Tigers @ Red Sox Game Thread/ 30 May - 2nd June 2024

Ceddanne Rafaela hits 2 HRs, drives in 5 to help Red Sox beat Tigers 7-3
AP

BOSTON (AP) Ceddanne Rafaela homered twice for his first multi-homer game and drove in five runs, Tanner Houck had a solid start and the Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 7-3 on Friday night.

Houck (5-5) went seven innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts. The right-hander was hit in his pitching arm by Zach McKinstry’s comebacker with one out in the fifth inning. Houck stayed with the play and threw out McKinstry at first base.

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the big leagues,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Every outing he’s giving us a chance to win. I hope people start paying attention to what’s going on. It’s been fun to watch from our end and it feels like every outing it’s like let’s see what’s going to happen tonight in a good way.”

Rafaela fell two shy of his career high in RBIs set April 27 against the Chicago Cubs.

“This is a hard game and it’s even harder at a young age,” Houck said about Rafaela, who leads his team and all major league rookies with 33 RBIs. “He’s 23 years old in the big leagues. You see the talent and you know it’s there and all you can do is keep pushing him in the right direction and just trust that the talent’s going to pay off. For him to have a game like tonight’s, it’s great. I’m sure it’s a huge confidence boost for him. He’s a good player and I’m excited to see where he can be one day.”

Right-hander Kenta Maeda (2-2) went 4 2/3 innings for Detroit, giving up five runs on a season-high eight hits with two walks and a season-high six strikeouts.

“Getting out of it early was encouraging, but you give them too many shots at a big hit, it’s bound to bite you,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “For him, it was rough because of the damage that was done with the home runs and the extra base hits.”

Boston scored four runs in the fourth inning. Rafael Devers led off with a double and scored on Dominic Smith’s one-out double. After Vaughn Grissom singled, No. 9 hitter Rafaela hit a two-out homer over the Green Monster in left field, scoring Smith and Grissom.

“It’s definitely frustrating to give up so many runs, especially in that inning,” Maeda said through a team interpreter. “The first run, that one was tough, but for the runs to keep scoring after, that’s less than ideal.”

The Red Sox added a run in the next inning on doubles by Connor Wong and Rob Refsnyder, ending Maeda’s outing with left-hander Joey Wentz entering.

After David Hamilton singled with one out in the sixth, Rafaela hit his seventh homer of the season, giving Boston a 7-1 lead.

Detroit opened the scoring when Riley Greene singled with one out in the first inning, stole second base and scored on Gio Urshela’s two-out single.

Detroit’s Colt Keith hit a two-out homer in the eighth off Greg Weissert.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: The injury to OF Kerry Carpenter, who was placed on the injured list Wednesday, was reclassified from lumbar spine inflammation to a lumbar spine stress fracture.

Red Sox: OF Tyler O’Neill, on the injured list since May 26 with right knee inflammation, received a cortisone shot Thursday and could return to the lineup Wednesday, his first day of eligibility. … LF/DH Masataka Yoshida, on the IL since April 29 with a left thumb strain, began hitting off a tee on Thursday and could being taking live batting practice on Saturday. … RHP Isaiah Campbell, on the IL since April 12 with right shoulder impingement, was expected to pitch two innings in a rehab assignment Saturday.

UP NEXT:

Tigers RHP Reese Olson (1-5, 1.92 ERA) was set to start Saturday against RHP Cooper Criswell (2-2, 3.96).

--- AP MLB: apnews.com/hub/mlb

Injuries & Moves: O'Neill gets cortisone shot, eyes quick return
May 31st, 2024

MLB.com
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LATEST NEWS

May 31: OF Tyler O'Neill targets swift return from right knee injury
O'Neill, who was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week, retroactive to May 26, due to right knee inflammation, received a cortisone injection on Thursday and feels better. The right-handed hitter, who is missed in Boston's injury-plagued starting lineup, is hopeful he can return when he is first eligible on June 5. An MRI taken on Wednesday revealed no structural damage.

"I’m hoping to come off in the minimum amount of days," O'Neill said. "I’ve made a lot of progress the last couple days. I like where I’m at. See what it looks like when the buildup starts."


DH Masataka Yoshida (left thumb strain)
Expected return: Some point in June
Yoshida will take live batting practice at Fenway Park on June 1, marking the first time he has done so since he was placed on the injured list a month ago. He has been doing tee work in recent days. If Yoshida can take batting practice without discomfort, he expects to ramp up toward a Minor League rehab assignment soon. (Last updated: May 31)

RHP Isaiah Campbell (right shoulder impingement)
Expected return: June
The reliever will continue his Minor League rehab assignment on June 1 when he throws two innings for Triple-A Worcester. That will be his fifth appearance. He should be fairly close to being activated. (Last updated: May 31)


1B Triston Casas (torn cartilage in left rib cage)
Expected return: No earlier than June 21
Casas, who suffered torn cartilage in his left rib cage when he fouled off a 3-1 pitch on April 20, has made significant progress but hadn't been cleared to swing a bat as May came to a close.

"We have to be patient. Everything is trending in the right direction. I really don't know when he's going to start swinging, but just keep doing the things in the gym and taking ground balls," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "Hopefully that step is soon, but that's going to take a while. It's not easy [to know] because it’s just about feel. We’ll see. (Last updated: May 31)

RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Sluggish Red Sox welcome progress in returns to health for Tyler O’Neill, Masataka Yoshida
By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated May 31, 2024, 9:58 p.m.

At the start of the season, the Red Sox envisioned their offense to be a strength. The club viewed the top six of Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, Triston Casas, Tyler O’Neill, and Masataka Yoshida as capable of combining on-base skill, power, and speed, in a way that would allow the lineup to carry the club for significant stretches.

The reality has not conformed to that vision.

Story (shoulder) was lost for the year just days into the season. Casas (ribcage cartilage) landed on the 60-day injured list in the season’s first month. Yoshida (thumb) has been out since late April. O’Neill tried unsuccessfully to play through right knee inflammation, his performance collapsing before he landed on the injured list this week.



Under those circumstances, the team’s recent offensive descent — 19 runs over seven contests (2.7 per game) leading into Friday night’s 7-3 win over the Tigers at Fenway Park — isn’t shocking.

“We don’t like making excuses but it’s the reality of it. We don’t have our fourth hitter, our fifth hitter, and our sixth hitter, and we lost our third hitter,” manager Alex Cora said. “Not too many teams can overcome that.”


Given the difficulty of doing so, the Sox are encouraged about progress being made by some of their injured players. O’Neill, after an MRI revealed no structural damage to the knee, received a cortisone shot Thursday to reduce the inflammation. Based on the almost immediate improvement, the outfielder is hopeful to come off the injured list when first eligible June 6.


“I think it’s going to set me up on the right foot,” O’Neill said.

The statement potentially harbors literal truth, since O’Neill (.236/.343/.500) had lost his swing in the days before his IL placement, going 0-for-15 with 10 strikeouts while unable to anchor off his back leg.



“It’s just part of those things over the course of the season that’s manageable,” he said. “But that last week there, it kind of got to a point where it was just getting a little ridiculous and I had to get off my feet for a little bit for sure. I want to help these guys win games and not put them in the other direction there. So I feel like I’ve made the necessary moves to be in a good spot, come back healthy. I like where I’m at right now.”

Yoshida (.275/.348/.388), meanwhile, has started swinging off a tee, and will progress to take batting practice on the field Saturday, according to Cora. From there, the Red Sox will have him reacclimate to big league-caliber pitching on their Trajekt machine before he begins a rehab assignment.

Yoshida and Cora said the designated hitter had been dealing with the injury since the middle of April, suggesting that if it is resolved when he returns, he could perform at a higher offensive level.

“The comfort level is going up so, which is a good sign,” Yoshida said through a translator.

It’s premature to affix a definitive date to the return of either, but both players have now begun progressions that the Sox hope will result in near-term returns to the lineup.

“Getting them back will be great,” Cora said. “If we continue to pitch and play good defense, the offense we know is going to be better. Hopefully they come back sooner rather than later and we’ll give it a run.”

Injured Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito had a unique appreciation of Tigers starter Jack Flaherty as the righthander dominated through six no-hit innings at Fenway on Thursday. After all, Flaherty had been in the same high school rotation as Giolito (as well as Atlanta lefthander Max Fried) at Harvard-Westlake (Calif.) in 2012.

In fact, Flaherty’s future as a pitcher was crystallized that season — when Giolito was a senior in front of sophomores Flaherty and Fried — in part because Giolito suffered a season-ending elbow injury (which eventually required Tommy John surgery) early that year.

Even at the time, the trio was aware of the absurdity of having three eventual first-rounders in the same high school rotation.

“We would have conversations like, ‘It’s going to be really cool when we’re all in the big leagues. Maybe it’d be fun if we’re on the same team,’” Giolito said. “It’s unlikely and it hasn’t happened yet. But maybe [in the future].”

Giolito and Flaherty were both free agents last winter and talked throughout their time on the open market. Both, in fact, were targets of the Red Sox, with Giolito inking a two-year, $38.5 million deal and Flaherty signing a one-year, $14 million deal in Detroit.

“We didn’t have any discussion of, ‘Let’s collude and try and get on the same team,’ ” Giolito said.

Though Giolito won’t pitch for the Sox this year after requiring another elbow surgery, he’s been elated to see Flaherty (leading MLB with a 34 percent strikeout rate) dominating.


“Last year, he was dealing with all sorts of weird injuries and aches and pains,” Giolito said. “And now that he’s healthy, he’s able to put on display what he can do and obviously did that [Thursday] against us.”
Story in California

Story is rehabbing in California at Cedars-Sinai, the medical facility where Dr. Neal ElAttrache performed the surgery on the shortstop’s shoulder … Righthanded reliever Liam Hendriks has taken another step forward in his rehab from Tommy John surgery. On Thursday, he threw fastballs and breaking balls off the front of a mound, the first time he’s progressed beyond flat ground.

Red Sox look to win two in a row vs. Tigers
FLM

The Boston Red Sox will look to get the upper hand in a four-game series against the visiting Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon.

Ceddanne Rafaela homered twice in his first career multi-homer game while leading the Red Sox to a 7-3 win Friday that evened the series at 1-1. Boston recorded 12 hits and snapped a two-game skid.

Rafaela, a 23-year-old rookie who had gone back-to-back games without a hit after a four-game hitting streak, drove in five runs.

"We just (have) to make sure (Rafaela) understands that it takes time to adjust," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "It's not about instant results."

Amid the rookie ups and downs, which included a 2-for-12 slump entering Friday, Rafaela has led all major league rookies and the Red Sox with 33 RBIs this season.

"It's difficult for me to get frustrated. I don't get frustrated that (easily)," he said.

On Friday, David Hamilton went 3-for-4 while Dominic Smith and Connor Wong each finished 2-for-3 for Boston.

Red Sox right-hander Cooper Criswell (2-2, 3.96 ERA) will start on Saturday. In his last start, he allowed seven runs in four innings in Boston's 11-3 to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.

Criswell will make his first career start against Detroit.

The Red Sox had won five of Criswell's first six starts but now have lost two of the past three.

On Friday, Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the first but recorded just five hits after that inning. Riley Greene went 2-for-4 with a double, while Colt Keith hit a two-run home run in the eighth.

Designated hitter Mark Canha was scratched from Friday's lineup with hip soreness.

Spencer Torkelson, who was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Thursday, has slumped of late. He is hitless in eight of his past nine games.

"I appreciate his consistency in caring about the team win first and his performance second, even though I know it's eating him up to not be a more central part of our offense," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.

Tigers right-hander Reese Olson (1-5, 1.92 ERA) will start on Saturday. He has received some tough luck this season but finally earned his first win of the year last Saturday over the Toronto Blue Jays. He gave up just one unearned run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings in Detroit's 2-1 victory.

"I just try to do my job every time I go out there," Olson said.

Entering his first career start against Boston, Olson has allowed 12 earned runs in 10 starts this season, six of which he allowed April 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"He's going to make you beat him," Hinch said. "He's not going to concede with any pitch."

--Field Level Media

Red Sox’ Alex Cora on Jarren Duran, Vaughn Grissom’s slumps
Updated: Jun. 01, 2024, 3:21 p.m.|Published: Jun. 01, 2024, 3:03 p.m.

By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
BOSTON — Vaughn Grissom hasn’t had more than one hit in any game he has played this season. He has gone hitless in 10 of 22 games. But manager Alex Cora thinks the 23-year-old Red Sox second baseman is making progress.

“They’ve done some things in the cage, kind of like staying grounded,” Cora said before Boston’s game against the Tigers on Wednesday. “He had that little leg kick but I don’t think that was working for him. So kind of like stride and be ready to hit. He’s making good decisions, too. He’s taking some pitches. He’s been crushed with other bad calls. But I think he’s in a much better place than 15 days ago.”

The right-handed hitter is 12-for-80 (.150) with just one double, three RBIs, six runs, five walks and 19 strikeouts.

Cora said he thinks Grissom has handled the slump well mentally.

“He’s doing well,” Cora said. “I think he’s made some strides the last five or six days. Yesterday, going the other way, the line drive. ... That’s who he is. He reminds me a lot of Xander (Bogaerts). Xander (is) very hitterish using the whole field and then with time, start hitting the ball out of the ballpark.”

Grissom missed the first 32 games with a left hamstring strain. He got sick with the flu right before returning from the IL.

“Losing (14) pounds didn’t help,” Cora said. “He felt weak for a while there.”


Duran struggling

Jarren Duran is just 2-for-28 (.071) with one double, one walk and 11 strikeouts in seven games dating back to May 25.

“Not getting hits. Good at-bats,” Cora said. “It’s part of the season, right? There’s certain times you’re not going to get hits. Yesterday he hit the ball hard to left field. He got hot there for a while. So it’s just part of the process.”

Houck doing ‘OK’

Tanner Houck got struck in the right arm with a 105.1 mph comebacker during the fifth inning Friday. He remained in the game and pitched 7 innings to earn the win over the Tigers.

“He’s doing OK,” Cora said.

Casas not hitting yet

Triston Casas continues to take grounders but he’s not swinging a bat yet. Casas has some fractured cartilage which connects his ribcage to his sternum and isn’t eligible to return from the 60-day injured list until June 21 at the earliest.

“He still feels it,” Cora said. “I think at the end of the day, it’s about how he feels. That’s what the doctor told him. Basically, ‘You’re going to let us know when you’re going to be able to swing.’ He made some moves in the gym that he still feels tight. Let’s put it that way. So he’s going to let us know.”

O’Neill should be back

Tyler O’Neill should return when he’s eligible to be activated from the 10-day injured list Wednesday. O’Neill underwent a cortisone shot for his sore knee.

“It feels like the shot did the job so this is going to be something short,” Cora said. “He should be with us as soon as the 10 days (are) up.”