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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:27:51 GMT -5
Sean McAdam @sean_McAdam · 10h This is the first time in his last four starts that Nick Pivetta didn't allow at least one run in the first inning.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:31:39 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h Alex Cora joining us on Zoom. #RedSox
Cora on Ottavino -- 'He's in a great place right now.'
Said Ottavino won't be available on Tuesday. #RedSox
Cora on Arroyo leading off -- 'He did a good job going the other way. He stayed on pitches.'
'We did a good job today overall with our approach.' #RedSox
Cora wanted to keep Pivetta short after a season-high 111 pitches against Houston. Said it's 'not about wins or losses' in terms of a starter's personal record when he makes decisions. #RedSox
Cora -- 'We came from a tough series, a tough game yesterday.'
'Sometimes you have letdowns. To win that game meant a lot, I think.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:32:38 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h Pivetta on being lifted after 4 2/3 innings -- 'We won the baseball game at the end of the day. I think that's what really matters.'
'(Cora) had a tough decision to make. He made the right decision.' #RedSox
Nick Pivetta on the #RedSox bullpen -- 'I think they did a tremendous job today.'
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:34:08 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h Replying to @billkoch25 Ottavino on Sawamura, who was credited with the victory -- 'He's meshed really well. He's one of the boys down there (in the bullpen).' #RedSox
Ottavino on the Sawamura splitter -- 'It's a pretty unique pitch. He showed me how to throw it, but I don't think I can do that.' #RedSox
Ottavino on working three days in a row -- 'I was definitely a little tired there at the end.' #RedSox
Ottavino on the bullpen getting 14 outs -- 'Everybody is ready. Everybody knows to be ready for anything.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:35:49 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h Arroyo -- 'Huge shoutout to the pitchers. Great day.' #RedSox
Arroyo -- 'It's been a rough couple years as far as injuries, bouncing around and stuff.'
'We come to the field every day and we're always in every game. We have a chance to win every single night.' #RedSox
Arroyo on hitting leadoff -- 'For me personally it's one of those things where I'm just happy to be playing and to be in the lineup.'
'As long as we're winning, I'm happy.' #RedSox
Arroyo on working to the opposite field -- 'I think it just really helps me out in general.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:36:45 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 8h Hirokazu Sawamura was demoted to the Japanese minors at one point last season. Now he’s throwing a 94-mph splitter to get a strikeout with the bases loaded at Fenway Park.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:39:25 GMT -5
Bullpen strong without Matt Barnes as Red Sox complete sweep of Miami Marlins
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: June 7, 2021 at 8:51 p.m. | UPDATED: June 7, 2021 at 10:31 p.m.
In two days, the Red Sox finished a pair of three-game sweeps.
It’s not a riddle, just the way it worked out with the Miami Marlins in town Monday for a makeup game.
Fresh off sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx for the first time in 10 years, the Red Sox returned to Fenway Park and handled the Marlins in a 5-3 win.
It completed a three-game sweep of the series, which started at the end of May, and pushed the Sox’ winning streak to five.
“It’s a testament to where they’re at,” manager Alex Cora said. “We come from a tough series. A tough game (Sunday), and I’m a big believer that when you come from that series sometimes you have letdowns and to win that game meant a lot. They grinded and made pitches, we pushed them hard, we know where we’re going to be tomorrow bullpen-wise but you never know, you win a game today and it might rain tomorrow.”
The takeaways:
1. Even on a 90-degree night in which the Red Sox couldn’t get starter Nick Pivetta out of the fifth inning, the game got dicey a few times. And every time, the Red Sox’ bullpen got the job done.
In the fifth inning, Pivetta looked like he ran out of gas. Starling Marte took him very deep to left-center, then two more batters reached safety before Cora pulled the plug on Pivetta’s day after 4 ⅔ innings of two-run ball. Garrett Whitlock entered and got a two-pitch pop-up from Adam Duvall to end the threat.
“We won the baseball game at the end of the day and I think that’s what really matters,” Pivetta said. “It’s not about personal stats. It’s not about personal things. It’s about competing and putting the team in the best position to win and I think that’s what’s most important.
“Cora had a tough decision. He made the right decision. We didn’t give up any more runs. Those guys were lights out. They had no chance.”
Then in the sixth, Darwinzon Hernandez once again looked wild and put two runners on via a single and hit-by-pitch. But Hirokazu Sawamura continued his most-impressive rookie season with a big strikeout of Jesus Aguilar to escape the jam. Sawamura then worked a perfect seventh inning, too, lowering his ERA to 2.63. He’s now struck out 33 in 24 innings this season after coming over from Japan.
“He’s been amazing,” Adam Ottavino said of Sawamura. “You see that he’s got a special pitch in that split, he throws hard, he works really hard, he’s focused, he’s locked in every day. He’s one of the boys down there. He’s really meshed really well. I can’t think of it going really any smoother for a guy first time in the States. Really happy for him and really happy he’s on our side.”
2. With Matt Barnes unavailable after pitching all three games in New York, Ottavino got a chance to complete a four-out save and it didn’t look easy. He handled the final out of the eighth, but gave up a run on a pair of doubles and a single, putting the tying run on second base before he closed out the ninth for his third save.
“I was definitely a little tired there at the end,” he said. “Just one of those days. … We got in pretty late last night. I probably got into my bed at three-something, but nobody is going to feel sorry for us. Gotta come out and win a game. Today a lot of people contributed to that. I feel like today was a huge win. It would have been easy to give this one away but we didn’t, stayed mentally strong, and I’m proud of that.”
3. The Red Sox keep tinkering with the leadoff spot and Christian Arroyo looked up to the task in this one. He reached base three times, scoring twice and driving in two runs. With J.D. Martinez still out with a sore wrist, Arroyo, Alex Verdugo and Xander Bogaerts combined for six of the 10 hits by the Red Sox out of the top three spots in the order.
Arroyo has been a great story as a former first-round draft pick who was traded twice and finally collected off waivers by the Red Sox last summer.
“It’s been a rough couple years as far as injuries and stuff, bouncing around a little bit,” he said. “But it’s fun to come in and help a really solid all-around talented ballclub. We come to the field every day and we’re in every game. We have a chance to win every single night. It’s an encouraging feeling but to be a part of that and help them win, it’s unparalleled, especially here in Boston. There’s so much history here. It’s just fun. It’s been awesome. I want to keep rolling onto the next day and keep going and going and carry this thing as long as we can. Hopefully at the end of the season we’re the last ones standing.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:42:09 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox notebook: Adam Ottavino shoulders heavy load, Hirokazu Sawamura’s splitter impresses, no rush on Jarren Duran Updated Jun 07, 2021; Posted Jun 07, 2021
By Chris Mason | cmason@masslive.com
BOSTON — The Red Sox bullpen was shorthanded on Monday afternoon and their workload grew even heavier when Nick Pivetta couldn’t escape the fifth inning.
Matt Barnes was unavailable after throwing three straight days in the Bronx, so after back-to-back appearances of his own, Adam Ottavino was summoned for a four-out save. Though he labored a bit in the ninth, Ottavino got the job done and the Red Sox escaped with a 5-3 win.
“He’s in a great place right now, of course we’ll stay away from him tomorrow, probably the next two days, but he understands the situation,” Alex Cora said. “He knows, he’s been in this situation before. He knew Barnesy was down and we were short. He did a good job with the first batter, actually he threw the ball well again in the ninth inning. To have a guy like that that can do that, it’s huge for a baseball team.”
Handed a 5-2 lead, Ottavino allowed one run over 1 1/3 innings — on a grounder through the shift — to nail down his third save of the season.
“I felt good. I felt fine. I was definitely a little tired there at the end. Just one of those days. But felt good. No problem,” Ottavino said “We got in pretty late last night. I probably got into my bed at three-something, but nobody is going to feel sorry for us. Gotta come out and win a game. Today a lot of people contributed to that. I feel like today was a huge win. It would have been easy to give this one away but we didn’t, stayed mentally strong, and I’m proud of that.”
Sawamura gets key out
The game’s most crucial at-bat came in the sixth inning.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Marlins designated hitter Jesus Aguilar stepped to the plate against Hirokazu Sawamura. The reliever had just walked Starling Marte on four straight pitches, but with a 5-2 lead, buckled down as the go-ahead run came to the plate.
Sawamura got Marte to chase a couple of pitches outside the strike zone, then blew a nasty 94 mph splitter by him to end the threat. The unique nature of a splitter that fast caught his teammates’ attention.
“I’m pretty sure it’s the hardest split in the game, maybe the hardest one ever thrown,” Ottavino said. “I looked at it one day and it was definitely the hardest in the game. In and of itself, that’s unique, and then it still has action. You would think if you threw it that hard you might throw through the break on the pitch, but he does a good job of staying on top of it. You can see the hitters definitely think it’s a fastball out of his hand. It’s a pretty unique pitch.”
No rush on Duran
Though Jarren Duran is coming off a terrific tournament with Team USA and was recently bumped up to No. 29 on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list, the Red Sox have no plans to fast track him to the big leagues.
“This is a guy that’s going to impact this team in the future, and the future doesn’t mean tomorrow or a month, maybe next year or two years,” Cora said. “But we know he’s a good player. The way he impacts the game, offensively, running the bases is eye-opening. I talked to (minor league coach Darren) Fenster yesterday and the things that he did running the bases, he changed the whole complexion of that team.
“We know that he’s a good player. We know that he still has some things that he needs to get better. But we keep talking about him and we’re very happy with where he’s at right now. Now he has to go back and play and keep getting better, but obviously like Chaim said in spring training, I think it’s something that we’re going to keep paying attention to him and we’ll see what happens in the future.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:43:19 GMT -5
Red Sox Notes @soxnotes · 6h Josh Taylor’s last 15 G: 11.0 IP, 0.00 ERA
Adam Ottavino’s last 12 G: 11.0 IP, 0.82 ERA
Hirokazu Sawamura’s last 9 G: 9.2 IP, 0.93 ERA
Darwinzon Hernandez’s last 8 G: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0.00 ERA
Garrett Whitlock’s last 5 G: 7.1 IP, 0.00 ERA
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 3:49:16 GMT -5
Buster Olney @buster_ESPN 5h RT @alexspeier: Late arrival from NY, no Martinez, no Barnes... and no self-pity. The Red Sox got contributions from the far corners of their roster in a win over the Marlins. They were a pitiful 24-36 in last year’s 60-game season. They’re 37-23 through 60 in 2021.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 6:26:09 GMT -5
Jon Couture @joncouture · 21m For whatever it's worth, after beating Miami on Monday, the #RedSox are in line to win the AL East based on @fangraphs projections for the first time this season. Now better than 73 percent to make the playoffs as well.
fangraphs.com/standings/play
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 8, 2021 6:27:29 GMT -5
No letdowns for these rampant Red Sox Bill Koch The Providence Journal Christian Arroyo excelled out of the leadoff spot for the Red Sox on Monday.
When asked prior to Monday’s game about batting Christian Arroyo in the leadoff spot, Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t attempt any intellectual smokescreens.
“We’re just trying to get something going up there,” Cora said. “There’s no information department. There are no numbers. There’s nothing. Hopefully he goes there and he does the job.”
Arroyo finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. He reached base safely in three of his four plate appearances – Boston entered with a .291 on-base percentage atop the order through 59 games. Consider this instant improvement despite stepping off a late flight home from New York.
Good baseball teams don’t win 100 games based on coaching staff hunches, but this sort of thing does occasionally tend to happen when you’re going along well. This Red Sox victory over the Marlins, a 5-3 triumph to kick off an eight-game homestand at Fenway Park, certainly qualifies.
Boston returned at about 3:30 a.m. after completing a weekend sweep over the Yankees in the Bronx. This makeup contest with Miami could have been viewed as more of a nuisance than as a chance to make it a five-game winning streak.
But good teams don’t think that way. They’re greedy. They always want more. And they tend to find an unconventional way or two while going through the extended grind of a six-month season.
“It would have been easy to kind of give this one away,” said Adam Ottavino, who finished off a four-out save by stranding the potential tying run in scoring position. “But we didn’t – we stayed mentally strong. I’m proud of that.”
Xander Bogaerts raced in from third on a wild pitch and Alex Verdugo served an RBI double to left field, sparking the Red Sox early. Arroyo’s two-run single to right came in the bottom of the fourth, opening up a 4-1 lead. Verdugo followed with a single through the right side and an errant throw allowed Arroyo to slip home from third.
“It was a solid day,” Arroyo said. “Great team effort.”
Nick Pivetta totaled a season-high 111 pitches last time against the Astros and was limited to just 4 2/3 innings in this one. That’s one out shy of a starter qualifying for a win, and Cora opted to lift the right-hander in the top of the fifth with a 5-2 lead. Garrett Whitlock retired the lone man he faced and Hirokazu Sawamura eventually improved to 2-0 by pitching 1 1/3 scoreless frames.
NESN cameras captured Cora and Pivetta in an extended conversation after Whitlock induced Adam Duvall's foul pop to first. Pivetta issued a third walk of the evening and was denied a final chance to improve his personal record to 7-1. That’s the kind of move that can lead to some frayed emotions in certain clubhouses – apparently not as far as these Red Sox are concerned.
“We won the baseball game at the end of the day,” Pivetta said. “I think that’s what really matters. It’s not about personal stats. It’s not about personal things. It’s about competing and putting the team in the best position to win, and I think that’s most important.
“A.C. had a tough decision to make, and he made the right decision.”
Whitlock, Darwinzon Hernandez, Sawamura, Josh Taylor and Ottavino allowed five hits and a lone earned run while striking out seven. Hernandez is up to eight consecutive scoreless appearances while Taylor now sits at 15. Sawamura and Ottavino each have an ERA under 1.00 through their last 21 combined appearances.
“It’s been a rough couple years as far as injuries and stuff and bouncing around a little bit,” Arroyo said. “It’s just fun to come in and help a really solid, talented ballclub.”
That’s not the team Arroyo joined last season as a waiver claim from Cleveland. Boston staggered to 36 losses in a 60-game schedule – these Red Sox have 37 wins through the same span in 2021. To say they’re certain October contenders at the moment would be premature, but there’s more than enough circumstantial evidence surfacing to suggest that’s currently the case.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @billkoch25
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