Red Sox @ Royals Game Thread/ 18th-20th June 2021

Missed chances sink Red Sox in KC opener
12:57 AM ADT
Jordan Horrobin

Jordan Horrobin
@jordanhorrobin


Through five long innings on Friday night, Nick Pivetta set and extinguished several little fires. He was burned once, though, on a three-run shot in the third inning from which the Red Sox never recovered in a 5-3 loss at Kauffman Stadium.

Pivetta allowed traffic in each frame, including the first two batters in the first inning, but he only paid for it once. With two on and two out in the third, he tried to wedge a high fastball into the inner-third of the zone, and Adalberto Mondesi was there with his barrel to greet it.

“He put a good swing on a 96-mile-an-hour fastball up and in,” Pivetta said. “I mean, those are gonna happen. [He] kinda sold out for it, but at the end of the day, just gotta keep moving forward.”

Boston’s right-hander was otherwise pretty good, mixing tons of sliders in with his mid-90s fastball and striking out five of his final nine hitters. But the lone homer -- his sixth allowed in the past three starts -- proved costly. The Royals added two more runs on extra-base hits (an RBI double and a solo home run) to create adequate distance.

Pivetta would probably like to put some distance between himself and the month of June, as he’s now 0-3 with a 5.66 ERA in four starts since the calendar flipped. He was 6-0 with a 3.86 ERA before that, but the long ball has continued to bite.

“I think it’s just limiting those (mistake) pitches and making sure that they’re more crisp, in a sense,” he said.
Mondesi's three-run homer



On Pivetta's mistake, the Royals generated as much damage as the Red Sox did all night. In the early stages, Boston deployed a death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts technique, spraying eight singles through five innings. But they scored only once in that span, while stranding seven baserunners.

“It’s just more about what we did offensively and what we didn’t do,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “There were some good at-bats that we felt were game-changers, and we didn’t finish it. It just happens.”

Among the game-changers was a bases-loaded chance in the fifth, when Rafael Devers struck out swinging on a slider that was buried so well it hit his foot. Even more confounding was the double play Boston suffered in the third that blew up a big chance.

The Red Sox opened that inning with three consecutive singles, plating one run and leaving a pair on the corners. Then, when J.D. Martinez hit a one-hopper to third, Christian Arroyo froze up on his way home. The Royals went to second base for the forceout, then fired to the plate to nab Arroyo for an unconventional 5-4-2 twin-killing.


Afterward, Arroyo described it as an “awkward play” in which he wanted to “sneak a run.” Cora wanted more decisiveness from his runner: If you’re going, commit on contact; if not, stay put at third.

“It was a big, big play at the moment,” Cora said. “I think the thought process was to go, but he hesitated.”


The significance of that play was difficult to know at the time, because the Red Sox -- who scored 10 runs apiece in their previous two games -- aren’t held down on offense very often.

Thanks to Devers’ solo shot in the eighth (which extended his RBI streak to five games) the Red Sox were only a swing or two away when they brought the top of the order up in the final frame. They went quietly, though, to cap a hot night (97 degrees at first pitch) against an ice cold team (the Royals had lost 11 of 12).

“Just kind of a weird game,” Cora said. “We had a lot of traffic out there, and I don’t know. It just felt, like, off … It just didn’t feel right in a sense. We kept putting good at-bats, then we’d chase pitches. I don’t know. It just sucks that we lost that game.”

RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Alex Cora quick to shed mask, but preaches Red Sox stay responsible
By Julian Benbow Globe Staff,Updated June 18, 2021, 8:14 p.m.

Word came down to manager Alex Cora in the third inning of the win Wednesday over the Braves that he, along with vaccinated players and coaches, had Major League Baseball’s permission to go without their masks in the dugout.

Cora didn’t need to hear anything else.

“They asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’” he said. “I didn’t even answer. I just grabbed it and threw it away.”

Baseball earlier this week updated its COVID protocol restrictions, allowing fully vaccinated players and staff to go maskless in clubhouses, dugouts, and bullpens.

Cora admitted before Friday’s 5-3 loss at Kansas City he had to adjust after going so long with a face covering.


“It was different, to be honest with you, very different,” Cora said. “Now, I’ve got to be careful what I say, right, because the camera’s right on me. With a mask, it was easy just to say what I wanted to say and nobody noticed it. But it feels like the outside world right now. It feels normal.”

The relaxed policy was another step toward a new normal. Vaccinated players and coaches can also eat at restaurants and attend other sporting events with no restrictions. Cora said even though the restrictions have been loosened, there is still an onus on players and staff to be responsible.

“There are certain things that we’re going to keep doing as far as testing,” Cora said. “It’s more relaxed now and all that. But obviously, with us having families and being away from families and being in this environment, we’ve got to be responsible.

“From my end, I will keep getting tested as scheduled, because obviously, I’ve got everybody back home and I don’t want them to get sick.”

The Sox are among eight teams who still haven’t reached the 85 percent vaccination threshold required by the league to relax COVID protocols. Last month, Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy said it was “frustrating,” but respected “differences of opinion.”

Cora said there are considerations the team still has to keep in mind because everyone isn’t vaccinated.

“You’ve got to be smart, too,” Cora said. “It’s not that now, you just can do whatever you want. There’s still a few things that we cannot do because we’re not at 85 percent. But it feels a lot different.”

Cora added that there are still ongoing conversations and daily reminders about best practices for everyone’s health and safety.

“We’ve been so good so far that it’d be it’d be very irresponsible if all of a sudden because we can do this, then we put the whole group in a bad spot,” Cora said. “You don’t want to be the guy that you test positive and you’re out for 10 days and then somebody that is a close contact is out for five or 10 days. You don’t want to do that. So we’ll still remind guys that we’ve got to keep doing the things that we’ve been doing for a while and hopefully it works.”
Spare the sticky stuff

The league made clear its intentions to crack down on pitchers who are caught using foreign substances. The commissioner’s office announced the penalty for doctoring balls will be a 10-game suspension. Umpires will begin checking regularly starting Monday.

“We’ll talk about the rules and the situation we’re in and the situation where the league is, and we’ll move forward,” Cora said. “I think the message is loud and clear. Everybody’s talking about it. They watch games, and they understand. . . . So it’s just another reminder. We’ve been reminding our group for a while what’s going on and what we have to do.”


The Sox have an off day Monday, and Cora said that will give them a chance to see how the inspections play out across the league.

“We have the best seat in the house on Monday,” Cora said. “So we’ll be watching a lot of games and see how it goes. They’re going to do their job. They’re going to check on the starters. They’re going to check on the relievers. They’re going to check on the catchers.

“So if that’s considered tough, well, that’s the way the league wants it. And that’s the way it’s going to be. So we’ve just got to see how players are going to react or when they’re going to do it. We just have to wait and see. But like I said, Monday is a perfect day for us to sit back and watch games and learn from the whole situation and be ready for Tuesday.”
Another positive step for Chris Sale

Chris Sale threw a 40-pitch bullpen with the Worcester Red Sox. Cora said Sale told him he wanted to treat the session as if he were going through a normal start.

“Where I was a few months ago,” Sale told reporters in Worcester, “this means the world to me. I’m more appreciative than ever about what I do and how I do it.”


“It was a good one,” Cora said. “It was kind of like he was warming up for a game. Just his regular routine for a start. Did that, came back, sat down for a little bit, and then he threw one ‘inning.’ ”

Head athletic trainer Brad Pearson was in Worcester to monitor Sale, who is working his way back from Tommy John surgery in March 2020.

“Everything went well,” Cora said. “They feel very comfortable with the way he threw the ball, and obviously his mechanics and all that. So just another step in a long process. We try not to get too excited because we’ve got to be patient, but at the same time, we are allowed to get excited because this guy is progressing the way we envision and we know he’s going to be a big part of what we are trying to accomplish later on in the season.”

“I can’t set my sights too far. That’s not good for anybody in this process,” Sale told reporters. “I’m happy with what we did today. Going to get my work in, and come back tomorrow and start all over again.”

Pearson was also in Worcester to keep tabs on Tanner Houck, who threw three scoreless innings Thursday for the WooSox. Houck threw 45 pitches and notched six strikeouts.

“That was pretty solid,” Cora said. “And today, he showed up to the ballpark and everything was good.”


Pearson will be among the Sox representatives at baseball’s first draft combine next week in North Carolina. The Sox have four of the first 105 picks in the July 11 draft, including the fourth overall selection.

Red Sox Notebook: Alex Cora happy to see Andrew Benintendi succeeding with Royals
Rib fracture has him missing the weekend

By Steve Hewitt | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
PUBLISHED: June 18, 2021 at 8:23 p.m. | UPDATED: June 18, 2021 at 8:33 p.m.

Though the Red Sox parted ways with him in February, Alex Cora will always be a supporter of Andrew Benintendi.

Cora’s memories are mostly positive of the former Red Sox outfielder, who was an integral part of their 2018 World Series in the manager’s first season before two seasons of struggles led to a trade to Kansas City. But even though the Red Sox let him go to the Royals in a deal that brought them back five players, Cora only wants to see Benintendi succeed.

He’s doing just that in his first season in Kansas City, batting .283 with eight homers and 31 RBI in 60 games. Benintendi won’t be playing against the Red Sox for this weekend’s three-game set — he’s on the injured list with a right rib fracture — but Cora had a chance to catch up with him before Friday’s series opener.

“He’s doing well, doing OK,” Cora said. “A little bit down because he’s hurt, but he looks great physically. Great. I mean, he put in work and he’s back to his old self. He’s having a good season. He’s having fun. Actually, I said, ‘Wow, now you’re bunting 3-1 counts with the shift?’ And he’s like, ‘I’m smarter now.’ Good for him, good for him, and I’m very happy with the way he’s performing.”

The Red Sox were high on Benintendi going into this season before Chaim Bloom ultimately couldn’t resist the return he got for the outfielder. Cora reiterated that Benintendi got away from himself in 2019, electing to try to hit more homers. But in Kansas City, Cora said Benintendi — who he called one of his favorites — is back to the kind of player that made him a Rookie of the Year runner-up and a big part of their championship.

“I’m very proud of him, very happy for him that he kind of settled down here and hopefully he can continue the things that he’s been doing,” Cora said.

Sale goes again

Chris Sale threw a hard, 40-pitch bullpen session in Worcester on Friday, and came out of it well again.

“It was a good one,” Cora said. “It was kind of like he was warming up for a game, just his regular routine for a start. Did that, came back, sat down for a little bit, and then he threw one inning, quote-unquote. … Friday is kind of like competition. He wants to do everything like it’s a start, and everything went well. They feel very comfortable with the way he threw the ball, and obviously his mechanics and all that.

“Just another step in a long process. We try not to get too excited because we have to be patient, but at the same time, we are allowed to get excited because this guy is progressing the way we envisioned and we know he’s going to be a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish later on in the season.”

Mask relief

Though the Red Sox haven’t reached 85 percent of their team being fully vaccinated, some of their COVID-19 restrictions have been relaxed. MLB updated its protocols this week that include that fully vaccinated individuals are no longer required to wear a mask in the dugout or bullpen, which explains why Cora and several members of the Red Sox were seen without them during Wednesday’s win over the Braves.

“Now I have to be careful with what I say, right? Because the camera’s right on me,” Cora said. “With the mask, it was easy to say what I wanted to say and nobody noticed it. It feels like the outside world right now. It feels normal. We got the message in the third inning and they asked me what do you want to do? And I couldn’t even answer. I just grabbed it and threw it away.”

Still, the Red Sox are going to continue being careful. Cora says they remind players what they can and can’t do on a daily basis to ensure that they don’t have an outbreak after doing well dealing with COVID-19 for so long.

“Just gotta be responsible,” Cora said. “You have to be smart, too. It’s not that now you can just do whatever you want. There’s still a few things that we cannot do because we’re not at 85 percent, but it feels a lot different.” …

Tanner Houck returned from his sore flexor muscle injury that kept him out for more than a month on Thursday, as he threw three shutout innings in a start for Worcester. For now, the standout right-hander will continue building up, but Cora suggested that he’ll be part of the equation with the Red Sox during the second half of the season as they look out for the health of their rotation.