the inning with a Byron Buxton grounder; the lefty departed after six innings, having allowed just one run on three hits.
Shortly after Sale exited the game, Max Kepler, who entered the game hitting just .091 (2-for-22) on the young season, launched a 1-0 Josh Winckowski slider into the Twins’ bullpen to give Minnesota the advantage in the seventh. The ball traveled 385 feet with an exit velocity of 102.9 mph.
With the help of a bizarre sequence, the Red Sox evened things in the eighth. Kiké Hernández singled, then hustled from first to third on a catcher’s interference that the Red Sox chose to keep (a live ball instead of a dead ball) when Reese McGuire grounded to first. With runners on the corners, Jarren Duran hit a high chopper that second baseman Nick Gordon fielded and threw home but Hernández beat the throw (as the ball fell out of Christian Vázquez’s glove).
Closers Kenley Jansen and Jhoan Duran exchanged 1-2-3 ninth innings before the Twins took advantage of a wild John Schreiber in the 10th. Schreiber hit Solano with a pitch, then walked Correa before Byron Buxton made it 3-2 with a sacrifice fly. Minnesota went up, 4-2, on a José Miranda RBI groundout.
Boston battled back immediately in the bottom of the 10th. With pitcher Kutter Crawford pinch-running at second (yes, really), Hernández reached first on a wild pitch on a strikeout, Triston Casas walked and McGuire tied the game with a two-run single to right. After a double play, Verdugo lifted a high pop-up that scraped the wall. After review, it was ruled a fair ball and a Red Sox win.
The Sox outhit the Twins, 12-4. Boston left 13 runners on base and was just 5-for-20 with runners in scoring position.
Verdugo leads offense
Verdugo had a great all-around plate at the night, going 3-for-5 with a walk, a run and an RBI. He’s now hitting .348 this season, primarily out of the leadoff spot.
Devers, Justin Turner and Duran each chipped in two hits. Casas had a particularly rough night, striking out in each of his first four plate appearances.
Wacky occurrences dominate late innings
With a short bench due to Christian Arroyo’s hamstring injury, Sox manager Alex Cora had to get creative. By moving Turner to second base after pinch-hitting for shortstop Yu Chang (and moving Hernández to short) late, the Red Sox burned the designated hitter and had to insert a pitcher in their lineup. After putting Rob Refsnyder in left field for Masataka Yoshida in the 10th as part of a double switch, the Sox had to use a pitcher, Crawford (who threw 6 ⅓ innings Monday), as a pinch-runner (the ghost runner) in the 10th.
Kluber has middle game Wednesday
Right-hander Corey Kluber (0-3, 6.92 ERA) is slated to take the hill for the Red Sox in the second game of the series Tuesday after an uneven performance last time out against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Right-hander Joe Ryan (3-0, 2.84 ERA) will get the ball for Minnesota.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:16:46 GMT -5
Red Sox’s Chris Sale on 11-strikeout start: ‘It’s who I expect to be. It’s who I need to be’
Published: Apr. 19, 2023, 3:20 a.m.
By
Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
BOSTON -- The Red Sox entered 2023 hoping they’d get some glimpses of vintage Chris Sale throughout the regular season. They got one Tuesday night.
Sale struck out 11 Twins over six strong innings in Boston’s wacky 5-4 extra-innings win, holding Minnesota to one run and three hits on 94 pitches. The lefty’s best start of the season came after three duds to open it; Sale entered his fourth outing with an 11.25 ERA in the first three.
Tuesday was a different story — and Sale knew it.
“It’s who I expect to be. It’s who I need to be,” Sale said. “It hasn’t been fun going out there throwing batting practice. That’s for sure. I know who I need to be for this team and what that’s gonna take. I can’t be who I was. I’ve got to be who I was tonight and I’ve got to continue to build off of that.”
Sale started his outing by racking up Ks, recording his first six outs on swinging strikeouts. With the Sox clinging to a 1-0 lead after a Rafael Devers RBI single in the first, Sale cruised through the fourth, having allowed just three baserunners while striking out eight. He ran into his biggest trouble of the night in the fifth, loading the bases with no outs with a walk, hit-by-pitch and single. But he bounced back and limited the damage, allowing just one run on a Carlos Correa sacrifice fly that tied the game.
“Bases loaded, no outs and he had, as he said a few years ago, that F-U mentality,” said manager Alex Cora. “Like, ‘Let’s go. This is my game and I’m going to keep it in check.’ And he did.”
Sale punctuated his night with two more strikeouts in the sixth and finished with 11, his highest total since he punched out seven batters in his final start of the 2019 season (Aug. 13) against Cleveland. For Cora, there was a slight temptation to let the lefty keep pitching. But this early in the season, the manager decided six largely dominant innings were plenty.
“There’s no words... Fastball was good, breaking ball was good, changeup was great,” Cora said. “He probably had a little bit more in the tank but it’s probably too soon to let it go.
Sale’s command was all over the place in his first three outings as he tried to regain his feel for pitching after missing almost the entirety of 2022. Walks (7 in 12 innings) piled up along with hard contact (5 homers). He spent the days since his last start against the Rays working on repeating a consistent delivery and said he worked off the mound more between outings than he ever had in his career. The first step was regaining his fastball command. On Tuesday, he got nine swings-and-misses on the pitch. Only one ball hit off him (a Kyle Garlick flyout) was hit harder than 96 mph.
“That has been the biggest thing,” Sale said. “Consistency comes with my delivery and the consistency that comes with my delivery. If I can keep that under control and keep repeating that as much as I can, it helps everything, but you’re going to throw more fastballs than any other pitch in the game. I have to have that. I can’t leave that over the middle.”
He credited his mound work for his success.
“That’s where the success comes from,” he said. “I just need reps. I need to get off the mound. I need to feel more comfortable. Just being more consistent. This is a game of consistency and making adjustments and those are two things I desperately needed to make.”
For Sale, who was particularly downtrodden after three rough outings to start the year, Tuesday represented a large step forward. He cautioned that it’s only one start, just like his bad outings only counted as one start each. But it’s clear the 34-year-old was excited that everything came together for him on the mound. Those around him were happy to heap high praise onto Sale.
“I know, inside, a lot of people are smiling,” Cora said. “It’s not about the Red Sox or whatever. It’s about a guy who has taken his hits the last few years. He has been very upfront about it and he has worked so hard to get to this point. He has been saying he’s getting close. We’ve been talking about getting close. I still believe Cinco de Mayo’s the day (Sale takes off). But that was fun to watch.
“It’s always good when you see your horse like that going out there and making adjustments,” outfielder Alex Verdugo added. “This is his first full season for a while now. It has been a while now. He’s got some normality here. You knew there was going to be some pains and some growing from just getting out there on an everyday basis.
“But that’s a guy I have full confidence in and our team does,” Verdugo said. We’re looking forward to seeing more Sale like tonight.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:18:30 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats
@redsoxstats
·
8h
The Red Sox are averaging 3.96 runs per 9 innings in the 9 games since Duvall got hurt, they were scoring 6.6 per game in 9 games with him.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:25:07 GMT -5
Upon review, nobody at Fenway Park had ever seen anything like that game
By Peter Abraham Globe Staff,Updated April 19, 2023, 12:30 a.m.
Kiké Hernández has played 1,645 games in professional baseball over the last 15 years. There’s not much he hasn’t experienced.
Or so he thought.
“I’ve never seen a game like that,” Hernández said after the Red Sox scored three runs in the 10th inning to beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4, on Tuesday night.
Has anybody?
A pitcher, Kutter Crawford, scored the first run of the home half of the inning. The winning run scored on a two-out, two-strike single by Alex Verdugo, but it took two minutes to become official because of a replay review.
Once the celebration ended, Verdugo did a live postgame interview on NESN and dropped two f-bombs.
“That’s Dugie, so of course he did,” Crawford said. “But as long as we won the game.”
There may not be a more unusual game-winning rally this season.
The Twins scored two runs off John Schreiber in the top of the inning to take a 4-2 lead.
Because the Sox gave up their designated hitter earlier in the game, Schreiber was batting fourth and would have been the automatic runner at second base.
Manager Alex Cora replaced him with Crawford, who was a two-way player in junior college.
“That was in 2016,” he said. “I haven’t run the bases since then. But I had a general idea of what I was supposed to do.”
Garrett Whitlock joked later that he should have gotten the call.
“I had a hit two years ago,” he said. “But maybe Kutter is faster.”
With Crawford at second, Hernández struck out facing Jovani Moran but reached first on a wild pitch. Crawford, no Rickey Henderson, stayed planted at second.
Triston Casas, who had struck out his previous four times, drew a walk to load the bases. Reese McGuire came through with a single to left field and two runs scored.
Jarren Duran singled and Casas went to third. Rob Refsnyder followed with a grounder to third. Jose Miranda chased down Casas for one out then fired to first for the second.
“I’ve never seen that double play with Miranda in my life,” Cora said.
Verdugo then dropped a fly down the right field line. The ball seemed to be curving foul but stayed inside the Pesky Pole and dropped on the warning track a few feet beyond.
As any good Red Sox fan knows, that’s a fair ball. First base umpire Tripp Gibson made the right call as did the fans in the vicinity. But Twins manager Rocco Baldelli asked for a review as the light show started at Fenway.
As everybody waited and the lights came back on, crew chief Mark Carlson announced that the call stood and the celebration started again.
“A lot of stuff, crazy stuff, in that game,” Cora said.
Hernández had another heads-up baserunning play in the eighth inning.
He was on first base when McGuire tapped a ball to the left side. As Miranda made a throw to first, Hernández reached second and took off for third.
First baseman Donovan Solano came off the bag to field Miranda’s throw and everybody was safe. Turns out everybody would have been safe regardless because McGuire’s bat came in contact with the glove of catcher Christian Vázquez and catcher’s interference had been called.
Under the rules, the Sox had the choice to take the interference call or the play. They took the play as it put Hernández on third.
“I had no idea there was catcher’s interference,” Hernández said. “I just took off.”
Hernández then scored on a fielder’s choice.
“Just a lot of weird things. But they worked out for us,” he said.
Vázquez, who spent eight seasons with the Sox, was playing at Fenway Park for the first time as a visitor.
The Sox played a tribute video for him in the second inning and he tipped his helmet to the crowd in appreciation and patted his heart. By the end, like everybody else, he was wondering what had happened.
“Strange game,” Vázquez said. “But that happens [at Fenway] sometimes.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:26:52 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Alex Verdugo finally back in the swing of things
By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated April 19, 2023, 12:04 a.m.
Early into Tuesday’s contest with the Twins, Alex Verdugo continued to do what he has done best: hit.
In the bottom of the first inning, Verdugo laced a leadoff double into the gap against Sonny Gray and would ultimately come around to score on Rafael Devers’s single. It was the first of three hits on the night — the biggest being a walkoff single in the 10th that delivered a 5-4 victory.
After the win, marked by a 3-for-5 performance from Verdugo that included a walk, the Sox right fielder is now hitting .348/.416/.464 with a homer and an .880 OPS.
“It’s a different guy,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before the game. “Last year, he went a different route.
“I hate to compare you guys, but he was kind of similar to [Andrew] Benintendi going into 2019, they wanted to hit for power, and they don’t need to do that. They’re good players. The power will come.”
Verdugo produced just 11 homers last year, and although he hit .280, Verdugo admitted during spring training that was below his standards. He envisions himself more so as a .300 hitter.
So, what’s changed? According to Verdugo, it’s simple: Think up the middle to left-center.
“I’m just kind of working to my strengths and I’m doing what I’ve always done in my career that I feel like sometimes you run away from it, you get away from it,” Verdugo said. “But I found that just staying inside the ball and trying to go the other way, for me, is a lot more beneficial.”
When he thinks that way, it gets his body in the right position, keeping everything in a straight line. And if he’s fooled on a pitch and his body happens to move forward, his hands are still back, still giving him the ability to drive the ball with authority.
Last season, Verdugo pulled off on pitches, resulting in weak ground balls mainly to the right side.
Verdugo’s launch angle (lift on his swing) has taken a jump, too, but he doesn’t necessarily apply that to his evolution, though the numbers say he has. Again, simply put, he’s just on time with his swing.
“I’m not trying to hit a ball up,” Verdugo said. “I feel like I get on the plane with the ball and sometimes if it beats you, you hit the top of the ball. If you’re early you hit the bottom of the ball. Sometimes before, I was a little bit late.”
The inside-out approach of Verdugo’s played into his walkoff single. The ball stayed fair, just short of the Pesky Pole, and just north of the yellow foul line that absorbs the padded wall in right.
“I stayed inside of it,” said Verdugo. “Instead of hooking it, I kind of brought that slice back to it.”
More work for Paxton
James Paxton (hamstring) will make his third rehab appearance for Worcester on Wednesday. Paxton will begin in the second inning and is scheduled to go five innings.
“He’s never done it,” Cora said regarding Paxton coming out of the bullpen. “So that’s something everybody’s doing around baseball. Like, why not try it once?”
Paxton has made 240 appearances in pro ball since 2010, 238 of them as a starter. His last relief appearance was in 2013 as a member of the Mariners’ Triple A affiliate, the Tacoma Rainiers.
He last pitched in the big leagues April 6, 2021, for the Mariners. It was his only appearance of the season. The year before, he pitched in five games for the Yankees.
The Sox will have a six-man rotation this week. Tanner Houck remains in the rotation, but will likely shift to the bullpen now that Brayan Bello is part of the mix. When Paxton returns, the logical thought is that Nick Pivetta will move to the bullpen. But the Sox have just one lefty, Richard Bleier, in their bullpen, with Joely Rodriguez on the injured list (oblique strain).
“Maybe in September, [Paxton] might have to come out of the bullpen,” Cora said. “We haven’t made decisions yet. But I think it’s good for him to get at least one try at this.”
Honoring the champs
The Quinnipiac men’s hockey team, which recently won the NCAA Division 1 national championship, was welcomed to Fenway during Tuesday’s pregame ceremonies. Head coach Rand Pecknold threw out the first pitch . . . Christian Arroyo missed Tuesday’s game because of hamstring tightness. Kiké Hernández replaced him at second, making his first start of the season at the position. Although the team doesn’t view Arroyo’s injury as serious, Cora said there’s a strong possibility he will be held out of this series as a precaution. The plan is for Arroyo to be back in the lineup for Friday’s series opener in Milwaukee.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 4:31:26 GMT -5
Twins @ Red Sox
Wednesday 19th April 2023
7pm @ Fenway
Ryan 3-0/ 2.84
Kluber 0-3/6.92
Twins ready to show Red Sox improved Joe Ryan
FLM
Right-hander Joe Ryan led the Minnesota Twins in victories, strikeouts and innings pitched last season, but the Boston Red Sox will be facing an even better version of Ryan when they host the Twins at home Wednesday night.
Ryan entered the 2023 season armed with two new pitches: He tinkered with his slider, and added a split-finger pitch that he can use like a changeup.
So far it appears that adding to his arsenal was worth the effort. In three starts this season Ryan is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA. He has 26 strikeouts and three walks in 19 innings. He finished last season with team-best totals of 13 wins, 151 strikeouts and 147 innings pitched.
"It just opens up a lot of doors,' Ryan told the Minneapolis Star Tribune of his additional pitches earlier this year. "That's the biggest thing. I have the fastball and I can go to a couple of other weapons, too. And then we can throw the fastball a ton if we want. We can throw changes, we can throw the slider, we can throw the curveball. We can throw whatever we want. ... Just opening doors and having options is a good thing."
Things haven't gone nearly as well this season for Corey Kluber, who is scheduled to oppose Ryan on Wednesday. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 6.92 ERA this season, his first with Boston. He's allowed 10 runs, including four home runs, in 13 innings.
Kluber, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, is hoping to regain the form he had earlier in his career, much like Chris Sale did in Boston's 5-4, 10-inning triumph over Minnesota on Tuesday night in the first game of the three-game series.
Sale, who has dealt with multiple injuries during the last four seasons, limited Minnesota to one run in six innings and struck out 11. It was the first time he had at least 10 strikeouts in a game since the 2019 season.
"This is who I expect to be," Sale said following Tuesday's win. "It's who I need to be for this team. I can't be who I was. It doesn't stop now. It's just one start like all the other ones. This is going to continue to take a lot of work to get back to where I was and I'm prepared for it."
Boston scored three runs in the bottom of the 10th inning Tuesday after the Twins grabbed a 4-2 lead in the top half of the inning. Alex Verdugo came through with the game-winning hit, a two-out single in the 10th. Verdugo had three hits in the win to raise his batting average to .348 this season.
"It was a team win, a team fight," Verdugo said. "That bottom of the 10th had a lot of clutch at-bats. I'm just happy to seal the deal."
Before Tuesday's loss, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said that outfielder Joe Gallo will likely come off the injured list before Wednesday's game and could play against the Red Sox. Gallo was placed on the injured list with a minor right intercostal strain retroactive to April 8 last week.
Gallo has homered three times in seven games this season (18 at-bats).
--Field Level Media
Twins
at
Red Sox
Wednesday, at 7:10 PM EST
Partly Cloudy
It's expected to be 52° F with a 0% chance of precipitation and 14 MPH wind blowing left to right in Boston at 7:10 PM EST.
Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Apr 19, 2023 9:13:15 GMT -5
Sale getting thru 1 unscathed is good
Dugo leading off with a 2B is good You can't always tell from the uniform, but Verdugo looks 10-15 pounds skinnier. |
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Apr 19, 2023 9:27:13 GMT -5
Great win, but when you have 12 hits and three walks, and they have 4 hits and 4 walks, we shouldn't be relying on a 9th inning rally.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 10:25:09 GMT -5
Chris Hatfield
Per his Instagram, it appears Enmanuel Valdez is getting called up to Boston. He reposted a congratulations post by his agent
BillKoch25
Bill Koch @billkoch25
7m
This feels like Christian Arroyo (hamstring) to the IL. Red Sox have yet to make any formal announcement, but this would be a call to the minors for some infield depth.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 10:38:18 GMT -5
Game 19: Twins at Red Sox lineups and pregame notesBy Matt Pepin Globe Staff,Updated April 19, 2023, 2 hours ago The Red Sox rallied in extra innings Tuesday to beat the Twins and even their record at 9-9, but they remain in last place in the American League East. They also face a big challenge Wednesday at Fenway Park. Righthander Joe Ryan led the Twins in victories, strikeouts, and innings pitched last season, and now the Red Sox are facing an even better version of him after he added two pitches in the offseason. He tinkered with his slider and added a split-finger pitch he can use like a changeup. In three starts this season, Ryan is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA. He has 26 strikeouts and three walks in 19 innings. “It just opens up a lot of doors,” Ryan told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “That’s the biggest thing. I have the fastball and I can go to a couple of other weapons, too. And then we can throw the fastball a ton if we want. “We can throw changes, we can throw the slider, we can throw the curveball. We can throw whatever we want. ... Just opening doors and having options is a good thing.” Here is a preview of Wednesday’s game. Lineups TWINS (10-7): 1. Max Kepler (L) RF 2. Carlos Correa (R) SS 3. Byron Buxton (R) DH 4. Trevor Larnach (L) LF 5. Edouard Julien (L) 2B 6. Jose Miranda (R) 3B 7. Joey Gallo (L) 1B 8. Ryan Jeffers (R) C 9. Michael A. Taylor (R) CF Pitching: RHP Joe Ryan (3-0, 2.84 ERA) RED SOX (9-9): 1. Alex Verdugo (L) RF 2. Raimel Tapia (L) CF 3. Justin Turner (R) DH 4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B 5. Enrique Hernandez (R) SS 6. Reese McGuire (L) C 7. Triston Casas (L) 1B 8. Jarren Duran (L) LF 9. Enmanuel Valdez (L) 2B Pitching: RHP Corey Kluber (0-3, 6.92 ERA) Time: 7:10 p.m. TV, radio: NESN+, WEEI-FM 93.7 Twins vs. Kluber: Byron Buxton 2-11, Willi Castro 2-6, Carlos Correa 4-22, Nick Gordon 0-2, Max Kepler 3-18, Trevor Larnach 0-2, Christian Vázquez 2-16 Red Sox vs. Ryan: Rafael Devers 1-6, Kiké Hernández 1-6, Justin Turner 2-3, Alex Verdugo 2-5 Stat of the day: Alex Verdugo is eighth in MLB in hits with 24. Toronto’s Bo Bichette and Philadelphia’s Bryson Scott are tied for the lead with 29. Notes: Red Sox starter Corey Kluber has allowed 10 runs, including four home runs, in 13 innings ... 14 of the Sox’ first 18 games have been decided by 3 runs or fewer ... The Sox are 3-4 in one-run games ... Sox third baseman Rafael Devers has 6 home runs and 15 RBIs in his last 10 games ... In six appearances, Sox closer Kenley Jansen has not allowed a run ... Before Tuesday’s loss, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said outfielder Joe Gallo will likely come off the injured list before Wednesday’s game and could play against the Red Sox. Gallo was placed on the injured list with a minor right intercostal strain retroactive to April 8 last week. He has homered three times in seven games this season.
Song of the Day: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Cold Shot www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ou-WIxfLYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2ou-WIxfLY
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 15:03:08 GMT -5
Red Sox make 3 roster moves: Pitcher outrighted to Worcester, Yu Chang to paternity leave
Updated: Apr. 19, 2023, 2:51 p.m.|Published: Apr. 19, 2023, 2:50 p.m.
By
BOSTON — The Red Sox made three roster moves Wednesday.
They promoted prospect Enmanuel Valdez from Triple-A Worcester. Valdez will have a brief stint here with Boston as he is taking Yu Chang’s roster spot. The Red Sox placed Chang on paternity leave.
The Red Sox also outrighted right-handed pitcher Jake Faria to Worcester. Faria cleared waivers after Boston designated him for assignment Monday to open a roster spot for Brayan Bello.
The 24-year-old Valdez, who Boston acquired in the Christian Vázquez trade last August, will make his major league debut Wednesday vs. the Twins. He’s batting ninth and playing second base.
He plays multiple positions but has made all 11 of his starts at second base this season for Worcester. He is just 7-for-39 (.179) with a .289 on-base percentage, .333 slugging percentage, one homer, three doubles, three runs, six RBIs, six walks and 15 strikeouts in 11 games. He delivered three clutch hits, including a walkoff single Saturday.
Valdez, a Dominican Republic native, batted .296 with a .376 on-base percentage, .542 slugging percentage, .918 OPS, 28 homers, 35 doubles, two triples, 107 RBIs, 92 runs, 64 walks, 124 strikeouts and eight stolen bases in 126 games between Double A and Triple A last season. In addition to
“He can hit,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said back in spring training. “This kid, he can hit. He controls the strike zone. He can hit. So we’ll try to help him defensively. More comfortable at second than other places. Both of them, Abreu and Valdez, they control the strike zone. They do damage in the strike zone. I’m excited to see them.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Apr 19, 2023 15:05:37 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo
@chriscotillo
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2m
Zack Kelly will have elbow surgery. Not Tommy John but a reattachment of the ulnar nerve. Unclear if he will pitch again this year but Cora says he’s out “for a while.”
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