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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 16, 2021 15:46:10 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 29m Cora on COVID-19 -- 'I've been concerned since Day One.'
'On a daily basis there are worries.' #RedSox
Cora on the Yankees COVID positives -- 'If I knew I'd be doing a press conference on CNN.'
'I'd become the head of the health department back home in Puerto Rico.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 16, 2021 15:47:20 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 24m Cora on the #RedSox COVID testing out of the All-Star break -- 'We've been very aggressive the last few days. Eh, I don't want to say aggressive -- we've been responsible.'
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Jul 16, 2021 22:02:03 GMT -5
Ridiculous game in some regards. Houck helps us win the game with three scoreless innings, PLUS lines up for a start v TO.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 2:53:43 GMT -5
New-look Rodriguez shuts down Yankees 12:56 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
NEW YORK -- Clean shaven. Clean slate.
Perhaps that was how Eduardo Rodriguez viewed Friday night’s start at Yankee Stadium in the first game after the All-Star break.
It sure looked that way when the lefty cruised while lifting the Red Sox to a 4-0 victory over their depleted rivals in the delayed-by-a-day opener of what will now be a three-game series.
With the win, Boston moved to 7-0 against New York this season. The Sox maintained a 1 1/2 game lead against the Rays in the American League East and now lead the Yankees by nine games.
Looking youthful as he pitched without facial hair for the first time in years, Rodriguez allowed just two hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, walking two and striking out eight.
Rodriguez threw 96 pitches and generated 13 whiffs out of the 41 swings the Yankees took against him.
It turns out, however, that Rodriguez's clean shave had nothing to do with trying to change his luck and everything to do with pleasing his young daughter Annie.
“I just shaved because my daughter, she’s been on top of me all the time, because every time I hug her she just goes, ‘Daddy, I don’t want that. Shave it please.’ And I was home during the All-Star break and she kept doing it,” said Rodriguez. “And I went to my restroom and I see the razor there and I said, ‘OK I’ll do it for her.’ I’ve had a beard for the last five or six years, so it feels good. I feel like I lost five years. Even my teammates say, ‘Bro you look younger,’ so I feel happy with that.”
After an inconsistent first half in which he posted a 5.52 ERA, Rodriguez expressed confidence recently that he’d get back to himself down the stretch.
Friday was a very good start. Though Rodriguez did falter in Anaheim in his final outing before the break, he has a 2.83 ERA over his last five starts.
For Rodriguez, the key to his turnaround has been the return of the changeup as a big weapon.
“He threw back-to-back-to-back changeups to [Gleyber Torres] and we haven’t seen that in a while with him,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “That’s what it’s all about. He has confidence with all his pitches and now it’s just a matter of going out there and performing.”
But the changeup has typically served as Rodriguez’s best offering. And the inconsistency of it in May and the first half of June explains why he was in such a rut.
“I was comfortable with the changeup since I started baseball, even when I was a little kid I feel like I could throw that changeup in any count,” said Rodriguez. “That’s how much trust I have in it, 3-2, 2-2, I feel like if I locate the changeup it’s going to work. So that’s how it’s been for me, you guys have been seeing it a lot.”
Rodriguez credits the work he did with pitching coach Dave Bush a few weeks back on a side day when he used the Rapsodo machine to help him key in on reducing the speed of the pitch from the high 80s to the low to mid 80s.
Rodriguez threw 25 changeups on Friday, averaging 85.3 mph.
“Four or five starts ago against the Yankees, the first changeup I threw was like 84, 83 [mph] and now I tell [catcher Christian Vázquez] every time he’s behind the plate, ‘Bro, every time you see a changeup up there 88, 89 just slap me in the face or tell me something,’ because I feel like that’s working [at a slower speed],” Rodriguez said.
The Boston bats allowed Rodriguez to pitch with a lead for most of the night. Christian Arroyo highlighted a three-run top of the third with a two-run homer to right-center.
“He just kind of mixed and match and we just didn't pressure him. You know, we didn't, we couldn't mount anything enough to really, ever really put them in any significant trouble,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “So it allowed him to, obviously with a lead, be super aggressive. And I think he just pitched with a lot of confidence.”
The Red Sox didn’t accomplish much after that against Jordan Montgomery, but they didn’t need to. This was thanks to Rodriguez and a strong effort by the bullpen, which included a three-inning save by the team’s No. 6 prospect Tanner Houck, fresh off a call-up from Triple-A Worcester.
Houck swings back into action While Houck has mainly been a starter through college, in the Minors and in his limited experience with the Red Sox, his most valuable role down the stretch for Boston might be as a swingman.
Houck warmed up for his upcoming start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday with a dazzling effort in which he threw 49 pitches and topped out at 96.5 mph with his fastball.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it for the rest of my life, I don’t want to take anything away from this team,” Houck said. “Whatever they call upon me to do, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll step up and do whatever role they need me to do.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:12:51 GMT -5
Eduardo Rodriguez, Red Sox clean up against Yankees in first game out of break By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated July 16, 2021, 10:14 p.m.
NEW YORK — Sometimes a single game can offer a telling portrait of a season. Such proved to be the case Friday at Yankee Stadium, in the first game following the All-Star break.
Chaos and crisis has engulfed the Yankees. Their hopes of escaping their pre-break mediocrity were smashed by a roster-decimating COVID-19 outbreak that left New York without six players (all, thankfully, asymptomatic or experiencing little more than mild symptoms), including Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela. Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andújar, and Luke Voit are all sidelined by injuries. New York confronts a potential second-half abyss.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, are trying to create roles to squeeze more major league talent onto their roster, seeking creative deployments in order both to take advantage of players’ abilities and to manage the workload of their teammates.
On Friday, after a one-day delay forced by the Yankees’ COVID-19 infections, the disparate states of the two rosters proved glaring. The Red Sox dispatched the threadbare Yankees in a 4-0 victory, improving to 7-0 on the year against their historic rivals.
Eduardo Rodriguez delivered 5⅔ shutout innings, and after Hirokazu Sawamura recorded one out, Tanner Houck — called up as a swingman who will alternately help in long relief and as a starter — earned his first big league save with three scoreless innings.
“This,” beamed Red Sox manager Alex Cora, “was the plan today.”
It’s safe to say that Yankees skipper Aaron Boone offered no such utterances. Related: For concerned Alex Cora, COVID outbreak supersedes rivalry with Yankees
Rodriguez (7-5) led the Sox’ efforts, on a night when he took the mound looking like a pitcher committed to reversing his fortunes. The newly clean-shaven lefthander (who said after the game that he sacrificed his beard not as a sacrifice to Mt. Olympus but instead because his daughter complained about it) had reason to seek change.
The veteran emerged from the first half with a 5.52 ERA, the worst by any Sox starter since 2016. Early Friday, he looked vulnerable, with the Yankees just missing a pair of homers on long flyouts in the second inning.
But Rodriguez found traction by mid-game. From the third through sixth innings, he recorded eight of 11 outs by strikeout, gaining the feel for a 92-94 m.p.h. four-seamer and a changeup that ducked under bats — late movement attributable to his efforts to throw it slower in recent games than he had early in the year.
“Now I tell [Christian Vázquez] every time he’s behind the plate, ‘Bro, every time you see a changeup up there 88, 89 [m.p.h.], just slap me in the face or tell me something because I feel like [the slower changeup is] working,” Rodriguez said. “It’s eight or nine [m.p.h.] different [from the fastball] which is what the changeup is for.”
His only unsteady moment came with two outs in the fifth, when — with a 3-0 Red Sox lead — a one-out walk and two-out error brought the tying run to the plate.
But that potential run came in the form of nine-hole hitter Tim Locastro. Rodriguez dispatched him with a changeup to end the threat, and got two more outs in the sixth. He allowed two hits, walked two, and struck out eight.
“We do believe that he’s in a great spot for a great second part of the season,” Cora said.
His outing was made comfortable by a Red Sox offense that followed a frequent first-half script in taking advantage of every extra opportunity.
In the top of the second, with Xander Bogaerts (walk) on first, Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez could not secure a two-strike foul tip from Rafael Devers off of New York starter Jordan Montgomery. Four pitches later, Devers drilled a double to left-center. What could have been a runner on first with one out turned into men on second and third with no outs.
“That’s what we keep preaching,” Cora said of the inning-changing foul tip. “Don’t give up at-bats, don’t give up pitches, just keep grinding, keep going. We did a good job with two strikes. We did a good job with two outs. That’s the mentality.”
The Red Sox kept winning pitches and at-bats that inning. Hunter Renfroe’s RBI groundout gave the Sox a 1-0 advantage, and with two outs, Christian Arroyo stayed on a changeup away and lined a rocket into the Yankee Stadium jet stream to right-center for a two-run homer (his sixth) and a 3-0 Red Sox advantage.
Arroyo’s homer came in the first game since Jarren Duran’s callup — a move that may mean more time for Kiké Hernández and less for Arroyo at second base. But the productive reserve insisted his homer wasn’t a statement.
“I’m here to win baseball games for the Boston Red Sox and I’m going to do that any way I can,” Arroyo said. “I’m never going to complain about guys who are going to come up here and contribute to our success.”
Montgomery (3-5) allowed no more runs in his six innings, but the Yankees could never close the gap. Indeed, the spread grew in the eighth when J.D. Martinez blasted an 0-2 meatball from Yankees reliever Justin Wilson into the stands in right-center for his 19th homer.
Houck, a righthander who represented a start contrast to Rodriguez, flummoxed the Yankees over the final three innings with mid-90s four-seamers and sinkers along with sweeping sliders and even a few splitters — a pitch he has rarely featured in the big leagues.
The result was both a three-inning save — “Definitely a unique experience,” Houck said — and a building block for his start against the Blue Jays next week.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it for the rest of my life, I don’t want to take anything away from this team,” Houck said. “Whatever they call upon me to do, that’s what I’m going to do.”
There’s a long line of Red Sox making similar claims this year — a fact that has the team in first place, with much of its success coming at the expense of the Yankee
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:18:47 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK Red Sox ace Chris Sale reports no ill effects following rehab appearance By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated July 16, 2021, 7:51 p.m.
NEW YORK — Chris Sale is getting ever closer to his return.
On Thursday, the lefthander made his first game appearance in 23 months — three shutout innings and 39 pitches against Orioles minor leaguers in the Florida Complex League. On Friday, he reported to the Red Sox’ extended spring training facility in Fort Myers and played catch with no ill effects.
To the contrary, he felt great. Not only was his arm pain-free, but the 32-year-old — who has overhauled his nutrition and conditioning while recovering from Tommy John surgery — saw evident improvement in how he recovered physically from the outing.
“Everything went well,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who texted with the pitcher. “He’s made some adjustments as far as his nutrition, his workouts, all that. He’s actually a lot stronger now than what he was a few years ago. He’s very excited with that.”
With Sale healthy after that rehab start, he’ll now progress to facing more advanced minor league hitters. The lefthander is slated to start in Double-A Portland on Tuesday, when the Sea Dogs host the Harrisburg Senators at Hadlock Field. The Red Sox still intend to get him stretched out to at least five innings, meaning a minimum of two more rehab starts.
Nonetheless, barring a setback, the team now is confident of seeing Sale back in the rotation within a matter of weeks.
Two days into his major league career, Jarren Duran has received a lesson in an unwanted trait: Patience.
With Jordan Montgomery — one of the toughest left-on-left starters in the big leagues — starting for the Yankees, the Sox elected to keep Duran out of the starting lineup Friday. Thus, one day after his scheduled debut was delayed by the COVID-19-induced postponement of Thursday’s game, the much-anticipated prospect had to wait a second consecutive day for his first big league start.
“He just got benched,” Cora said with a chuckle. “It happens.”
Duran, who got to meet with his family for an outdoor dinner in New York on Thursday night, said that he was comfortable waiting until the Red Sox saw fit to let him make his debut.
“It’s part of the game,” Duran said. “Some days you play. Some days you don’t play. I’m coming up to their team, so when they want me to play, I’ll be ready.”
Duran noted that he had prior experience coming off the bench if the Sox wanted to summon him in the later innings Friday against the Yankees. Not only did he contribute in that role in the 2019 All-Star Futures Game, but he also was a reserve for a significant portion of his high school career.
Still, the decision to have Duran sit against a lefty wasn’t a given. The 24-year-old posted remarkable numbers through the minor leagues against lefties, hitting .360/.419/.470 against them in his three minor league seasons. But even with Alex Verdugo struggling against southpaws (.207/.254/.252), Cora wanted to stay with a top-of-the-order constant.
“He’s our left fielder. He’s been hitting second the whole season,” Cora said. “There is no science. There are no numbers. You can say he’s hitting .200, but Alex has been there the whole season. So we’ll stick with him.”
Gonzalez placed on injured list
To open roster spots for Duran and righthander Tanner Houck — who were officially added to the roster before the start of Friday’s game — the Sox placed Marwin Gonzalez on the 10-day injured list retroactive to July 13 with a right hamstring strain. The team also designated righthander Austin Brice (who was called up Sunday) for assignment, thus clearing both a big league and 40-man roster spot. Gonzalez, who is hitting .205/.286/.297 in 70 games, may need longer than 10 days to return to health. The utilityman had sat out five games last week because of a hamstring injury before his ill-fated, one-game attempt to return to the lineup last Sunday against the Phillies. “It was actually worse than the first time,” Cora said. “It was bad compared to when we slowed him down a little bit [before the break]. We’re not going to rush him, let’s put it that way.” . . . With the postponement of Thursday’s game, the Red Sox altered their rotation slightly. Eduardo Rodriguez, the scheduled Thursday starter, instead started Friday. Nate Eovaldi will start Saturday, his originally scheduled day, while Martín Pérez — the originally scheduled Friday starter — will get the ball Sunday. Nick Pivetta was nudged back from Sunday in New York to Monday in Buffalo, while Garrett Richards will start Tuesday in Buffalo . . . MLB announced that Thursday’s postponed game will be made up in a day-night doubleheader on Aug. 17. For now, that timing appears more favorable to the Red Sox — who have offdays both before and after a two-day, three-game series in New York — than Yankees, who will be amidst a stretch of 12 games in 11 days. With six Yankees — Aaron Judge, Gio Urshela, Kyle Higashioka, Nestor Cortes, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Wandy Peralta — placed on the COVID-19-related injured list and Luke Voit (knee) heading to the “regular” injured list, the Yankees called up several players Friday. The team added catcher Rob Brantly, infielders Chris Gittens and Hoy Park, and outfielder Greg Allen to the roster. On Thursday, the team had called up outfielder Trey Amburgey and activated reliever Zack Britton.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:22:05 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 9h #RedSox announce roster moves: - Austin Brice DFA, Jarren Duran selected. He will wear No. 40. - Marwin Gonzalez (right hamstring strain) to the 10-day IL, Tanner Houck recalled from Triple-A Worcester.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:23:35 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 11h #RedSox shifted their rotation a bit.
Friday: Rodriguez Saturday: Eovaldi Sunday Pérez Monday: Pivetta Tuesday: Richards Wednesday: Houck
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:24:20 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 7h Eduardo Rodriguez's last 5 starts:
28.2 IP, 24 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 5 BB, 34 K.
Dropped his ERA from 6.21 to 5.19.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:26:04 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 6h Stanton 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and a GIDP tonight.
3 for 22 vs. the Sox this year. 0 RBIs, 13 strikeouts.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:28:21 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 6h
Sox are 7-0 vs. the Yankees this season and have outscored them 40-17.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:32:33 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 7h YES broadcast just said that Jordan Montgomery hasn't had a single run of support in his last *five* starts. That seems impossible.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:34:24 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 6h The Red Sox have won 7 straight against the Yankees in one season for the first time since 2011. They've won 8 straight against them dating to last year, the 3rd longest Red Sox winning streak ever against the Yankees. (Record was 17 straight in 1911-12.)
Rodriguez notes that both he and Houck shaved over the break. ‘We looked like little kids out there.’
Houck: ‘Definitely a little bit of a confidence-booster coming back and having success right away.’ Houck said he threw a few splitters today - something he’d been reluctant to do in past big league games.
Houck calls a three-inning save a ‘unique opportunity.’ He’s happy to be a swing-man and help the team in multiple capacities.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:38:29 GMT -5
Red Sox RHP Tanner Houck dazzles out of relief, will get a chance in the starting rotation
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald July 16, 2021 at 11:55 p.m.
Tanner Houck has done nothing but dominate big league hitters, but had to wait three months to get another chance.
Friday, Houck was back on a big league mound for the first time since April 18. The results were the same.
Houck carved up the Yankees over three scoreless innings in relief, allowing just one hit and a walk while striking out three to earn his first career save in the Sox’ 4-0 win.
“Definitely a unique experience,” said Houck, whose career ERA in the big leagues is now 1.78 over 30 innings. “I’ve started most of my life and this year I’ve had the opportunity to come into the game in relief. I did it a little bit in ’19 and I think that truly did prepare me well to step into whatever role.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it for the rest of my life: I don’t want to take anything away from this team. Whatever they call upon me to do, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll step up and do whatever role they need me to do.”
After Houck’s impressive debut last year, it seemed likely he’d start the season in the Red Sox’ rotation. But the Sox signed Garrett Richards to a $10-million deal and didn’t want to lose Nick Pivetta, who was out of options. So they sent Houck back and forth to the minors three times earlier this season.
He eventually suffered a flexor strain and missed some time, but returned to the rotation in Triple-A Worcester in mid-June until his call-up this week.
The Sox are now flirting with a six-man rotation. And though Houck pitched out of relief Friday, he’ll make a start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, then go back to the bullpen next weekend against the Yankees, and likely back to the rotation for another start after that.
“This was the plan today,” manager Alex Cora said. “Tanner can go multiple innings. This worked out perfectly for us. Now he’s in line to pitch that last game against Toronto.”
The back-and-forth action is rarely productive for a young pitchers’ health, confidence or long-term success, but the Sox have prioritized the team’s needs.
“I compare it to a position player playing shortstop, second base, third base, outfield,” Houck said. “You see it with Kiké Hernandez, he does it a lot, Marwin Gonzalez, Danny Santana, those are just a few.
“Having pitchers who can do it, why not? You’ve got long relief guys that can come in and eat three, four, five innings, whatever it is, so I think being a pitcher that can transition to the bullpen quickly or transition to a starter role just as quick I think is a benefit for the team.”
The knock on Houck as a starter was that he only threw two pitches, a fastball and a slider, though he can reduce and add speed on each one to give him more looks and has shown an incredible feel for the game. There are pitchers throughout the game who dazzle while throwing mostly two pitches, including Jacob deGrom and Lance Lynn.
But Houck recently added a splitter to his repertoire. He threw three of them Friday.
“That’s obviously a pitch I’ve been working on for a while now and being able to break it out today, another confidence booster getting that work in there,” he said. “Honestly, just went out there and told myself, ‘alright, go out there and compete. It’s the same thing as if you’re starting a game or you’re coming into a game. Just continue on the attack and just do what I can to help this team win.’
“Definitely a little bit of a confidence booster coming back and having success right away, but it’s about continuing it and building on it.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Jul 17, 2021 3:41:13 GMT -5
Red Sox Notes @soxnotes · 6h J.D. Martinez’s 8th-inning HR extends his on-base streak to 29 games, tied for the longest in MLB this season (also Xander Bogaerts and Jeimer Candelario).
The Red Sox are 22-10 (.688) vs. AL East teams, including 7-0 against the Yankees.
The Sox have won their last 8 games against the Yankees dating back to 2020, their longest winning streak vs. NYY since 2008-09 (9-0).
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