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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 9, 2021 21:13:31 GMT -5
Astros tonight
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 2:57:05 GMT -5
'We’ll reset': Eovaldi, Sox fall in tough stretch 1:09 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
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BOSTON -- The last time Nathan Eovaldi had seen the Houston Astros, he helped put a stop sign on their quest to reach a second straight World Series.
That was October of 2018, the pinnacle of Eovaldi’s career, when he stifled the Astros as a starter in Game 3 of the ALCS and as a reliever in the clinching Game 5.
The reunion meeting Wednesday at Fenway Park was no fun for Boston’s flame-throwing righty, who was hammered for 11 hits and five earned runs over 5 2/3 innings as the Red Sox were soundly beaten, 8-3.
The dominance the Red Sox had against the Astros three years ago on the big stage also felt like a long time ago by the time Wednesday’s game was complete.
Over the last two weeks, the Sox and Astros have played six games, with Houston winning five and outscoring Boston, 34-13.
It’s unlikely the Red Sox are upset that Thursday night’s contest will be their last against the Astros in 2021 -- unless they meet again in the postseason.
“They’re one of the best teams in the big leagues right now. Obviously, we have to find it offensively against them,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Hopefully, we get a chance [to face them] later on in the year, but today, they put [on] a clinic. They did. They put on a clinic of controlling the strike zone, going the other way, taking their walks, not striking out. That’s why they are the best offense in baseball.”
The Red Sox, at 37-25, are ahead of where nearly every prognosticator expected them to be at this point of the season. Though they’ve slipped against a loaded Houston team, Cora doesn’t think this is any indication his team is about to level off.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to [the Astros] too,” said Cora. “It’s hard. We’re a little bit short against a great team. ... I’m not concerned, to be honest with you. I do believe over 162 games, you’re going to go through stretches like this.”
No matter what happens on Thursday, when Eduardo Rodriguez faces off against Zack Greinke, the Astros have already won the series, just as they did last week in Houston.
But the Red Sox won the series finale last week to avoid a sweep, and it’s important they do so again Thursday.
One thing Cora thinks has impacted his team’s performance this week is that a grueling seven-game road trip through Houston and New York was followed by a Monday afternoon makeup game against Miami that preceded this three-game set against Houston.
“Not to make excuses, but that game on Monday, it was a tough one for us to set up the week,” said Cora. “But we’ll reset. We expect Eddie to go out there tomorrow and perform, go deep into the game and go to our [late-inning] guys and go forward.”
Eovaldi’s performance was marred by a third inning in which he was tagged for four runs. That fateful frame opened with Jose Altuve tuning out the boo birds at Fenway Park by hitting a towering homer that went over the Green Monster. Houston sent eight batters to the plate that inning.
“That third inning ... with Altuve leading off, I missed with a cutter inside, and he didn’t miss with the home run,” Eovaldi said. “After that, I had the walk, [then] I kind of left some offspeed pitches over the middle part of the plate. Then after that, I felt like they were attacking early on the offspeed pitches, peppering the ball down the lines.
“They just did a good job of attacking right there. After the third inning, I was able to make the adjustments I needed to and keep them off the board after that. But I felt like the damage was already too late.”
Ren(throw) redux
The one positive for the Sox from Wednesday’s loss? Another sensational throw by Hunter Renfroe, who fired a 98-mph laser beam, as measured by Statcast, to nail Alex Bregman, who was trying to score from second on a single lined to right by Yordan Alvarez.
It was tied for the hardest throw on an outfield assist in MLB this season, but Renfroe downplayed it.
“Average,” he said of the throw. “There’s more in the tank.”
The Red Sox have 17 assists from their outfielders, the most in the Majors. It is particularly surprising teams are running on Renfroe, who has seven of those assists, which is tied for most in the Majors.
“I’d say seven or eight out of 10 times, they’re going to score the run no matter how good the throw is or whatever,” said Renfroe. “Now guys are getting so good at sliding and avoiding tags. I think that’s kind of a big issue. Obviously, the accuracy of the throw has to be absolutely perfect to nail a guy at home or at third or whatever. They’re playing the odds game more than anything.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:11:21 GMT -5
Jon Couture @joncouture · 6h In Houston, it was the offense disappearing. At Fenway, it's the starters cracking.
To this point, they're the only team to really make the 2021 #RedSox look like what we thought the 2021 #RedSox were going to look like.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:14:53 GMT -5
Houston pounds out another win, starting to become a real problem for Red Sox By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated June 9, 2021, 10:19 p.m.
Through 62 games, the Red Sox have faced 16 different teams. They’ve either flattened or been closely matched with 15 clubs. And then there are the Astros.
For the second straight night, the visitors endured a hail of hostility at Fenway. They offered the most powerful possible response, steamrolling the Red Sox, 8-3. Houston has won five of six games between the two teams, outscoring the Sox by a lopsided 34-13 while showing superior execution in both phases of the game.
“They’ve been doing everything right for now,” conceded Wednesday night’s Red Sox starter, Nate Eovaldi.
For the second straight night, Houston’s lineup quickly put the Red Sox on their heels. Only a laser of a throw from right fielder Hunter Renfroe to cut down Alex Bregman at the plate prevented the Astros from taking a lead in the top of the first.
“Average,” Renfroe joked of his seventh outfield assist, which clocked at 98 mph. “I’ve got more in the tank.”
So, too, did the Astros lineup. Though the Sox managed to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a Xander Bogaerts sac fly and Renfroe’s two-out RBI single against Astros starter Jake Odorizzi, the advantage quickly disintegrated.
Time and again, the Astros lineup ambushed Eovaldi, blanketing Fenway with hits by jumping on first or second pitches that caught too much of the plate. That approach led to one run in the second, when a miscommunication between center fielder Kiké Hernández and Renfroe on a Bregman fly to right-center produced a double, followed by Myles Straw’s first-pitch flare for a ground-rule double inside the right field line.
Down 2-1, Houston needed no help in plating four more runs in the third, an inning in which Eovaldi needed 31 pitches. Jose Altuve jumpstarted the offense with a solo homer, his 10th roundtripper, on a cookie of a cutter to tie the score leading off the inning.
After a walk and groundout, the Astros delivered three straight run-scoring hits — doubles by Alvarez and Gurriel, then a single by Michael Brantley — to take a 5-2 lead. Eovaldi’s efforts to cycle through his diverse, five-pitch arsenal in hopes of unbalancing the Astros proved ineffective, as Houston’s hitters were seemingly on everything he threw.
“That inning, they put on a clinic in how to attack guys,” said manager Alex Cora.
Though Eovaldi (7-3, 4.11) recovered by attacking the inside corner early in at-bats, he ended up allowing five runs on 11 hits — tied for the second most in any outing of his career — in 5⅔ innings.
“It was too late of an adjustment,” said Eovaldi. “They’ve got guys who don’t really swing and miss that much, they put the ball in play, they make things happen, they have power up and down the lineup as well.”
Eovaldi’s struggle continued the most dramatic rotation wobble of the season. Through most of the first 60 games, Sox starters had been a steadying force.
“Everyone has been carrying the torch,” lefthander Chris Sale said this week. “I made a joke not too long ago, I’m not going to have a spot when I get back.”
That punchline no longer lands quite as hard as it might have just a few days ago. Eovaldi’s struggle came one day after Martín Pérez allowed six runs in two innings, marking the first time this year that Sox starters have allowed five or more runs in back-to-back games.
Their last five games, Eduardo Rodriguez, Garrett Richards, Nick Pivetta, Pérez, and Eovaldi have allowed a combined 19 earned runs in 22⅔ innings — a 7.54 ERA that is the worst by the rotation in any five-game stretch this season.
“We’re in the middle of a grind,” said Cora, pointing to the team’s run of 17 consecutive days with games. “We’re a little bit short against a great team. . . . This is going to happen at one point, right? They were so good for so long.” Related: Abraham: With MLB cracking down on pitchers and substances, Alex Cora and other managers are in a tricky spot
Perhaps it’s nothing. After all, the Red Sox are 3-2 across those gamhttps://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/06/09/sports/with-mlb-cracking-down-pitchers-substances-alex-cora-other-managers-are-tricky-spot/es. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, or maybe the dip was a reflection of the matchup difficulties the Astros present for the Red Sox.
Nonetheless, the spell has resurrected some of the uncertainty that hovered over the rotation entering the year — a sentiment suppressed the first third of the season. Now 62 games in, Sox starters have surpassed their 2020 workloads in both innings and starts. And so, their recent, brief performance dip comes with questions, even as the prospect of an eventual return by Sale moves slightly closer.
The Red Sox did come within 5-3 when Xander Bogaerts launched a solo homer, his 11th, against Odorizzi (1-3). But once again, Houston’s pitchers proved capable of exploiting the Sox’ league-worst tendency to chase pitches.
The Sox managed just four hits on Wednesday — one the final five innings, following the Bogaerts homer — and are hitting just .179/.238/.282 with 65 strikeouts and 13 walks in the season series.
The Astros, meanwhile, scored three times against the Red Sox bullpen, with two of those tallies coming on a Bregman homer off of Phillips Valdez in the eighth. Bregman (3-for-4, homer, 2 doubles, walk) was one of seven Astros with multiple hits as Houston amassed 17 knocks, tied for the second-most allowed by the Sox this year.
“It’s frustrating of course with it being the Astros,” said Eovaldi. “Hopefully we’ll be seeing them a little further down the road.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:19:20 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK Alex Cora got his first taste of Astros bashing on Tuesday, and it hit him hard By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated June 9, 2021, 7:21 p.m.
On Tuesday night, Fenway Park hosted the latest performance by a national chorus of fanbases voicing contempt for the Astros. Throughout the game, fans expressed their disgust about the sign-stealing practices employed by the 2017 Astros in their championship season, with particular scorn directed at three of the most prominent members of that club: Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Carlos Correa.
The sentiments were loud, profane, and to Alex Cora — the Red Sox manager who, as Astros bench coach in 2017, played a significant role in the sign-stealing scheme — extremely uncomfortable.
“On a personal level, [it was] tough to swallow, tough to hear it, because at the end, I was part of that. I was part of the 2017 Astros and I was part of the whole sign-stealing situation,” said Cora. “Them being booed and screamed at the way they did, I was part of that, too.”
Cora said after the Red Sox endured their 7-1 loss, he spent time mulling the crowd reaction at home. It was the first time that he got a taste, even if indirectly, of what his former players have experienced this year.
“I was like, ‘Wow.’ It was tough,” said Cora, who noted that Red Sox utilityman Marwin Gonzalez, a member of the 2017 Astros, likewise was jarred. “The fact that there were boos like that, that kind of like hit me, too.
“I already talked to some of [the Astros], and it’s been tougher in other places. The New York thing is really tough on them, and they understand why,” he added. “I’m not saying here stop booing because I’m here, because at the end, I know there’s a lot of people who boo them because they’re good, too. They’re the Houston Astros. But at the same time, most of the people are doing it because of what happened in ’17. . . . It was a tough one for me last night.”
Matt Barnes open to continuing contract extension talks
For the second straight year, Matt Barnes and the Red Sox discussed the possibility of a contract extension in spring training. Though those conversations did not end in an agreement, Barnes — eligible for free agency after this season — said he was open to contract talks with the club during the season.
“There were numbers exchanged [in spring training]. It was definitely serious enough. It wasn’t just one or two phone calls,” said Barnes. “Absolutely, I would be open to [discussing an extension], but I can tell you firmly nothing has happened. We haven’t had any discussions since spring training.
“I’ve always been a firm believer that listening to information is always free, whether that’s in baseball or life,” Barnes added. “If they want to have a conversation, I’m sure that’s something my agent and I can discuss and see if anything comes of that. But as of right now, nothing has happened.”
Barnes, who turns 31 next week, is amidst an All-Star-caliber campaign in his first extended run as a closer. He is second in the American League with 14 saves and a 49.5 percent strikeout rate. Opponents have a .136 average, .200 on-base, and .227 slugging mark against him. What’s next for Chris Sale?
If Chris Sale’s 25-pitch bullpen session at Fenway on Tuesday represented the equivalent of a pitcher in late-January form, roughly a week or two away from the start of spring training in his throwing program, what lies ahead for the lefthander?
“[His bullpen sessions] will increase by duration, they will increase by intensity, he’ll add more and more off-speed pitches, at some point he’ll do an up-and-down, and then he’ll face hitters,” outlined pitching coach Dave Bush. “I don’t know the dates for each of those steps, but that’s the path we’re on. Once all that happens, he’ll start a rehab assignment and build up from there.”
The Red Sox have been extremely encouraged by Sale’s recent progress.
“For the first time in a long time, we’re talking about pitching,” said Bush. “We’re not talking about a body part that is not feeling good.” Alex Verdugo sits again
Alex Verdugo missed a second straight game with what Cora characterized as tightness in the outfielder’s back. The manager said that he expects Verdugo to be back in the lineup on Thursday . . . Catcher Kevin Plawecki, who left Tuesday’s game with a jaw contusion from a pitch that kicked off the dirt, told Cora that he’s having some difficulty chewing with the left side of his mouth but is otherwise fine. He was available on Wednesday, but did not play in the 8-3 loss . . . With Plawecki out on Tuesday night, gameplanning coordinator Jason Varitek lent a hand by squatting behind the plate to warm up pitchers between innings. “Before he went out, he said, ‘God help me,’ ” laughed Cora. “It’s not that easy. But he’s the captain, man. He’s willing to do whatever for this team” . . . The Red Sox announced plans to celebrate Boston’s LGBTQ community with Pride Night on Thursday. The first 1,000 fans who purchase tickets at redsox.com/pride will receive a free Progress Pride “B” T-shirt. Proceeds from the sales will benefit Boston Pride.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:22:04 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 8h That's poor from Kiké Hernandez and Hunter Renfroe. Kyle Tucker is credited with a gift double.
Center fielder's ball. Hernandez has to take charge. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:22:53 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 7h This is Nathan Eovaldi's 182nd career start. It's his 12th time allowing at least 10 hits in his career and just his third time allowing 11 or more. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:24:01 GMT -5
word is he is fast though
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 6h Danny Santana doing more than questioning there -- he was hoping. Now in a 2-for-32 skid after that strikeout in the 8th.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:25:37 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 5h Alex Cora joining us on Zoom. #RedSox
Cora -- 'We're a little bit short (on pitching) against a great team.'
'Over 162 games we're going to go through stretches like this.' #RedSox
Cora on a potential roster move for the bullpen Thursday -- 'We'll talk about it and see where we are.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:26:37 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 5h Replying to @billkoch25 Cora on Houston -- 'They put the ball in play. It doesn't matter if it's hard contact or soft contact. They do an amazing job putting the ball in play.' #RedSox
Cora on the Astros bats -- 'Today they put on a clinic. They did.' #RedSox
Cora on his rotation -- 'You put everything in perspective -- 62 games -- this is going to happen at some point.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:28:28 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 5h Eovaldi on being 1-5 against Houston -- 'It's frustrating of course.'
'Hopefully we'll be seeing them a little bit down the road.' #RedSox
Eovaldi on his adjustment to swings early in the count -- 'I think it's pitching inside more.'
'It was too late on an adjustment. I've got to be able to make those adjustments on the fly.' #RedSox
Eovaldi -- 'I felt like they were attacking early on the off-speed pitches. Peppering the ball down the lines.' #RedSox
Eovaldi -- 'They came out swinging for sure.' #RedSox
Eovaldi on his adjustment to swings early in the count -- 'I think it's pitching inside more.'
'It was too late on an adjustment. I've got to be able to make those adjustments on the fly.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:29:49 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 5h Renfroe on Tucker's ball in the 2nd: - Didn't hear Hernandez call just after contact - Was waiting to hear Hernandez call again at the track - Renfroe called late but looked, saw Hernandez coming - Hernandez stopped on Renfroe's call, Renfroe stopped when he saw Hernandez #RedSox
Renfroe on why he thinks teams still run on him -- 'They're trying to score runs.'
Mentions the difficulties of getting an on-target throw, a catch, a tag, etc.
'They're playing the odds game.' #RedSox
Renfroe on how he would rate his assist in the 1st -- 'Average. Middle of the pack.'
'There was more in the tank.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:32:18 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe
Astros are 5-1 vs. the Sox this season and have outscored them 34-13.
Houston's Cristian Javier with the first four-inning of the season in MLB.
Inherited a 5-3 lead and shut the Red Sox out the rest of the way. Allowed one hit.
Alex Cora said the Astros put on a clinic with their offensive approach tonight.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:33:01 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 5h #RedSox are 7-5 with 7 games remaining in their stretch of 19 games in as many days.
All five losses have been against Houston.
Altuve, Bregman and Correa are 6 of 13 with two doubles, two homers, four runs and three RBIs.
Booing them does not seem to be having much effect. Quite the opposite perhaps.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jun 10, 2021 3:39:04 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 8h For the first time this year, Red Sox starters have allowed 5+ runs in back-to-back games.
The Red Sox rotation completed its worst turn of the season (7.54 ERA) and Astros pitchers again dominated the Sox lineup in a blowout win. In 6 games vs Houston, the Sox are hitting .179/.238/.282 line with 65 Ks, 13BBs.
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