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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 5:51:07 GMT -5
Red Sox cough up three-run lead as bullpen implodes in loss to Dodgers
Updated: Aug. 25, 2023, 10:24 p.m.|Published: Aug. 25, 2023, 10:12 p.m.
By
Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com
BOSTON — The Red Sox mostly kept Mookie Betts in check as their former star returned to Fenway Park for the first time since being dealt away better than three years ago.
They weren’t so lucky with his teammates: Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy.
Freeman and Muncy combined for six hits and four RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers erased an early 3-0 deficit and took the first game of a weekend interleague series, 7-4.
Trailing by two in the bottom of the eighth, the Sox had two on and two out when Alex Verdugo contributed his third hit of the night, a sharp single to right. But Connor Wong, inserted into the game as a pinch-runner, took too big a turn rounding second and was caught in an inning-ending rundown, taking the Red Sox out of a big scoring chance.
The Dodgers then tacked on a big insurance run in the top of the ninth.
Reliever Nick Pivetta had his worst relief outing of the season, charged with four of the seven runs. Two inherited runners also scored against him.
With the game tied 3-3 in the seventh, Pivetta invited trouble by walking two of the first three hitters he faced. That proved costly when Freeman stroked a run-scoring double to right and, a batter later, Muncy pulled a two-base into the right field corner, scoring two more.
Staring at an early 3-0 deficit, the Dodgers didn’t get on the board until the sixth inning. Starter Kutter Crawford had limited them to just two singles over the first five innings, but Crawford got himself in quick trouble in the sixth when he yielded a leadoff double to Betts and a sharp single to right by Freeman.
In came Pivetta from the bullpen and out went the lead. First, Will Smith doubled to left to score Betts. Then, Triston Casas bobbled a grounder, enabling Freeman to score from third as Smith moved up to third. With the infield in, the Sox cut off a sharp grounder from David Peralta for the second out, but Kike Hernandez drove a single up the middle to plate Smith with the tying run.
Betts received a lengthy ovation in the top of the first as he stepped to the plate, doffing his helmet as he saluted the crowd, pointing to his ring finger in an apparent reference to the 2018 World Series title he helped win.
After that, it was back to business, and it didn’t take long for the Red Sox to strike first. Verdugo hammered the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the inning out to right field for his second straight leadoff homer.
An inning later, the Red Sox again used the long ball to their advantage. After Casas reached on an infield single to third, Trevor Story connected for his first homer of the year, a towering fly ball into the Monster Seats, giving the Sox a 3-0 lead.
Matinee Saturday
The middle game of the series will take place Saturday afternoon and will feature a pitching matchup between two lefties. James Paxton (7-4, 3.79) will be searching for his first win since Aug. 10, and will oppose the Dodgers’ Julio Urias (11-6, 4.15) at 4:10 p.m.
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The series will conclude Sunday, with Tanner Houck (3-7, 5.08) starting for the Sox. The Dodgers have yet to announce their starting plans.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 5:52:16 GMT -5
Red Sox’s Nick Pivetta (four runs allowed) rocked as Dodgers storm back
Updated: Aug. 25, 2023, 11:26 p.m.|Published: Aug. 25, 2023, 11:15 p.m.
By
Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com
BOSTON — For five innings, Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford had shut out the powerful Los Angels Dodgers lineup, limiting them to just two singles.
But Crawford appeared to run out of gas in the sixth inning, allowing a double to Mookie Betts and a single by Freddie Freeman, ending his night.
Reliever Nick Pivetta was summoned from the bullpen and things soon went downhill. Both inherited runners quickly scored, along with a run of his own doing. In the seventh, it went from bad to worse as two costly walks helped lead to a three-run inning for the visitors, and eventually, a 7-4 L.A. victory.
“Location-wise, he was off,” said Alex Cora of Pivetta, who was charged with four runs, the most he’s allowed in a relief outing this season. “We were asking a lot out of him, where we were in the bullpen today. We needed him to go multiple innings. It’s part of it, right? He’s not perfect. We had to push him today because of where we were at.”
The Red Sox had hoped that Crawford might get them through the sixth, but after allowing two-hard hit balls to open the inning and nearing 90 pitches, turned to Pivetta. Garrett Whitlock and Josh WInckowski, who might otherwise have been mid-game options, were down Friday because of their recent workloads.
Pivetta has pitched in every role imaginable this season, from starter to bulk reliever and everything in between. On Wednesday night in Houston, he replaced an injured Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning and preserved a tie to send the game to extra innings.
Entering Friday’s action, Pivetta had posted a 2.90 ERA over his previous 21 appearances while limiting opposing hitters to a paltry .164 batting average while fanning 12.9 hitters per nine innings.
But Friday was not his night.
“Just didn’t have my best stuff today,” said Pivetta. “They took advantage of that when I got behind in counts and put some swings on some pitches I threw.”
When it was pointed out to Pivetta that he had been yanked back and fourth between numerous jobs of late, he cut off the questioning.
“There’s no excuses,” he said. “I’ve got to be top line every single time I go out, especially against a team like that. I didn’t put us in a great position to win today, but hopefully, the team bounces back tomorrow, continues to swing it like they’ve been doing. It just didn’t go my way today.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 5:55:27 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
·
10h
Third time through for Kutter Crawford and here we go. Dodgers have a threat with no outs.
Alex Cora knows the splits. Here comes Nick Pivetta.
Long way to 12 outs here (likely) without Kenley Jansen. Some pressure for the Red Sox bullpen
A meltdown in the sixth and it's 3-3.
Red Sox couldn't bridge their way through the Dodgers order a third time.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 5:57:50 GMT -5
Bill Koch
@billkoch25
Mookie Betts is special. Freddie Freeman is special.
You pay for special. You don't platoon advantage or bullpen or waiver claim your way to victory past special.
10:07 PM · Aug 25, 2023
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10.3K
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 6:06:45 GMT -5
Pete Abraham
@peteabe
·
9h
Betts, who moved to RF, makes a strong, accurate throw to the cutoff man (what a thing) that leads to Wong getting caught in a rundown to end the inning.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 6:31:39 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Justin Turner’s unexpected departure from the Dodgers has been the Red Sox’ gain
By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated August 25, 2023, 8:56 p.m.
While Red Sox fans tried to make sense of the sight of Mookie Betts in another uniform on Friday night, they weren’t the only ones confronted with the foreign sight of a beloved player in a new uniform.
From 2014-22, Justin Turner was, in many ways, the face of the Dodgers.
“Justin was the guy that ended up being the mouthpiece for a lot of the players,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
Given that role, Roberts admitted it was surprising to see Turner in another uniform.
“I don’t think anyone saw it ending that way,” Roberts said of Turner’s departure from Los Angeles to sign with the Sox last winter.
Did Turner enter his free agency after the 2022 season thinking his Dodgers tenure was at its end?
“I didn’t. I’ll just leave it at that,” he said. “It seemed like I wasn’t in their plans.”
Even so, Turner downplayed the significance of the reunion, suggesting his prior experiences bouncing between teams early in his career made the sight of ex-teammates relatively easy to digest.
“Putting on that uniform was obviously special, being a Southern California kid and then going on to accomplish the things that I accomplished there. It was something that I never dreamed,” said Turner. “[But] it wasn’t like I was a Dodger my whole life.”
Still, he’s celebrated by Dodgers fans as if he’d been wearing blue out of the womb. Turner — hitting .289/.359/.484 with 20 homers and 84 RBI for the Sox this year — was recognized before the game as the Red Sox’ nominee for the Heart and Hustle Award, resulting in a joint ovation from Red Sox and Dodgers fans.
Turner — who along with his wife, Courtney, is hosting a 5K this weekend to raise money for the Justin Turner Foundation, which supports veterans, as well as children battling life-altering illnesses and diseases — said he’s relishing his Boston experience. The Sox, meanwhile, are relishing the Turner experience.
“I haven’t seen a guy, even when I played, that has made an impact not only on the field but off the field so quick with an organization,” said Sox manager Alex Cora. “Forget the baseball part of it, but as a person what he brings to the equation on a daily basis to his teammates [and] what he brings to the equation on a daily basis to the community, it’s been fun to watch.”
Electric in blue
Exactly one month after the Red Sox traded him to the Dodgers, Kiké Hernández returned to Fenway Park amid a season that had transformed dramatically with his once-again team. Hernández, who hit .222/.279/.320 in 86 games for the Red Sox, carried a .296/.348/.494 line in 25 games for the Dodgers into Friday’s matchup.
“There’s no way around it. I was pretty bad over there, and it’s been pretty good over here. No sugarcoating it,” said Hernández. “What the trade allowed me to do was just start over. It allowed me to start with a clean slate and it basically felt like Opening Day all over again.”
Hernández — who played for the Dodgers from 2015-20 before spending the last two-and-a-half years in Boston — described being traded to a team that knew him so well as a “best-case scenario,” allowing him to shortcut the getting-to-know you process. Still, while Hernández expressed disappointment about his performance in Boston in 2022-23, he felt considerable appreciation for his time with the Sox.
“It meant the world,” he said, noting that he became a father just after signing. “I’ve got some wonderful memories here. On the baseball side, getting to call Fenway Park home is a blessing . . . I enjoyed my time here a lot. Like I said, I have nothing but great things to say about this place.”
Cross-country connections
Roberts, whose stolen base for the Red Sox in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS against the Yankees remains an iconic moment in Boston sports history, likewise took joy in his return to Fenway. “There’s not a lot of places in the world that seem like only good, positive memories,” said Roberts. “For me, the city of Boston and Fenway Park are that.” . . . Former Sox J.D. Martinez and Joe Kelly are both on the injured list, and thus didn’t make the trip. Former Sox reliever Ryan Brasier (released earlier this year) did make the trip and was saluted along with Betts in a video tribute celebrating their contributions to the 2018 World Series.
Duval gets his groove back
Pop quiz: Who entered Friday as the Red Sox’ leader in OPS? That would be outfielder Adam Duvall, who carried an .876 mark on the strength of a .265/.329/.547 line.
Duvall’s numbers soared in Houston, where he went 9 for 16 with three homers and three doubles in four games. He credited a swing that had become more direct to the ball and less loopy for the explosion.
“The time that it took my barrel to get to the ball was kind of how slow, making it tough for me to pull the ball,” said Duvall.
Duvall, who was moved from center to left Thursday to limit his running one night after he slammed a foul ball off his leg, was back in center on Friday — suggesting an unexpectedly swift physical rebound.
“I thought it was going to be much worse than it was,” he said. “That first night it kept me up quite a bit. It was throbbing. When I woke up and got moving around, it was actually hurting much less.”
Wait and see
Kenley Jansen, sidelined since experiencing tightness in his right hamstring Wednesday in Houston, threw long toss on the field prior to Friday’s game. While he wasn’t available to pitch against the Dodgers on Friday, the closer remains hopeful he’ll avoid the injured list.
“It’s day by day,” said Jansen. “I’m going to try to do my best to be out there as soon as I can but also listen to the training staff. Everything that I do, I don’t feel it, but at game speed, that’s when it’s an issue. We’ll see.”
With Jansen unavailable, Cora didn’t commit to an alternate closer, suggesting that he needed to preserve flexibility to employ Chris Martin — the natural fallback — in the highest-leverage situation.
Duran needs more testing
Jarren Duran, on the injured list with a sprained left big toe, will undergo testing Monday to get a more precise diagnosis of the injury he suffered climbing a wall in Houston.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 6:37:06 GMT -5
Dodgers @ Red Sox
26th August 2023
4pm @ Fenway
Urias 11-6/ 4.15
Paxton 7-4/ 3.79
Red Sox attempt to slow Dodgers' August roll
FLM
The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to continue their hot August when they play the middle contest of a three-game road series against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon.
Los Angeles is 20-3 this month after registering a come-from-behind, 7-4 win Friday in the series opener.
While Freddie Freeman had four hits and three runs, the return of Mookie Betts for his first-ever road game in Boston was the major story. The former Red Sox star doubled and scored twice.
"I had the time of my life playing here. I think a lot of people do," said Betts, who was traded to the Dodgers in February 2020 after winning a World Series and an American League MVP trophy with the Red Sox in 2018. "I knew every day you put the uniform on, you've got to play well, no matter what. Or the fans, the people, will let you know. ... That's why I enjoyed it."
Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias (11-6, 4.15 ERA) will aim for his fifth consecutive win when he takes the ball on Saturday. He is 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in five starts since his last loss, on July 19 at Baltimore.
Urias, the reigning National League ERA champion, has pitched seven innings in back-to-back outings, matching his career high. Last Saturday against the Miami Marlins, he yielded one run on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts.
The southpaw's hot streak also includes a 12-strikeout performance against the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 13.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, "You can really finish strong and make it a great year. There's still plenty of baseball left."
Urias has made just one career regular-season appearance against Boston, pitching two perfect innings of relief on July 13, 2019. He also pitched three times out of the bullpen against the Red Sox in the 2018 World Series, giving up one run in three innings.
The Red Sox had won five of their past seven games before falling on Friday, a stretch that featured a 17-1 win at Houston in which they set season-high marks for runs and hits (24).
On Friday, Alex Verdugo and Trevor Story homered to help Boston's 14-hit attack, but it wasn't enough.
"Obviously, there for like a month and a half, we struggled in the power department," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "But lately some of the big boys are finding their stroke and hitting the ball in the air and out of the ballpark."
For Story, it was his first homer of the season in his 14th game. He missed the first 112 games while recovering from right elbow surgery.
"I feel like we're at the point where we're playing a lot of really good teams," he said. "We're going to find out who we are and if we're going to be in the postseason."
Boston southpaw James Paxton (7-4, 3.79 ERA) will make the start on Saturday. He has pitched at least five innings in 13 of his 17 starts this year, but he took a loss after allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits across four frames on Monday against the Astros.
Paxton has been excellent at home this season, pitching to a 2.58 ERA in 38 1/3 innings. In two career starts against the Dodgers, HE is 1-0 with a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings.
--Field Level Media
Dodgers
at
Red Sox
Saturday, at 4:10 PM EST
Partly Cloudy
It's expected to be 78° F with a 14% chance of precipitation and 5 MPH wind blowing left to right in Boston at 4:10 PM EST.
Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 10:14:47 GMT -5
Game 130: Dodgers at Red Sox lineups and notesBy Amin Touri Globe Staff,Updated August 26, 2023, 54 minutes ago Former Red Sox Mookie Betts and Kiké Hernández starred for the Dodgers in their returns to Fenway — one of which was more anticipated than the other — as the Sox opened the series on the wrong foot Friday. James Paxton has the ball on Saturday afternoon looking to even the series. The big southpaw is coming off one of his worst starts of the season, having given up seven runs (six earned) in just four innings of work in a loss against the Astros on Monday. Julio Urías will take the mound for the Dodgers; the lefthander tossed two scoreless innings at Fenway in 2019, and appeared in each of the first three games of the 2018 World Series against the Sox. Lineups DODGERS (79-48): Mookie Betts (R) RF Freddie Freeman (L) 1B Will Smith (R) C Max Muncy (L) 3B Amed Rosario (R) 2B Enrique Hernandez (R) CF James Outman (L) DH Chris Taylor (R) LF Miguel Rojas (R) SS Pitching: LHP Julio Urías (11-6, 4.15 ERA) RED SOX (68-61): Alex Verdugo (L) RF Justin Turner (R) 1B Rob Refsnyder (R) LF Rafael Devers (L) 3B Adam Duvall (R) CF Trevor Story (R) DH Pablo Reyes (R) SS Luis Urias (R) 2B Connor Wong (R) C Pitching: LHP James Paxton (7-4, 3.79 ERA) Time: 4:10 p.m. TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7 Dodgers vs. Paxton: Mookie Betts 6-24, Kiké Hernández 1-2, Max Muncy 1-3, Amed Rosario 2-4, Will Smith 0-3, Chris Taylor 1-3 Red Sox vs. Urías: Adam Duvall 1-7, Rob Refsnyder 1-2, Pablo Reyes 0-3, Trevor Story 2-18, Luis Urías 2-6 Stat of the day: The Dodgers are 20-3 in August. Notes: The Red Sox had won five of their past seven games before falling on Friday, a stretch that featured a 17-1 win at Houston in which they set season-high marks for runs and hits (24) ... Paxton has pitched at least five innings in 13 of his 17 starts this year. He has been excellent at home this season, pitching to a 2.58 ERA in 38 ⅓ innings; in two career starts against the Dodgers, he is 1-0 with a 4.85 ERA in 13 innings ... Urias, the reigning National League ERA champion, has pitched seven innings in back-to-back outings, matching his career high. Last Saturday against the Miami Marlins, he yielded one run on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts. He is 4-0 with a 2.03 ERA in five starts since his last loss, on July 19 at Baltimore. Song of the Day: Led Zeppelin - Travelling Riverside Blues www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSht5j3Cnh0
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 13:14:10 GMT -5
Ian Browne
33m
Kenley Jansen wearing a wrap on his hammy today. Not sure yet if he is available.
Jansen will throw BP today. Best case scenario has him pitching tomorrow.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 26, 2023 17:01:33 GMT -5
Well the Red Sox pitchers got command issues
lots of walks so far
Sox down 4-2, bottom 6
SS Reyes was injured so now we have
Urias playing 3b
Devers at SS
Wong at 2B
McGuire C
Blue Jays and Mariners both winning big
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 27, 2023 5:33:45 GMT -5
Duvall plays hero again, delivers go-ahead 3-run HR
August 26th, 2023
Ian Browne
Ian Browne
@ianmbrowne
BOSTON -- At the point on Saturday at Fenway Park when the Red Sox needed a game-changing hit, they turned to the man who had provided them all week.
And Adam Duvall delivered again, bashing a three-run homer into the front row of the Monster Seats that turned a two-run deficit into a Boston lead.
Behind Duvall’s fourth homer in his last six games, three of which have been three-run blasts, the Red Sox pulled out a tense 8-5 victory over the Dodgers in front of a crowd of 35,986.
“Yeah, [Duvall] is big for us,” said Alex Verdugo, who belted a leadoff homer for the third straight game, a first in Red Sox history. “He's somebody who can hit righties and lefties, and obviously play great defense. And he's a guy who, when there's runners on, he knows how to get them in.”
At this point in the season, every game is crucial for the Red Sox, particularly on days such as Saturday when they were coming off a loss.
“It was loud and it felt like from the sixth inning on, every pitch mattered,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “And they were into it. So, it’s been great. It’s a great venue. Fenway. The afternoon. White unis. Grey unis. Kind of old-school stuff. I’m glad we got the ‘W.'”
With 32 games left, the Sox (69-61) trail the Astros by 3 1/2 games for the third American League Wild Card spot. The Blue Jays, also on the outside looking in at this point, lead Boston by two games.
“We’re considering this like playoff baseball,” said Verdugo. “Every game matters right now, especially down the stretch, and we know we’ve got some games to catch up to put us in a spot to get to [the] playoffs. It's just easy when you think of it that way. Every game is a must win. We’ve just got to handle our business.”
It was Duvall who really took care of business. On the fifth pitch of his at-bat in the bottom of the sixth, he turned on an 0-2 cutter on the inside corner from Dodgers lefty Julio Urías.
“He had been throwing me that pitch in the earlier at-bats and he had some success with it but I felt like I was getting closer,” Duvall said. “I left a guy out there on third [with one out] the at-bat before, which I wasn't very happy about. Being able to come through there [felt] huge in the moment, as important as these games are.”
The Fenway special was hit at an exit velocity of 103.2 mph, a launch angle of 41 degrees and a projected distance of 353 feet. Per Statcast, it would have been a homer at just one other MLB venue -- Minute Maid Park in Houston.
Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.
“Adam hitting in the air to the pull side, we’ve been talking about that, and he made some adjustments the last homestand and it’s been working,” Cora said. “I don’t know how hard or high or whatever it was, but it’s a homer here.”
Duvall’s well-timed homer, and the three insurance runs the Red Sox added in the following frames, were necessary because the Dodgers kept threatening to the very end -- never more than when Los Angeles loaded the bases in the eighth and again in the ninth.
The eighth-inning drama was snuffed out by Chris Martin, who came on with two outs and got Garrett Whitlock out of trouble, striking out Max Muncy looking on a nasty 0-2 pitch that was a borderline strike at best.
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Muncy was infuriated by the call and was swiftly ejected, as was Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
“I might have gotten a little help there, but that’s OK,” said Martin. “That’s the way it goes. It’s a long season, 162 games. You get some calls and you don’t get some calls.”
With Kenley Jansen (right hamstring) unavailable, John Schreiber got the call in the ninth and it all came down to the bases loaded and two outs with Mookie Betts at the plate with the chance to put the ultimate exclamation point on his return to Fenway.
Set up for a Hollywood ending, Betts clubbed one to deep center that fell into Duvall’s glove on the warning track.
“I thought that I was going to be able to get under it because that's a big part of the park right there,” Duvall said. “I can imagine in the stands, that probably everybody wasn't so sure. But you know, he hit it well. I just had a beat on it.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 27, 2023 5:34:34 GMT -5
Injuries & Moves: Jansen to return Sunday; Reyes exits with left elbow pain
August 26th, 2023
LATEST NEWS
Aug. 26: INF Pablo Reyes exits with left elbow pain
When he struck out swinging to end the bottom of the fifth inning of his team's eventual 8-5 win over the Dodgers on Saturday, Reyes felt pain in his left elbow and had to come out of the game.
“In that swing, I think it was a changeup. He kind of extended and felt his elbow," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "We’ll see where he’s at tomorrow. He was in a lot of pain, so we had to take him out.”
The injury forced some interesting defensive switches for Cora, who moved Rafael Devers from third base to shortstop for the second time in his career to start the top of the sixth inning. Catcher Connor Wong went to second base. An inning later, Cora gave up the DH and put Trevor Story at short with Devers returning to third and Wong going back behind the plate.
Aug. 26: RHP Kenley Jansen throws live BP, says he can pitch Sunday
Jansen, who missed a third consecutive game on Friday due to right hamstring tightness, passed a big test on Saturday by throwing a brief live batting practice session before the game. Jansen should be available in the back end of manager Alex Cora's bullpen for Sunday's finale against the Dodgers.
"We had to check this box off today. Everything feels great and I'll be back tomorrow," Jansen said. "I just let it go at gamespeed to see if it would grab me. Thank God it didn't grab me."
Aug. 26: OF Jarren Duran to see specialist on Monday
The Red Sox will have a better idea of how much time outfielder Duran will miss when he sees a foot specialist in Boston on Monday. He suffered a left toe contusion while climbing the left-field wall in an attempt to catch a home run hit by Gleyber Torres last weekend against the Yankees. Duran was placed on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 22, retroactive to Aug. 21.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 27, 2023 5:37:32 GMT -5
A desperate Red Sox team can’t afford to slip, and on Saturday, they didn’t — McAdam
Updated: Aug. 26, 2023, 9:00 p.m.|Published: Aug. 26, 2023, 8:47 p.m.
By
Sean McAdam | sean.mcadam@masslive.com
BOSTON — The calendar still says August, and so, too, does the weather — warm, as you’d expect in the final vestiges of summer.
But on the field? In the dugout? It suddenly feels a lot like October for the Boston Red Sox.
The playoffs aren’t here yet, and in fact, they’re far from guaranteed. But the Red Sox are playing with a sense of urgency now, in recognition of the fact that if they don’t play well over the final five weeks, they won’t be playing October baseball.
The future is now. And that feeling has been unmistakably present at Fenway this weekend. This series was always going to have plenty of storylines — Mookie returns! Revenge for Turner and Verdugo! — but the Red Sox’s precarious place in the standings has served to further ratchet up the intensity.
After the Red Sox swept the Yankees in New York last weekend, Alex Cora noted: “Every pitch matters.” And for the past six days, that’s only been amplified.
The Sox have a handful of teams in front of them in their pursuit of a wild card spot. In the East, there’s the Toronto Blue Jays, and in the West, there are three more contenders, bunched together, swapping places by the hour. It can be hard to determine for whom the Sox should be rooting.
One thing, however, is certain. The Red Sox have to keep winning, or the rest of it doesn’t matter. They’ve left themselves no wiggle room, and each loss is highly costly.
Perhaps that’s why, in Saturday’s thrilling not-over-until-the-final-out 8-5 victory over the Dodgers, Cora seemed to already be in October mode, scrambling to make moves and anticipate matchups innings ahead of time.
This was on display after the fifth inning, when Pablo Reyes was forced out the game with a hyper-extended left elbow. Suddenly, the Red Sox lineup looked like it might in the first week of spring training: Luis Urias went from second to third. Rafael Devers went from third to short. Connor Wong went from catcher to second base. And Reese McGuire came out of the game.
This was a guerrilla tactic on the part of Cora. Pull out all the stops. Move players around. Win that inning, then worry about the next one.
Two innings later, Devers returned to third, Trevor Story went from DH to short, Urias returned to second and Wong behind the plate. That left the Sox without the use of the DH. Didn’t matter. Had to be done.
Next.
“We kept playing, which is the most important thing,” said Cora.
The atmosphere at Fenway this weekend has been worthy of the postseason, too. Sure, the return of Mookie Betts has served to heighten the emotions, and when Betts came to the plate in the top of the ninth, with the Dodgers trailing by three and the bases loaded and two outs, there had to be plenty of Red Sox fans envisioning a nightmare scenario: a go-ahead grand slam.
But John Schreiber managed to make Betts hit the ball to straightaway center, where Adam Duvall drifted back on the warning track to coral it. You could hear the collective exhale of relief in Kenmore Square.
Renewed acquaintances aside, the fans seem to understand the stakes, too. They’ve been on every pitch, providing the soundtrack for the two teams — one assured of October baseball for the 11th straight season, another hoping to return for the first time since 2021.
“It’s been great, it’s been great,” said Cora of the energy. “It was loud. It felt like from the sixth inning on, every pitch mattered and they were into it. It’s been great, it’s been great. It’s a great venue. You look at it — Fenway in the afternoon, white unis, gray unis, kind of like old school stuff....It’s been fun the last few days.”
And don’t think the players aren’t feeling it. The drudgery of the long season is forgotten now and the stakes are raised.
“What we’re considering this is, is like playoff baseball,” said Alex Verdugo, who became just the third player in baseball history to belt leadoff homers in three consecutive games. “Every game matters right now, especially in this stretch. We know we’ve got some games to catch up on, to put us in the spot to get to the playoffs. It’s just easy when you think of it that way — every game’s a must win and we just have to handle our business.
“For us, this is very much playoff baseball.”
In a perfect world, they would have built up something of a cushion, provided themselves with the luxury to occasionally stumble. But that’s gone now. There are 32 games remaining and the Red Sox have little choice but to plow ahead, eyes on the prize.
“We’re going to play games like this the rest of the way,” said Cora. “It started a few weeks ago when we got swept by the Jays. We had to pick it up.”
On Saturday, you could see it on the field, hear it in the stands. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear that October had surprised everyone and decided to arrive early.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 27, 2023 5:43:40 GMT -5
Dan Shaughnessy
@dan_Shaughnessy
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10h
The first two Red Sox-Dodgers games at Fenway have been spectacular. Sox holding their own with MLB Iron.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 27, 2023 5:52:47 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Live (batting practice) from Fenway Park, it’s Kenley Jansen! Red Sox closer ‘great’ after testing hamstring.
By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated August 26, 2023, 5:25 p.m.
Kenley Jansen didn’t want to throw a bullpen. Instead, he preferred a live batting practice Saturday.
Throwing to a couple of hitters at Fenway Park before the Red Sox played the Dodgers, the closer felt, would give him a good gauge pertaining to just how well he felt after leaving Wednesday’s contest in Houston due to right hamstring tightness.
Jansen finished his live BP session without incident and said he would be ready to pitch Sunday.
“We checked all the boxes,” Jansen said before the Sox’ 8-5 win. “I was sitting 92-94 [miles per hour] with no adrenaline. I’m pretty wrapped up right now. They also gave me some medication to relieve the stress in that [hamstring] area.
“I’m feeling great.”
The Red Sox certainly could use Jansen.
After Jansen was removed from the contest against the Astros, Nick Pivetta had to pick up that ninth inning, after having pitched five innings in relief three days earlier. The inevitable fatigue for Pivetta came Friday against the Dodgers when the reliever squandered a 3-0 lead in the sixth, allowing Los Angeles to tie the contest.
Considering how Jansen walked (hobbled) off the field in Houston, the fact that he will avoid the injured list — a scenario that very much felt like a possibility — is very good news for the Red Sox.
“We checked this box today and everything felt great,” Jansen reiterated. “I feel great and we’ll be ready for tomorrow. I just wanted to let it go at game speed to see if the hamstring would grab again. Thank God it didn’t grab.
“We’ll be ready.”
Jansen was on the field early to greet some of his former Dodgers teammates and members of the staff. Jansen spent 12 seasons in the majors with Los Angeles and 17 years in the organization after signing out of Curacao as a free agent catcher in November 2004.
“It’s definitely emotional still,” Jansen said. “You watch a team you played with for so long. It’s great. But life is on the other side. I love being here in Boston. The fans are great.
“Everybody here is great. I just can’t wait for us to just keep playing good and see the winning side and see the fans on the winning side. I think we just have to keep chipping away.”
Yoshida sits this one out to start
Masataka Yoshida was not in the lineup against Dodgers lefthander Julio Urias. Yoshida has struggled as of late, batting just .219 with a homer and a .524 OPS in his last 16 games.
“He’s been off mechanically,” manager Alex Cora said. “If you take a look at his walk rate, right? He’s only walked once in August and that’s not him. There was at-bat Friday where [Justin Turner] made an out on two pitches and [then Yoshida] swung at the first pitch. We want him to be more aggressive but the at-bat is a lot different lately than early in the season. [Back then] he was able to take two strikes backtrack the baseball and hit it the other way like in his last at-bat Friday [for a lineout]. That was more him than we’ve seen [as of late].
“It’s just one of those things where you keep working with him.”
With Yoshida sitting, Rob Refsnyder started in left field.
Reyes exits with elbow pain
Pablo Reyes left the win after the fifth inning because of left elbow pain, the team said. Reyes, in the lineup at shortstop, struck out on a changeup from Urias and looked uncomfortable following the swing. The Sox will have more details on the injury Sunday, but Cora did say that Reyes was in a lot of pain … Trevor Story started the game as the designated hitter for the middle game of the series but eventually took over at shortstop following Reyes’s injury. Cora said he feels as though Story is getting close to playing shortstop on a daily basis … There’s a very strong chance righthander Corey Kluber (shoulder) is done for the season. Kluber just began playing catch, but Cora noted the team is running out of games and days … After taking Urias deep, right fielder Alex Verdugo is the only player in Red Sox history to lead off three consecutive games with a home run and just the third player in baseball history to achieve that feat.
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