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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 2:53:58 GMT -5
Red Sox @ Pale Hose Friday, 10th September 2021 8pm @ Guaranteed Rate Field
Houck 0-3/3.26
Tanner Houck hurled five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts while taking a no-decision in Saturday's win over the Indians. Houck did not walk a batter on the afternoon. He would have come away from this one with an outright win had the Indians not scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to temporarily tie things up. Nervous moments for the Sox, but deep sighs of relief just minutes later, when Alex Verdugo ended the whole shebang via a walk-off RBI single.A road date with the White Sox shows next on Houck's schedule. The 25-year-old right-hander will bring a 3.26 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 62/12 K/BB ratio (49 2/3 innings) to the table for that contest.
Rodon 11-5/2.41
Rodon hasn't appeared in a game since September 1 due to mild fatigue related to his previous shoulder injury, but everything has checked out fine structurally and he's pretty much a must-start in fantasy even against a tough Red Sox offense. The 28-year-old left-hander holds a stellar 2.41 ERA, 0.978 WHIP, and 168/32 K/BB ratio through 119 2/3 innings (21 starts) this summer.
Red Sox look to stay atop AL wild card as they face White Sox
Newly atop the American League wild-card standings, the Boston Red Sox look to secure their position over the course of three games at the Chicago White Sox beginning Friday.
The Red Sox (80-62) seized the pole position Wednesday with a win over the Tampa Bay Rays coupled with a New York Yankees loss. The Yankees dropped their sixth straight Thursday to up idle Boston's lead for the top spot to one game.
New York was swept at home in four games by the Toronto Blue Jays, who are 1 1/2 games back of the Red Sox courtesy of an eight-game winning streak.
Right-hander Tanner Houck (0-3, 3.26 ERA) will get the start for Boston to begin a pivotal six-game road trip that continues with three games at the Seattle Mariners. Lefty Carlos Rodon (11-5, 2.41) is expected to toe the rubber for Chicago.
The White Sox (80-60) maintain a double-digit lead in the AL Central standings and appear destined for a first-round playoff series against the Houston Astros.
Chicago was in action Thursday afternoon, losing 3-1 to the Oakland Athletics on the road. The defeat was the team's fourth in its last six games, as several key players are sidelined by injury.
The White Sox are hopeful Eloy Jimenez (knee) will return Friday, while Tim Anderson (hamstring) remains out indefinitely.
"I hope he gets the green light soon," manager Tony La Russa said of the star shortstop. "We've managed to survive, but we certainly haven't thrived."
On the mound, right-handers Lance Lynn (knee) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring) are on the injured list, though Lynn could pitch in Sunday's series finale. Rodon starting Friday would mark his first outing since Sept. 1 due to a shoulder injury.
Rodon gave up one run over five innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates in that performance to earn his third straight win. He is 0-3 with a 3.96 ERA in four career starts against the Red Sox.
Boston is dealing with a notable group of absences as well as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak affecting the club. Among those sidelined is All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who could be cleared to play as soon as Friday.
"It's not that easy a decision, because we want these guys to be right. That's the most important thing," said skipper Alex Cora. "When we see them, we'll sit down with the coaching staff, obviously the medical staff, and decide what we're going to do."
The Red Sox's win Wednesday snapped a three-game skid.
Houck was nearly flawless over five scoreless innings against the Cleveland Indians last time out, allowing just three hits and striking out seven. He was stuck with a no-decision, as he remains winless in 10 starts this year.
Houck faced the White Sox for the first time in April, surrendering three runs over 4 1/3 innings in a loss.
After Boston, Chicago will host the Los Angeles Angels for three games before embarking on an unconventional 11-game road trip that includes five straight at Cleveland.
--Field Level Media
Red Sox at White Sox Friday, at 8:10 PM EST Clear According to Forecast.io, it's expected to be 74° F with a 0% chance of precipitation and 9 MPH wind blowing right to left in Chicago at 8:10 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com Forecast.io
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 2:56:34 GMT -5
SP Probables for the rest....
Saturday....7pm....Cease 11-7/3.81 vs TBD (Seabold)
Sunday....2pm...Sale 3-0/2.52 vs Lynn 10-4/2.59
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 3:12:01 GMT -5
What are the Red Sox’ chances? Here’s how things size up in the wild-card race By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated September 9, 2021, 4:30 p.m.
Remember the irrelevance of Red Sox games last September? Probably not, since fans weren’t allowed inside of Fenway Park. Even if they had been, the team didn’t offer much of a reason to pay attention to the final weeks of its compressed, last-place campaign.
This September is very different. The Red Sox have somehow withstood the COVID-19 outbreak that swept across their roster, going 7-6 since Kiké Hernández (now back with the team) became the first of nine players to test positive.
As they prepared for a pivotal six-game road trip against the White Sox and Mariners, the Red Sox sat atop a cluster of five AL teams competing for two wild-card spots, a half-game ahead of the Yankees and two games clear of the Blue Jays. They’ve seen enough this year to know that a two-game advantage with 20 remaining is tenuous, but it’s nonetheless a perch that every other aspirant envies.
“We understand where we’re at. We’re in a great position,” said manager Alex Cora. “There’s a lot of teams out there that wish to be in the position we’re in, regardless of our COVID world.”
Here’s a look at the five wild-card contenders. American League wild-card race Through Thursday's games. Listed with playoff probability percentage and breakdown of games remaining. Record Est. chance vs. .500-plus vs. sub-.500 Red Sox 80-62 76.1 11 9 Yankees 78-62 57.9 12 10 Blue Jays 77-62 51.9 9 14 Athletics 76-64 10.5 13 9 Mariners 75-64 5.6 10 12 SOURCE: FanGraphs
RED SOX
WHY THEY MIGHT MAKE IT: They’re in the best position and control their fate; they’re about to get the A team back, with several players coming off the COVID IL this weekend; the arrival of Kyle Schwarber and the eruptions of Hunter Renfroe and Bobby Dalbec have given them explosive lineup depth; and Nate Eovaldi and Chris Sale have looked like stabilizers who will keep them on track.
WHY THEY MIGHT NOT: The bullpen has lost structure because of struggles by nearly every high-leverage option; the defense regularly self-immolates; and the lineup has blown hot and cold, with Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez delivering minimal impact in the second half. And they can’t take for granted that the embers of the COVID outbreak have been stomped out.
YANKEES
It turns out that a 30-8 second-half run, which included a 13-game winning streak in August, was hard to sustain. The Yankees have nosedived in a 2-9 stretch, going from a potential run at the division to a scramble to maintain a playoff spot. The Blue Jays outscored the Yankees, 19-4, in the first three games of this week’s four-game series.
WHY THEY MIGHT MAKE IT: They still have a lead; Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton (17 combined homers in August, 2 in September) are sleeping giants; and Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Jordan Montgomery, and Corey Kluber are capable of a run.
WHY THEY MIGHT NOT: They have to continue playing the Blue Jays — the hottest team in baseball — and have a lot of games against the unforgiving opposition of the AL East; they’re in a withering stretch of 20 games in as many days; Cole is dealing with some degree of hamstring injury; the boom-or-bust offense is in a bust cycle; and Aroldis Chapman’s struggles have made the late innings insecure.
BLUE JAYS
On Aug. 27, the Blue Jays dropped to 66-61, 9½ games behind the Yankees for the top wild-card spot and 6½ games behind the Red Sox for the second ticket. Evaluators couldn’t make sense of their mediocrity, shrugged their shoulders, and noted that the Blue Jays seemed poised to make noise in the AL East in years to come.
“Years to come” turned into “days to come.” The Jays then went 10-1, a run that included seven straight wins entering Thursday, including three each against Oakland and New York.
WHY THEY MIGHT MAKE IT: Their lineup is terrifying; their underrated pitching staff, anchored by Cy Young candidate Robbie Ray, has been among the best in the AL; they have 14 games remaining against two last-place teams and a home series against the Yankees.
WHY THEY MIGHT NOT: They have more games than anyone else against the Rays — the best team in the AL; they’re amid a potentially exhausting stretch of 24 games in as many days; and as ridiculously good as their lineup is, at least a couple of their seven hitters with an OPS in excess of 1.000 this month (Danny Jansen? Alejandro Kirk? Breyvic Valera?) are probably going to return to earth.
MARINERS
On paper, the Mariners have no business being squarely in this mix. They’ve been outscored by 53 runs this year. In the eight seasons with two wild cards (2012-19), no team has reached the postseason with a negative run differential. Still, the Mariners have proven capable of hanging with tough teams (they split six recent games against Houston).
WHY THEY MIGHT MAKE IT: The majority of their games are against bad teams; they have a chance to advance their cause by hosting the Red Sox for three games next week at T-Mobile Park, where they are 40-29; and they’ve defied logic with a magic carpet ride to this point, so why stop?
WHY THEY MIGHT NOT: If run differential is a decent indicator of true talent, what does it say that Seattle’s is worse than the 58-81 Marlins’ (-37); their rotation seems to be succeeding with smoke and mirrors; and their run-scoring has been dependent on vastly greater success with runners in scoring position than without, a phenomenon that often proves fickle.
ATHLETICS
While the A’s leapfrogged the Red Sox in mid-August, they’ve since gone 7-15, with the rest of the field zooming past them. They now face what appears to be the toughest schedule among the contenders.
WHY THEY MIGHT MAKE IT: They have made a habit in recent years of September surges to push into the postseason; if Chris Bassitt can return from that frightening comebacker, he and Frankie Montas could give them two anchors for a postseason push.
WHY THEY MIGHT NOT: Their pitching staff appears largely to have hit a wall, and their schedule will do them few favors in pushing through it. They also must leapfrog the rest of the field.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 3:13:46 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK MLB disputes Hunter Renfroe claim that it told Red Sox to stop COVID-19 testing By Katie McInerney and Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated September 9, 2021, 5:28 p.m.
Red Sox outfielder Hunter Renfroe claims Major League Baseball told the team to stop following COVID-19 protocols amid the outbreak engulfing the clubhouse.
“MLB basically told us to stop the testing and just treat the symptoms,” Renfroe told WEEI’s “Merloni and Fauria” show on Thursday, “and we were like ‘No, we’re going to figure out what’s going on, and keep trying to keep this thing under control.’ ”
After Renfroe finished his sentence, Lou Merloni sought to clarify, asking, “MLB asked you to stop testing?”
“Yes,” Renfroe replied.
A league source told the Globe Renfroe’s comments were not true.
The Red Sox released a statement following Renfroe’s comments, saying the team has “been following MLB’s COVID-19 protocols all season long. We have consulted closely with them on everything we’ve done and continue to test, and their medical staff has been very supportive.”
A league official added that MLB has conducted 1,884 tests on behalf of Red Sox personnel since Aug. 26. Kiké Hernández tested positive the following day, the first of nine players to test positive during the outbreak. (Two more have been sidelined because they were a close contact or exhibited symptoms.)
Hernández returned to the field on Tuesday, and the Red Sox should be getting some additional players back soon. Those who went to the COVID-related injured list last week during the Rays series — Martín Pérez, Matt Barnes, Hirokazu Sawamura, Xander Bogaerts, and Yairo Muñoz — were forced to quarantine in Florida. But according to manager Alex Cora, those players, were set to join the team in Chicago.
The Red Sox lead over the Yankees for the top wild-card spot grew to a full game when Toronto beat New York, 6-4, to finish a four-game sweep at Yankee Stadium. The Jays, winners of eight straight, are just a half-game back of New York for the second wild-card.
Taxi squad supplemented
Depth still is an issue. As a result, four players were added to the taxi squad from Triple A Worcester: pitchers Connor Seabold and Kaleb Ort, catcher Chris Hermann, and infielder Jack Lopez. Seabold is a key part of the Sox’ future and came up as a potential option during the early days of the outbreak. In eight starts (41⅔ innings) at Worcester, the 25-year-old Seabold has a 3.61 ERA, striking out 44 batters . . . Tanner Houck is scheduled to be on the mound Friday to begin the three-game series against the White Sox. Saturday is still to be determined; it’s Nick Pivetta spot, but he is on the COVID-IL after a breakthrough case. Chris Sale takes the hill Sunday. On the other side, manager Tony La Russa told reporters in Oakland the hope is that Carlos Rodón will start Friday and Lance Lynn, on the injured list since Aug. 31 with right knee inflammation, will go Sunday. (Dylan Cease will start for the White Sox on Saturday.) Tim Anderson is still on the injured list as he continues to nurse a hamstring issue, but took ground balls before Thursday’s loss to the A’s.
Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @k8tmac. Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @byjulianmack.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 3:20:39 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 5h One of the best things the Red Sox have going for them down the stretch is that they don't play the Blue Jays again.
AL wild card race tightens up.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 3:22:33 GMT -5
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 11h Connor Seabold is on the Red Sox taxi squad for the trip to Chicago. He’s been scratched from his scheduled WooSox start tonight.
Kaleb Ort, Jack López, and Chris Herrmann are also on the taxi squad.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 6:30:47 GMT -5
Mastrodonato: Red Sox still wobbling between contender and pretender
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald September 10, 2021 at 6:00 a.m.
Time for a temperature check on the local nine.
They spent their off-day a half-game up on the Yankees for the first American League Wild Card spot, but it’s always changing. Entering Thursday, the Blue Jays were just two games behind the Sox, the Mariners three games behind and the A’s 3 1/2 games behind.
The next six games will determine a lot.
The Sox are in Chicago for three against the first-place White Sox, who have a healthy 11-game lead over the Indians in the AL Central and no chance at home-field advantage, so there’s no real reason for Tony La Russa to keep his foot on the gas in the final few weeks other than to make sure his team is sharp come playoff time.
Then comes three games against the Mariners, who are playing their best baseball of the season and are always tough to beat in Seattle.
If the Sox can survive this road trip with their playoff spot intact, it’ll be mostly smooth sailing from there.
They’ve got six games left against the historically-bad Orioles, two against the fumbling Mets, three against the depleted Nationals and three against the Yankees that could determine who hosts the Wild Card Game, assuming both hang onto their playoff spots.
While the Yankees are falling apart, having lost five in a row and eight of their last 10, the Red Sox are staying above water.
They aren’t playing their best team baseball of the season, but are getting enough via individual performances.
Hunter Renfroe and Nathan Eovaldi single-handedly won the game for the Sox on Wednesday.
It’s a weird team right now, with a few players trending downward, a few trending upward and a lot of them still on the COVID-19 related injury list.
Alex Cora, as usual, did a phenomenal job managing the roster while it had a remarkable 11 players on the COVID list. He won games with several career minor leaguers on the active roster.
Soon, it’ll be time for the main contributors to step up.
Renfroe has never played better. Kyle Schwarber has been as consistent a hitter as anyone since he came into the lineup. And Bobby Dalbec is statistically the best hitter in baseball since Aug. 11 with a 1.275 OPS in that span.
But J.D. Martinez is slumping, with a .714 OPS in 22 games since he started playing the outfield regularly, Rafael Devers has a .702 OPS in his last 22 games and the Sox are getting desperate for Xander Bogaerts to return to the middle of the order.
With Kiké Hernandez back, the Sox don’t plan on playing Dalbec against most right-handed pitchers, but keeping him in the lineup seems like a priority right now.
They’ve been dabbling with Devers at second base, but would they ever consider starting him there?
Dalbec has been a much better defender at third base than he has at first, and Schwarber has looked fine at first base. It’d be the easiest way to have the optimal offensive alignment without sacrificing on the defensive end. And it’s not like Devers has played well at third base this season. He’s mostly carried over his inconsistent defense from a year ago.
Moving him to second is intriguing, though it’d be hard to ask him to do that over the next six games against playoff-caliber teams. Perhaps down the stretch if the Sox seal a playoff spot they can tinker with it.
On the pitching side, it seems like Cora is going back to using his starters on regular rest.
The question is whether or not he’d consider skipping the fifth spot in the rotation, where Nick Pivetta has struggled of late, over the final three weeks. The Sox have four off-days in 12 days. That would give an extra start to Chris Sale, Eovaldi, Tanner Houck and Eduardo Rodriguez.
Not every team has four off-days in the final three weeks of the season. If the Sox can’t capitalize to set up their rotation so that they’re well-rested for a Wild Card Game, it’ll be a substantial failure, especially considering the final six games come against the O’s and Nationals.
The bullpen has been a nightmare, but Cora is making it work.
The inconsistent Adam Ottavino lost the save opportunity to Hansel Robles on Wednesday night. Matt Barnes is still on the COVID list. Garrett Richards is looking like the second-best reliever this team has right now, for better or worse, with Garrett Whitlock continuing his dominant rookie year.
Adding Pivetta to the ‘pen when he gets back from the COVID list might be worth a shot, since he’ll likely be in a bullpen role in the postseason anyways.
On most teams, it’s easy to tell after 142 games whether or not it’s a legit playoff contender or just a pretender.
With 20 games left, the Red Sox still haven’t made that clear.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 8:35:03 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 9:56:54 GMT -5
Red Sox Notes @soxnotes · 1h Highest slugging % in the American League since July 31:
1. Bobby Dalbec (BOS) - .744 2. Hunter Renfroe (BOS) - .683 3. Ryan Mountcastle (BAL) - .647
In that time, Dalbec also leads the AL in OPS (1.152) and wRC+ (201).
Min. 100 PA
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 10:50:34 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 42m News from Chicago: Chris Sale tested positive for Covid-19 and won't start on Sunday.
It's possible Nick Pivetta will be able to rejoin the rotation.
Sale is the 12th Red Sox player to land on the COVID-19 injured list since Aug. 27 and the 10th to test positive.
Sale revealed earlier this season that he tested positive for the virus in January and had a mild case.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 11:13:27 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo 15m Red Sox are hopeful they can get Pivetta cleared (he's vaccinated, so can be back before 10 days) in time to pitch this weekend. Seabold sure looks like a candidate. Rotation now: Houck, TBD, TBD.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 11:15:14 GMT -5
Preview: Carlos Rodon expected to start as Chicago hosts Boston The White Sox are 46-24 on their home turf, the Red Sox have gone 36-33 away from home.
By The Associated Press, Associated Press September 10, 2021 | 10:06 AM
Boston Red Sox (80-62, second in the AL East) vs. Chicago White Sox (80-60, first in the AL Central)
Chicago; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Red Sox: Tanner Houck (0-3, 3.26 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 62 strikeouts) White Sox: Carlos Rodon (11-5, 2.41 ERA, .97 WHIP, 168 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: White Sox -155, Red Sox +135; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Chicago and Boston will face off on Friday.
The White Sox are 46-24 on their home turf. Chicago has slugged .419 this season. Yasmani Grandal leads the team with a mark of .526.
The Red Sox have gone 36-33 away from home. Boston has slugged .448 this season. Kyle Schwarber leads the team with a .566 slugging percentage, including 44 extra-base hits and 29 home runs.
The Red Sox won the last meeting 11-4. Nathan Eovaldi earned his third victory and J.D. Martinez went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs for Boston. Lucas Giolito took his first loss for Chicago.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Abreu leads the White Sox with 56 extra base hits and is slugging .494.
Rafael Devers leads the Red Sox with 33 home runs and is slugging .545.
LAST 10 GAMES: White Sox: 5-5, .266 batting average, 4.19 ERA, outscored by one run
Red Sox: 5-5, .282 batting average, 5.26 ERA, outscored by 10 runs
INJURIES: White Sox: Evan Marshall: (elbow), Lance Lynn: (knee), Lucas Giolito: (hamstring), Jimmy Cordero: (elbow), Eloy Jimenez: (knee), Adam Engel: (shoulder), Tim Anderson: (hamstring).
Red Sox: Nick Pivetta: (covid-19), Martin Perez: (covid-19), Darwinzon Hernandez: (oblique), Eduard Bazardo: (lat), Matt Barnes: (covid-19), Jarren Duran: (covid-19), Yairo Munoz: (covid-19), Xander Bogaerts: (covid-19), Christian Arroyo: (health protocols).
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 11:20:54 GMT -5
Would be nice to see Houck go over 5 tonight now, but can't see it.... With the Chris Sale news, the old shuttle heading east will be getting some miles..... and worn pen arms this week-end and heading into Seattle.
The only plus in this, is that the Red Sox have 4 days off this month, best case and Chris will miss just the one start this week-end.
But the Pale Hose are tough at home, and will be facing fresh meat.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 11:29:30 GMT -5
LOL he was in the dugout during the last game talking with everyone
Alex Speier @alexspeier · 13m Per source, Chris Sale was *not* on the team flight to Chicago yesterday.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 10, 2021 11:31:26 GMT -5
The Red Sox handling of Covoid
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