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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 3:13:39 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 7h Discounting last year when he pretty much checked out, this is as bad as JD Martinez as looked with the Sox.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 3:14:08 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 6h Hansel Robles was the pitching help they got at the deadline.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 3:15:02 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 6h Red Sox rotation in the last 11 games: 8.40 ERA. The last time the rotation had that high an ERA over that long a stretch was ... last 8/23 to 9/4, when Zack Godley, Martín Pérez, Robinson Leyer, Ryan Weber, Colten Brewer, Chris Mazza, and Kyle Hart had a combined 8.92 ERA.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 3:21:28 GMT -5
Xander Bogaerts takes responsibility for Red Sox’ woes, ‘fighting to get back’ after wrist injury
By Steve Hewitt | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald August 7, 2021 at 12:29 a.m.
Since he was a rookie with the Red Sox, Xander Bogaerts has always taken accountability as a spokesman for the team whenever they’re mired in a funk. That hasn’t changed with the Red Sox’ recent slide.
The shortstop was vocal last weekend when the Red Sox were on the verge of being swept by the Rays. A week later, the Sox are still struggling with losses in eight of their last 10 games after Friday night’s brutal 12-4 loss to the Blue Jays, and the de facto captain knows things need to change.
“We gotta win,” a frustrated Bogaerts said. “I know it’s not about a lack of effort, a lack of focus, a lack of work, it’s none of that. Maybe we should try harder. Because apparently what we’re doing right now is not enough. Coming from me, it really sucks not being able to produce to help the team because we know this game is about whoever’s putting up more runs. It’s a really, really bad time to be playing bad right now.”
The Red Sox’ issues have begun with a starting rotation that’s posted an 8.40 ERA over its last 11 starts, but Bogaerts isn’t putting himself or the offense off the hook.
Bogaerts suffered a sore left wrist that kept him out for two games on July 26 and 27 against the Blue Jays, and though he said the injury is behind him, he said he’s still working through the aftereffects.
“It’s just that once I got my wrist injury, I changed so much mechanically and now it’s just about fighting,” Bogaerts said. “I’m fighting to get back to the right mechanics and get going again. It’s not about I’m not mentally strong or anything like that. I’ve been through a lot worse. …
“I have a good feel for knowing what I want to do out there and sometimes I give a lot of credit to the pitching staff. They’ve been pitching me really tough these last few weeks and hats off to them also. But when I’m getting good pitches to hit, I’m missing a lot.
“It’s going to come around. I can tell you that for sure. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later. I really hope I can help this team as soon as possible because we need it. We need me to step up, be more productive. I think it’s enough of playing bad baseball.”
How do the Red Sox turn it around right now? Bogaerts put it simply.
“All you need is one win, man,” Bogaerts said. “That’s all you need. Obviously we had that one win in Detroit and kind of came back … and those guys came out swinging. It’s just a momentum change. It happens so much. You lose seven of eight and then you go on a nine-game winning streak. It’s enough of hoping and waiting to get on that winning streak. We have to go out and get it. Just have that mindset of coming here tomorrow, we have two games. Two is better than one. You can gain a lot of ground with two games in one day. We have to come out swinging.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 3:25:40 GMT -5
Christopher Smith @smittyonmlb · 4h The Red Sox were 9 ½ games ahead of the Yankees and 10 ½ games behind the Blue Jays on July 26. The second-place Red Sox now are just three games ahead of New York and four games of Toronto.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 3:41:52 GMT -5
Red Sox Death Spiral Tour rolls on
Double Dip at Rogers Centre Saturday August 7th 2021
Game 1 3pm
Pivetta 8-5/4.57
Nick Pivetta suffered his fifth loss of the season on Sunday, giving up three runs on three hits over 4 2/3 innings against the Rays. The bulk of the damage came with two outs in the third inning, where Mike Zunino drew a four-pitch walk and Brandon Lowe clobbered a two-run homer. They tacked on a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Manuel Margot. Pivetta has stumbled through his last four starts, and now sports an underwhelming 4.57 ERA and 1.32 WHIP on the season.
Ray 9-5/3.04
Robbie Ray limited the Indians to two runs over six innings Monday as the Blue Jays fell in extra innings. Ray wasn't as sharp as we've often seen him this season. He struck out just four batters and induced only nine swinging strikes. He also walked three for the second start in a row, which, remarkably, is the first time he's done that since his first two outings of the season. However, other than a couple runs the Indians scratched together in the third inning, that was it.
Game 2 7pm
Houck 0-2/2.45
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tanner Houck will be brought back for the team's August 7 doubleheader in Toronto. Houck was just optioned to Triple-A Worcester, which sparked speculation that the Red Sox might be making a trade for a starting pitcher, but Cora explained that the move is just about creating some roster flexibility for the next stretch of the schedule. Carry on.
Berrios 8-5/3.31
José Berríos recorded seven strikeouts over six scoreless frames on Sunday in his Blue Jays debut against the Royals. Berríos scattered five hits and one walk over six flawless frames in his inaugural Rogers Centre outing. He generated 11 swinging strikes, including nine on his curveball, and finished with a 29 percent CSW (called strikes plus whiffs). The 27-year-old righty will carry a pristine 3.31 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 133/33 K/BB ratio across 127 2/3 innings (21 starts) into a tougher home matchup against the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon.
Faltering Red Sox face twin bill with Blue Jays According to STATS
The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox on Friday to open a four-game series, and they'll be out to inflict a double-dose of damage on them when the teams play a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Blue Jays used a nine-run fifth inning on Friday to defeat the Red Sox 12-4.
The Blue Jays are 7-1 in their first homestand at the Rogers Centre since the end of the 2019 season.
"They haven't had baseball in forever -- (the crowd) might be the loudest since I've been here," said Randal Grichuk, who had an RBI double in the fifth. "That's huge for us. We feel it."
There was some animosity during the fifth when reliever Hansel Robles replaced Nathan Eovaldi, and after giving up a single to Alejandro Kirk, hit Grichuk with a pitch in his second plate appearance of the inning.
Grichuk said he spoke to Red Sox players, who assured him it was accidental.
"One got away," Grichuk said. "He was probably trying to pump up to get out of there."
The players in the Blue Jays dugout started yelling. Both managers were on the field, but the situation did not escalate.
The Red Sox are showing the frustration of seven losses in their past eight games.
Boston right-hander Nick Pivetta (8-5, 4.57 ERA) will face Toronto left-hander Robbie Ray (9-5, 3.04) in the first game. Then Boston right-hander Tanner Houck (0-2, 2.45) will face Toronto right-hander José Berríos (8-5, 3.31) in the second game. Each game is scheduled for seven innings.
Ray has faced Boston three times this season, going 2-1 with a 4.24 ERA. In five career meetings with Boston, including four starts, he is 2-1 with a 4.98 ERA.
Pivetta is 1-1 with a 7.59 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays this season. In six career starts against Toronto, those numbers are 1-2 and 6.82.
Berrios will be making his second start for the Blue Jays, who acquired him in a trade with the Minnesota Twins on July 30. He has never defeated Boston, going 0-1 with an 8.31 ERA in one start this season and 0-5 and 4.93 in six career starts.
Houck has faced Toronto once in his career, allowing one run in a four-inning start on July 28.
Houck is taking the place of Martin Perez in the rotation. Before the game on Friday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that Perez was being moved to the bullpen. Perez pitched one inning in relief Friday and allowed one run on two hits.
He is 0-4 with an 8.53 ERA over his past five starts. In an 8-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, Perez lasted just 1 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits.
"It's something that, because of where we're at and the people we're adding in the upcoming days, it makes sense," Cora said. "I've been saying all along, his stuff is a lot better than the results. But, obviously, it's going to be where we're going to be roster-wise in the upcoming days."
The Red Sox soon could be adding Chris Sale, who will be making a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Worcester on Saturday. Cora said it is hoped that Sale, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, can go five innings at 90 pitches.
Infielder Jonathan Arauz, recalled from Triple-A on Friday when outfielder Jarren Duran went on the COVID-19 injured list, pitched the eighth and allowed one run.
--Field Level Media
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 9:13:35 GMT -5
The Red Sox were left looking at the team they were supposed to be Current Time 0:07 /
By Rob Bradford 2 hours ago
In all of Alex Cora's days as manager of the Red Sox he had seemingly never offered that expression that was put on display in the fifth inning.
Complete exasperation.
Now, the innings and moments that followed offered more along the lines of mannerisms we might expect. Talking to one player after another. Trying to uncover evidence on his iPad. And, finally, a matter-of-fact, no-frills postgame Zoom session following the Red Sox' 12-4 loss to the Blue Jays.
But that fifth inning was a dagger. It wasn't difficult to decipher.
The angst was obviously due in part to the nine runs put up by the Blue Jays after the Red Sox had just increased their lead to 2-0. Ill-advised pitches from starter Nathan Eovaldi led to three straight doubles from the bottom of the Jays order, setting the stage for the out-of-nowhere chaos.
It was, however, more than that.
Once Hansel Robles started his jawing with the Blue Jays' dugout, leading to what seemed to be a "are you kidding me" stroll on the field by the Red Sox players, that's when the agony was brought to a head.
The Red Sox were getting blown out again. The team across the field was celebrating with the kind of personality and enthusiasm these Sox were supposed to have bottled. And in the middle of it was a player - Robles - who represented what seems to be one of the biggest trade deadline swings and misses by a contending team in some time.
While Nelson Cruz was homering the Rays to another win, Kyle Gibson was pitching the Phillies past the Mets and the Yankees were riding their newfound enthusiasm to a ninth win in 11 games, Cora was left using the Red Sox' Deadline Day as mop-up men for a second straight day. And, by the way, the Blue Jays seem pretty pumped they added to what was already perhaps the American League's most talented roster.
We get it, Kyle Schwarber was perhaps the best hitter available at the deadline. (Although, Cruz might say something about that.) And, yes, there is Chris Sale on the horizon. But, still, there was this delicate stretch that has led the Red Sox to this point in Toronto.
This wasn't supposed to be like a repeat of 2019, when the Red Sox sat 1/2 game in back of Tampa Bay on July 29 before finishing 12 games in back of the Rays two months later. Why there was no scientific evidence to prove it, but it sure seemed like that team was crestfallen by a lack of trade deadline activity, with an eight-game losing streak leading up to Aug. 6 serving as an example.
The 2021 team was different. It was carrying a circle-the-wagons mentality, setting out to prove the group that toiled in the back fields of JetBlue Park was good enough, even without immediate July 31 help.
What seems to have been misread by the front office was the mindset of the teams they were going against. And in case a reminder was needed, let us present those images from the fifth inning when the Blue Jays were holding a carnival thanks in large part to the stylings of a player that has fallen well below the Andrew Cashner Line when it comes to impactful deadline deals.
Outside of that fifth inning, there was the kind of anger and intent toward their lot in life Red Sox fans should hope would have percolated by now. It was a mentality that stretched to the final out of the game, with Xander Bogaerts showing exemplary sprint speed down the line on a nothing grounder.
They get it. But that doesn't make the sting of the circus tent of a fifth inning any less painless.
“We gotta win," Bogaerts said after the game. "I know it’s not about a lack of effort, a lack of focus, a lack of work, it’s none of that. Maybe we should try harder. Because apparently what we’re doing right now is not enough. Coming from me, it really sucks not being able to produce to help the team because we know this game is about whoever’s putting up more runs. It’s a really, really bad time to be playing bad right now. Like I said, coming in tomorrow we have two games. We gotta try harder and win.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:42:42 GMT -5
Game 112: Red Sox at Blue Jays lineups and pregame notesBy Amin Touri Globe Staff,Updated August 7, 2021, 1 hour ago Having lost seven of their last eight, the Red Sox will look to right the ship with Saturday’s doubleheader in Toronto. Related: A really low five as Nate Eovaldi, Red Sox fall apart quickly in loss to Blue Jays As a nightmarish road trip wraps up this weekend, Nick Pivetta will throw the opener, having faced his share of difficulties against the Blue Jays this season. Pivetta has surrendered at least four earned runs in each of his four starts against the Jays on the year. Southpaw Robbie Ray will go for Toronto, posting a respectable 3.04 ERA this season, the best of his career. The lefthander has had mixed results against the Sox this year, 2-1 with a 4.21 ERA in three starts against Boston. Advertisement J.D. Martinez is out, having been placed on the COVID list early Saturday afternoon. Lineups RED SOX (64-47): 1. Enrique Hernandez (R) CF 2. Alex Verdugo (L) LF 3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS 4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B 5. Hunter Renfroe (R) RF 6. Kevin Plawecki (R) C 7. Christian Vazquez (R) DH 8. Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B 9. Jonathan Arauz (S) 2B Pitching: RHP Nick Pivetta (8-5, 4.57 ERA) BLUE JAYS (58-49): 1. George Springer (R) CF 2. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) DH 3. Marcus Semien (R) 2B 4. Bo Bichette (R) SS 5. Teoscar Hernandez (R) RF 6. Corey Dickerson (L) LF 7. Alejandro Kirk (R) C 8. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (R) 1B 9. Santiago Espinal (R) 3B Pitching: LHP Robbie Ray (9-5, 3.04 ERA) Time: 3:07 p.m. TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7 Red Sox vs. Ray: Araúz 0-1, Bogaerts 3-8, Dalbec 2-8, Devers 3-4, Gonzalez 3-9, Hernández 12-49, Martinez 1-10, Plawecki 4-9, Renfroe 3-30, Verdugo 4-11, Vázquez 0-8 Blue Jays vs. Pivetta: Bichette 7-12, Dickerson 4-10, Espinal 0-3, Grichuk 3-10, Guerrero Jr. 4-11, Gurriel Jr. 2-8, Hernández 1-13, McGuire 2-6, Semien 4-11, Springer 4-5 Stat of the day: With seven losses in eight games, this is the Sox’ worst stretch since a nine-game losing streak in August 2020. Notes: The Blue Jays are 7-1 in their first homestand at the Rogers Centre since the end of the 2019 season, returning to Canada after stints in Florida and Buffalo ... In five career meetings with Boston, including four starts, Ray is 2-1 with a 4.98 ERA. Pivetta is 1-1 with a 7.59 ERA in four starts against the Blue Jays this season. In six career starts against Toronto, those numbers are 1-2 and 6.82 ... The Red Sox soon could be adding Chris Sale, who will be making a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Worcester on Saturday. Cora said it is hoped that Sale, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, can go five innings at 90 pitches ... Infielder Jonathan Arauz, recalled from Triple-A on Friday when outfielder Jarren Duran went on the COVID-19 injured list, pitched the eighth and allowed one run in a 12-4 loss. Song of the Day: Crowded House- Don't Dream, It's Overwww.youtube.com/watch?v=J9gKyRmic20
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:45:12 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 1h JD Martinez also not feeling well and on the Covid IL.
Wong added.
So to recap the #RedSox moves:
* Martinez to Covid-IL.
* Wong recalled.
* Houck added as 27th man for the DH.
also:
* Duran remains on the Covid IL, so Arauz remains on the roster.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:46:32 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:47:55 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 1h Cora -- 'It's been going on for a while now. Obviously there's the whole vaccinated/unvaccinated people.'
'In my case, I got tested twice in Detroit. I got tested yesterday.'
'We've been very proactive with that.'
(Cora confirmed previously he is vaccinated.) #RedSox
Cora -- 'It's where we're at as a team. So far we've been lucky with everything that's been going on.'
He said masks are mandatory on buses, in the clubhouses and at the team hotel in Canada. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:49:00 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 1h Cora -- 'This is something that's going around the league.'
'At a certain point, we were going to be in this position. We've been lucky compared to other teams.' #RedSox
Cora -- 'I cross my fingers and I pray. Hopefully it's nothing major.' #RedSox
Cora -- 'We're missing three important guys (Arroyo, Gonzalez, Santana) as far as versatility and the ability to move around and give people rest.'
'Now it's hard to give rest to guys.'
'At the same time, other guys have to step up. That's the bottom line.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:49:31 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 1h Cora on any deadline fallout among his players -- 'I do believe people pay attention and they read and all that. We haven't had conversations about that.'
'Kyle is our guy. We know that. At the same time, I don't think this is something that started last week.' #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:50:45 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 1h Cora said Matt Andriese will throw one inning for Triple-A Worcester today at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He's likely to follow Chris Sale.
Ryan Brasier will throw a simulated inning.
Christian Arroyo and Danny Santana have started hitting. #RedSox
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Aug 7, 2021 12:52:06 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 1h If Duran and Martinez both test positive, it's not a definite they will be able to fly back to Boston with the team. #RedSox
Cora -- 'I'm always concerned. This is something we've been talking about from the get-go. I hate to say it, but it is what it is. This is where we're at.' #RedSox
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