Red Sox @ Padres Game Thread/ 19th-21rst May 2023

Pete Abraham
@peteabe
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3h

Sox (25-20) open a nine-game road trip with their third consecutive victory.

Padres (20-25) have lost 7 of 8 and 10 of 12.

Devers was 2 for 4 with 2 HRs and 3 RBI.

Paxton (1-0) and Winckowski allowed 5 hits and retired 15 of the last 16 hitters.

RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Xander Bogaerts admits weirdness in reunion, but has already made Red Sox pay
By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated May 19, 2023, 8:41 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers remain close friends despite now playing on separate teams and coasts. The two speak every day, and aheead of their series at Petco Park, got together for dinner Thursday.

Devers had to pay.

“You know what’s crazy, I forgot my wallet at home,” Bogaerts said Friday, ahead of the first game of a three-game set against his former club. “I’m not even kidding. I came to the ballpark. I thought I left it here.”

The missing wallet ended up being at Bogaerts’s home, clearing some of his angst. During the Padres’ most recent series against the Dodgers, the team traveled by bus, and Bogaerts forgot that he put his wallet in his bag to ensure that it wouldn’t fall out of his pocket.


“I’m like ‘Listen, man, you gotta pick this up,’ ” said Bogaerts. “I don’t even have a dollar, not even for a meter.”


The two have their fair share of dollars, with Devers signing an extension north of $300 million last offseason and Bogaerts agreeing to an 11-year, $280 million contract last December to join the Padres.

Recently, manager Alex Cora said that the Red Sox were Devers’s team. Bogaerts couldn’t agree more.

“I think he’s just a perfect, perfect guy and the perfect person for that,” Bogaerts said. “He’s a bad man. He’s very dangerous when he’s up there.”

He knows Devers can make him pay in a different way.

“We know his defense is getting better every year and he wants to improve,” Bogaerts said. “But the bat is where he will make you pay big time.”

Bogaerts said there are emotions tied to this weekend for him. He even called it a little weird, sitting in the opposing dugout and facing the team who he helped win two World Series.



“There are a lot of people who helped me throughout my career, my path. And they also helped me grow as a person,” he said. “The fans, they showed up every day and expected you to perform and if you didn’t, they let you know.”

Bogaerts has moved on, however. He’s grown up, trying to help these Padres, fourth in the National League West at 20-24, out of their rut. Bogaerts came into Friday hitting .275 with six homers and an .806 OPS, but still doesn’t feel quite like himself, batting just .211 in his last 15 games.

Eventually, he will go on a run, as will his team. He’s confident in that. And as for Devers requesting reimbursement for dinner?

“No. He can’t do that,” Bogaerts said. “He has a nice setup.”
Manny Machado goes on injured list

Padres slugger Manny Machado was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a hairline fracture in his left hand suffered when he was hit by a pitch Monday.

The move was backdated to Tuesday and manager Bob Melvin said there’s a possibility Machado can return when the Padres play at the New York Yankees next weekend.

“It’s getting better, but we’ve got an off day coming up, we didn’t feel like he could play this weekend, [and] we can backdate it three,” Melvin said before Friday’s series opener. “That’s not something you want to push on top of that. He’s a guy that can play in pain; we saw it last year. We just want to get ahead of this thing and hope he’s 100 percent when we get to New York.”

Like the rest of the superstar-studded Padres lineup, Machado is struggling, hitting just .231 with five homers and 19 RBIs. He was an All-Star each of the last two seasons and was runner-up in National League MVP voting last year.

The Padres also placed righthander Seth Lugo on the 15-day IL with a right calf strain.
Deeper relief

Nick Pivetta moving to a reliever role and Kutter Crawford‘s return Friday from the injured list (hamstring) gives the bullpen a bit more definition. Cora said the two additions, utilizing both Crawford and Pivetta in a multi-inning role alongside Josh Winckowski, will help amplify the club’s ability to mix and match.

“We have a good crew back there,” Cora said. “We can mix and match different types of pitches. [Pivetta’s] four-seamer with the curveball. Obviously, Kutter with his five pitches. Winckowski with the sinker. Hopefully it works out.”

The Sox still have one more bullpen decision when Garrett Whitlock (right elbow neuritis) returns. He is scheduled to make his second, and perhaps his final, rehab appearance Sunday.
Trade made

The Red Sox traded Greg Allen, who signed as a minor-league free agent in January and who was playing outfield at Triple A Worcester, to the Yankees for 18-year-old righthander Diego Hernández and cash considerations. Allen had an upward mobility clause which allowed him to join another club if an immediate big-league opportunity presented itself elsewhere and the Sox had no plans to promote him. Allen hit .250/.407/.388 in 37 games for the WooSox, and was a perfect 23-for-23 on stolen bases. He has played in parts of six seasons in the big leagues with four teams. A part of Allen’s departure: The Red Sox signed outfielder Bradley Zimmer to a minor league deal Friday. Zimmer, who also has played in parts of six major league seasons, was 1 for 13 in 23 appearances for the Blue Jays this season . . . San Diego third base coach Matt Williams returned to the Padres for the first time since receiving a colon cancer diagnosis in early March. He underwent surgery on March 31, and is in the midst of chemotherapy . . . Justin Turner left Friday night’s game with left knee soreness following the bottom of the fourth inning. Turner, who was playing first base, had a walk and a strikeout when Triston Casas pinch hit for him to begin the fifth.

Christopher Smith
@smittyonmlb
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46m
Xander Bogaerts has gone 5-for-12 with a homer, two walks and two strikeouts in his career vs. Red Sox lefty Chris Sale.

Red Sox’s Kiké Hernández makes ‘big-time’ sliding play with pop-up throw


By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
SAN DIEGO — Red Sox shortstop Kiké Hernández ranged to his right, slid, fielded Fernando Tatís Jr.’s groundball in the hole, popped up and fired a one-hopper from the outfield grass to first baseman Triston Casas for the final out of the third inning.

“He had two of them, two big plays,” Red Sox starter Chris Sale said.

Hernández also ended the seventh inning with a strong play to his right on José Azócar’s grounder. The shortstop helped the Red Sox win 4-2 over the Padres here at Petco Park on Saturday.


Sale said he would not have made it through 7 innings (he finished with 111 pitches) if it wasn’t for those plays.


“Those are two big plays that just kind of shut it down,” Sale said. “Bad throw or if it gets through or whatever, that obviously extends the inning and I probably don’t finish the seventh inning without those two plays being made. So those are obviously big-time.”

Hernández broke down the first sliding play and what went through his mind as he ranged into the hole and threw from the outfield grass.

“I think as you’re going after the ball, figuring out as you’re reading it if you’re going to slide for it to do a pop-up throw or if you’re going to try to stay on your feet and put on the breaks,” Hernández said. “I can get the most out of my throw by doing what I did, which is sliding, popping up and throwing as quickly as I could.”


Hernández had eight errors in his first 28 games but he has just one error in his past 13 games dating back to May 2. He looks much more confident.

“It’s no secret that I was struggling at the beginning,” Hernández said. “For me, struggling defensively is something that I’ve never really gone through. So things were kind of snowballing. I didn’t know how to go about it. It was something new to me. And I just stepped back and tried to play in slo mo almost. Not trying to rush anything. Just play and be myself and have fun.”

Back on April 9, Manager Alex Cora said he felt Hernández was playing shortstop “very robotic.” He wanted Hernández to slow it down, play free and use his athleticism. Cora is seeing that now.

“He played some great shortstop today,” Cora said. “He’s been playing good shortstop for the last three weeks. Just moving fast and playing as an athlete. His arm plays there. Just a matter of slowing him down on a few plays. But I think overall, the last few weeks have been solid.”

What Red Sox identified with Garrett Whitlock that should help in return
Published: May. 20, 2023, 9:25 p.m.

By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
SAN DIEGO —Garrett Whitlock (right elbow ulnar neuritis) will make his second rehab start for Triple-A Worcester on Sunday. He’s expected to pitch 4-5 innings. He then likely will be activated from the 15-day injured list to start one of Boston’s three games in Arizona next weekend.

Boston will play the Diamondbacks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Chase Field.

The Red Sox identified Whitlock’s changeup as a pitch that he needs to be adjusted.


“The changeup I think got away from him for a while there,” manager Alex Cora said. “It was actually too hard so we’re making adjustments and I think it’s getting back to the changeup he used early in his career, ‘21. If we can get that one, I think we’re going to be fine.”


Whitlock’s changeup was dominant during his rookie season in 2021. The pitch averaged 83.1 mph and opponents were just 10-for-54 (.185) with one homer and one double against it.


This year, his changeup has averaged 84.9 mph (per Baseball Savant) and opponents are 8-for-20 (.400) with two homers and three doubles against it.

“Velocity is harder now and the action is a little bit different,” Cora said. “We noticed that actually in Milwaukee before this whole thing happened. We were talking about it. And we were able to make adjustments. Obviously he had time to work on it. And he felt really, really good about the changeup in the last one.”

Whitlock will meet the Red Sox in Anaheim after his rehab start in Worcester on Sunday. Boston plays the Angels on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Cora expects Whitlock to be active for Boston’s three-game series in Arizona beginning Friday.