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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 19, 2021 3:46:37 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 7h The Red Sox have looked for the last two days like a team whose self-directed frustration is starting to overflow ... resulting in it being redirected at others.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 19, 2021 3:48:02 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 6h Bases loaded walk by Workman to force in another run, and the Yankees lead, 6-0. This series would mark the third straight in which the Sox won the first game then lost the next two.
In his last 64 games, Alex Verdugo (0-for-4 with three strikeouts tonight) is hitting .255/.327/.375. Strikeout rate is still low over that time (tonight notwithstanding), but he's hitting a ton of groundballs, especially against lefties.
Red Sox lose to the Yankees, 9-1. They lose 2 of 3 and have now dropped 6 of 9. Their lead over the Rays is down to 1/2 game heading into their three-game series in Buffalo against the Blue Jays -- who have the best run differential in the A.L. East.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 19, 2021 3:49:07 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 5h Cora: ‘We haven’t hit. … We’re chasing pitches. We’re in one of those stretches…We love to swing the bats, but we’ve been chasing pitches out of the zone for a while.’
Martín Pérez notes that the team had a tough start to the season in Baltimore and then rebounded: ‘We’re still one of the best teams in baseball. We’re going to be fine.’
Christian Vázquez: ‘We need to continue to play hard. We are in first place. We need to act more like we’re in first place. We need to be more cocky, like - we’re good. That’s what I see.’
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 19, 2021 3:51:05 GMT -5
Red Sox start second half with frustrating series loss to shorthanded Yankees Blown out 9-1 in finale
By Steve Hewitt | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: July 18, 2021 at 10:57 p.m. | UPDATED: July 19, 2021 at 12:36 a.m.
As unfortunate as it was, the Yankees’ COVID-19 outbreak at the dawn of this series to begin the second half, though it postponed a game, allowed the Red Sox an increased opportunity to bury their struggling rivals and also get on a much-needed platform to start the stretch run.
Instead, the Red Sox left New York continuing their backtrack that began before the All-Star break, while giving the Yankees a breath of new life.
After Thursday’s series opener was postponed due to the COVID outbreak, the Red Sox impressed in Friday’s win. But like their previous two series, they couldn’t finish off a series victory after winning the first game. A night after a bizarre six-inning loss, the Red Sox were silenced in a 9-1 defeat to the shorthanded, fourth-place Yankees to cap off a strange weekend in the Bronx.
In losing their third series in a row — the first time they’ve done so this season — the Red Sox (56-38) have now lost six of their last eight games, including the last two to the Yankees after they had started the year 7-0 against them. They now lead the American League East by a half-game over the Rays as they continue a critical stretch of 17 consecutive games against divisional opponents.
“I think we need to continue to play hard like we are in first place,” an honest Christian Vazquez said. “We need to act more like we’re in first place. That’s the key for us. We need to be more cocky, like we’re in a good place. And we’re not acting like that. That’s what I see right now. …
“We need to stay together. It’s not confidence. We need to put everything together and do our job. It’s little things, you know? Play the game right.”
Martin Perez put the Red Sox behind by surrendering a second-inning home run to Gleyber Torres, his second in as many nights, as the lefty lasted just four innings, leaving with a 3-0 deficit. The Red Sox were within striking distance until the seventh, when an ugly inning from the bullpen turned it into a blowout loss.
The Yankees were without Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela, two of their six players who tested positive for COVID, and after losing left fielder Tim Locastro to an ACL injury on Saturday, were forced to play a makeshift outfield. Four of their starters Sunday played for Triple-A Scranton this month. But it didn’t matter.
The Red Sox didn’t record a hit until the fourth, when Xander Bogaerts smoked a two-out double off Jameson Taillon. The Yankees right-hander shut them down the first two times through the order, but the Sox chased him when they finally threatened in the sixth.
Trailing 3-0, J.D. Martinez singled and Bogaerts doubled again to put runners on second and third with one out, forcing Taillon out of the game for reliever Chad Green. But the chance was wasted.
Rafael Devers was rung up when third-base umpire Jeff Nelson ruled that he swung on a check-swing attempt, the second time the Red Sox struck out on a borderline check swing in a big spot in as many nights. It incited a long stare-down from an angry Devers toward Nelson, and he was lucky not to be tossed as manager Alex Cora ran out to save his third baseman from an ejection.
Hunter Renfroe followed with a groundout to third as the Red Sox’ best opportunity of the night was squandered.
The Red Sox scored just six runs on 15 hits in 24 innings this weekend against the Yankees, continuing some struggles that started before the break.
“We haven’t hit since we were on the West Coast,” Cora said. “We’ve been chasing pitches. …
“Offensively, we’re not near the team that we are.”
The game got away from them in a hurry in the seventh as 10 Yankees came to the plate. Darwinzon Hernandez gave up a two-run homer to Rougned Odor as his control issues continued with two walks. Then, Brandon Workman issued three more walks — all with two outs and two with the bases loaded. The Red Sox’ weekend fate was sealed.
The schedule doesn’t get easier for the Red Sox. They head to Buffalo for a three-game set with the Blue Jays starting Monday before returning home for four more games against the Yankees. But they’re not worried about a rough stretch. Still in first, for now, they remain confident.
“I think we’re OK,” Perez said. “When we started the season, we lost three games and then after that we won nine in a row. We’re OK. …
“We’re going to get together again. I think we’re OK. We’re good. We’re one of the best teams in the big leagues.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 19, 2021 4:05:26 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox’s Christian Arroyo likely heading to injured list after hurting hamstring in debut at first base: ‘It’s a tough one for us’ Updated 1:31 AM; Today 1:31 AM
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
NEW YORK -- The Red Sox tried to get creative with infielder Christian Arroyo on Sunday night, giving him his career start at first base. The experiment did not last long.
Arroyo, who had split time between second base, shortstop and third base in the first 134 games of his major-league career, injured his hamstring stretching on a potential double play ball in the third inning. As Arroyo tried to lengthen his stance to receive Kiké Hernández’s throw on a Giancarlo Stanton grounder, he did a split that led to his immediate removal from the game.
Arroyo has a left hamstring strain and will likely be placed on the injured list Monday, manager Alex Cora said.
“He just felt it when he stretched,” said manager Alex Cora. “It’s a hard one, right, because he was ready, of course, to play first. He stretches and that happens. It’s a tough one for us but we’ll bounce back.”
Entering Sunday, Arroyo had a .944 OPS in nine July games and had made a strong case that he deserved more playing time at second base. But the promotion of outfielder Jarren Duran meant Hernández would be pushed from center field to second base on days Duran plays, seemingly leaving Arroyo without a position. Bobby Dalbec’s struggles paired with injuries to utility men Danny Santana and Marwin Gonzalez made first base an option for Arroyo.
Arroyo started working out at the spot earlier this week and was thrust into action for the first time Sunday. Before the game, Cora was excited about the new alignment.
“Good athlete, good defender,” Cora said. “We’re comfortable with it. He has earned his playing time, let’s put it that way. He’s putting good at-bats, he’s hitting good pitching and he deserves to start. He’s comfortable with it. I am comfortable with it. So we’ll go from there.”
Before Arroyo’s injury, the plan was for him to split second base with Hernández and first base with Dalbec, depending on who was pitching for the opponent each day. Against righties, with Duran manning center, Cora planned to use Hernández at second and Arroyo at first. Cora has expressed a desire to play Duran less against left-handers, so Hernández would likely start in center with Arroyo at second and Dalbec at first.
Now, Dalbec and Santana -- who is due to return from the injured list before Boston’s game against the Blue Jays in Buffalo on Monday night -- will most likely platoon at first base for the foreseeable future with Gonzalez and Michael Chavis potentially factoring in as well. If Arroyo is sidelined for an extended period of time, it will be his third IL stint since May.
“It’s frustrating, right, because it seems like he’s in a groove, he’s swinging the bat well, and then this happens,” Cora said. “We don’t like our guys to get hurt.
“When you’re not playing that much and you start playing a lot and start getting on base at a high rate and you’re running the bases more than usual, stuff like this happens,” Cora said.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 19, 2021 6:44:56 GMT -5
The Red Sox out-of-nowhere reality check Current Time 0:00 / Duration 1:02
By Rob Bradford an hour ago
Things have turned in a hurry.
Up until the late hours of the evening Saturday, the planning was in place for the Yankees Elimination Party (copyright, Eddie Andelman) with the second-wind Red Sox ready to take on all comers atop the American League.
Flash forward to late Sunday night, about 26 hours later.
"I think we need to continue to play hard like we are in first place," said Christian Vazquez after the Red Sox' 9-1 loss to the Yankees Sunday night. "We need to act more like we’re in first place. That’s the key for us. We need to be more cocky, like we’re in a good place. And we’re not acting like that. That’s what I see right now."
That was quick.
The optimism that was blanketing the Red Sox thanks to Friday night's win at Yankee Stadium, the call-up of Jarren Duran and what was thought to be the logical maneuver of introducing Christian Arroyo to first base had left the building.
In its place was the reality that the Red Sox sit just 1/2 game in front of the Rays having lost their last three series while living with a 2-6 record since that first game in Anaheim.
There was more.
The cliff that the Red Sox were hoping Martin Perez could avoid has made an appearance, with the lefty once again failing to reach the fifth inning. This time the outing came in the form of four innings, making five starts since June 8 where he hasn't managed five frames. And, making matters worse, was the fact this downturn came against perhaps one of the weakest lineups ever carted out by the Yankees.
With the presence of Tanner Houck -- who starts Wednesday in Buffalo -- and Chris Sale's impending return, the idea that the Red Sox would be leaning on this version of Perez in the starting rotation down the stretch seems tenuous.
Time is running out. Decisions have to be made. Optimism will only go so far.
"I think we’re OK," Perez said. When we started the season, we lost three games and then after that we won nine in a row. We’re OK. We’re going to get together again. I think we’re OK. We’re good. We’re one of the best teams in the big leagues."
Maybe. But this was the latest reminder that this is still a fixer-upper-type situation. As we said before, the Red Sox are a flawed team that has managed to navigate a palatable path.
But the images emanating from Yankee Stadium Sunday allowed for a bit louder alarm than most nights. The Perez outing. The continued lack of hitting (they have scored more than four runs just twice in the last 10 games). And now they have potentially one of the most demoralizing injuries of the season, the strained hamstring suffered by Arroyo while trying to play his new position.
"It's frustrating, because it seems like he's in a groove, swinging the bat well, and then this happens," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora of Arroyo's injury. "We don't like our guys to get hurt. This is one of the things too, and (head trainer) Brad (Pearson) always talks about it, it's not only in his case, when you're not playing that much and all of a sudden you start playing a lot and you start getting on base at a high rate and you're running the bases more than usual, stuff like this happens. We try to avoid it, we put them in running programs when they're not playing every day just to avoid stuff like this. But it's too bad that it happens.
"We'll keep working. We'll keep trying to improve. That's something that actually makes a lot of sense. You go from not playing to all of a sudden playing 10 days in a row or eight out of 10 and your body's not used to it. I'm not saying this is the case for Christian, but overall, that's one of the things we've been studying, and talking about it, and we'll try to get it right, I guess. That's what I'm trying to say. Hopefully we'll keep working and keep getting better."
Getting better ... It is suddenly a priority that is slapping the Red Sox perhaps more than any other time this season.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 19, 2021 9:23:19 GMT -5
Once again, A-Rod offered no insight or entertainment during last night’s Red Sox game
By Alex Reimer 41 minutes ago
Alex Rodriguez was on the call for Sunday night’s Red Sox-Yankees game. And once again, he offered no insight or entertainment.
The Yankees bested the Red Sox 9-1 in a sleepy affair, but the only thing worse than watching the Red Sox get shut down by the mediocre Jameson Taillon was A-Rod’s dreadful commentary. He is banal, boring and usually incorrect.
It is the triple crown of bad broadcasting.
One of the better examples of A-Rod’s inability to say anything remotely useful came in the top of the sixth inning, when Matt Vasgersian asked the three-time MVP whether he thought Rafael Devers checked his swing on a fastball from Chad Greene that just missed the upper half of the plate.
A-Rod pleaded the fifth.
“As a hitter, I would say I checked it,” Rodriguez pointed out. “As a pitcher, you want that.”
Thank you.
As sports fans, we are unfortunately used to national analysts offering cliches and stating the obvious. For years, Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan were the lead MLB analysts for Fox and ESPN.
And you wonder why baseball has trouble attracting millennials.
But what makes Rodriguez unique from other bad broadcasters is his ability to insult the viewer in multiple ways. Take his trade proposals for the Yankees in the top of the seventh, for example. After dismissing Joey Galo — A-Rod wanted to know where the Yankees would play him, apparently unaware of their depth crisis in the outfield — Rodriguez threw out three potential targets: José Ramirez, a “Christian Yelich-type,” and Ramon Laureano.
Why don’t the Yankees put together a deal for Shohei Ohtani while they’re at it?
“Yelich, obviously is not going to be available,” Rodriguez said. “But someone like that.”
Then he compared Laureano to a “young Melky Cabrera,” who was nothing more than a fourth outfielder early in his career.
An equal opportunity offender, A-Rod also offered ridiculous commentary about the Red Sox. He named Trot Nixon as a comp for Jarred Duran because … they’re both left-handed?
“Little young Trot Nixon, maybe too much of a stretch,” Rodriguez said.
While Nixon enjoyed a productive first half of his career, he is very different player than Duran. For starters, Nixon didn’t have any speed, as Vasgersian pointed out.
But at least A-Rod named an actual person when listening comparisons for Duran. Earlier in the night, he said Alex Verdugo has the energy of a “UFC fighter,” before informing us Red Sox personnel believe he is a true “baseball player.”
Good to know!
Steroids aside, A-Rod is one of the greatest players of all-time. Yet, he seems unwilling or unable to share any knowledge he’s acquired over his nearly three decades in baseball.
Say what you want about him, but he must have more interesting observations than informing us it’s easier to make the transition from starter to reliever than reliever to starter.
Or maybe not. Either way, ESPN has a problem in its Sunday night booth.
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Post by Kimmi on Jul 19, 2021 12:11:13 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 13m This would mark the first time in his professional career (and amateur, too, I would imagine) that Arroyo will play 1B. And unfortunately, this didn't end well for Arroyo.
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Post by Kimmi on Jul 19, 2021 12:13:53 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 5m Cora thinks there should be no more rain-shortened games. Thinks every one should be finished through nine, even if a suspension is necessary. Good idea. IT's not only fair, I think it makes the umps' decision easier. If it the 7th inning, in a 4-3 game, you don't have to decide on the importance of letting them play the game. If you think there is a hour delay, stop the game and pick it up the next day. You might even get a few more fans if someone wants a mini doubleheader. Obviously, I don't mind the rain shortened games nearly as much when we win as when we lose, especially when I think we had a good chance of coming back and winning that game. Finishing every game through nine would certainly make it fair for everyone.
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Post by Kimmi on Jul 19, 2021 12:16:18 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 6h Based on performance to date in 2021, you could swear the #RedSox and Yankees switched uniforms for this series.
Boston has been somewhat uninspiring, especially with the bats -- just 14 hits in 22 innings entering the 8th. The Sox have been playing some uninspiring ball the last few series. Some of those games were winnable, but our offense has checked out.
Not happy at all with losing the series to the depleted Yankees. Back to hating baseball.
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