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Post by Kimmi on Sept 24, 2021 16:35:30 GMT -5
As I said before, I love this shade of yellow. I also said before that yellow has no business being on a Red Sox jersey, but what do I know? Never mess with a win streak.
I'm hoping to win the series against the Yanks, but just don't get swept, and we'll be in good shape. Not only do we get to play the Os next (who seem to be loving the part of spoiler, BTW), but the Yankees and the Jays play each other. One of those teams has to lose at least 2 games. The Yankees have not only the Blue Jays left, but the Rays this season.
Nice to see ya Kimmi
Yes, the schedule does favor us. The Sox still need to win their games though.
It's been busy for me with school starting back up. By the time I take care of errands, get dinner, fix lunches for the next day, etc., I'm exhausted, and it's usually getting close to game time. I'm hoping things settle down a bit soon.
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Post by Kimmi on Sept 24, 2021 16:36:35 GMT -5
What is Lou talking about? If the weather is bad he does not want the split 7 inning bullshit I don't blame him. Ah, I should have figured that out after reading the next post. I saw "DH" and was thinking designated hitter. LOL
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Post by scrappyunderdog on Sept 24, 2021 17:34:46 GMT -5
Tom Caron @tomcaron · 4h Blue Jays lose. Sox magic number to clinch a Wild Card spot is now 7.
Jon Couture @joncouture · 4h Toronto had games in hand and lost them. Alex Speier @alexspeier · 4h Takeaway: If the Red Sox win one game against the Yankees this weekend, they enter the last week of the season - with 6 games vs the Orioles and Nationals - with the best record in the WC race, a one-game lead on the Yankees, at least one up on TOR, and at least 2 games on SEA Toronto had games in hand and lost them.Back when the writers were crowing about TO's games in hand, I said they didn't knw what they were talking about. Playing every single day is not an advantage. And having 4 days off, and going with a 4-man rotation, is an advantage. And I believe Caron is wrong about our magic number. If TO wins 2-3 from the NYY, both they & the NYY can only win 93 games. If the NYY win 2-3 from TO, then TO can only win 92. If the RS win 6, that gives us 94. I don't think there is a scenario that both the NYY AND TO can win 94. (waiting for Kimmi to re-run my numbers).
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 2:36:21 GMT -5
'It's frustrating': Sox's WC lead down to 1 Eovaldi surrenders 7 runs over 2 2/3 frames; Devers goes yard 2:25 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
BOSTON -- Nathan Eovaldi had a chance on Friday night to put a stamp on what has been his finest season to date.
Instead, he experienced a nadir that nobody saw coming.
Eovaldi was hammered by the Yankees in the opener of a key three-game showdown between two teams in fierce competition in the American League Wild Card standings and the Red Sox took an 8-3 loss.
With the win, New York (87-67) pulled within a game of Boston (88-66) for the top AL Wild Card spot. The Blue Jays and Mariners are two behind the Yankees for the second spot and three behind the Sox. Toronto lost, 3-1, to Minnesota while Seattle beat the Angels, 6-5.
"It's frustrating," said Eovaldi. "We know how important this game is tonight. We know where we stand in the hunt for the Wild Card and the playoffs. To be able to come in tonight, I have to be able to set the tone, first game of the series, and I didn't do that tonight. It's extremely frustrating for me."
Eovaldi pitched a season low of 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs (tied for a season high) while walking two and not getting a strikeout for the first time as a starter since Aug. 31, 2018.
For Eovaldi, the reason for his struggles was hardly a mystery.
"I didn't really have a great feel on my curveball or splitter tonight," said Eovaldi. "Early in the first inning, I was sweating a lot and the splitter just kept slipping out. I wasn't executing, I wasn't able to get down in the zone."
Eovaldi was essentially like a carpenter without two of the most important pieces in his tool-belt.
"For me, my two key pitches, I have to have one of those working," said Eovaldi. "Curveball slows them down [when it's working], and I'm able to get ahead of guys instead of falling behind in the count 1-0. Even 2-0 when I try to double up on it, it just gives the batters a better chance to gear up for something hard."
The Yankees, the team Eovaldi had dominated since he came to the Red Sox for the 2018 stretch run, belted him out of the gate for three straight hits, including a booming double to center by Aaron Judge that got the scoring underway.
By the time the Red Sox came into the dugout to take their first hacks against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, they were already down, 3-0.
It was somewhat stunning, considering Eovaldi had a 2.01 ERA against New York in five previous starts this season.
"Before the game, during the meeting, we were talking about trying to attack early," said Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres. "That helped Cole. Eovaldi always pitches really well when they face us. We changed a little bit of the plan and tried to attack early and did damage early."
Considering all the build-up coming into this latest rivalry series, the air came out of the ballpark swiftly as the Yankees knocked Eovaldi out in the third and took a 7-0 lead.
Given how consistent Eovaldi has been all season, perhaps it was just a matter of time he would throw in a clunker. The timing for it was just tough, given what time of year it is.
"It's part of it," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "Their guy [Cole] struggled the last one against Cleveland. The good ones, they have bad ones. Tonight, [Eovaldi] wasn't that far off. He just wasn't able to put those guys away with two strikes. No strikeout, you don't see that often. It's one of those that you have to turn the page and be ready for the next one."
Rafael Devers at last brought a burst of energy to the packed house of 36,026 at Fenway when he unloaded for a three-run homer to right against Cole in the sixth. J.D. Martinez nearly made it back-to-back homers, but his drive to deep right was flagged down by Judge at the warning track.
That was really the only flicker of hope the Red Sox had in a game that slipped away early.
With eight games left, each contest will be vitally important.
There stands a decent chance that Friday's matchup was a preview of the AL Wild Card Game on Oct. 5. Whichever team finishes with a better record will host that game.
"I want to sleep in my bed the night before if we get there. That's always good," said Cora. "It's home, you've got the last at-bat. But we're not there yet. We know where we're at right now. We've got to show up tomorrow and put together a good game. We cannot get ahead of ourselves talking about playoffs. Right now, we are in a fight with a lot of teams around us and tomorrow we have to come out here and play a good game."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 2:37:41 GMT -5
Injuries & Moves: Whitlock making progress September 24th, 2021
10-day IL
RHP Garrett Whitlock (right pectoral strain) Expected return: Sept. 30 at earliest After getting injured on Sept. 19 and being shut down from any baseball activities for four days, Whitlock, perhaps Boston’s most important reliever, is improving. However, the Red Sox don’t have a plan yet for when Whitlock will resume throwing.
“Feeling better. Not throwing yet, but he’s feeling better,” said manager Alex Cora. “I mean, we’ll see how he’s reacting to treatment. We’ll map it out as soon as the medical staff feels like ... we can move ahead and do the next step, we’ll do it.” (Last updated: Sept. 24)
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 2:59:26 GMT -5
Yankees pound Nate Eovaldi, inch within a game of the Red Sox By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated September 25, 2021, 12:10 a.m.
The Red Sox had their ace on the mound for Friday’s first game of a pivotal three-game set against the New York Yankees.
While Chris Sale has a 2.57 ERA following his return from Tommy John surgery, he has had the benefit of soft landings with five of his seven outings coming against teams under .500.
Nate Eovaldi, though, had turned in 30 starts. He had a 3.58 ERA in those starts, fully immersed in the twists and turns of this Red Sox season and thriving in it.
It came to an abrupt halt Friday evening at Fenway Park.
Eovaldi and the Sox were hit in the mouth, falling, 8-3. The loss put the Yankees just one game behind the Sox for the first wild-card spot.
“The good ones,” Sox manager Alex Cora said afterward, “they have bad ones.”
Certainly, Friday was a bad one for Eovaldi.
The Yankees applied force against Eovaldi from the start. Then, after scoring three runs in the first inning, New York connected on a haymaker in the third.
With two on and no outs, Giancarlo Stanton jumped on Eovaldi’s low and in cutter, sending it into the Red Sox bullpen for a three-run homer. It stretched the Sox’ deficit to six runs.
“I felt like I wasn’t putting guys away,” Eovaldi said. “I didn’t really have a great feel on my curveball or splitter tonight early. In the first inning, I was sweating a lot. The splitter just kept slipping out. I wasn’t executing, I wasn’t getting it down in the zone.”
DJ LeMahieu led off the contest with a single to right. Eovaldi was up 0 and 2 before LeMahieu worked it to 3-2 and collected his hit. Anthony Rizzo added a broken-bat single to put men on first and second. Aaron Judge supplied the Yankees’ first run, scalding a 112.7-mile-per-hour double off the left-center field wall. He had Judge down 0 and 2.
An RBI groundout by Stanton followed by a Gleyber Torres RBI single put the Yankees in the driver’s seat with their ace, Gerrit Cole, on the hill. Related: Yankees ace Gerrit Cole offers Red Sox a reminder of wild-card vulnerability
Eovaldi wasn’t fooling any of the Yankee hitters, drawing just three swings and misses out of the 59 pitches he threw.
“It’s frustrating,” Eovaldi said. “We know how important this game is tonight and where we are in the hunt for the wild card. To be able to come in tonight, I gotta be able to set the tone, especially the first game of the series, and I didn’t do that tonight.”
Eovaldi exited the game after just 2⅔ innings, turning in his shortest start of the year. Cora summoned Hirokazu Sawamura with two on and two outs. Sawamura induced a Kyle Higashioka pop up toward first base. This is when Kyle Schwarber’s inexperience at first reared its head.
Schwarber appeared camped under it, but Rafael Devers came crashing in from third. In what was an apparent miscommunication, Schwarber let the ball drop, allowing the Yankees’ seventh run to come in.
Cole wasn’t sharp in this one either. He walked three through his first three innings. But he was still effective enough to keep the Red Sox hitless until J.D. Martinez laced a ground-rule double to right field in the fourth.
In the sixth, Fenway finally got some life. Kiké Hernández led off with a single that sneaked its way through the right side. Schwarber’s single got under the glove of Rizzo at first, putting runners on the corners for Rafael Devers. On a 1-and-0 pitch, Devers deposited a three-run shot, slimming the Red Sox’ deficit to four runs.
The Sox bullpen ate some innings Friday. Sawamura worked his way through 2⅓ scoreless innings and Matt Barnes delivered a scoreless frame of his own. Martín Pérez navigated through the final three innings and surrendered just a run on Torres’s solo shot in the seventh.
The Sox stayed away from some of their high-leverage relievers, setting them up for the final two games of this series.
“We’ll be ready for [Saturday],” Cora said.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:01:18 GMT -5
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole offers Red Sox a reminder of wild-card vulnerability By Alex Speier Globe Staff,Updated September 25, 2021, 12:02 a.m.
For the Red Sox, participation in a one-game, winner-take-all Wild Card Game represents the potential payoff for a regular season that has vastly exceeded expectations. Yet Friday night offered a reminder that such a prize, if attained, nevertheless comes with considerable peril.
In a potential preview of the AL wild-card matchup, the Yankees blasted the Red Sox, 8-3. Nate Eovaldi could not continue his considerable record of success against his former team, getting scorched for seven runs while recording just eight outs.
It happens. Eovaldi likely remains the Red Sox’ best option against the Yankees, particularly given the vulnerability of Chris Sale thus far this year (.284 average, .352 OBP, .448 slugging mark) against righthanded hitters.
More ominous for the Sox than the egg laid by Eovaldi was the formidable mountain who took the mound against him. Gerrit Cole looms as an imposing figure should the Red Sox and Yankees meet again in the Wild Card Game.
“He’s a true ace. There’s no doubt about it,” said Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo. “If there’s a one-game playoff, he’s getting [the ball].”
While Cole’s night was not one of singular dominance, the righthander looked sufficiently overpowering through most of his start to offer a reminder of the tall task that awaits teams hoping to advance past the wild-card round in October.
Cole (16-8, 3.08 ERA) carried a no-hitter through 3⅔ innings and a two-hit shutout through five. In his first two times through the Red Sox order, Cole showed an electric arsenal that allowed him to mow through his opponents. His 95-100-m.p.h. fastball had life at the top of the zone, he got swings-and-misses against the two breaking balls he spun off it, and his changeup kept Red Sox lefties lunging through five innings.
To that point, he looked like the pitcher with one of the more impressive postseason résumés in baseball. Cole has made 13 career postseason starts. His teams have won eight of those, with the righthander forging a 2.68 ERA and averaging more than six innings per outing.
In the last two postseasons, he’s been even better, with a 2.13 ERA and 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings over eight starts. His teams (the Astros in 2019, the Yankees in 2020) are 6-2 in those contests.
Cole, coming off one of his worst starts of the season (a seven-run yield over 5⅔ innings against Cleveland), drew on that big-game history on Friday night.
“I definitely mentally leaned on some of those experiences and and mentally leaned on the process that I have to try to get rid of the last start to get prepared to bring out the best of this start,” said Cole. “I was successful in that regard.” Related: Christian Arroyo feels like he’s back on the upswing
To be sure, the Sox are not awed by Cole. They have enough of a track record of success against him — including wins in two of his four starts against them this year and a victory at Fenway in Game 2 of the 2018 ALCS against the Astros — to maintain a sense of possibility against the 31-year-old.
And even on Friday, the Sox eventually got to Cole. Kiké Hernández and Kyle Schwarber opened the sixth inning with singles and, after a Xander Bogaerts strikeout, Rafael Devers golfed a changeup for a three-run homer to right. He finished having allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in six innings. Cole, who typically collects strikeouts in piles, had a modest six punchouts against the Sox.
The task of getting to Cole is not impossible. But it nonetheless offers an extreme level of difficulty – a notion that did not diminish on Friday.
“He was good as always,” said Sox manager Alex Cora. “We put pressure [on him] at one point, we scored three runs, his pitch count was up to 95, [but] … it’s a grind with him. He knows it too with us. We’re going to battle with him.”
The road would not get much easier for the Sox if they end up having to face the Blue Jays — a team that could feature Robbie Ray, generally considered alongside Cole as a frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award — on the mound for a one-game winner-take-all.
All of this is somewhat novel to the Red Sox. Since the introduction of the Wild Card Game in 2012, the Sox have qualified for the playoffs four times — each as the AL. East winner. The Sox have never stared down the possibility of a playoff run that could be as brief as one game.
Cole’s first career victory at Fenway Park on Friday served to define just how fleeting the wild-card opportunity can be. A single night of brilliance by an ace can represent a ticket to advance in October — as well as a dead-end for an opponent’s hopes. For the Yankees, there is comfort and promise in that notion.
“He’s our ace. He’s our horse,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone. “There’s a very short list of people who you’d rather have the ball.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:03:41 GMT -5
Red Sox notebook Christian Arroyo feels like he’s back on the upswing By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated September 25, 2021, 12:15 a.m.
The Red Sox activated Christian Arroyo off the COVID-related injured list this week. Although he’s still working his way back into top form, he said he’s getting close to feeling like himself.
“You do whatever you can to get your timing back,” Arroyo said ahead of Friday’s 8-3 loss, the start of a pivotal weekend series with the visiting New York Yankees. “Hitting off the machine has definitely helped a lo. Getting the velo going. Kind of slowing everything down again.”
Arroyo intimated that he felt something click during batting practice Friday.
“I felt something today,” he continued. “That it was like, ‘OK, yeah, this is what I felt like when I was going good. Back spinning the baseball staying on pitches, like, not trying to do too much.”
COVID aside, Arroyo has dealt with a plethora of injuries this year, which resulted in just 177 plate appearances and just 54 games. It’s why manager Alex Cora and the rest of the training staff were so cautious before activating him.
Certainly, his bout with COVID-19 was at the fulcrum of their decision-making. But it was also his timing. The Red Sox want to be certain he is able to handle big-league pitching again, particularly if the Sox make it to the postseason.
José Iglesias, who has been playing second base, won’t be available for the postseason since he wasn’t a part of the roster before Sept. 1. The Sox might be looking for ways to be creative, too. Bobby Dalbec took grounders at second Friday with both Arroyo and Iglesias instructing him.
That could be an option, but getting Arroyo back on track is certainly at the top of the Sox’ to do-list.
“For me, it’s just staying within myself and just knowing I got eight other guys or 25 other teammates that are here and we’re all trying to accomplish the same goal,” Arroyo said.
Barnes still struggling
Cora said they need to keep working with Matt Barnes. After posting a 2.61 ERA in the first half of the season as the team’s closer, Barnes had a 7.62 second-half ERA before working a scoreless sixth in the Sox’ 8-3 loss.
Even during other low-pressure outings, Barnes hasn’t seemed to be able to figure it out.
Barnes followed Chris Sale in the sixth inning Wednesday against the Mets, holding an 11-2 lead. However, he lasted just one-third of an inning, yielding a run behind two walks and a hit.
“Obviously, there’s a few things that he needs to get better at,” Cora said. “Starting with pounding strike zone. That’s something he did early in the season.”
Coming into the season, the Red Sox saw that Barnes’s stuff plays in the zone 92 percent of the time, according to the team’s data, and that there was no need for him to nibble. As Cora noted, though, Barnes has gotten away from attacking the hitters..
Asked if it was more mental than physical, Cora said, “That’s a good question. I don’t know, I think velocity has to do with it. And then I know we saw a few 92-93 [mile-per-hour pitches] in the last one.
“The gap between the fastball and his offspeed pitches is not as big as it was early in the season. But we’ll keep working with him. He has a few things that he feels mechanically, he’s not there yet.”j
Waiting on Whitlock
Garrett Whitlock (right pectoral strain) is feeling better, but still isn’t participating in any baseball activity The team is still confident that the 25-year-old rookie righthander will return prior to the end of the season . . . Bruins players Craig Smith and Nick Foligno threw out the ceremonial first pitches.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:05:23 GMT -5
Julian McWilliams @byjulianmack · 7h Eovaldi: 2 2/3, 7 H, 7 ER, HR.
Tom Caron @tomcaron · 7h While the Yankees are running away with this, Cole hasn’t been pinpoint. He’s already walked 3 batters through 2.2 iP - matching his season high.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:08:14 GMT -5
This was a reminder the Red Sox still have something to prove Current Time 0:04 / Duration 14:45
By Rob Bradford 5 hours ago
The yellow uniforms were all well and good, and so was all the optimism that went with them.
But Friday night the Red Sox were smacked across the baby blues with a big ol’ dose of reality.
The buzz that had been building leading up to the Sox’ showdown with the Yankees began with the Fenway Park sound system on the fritz. By the time it was restored, the only truly appropriate audio offering would have a sad trombone. Three runs in both the first and third innings against Nathan Eovaldi - along with 12 Red Sox batters coming to the plate before notching a hit against Gerrit Cole - ruined the party before it could really get started.
Put it this way: The “Yankees suck!” chant that was put on display with the Red Sox trailing 7-0 in the fifth inning didn’t really catch the spirit of the thing.
It all wasn’t the end of the world. Far from it. The Sox still head into Saturday one game up on a Yankees team that finishes the season with series against Toronto and Tampa while Alex Cora’s team will be basking in completing its regular-season schedule in Baltimore and Washington D.C. And the Blue Jays lost yet again.
But the defeat at the hands of New York didn’t allow Boston to completely shake its insecurities.
While the roster has settled in, along with the performances from all the players, the Red Sox are still mired in the mud when it comes to proving they can beat these versions of the teams that potentially await on Oct. 5.
Since Aug. 1 …
The Red Sox are 1-3 against the ultra-talented Blue Jays, carrying a run differential of minus-9.
They are 4-7 vs. the first-place Rays, having scored eight fewer runs during that span.
And since Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy went on the Greg Hill Show and responded to New York’s trade deadline by saying, “They had to be active because I think they are 3-10 against us,” Kennedy’s crew has lost four straight to the Yanks, with the 8-3 series-opening defeat serving as the latest Yankees salvo. Podcast Episode The Greg Hill Show Red Sox President Sam Kennedy Joins The Greg Hill Show For The Front Office Report Listen Now
Perhaps it is just one game. One game where the pitcher the Red Sox were likely ready to lean on in the Wild Card game, Eovaldi, simply had an off night. A singular instance that reminded us all that the uniform does not, indeed, make the men.
But until the Red Sox can start proving otherwise, it wasn’t just one game.
The magic that was bottled thanks to a week of the Orioles and Mets - ("They could have beaten those teams in their underwear," mused one press box scribe Friday night) - was extinguished almost immediately thanks to that early Yankees onslaught.
And while there were glimpses of the rejuvenated Red Sox, such as Rafael Devers' 10th three-run homer of the season, they were negated at virtually every turn. Martin Perez gives back a run right after Devers' sixth-inning blast. Bobby Dalbec fans on three pitches while pinch-hitting for Kyle Schwarber with two on and two out in the seventh.
After the game, Cora offered a pertinent point when it came to Eovaldi's 2 2/3-inning, seven-run downturn. "The good ones, they have bad ones," said the manager, with Cole's previous stinker against Cleveland fresh in everyone's mind. True. But the timing here is getting delicate.
The Red Sox get another chance Saturday to change yet another September narrative while wrestling away any and all momentum from the Yankees.
If Saturday comes and goes with yet another Yankees win, however, that's when this conversation will have officially gained some very untimely (and uncomfortable) momentum for these Red Sox.
"I want to sleep in my bed the night before if we get there," said Cora of winning the top Wild Card spot. "That’s always good. It’s home, you've got the last at-bat. But we’re not there yet, we know where we’re at right now. We’ve got to show up tomorrow and put up a good game. We cannot get ahead of ourselves talking about playoffs. Right now we are in a fight with a lot of teams around us and tomorrow we have to come out here and play a good game."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:15:45 GMT -5
Mastrodonato: Nathan Eovaldi couldn’t grip the ball in Red Sox’ loss to Yankees
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: September 24, 2021 at 11:16 p.m. | UPDATED: September 25, 2021 at 12:08 a.m.
It was billed as a potential preview of the American League Wild Card Game and a pitchers’ duel between Yankees’ ace Gerritt Cole and Red Sox ace Nathan Eovaldi.
That it was not.
As the Red Sox try to hold onto playoff position and host the Wild Card Game a week from Tuesday, they now have to confront an uncomfortable truth: the Yankees appear to have solved Eovaldi.
The Sox’ right-hander seemed as lost as ever on Friday, when he allowed seven earned runs in just 2 2/3 innings before getting pulled in an eventual 8-3 loss.
“He wasn’t that far off,” manager Alex Cora said. “He just wasn’t able to put those guys away with two strikes. No strikeouts. You don’t see that often.”
It was a painful sight for the Sox, who went into Friday with their rotation lined up perfectly to end the season with Chris Sale on the mound against the Nationals, if they needed to win that game, and Eovaldi ready to go in the Wild Card Game.
As of Saturday, the Sox would host the Yankees at Fenway Park for the one-game playoff and an opportunity to face the Rays in the Division Series.
But the Sox may need to re-examine their plans.
Eovaldi had previously been dominant against the Yankees all year, taking a 2.01 ERA and 34 strikeouts to just two walks in 31-1/3 innings against his former club this year.
As well as he’s pitched, the Red Sox are just 2-4 against the Yankees with Eovaldi on the mound.
“It’s frustrating,” Eovaldi said. “We know how important this game was. We know where we stand in the hunt for the Wild Card and the playoffs.”
Friday, the Yankees looked like a team that had found the answer key.
Not one time did the Yankees swing at one of Eovaldi’s off-speed pitches outside the strikezone. They simply didn’t chase. When Eovaldi came into the zone with a curve, slider, cutter or splitter, the Yankees took their hacks and didn’t miss.
“I didn’t really have a great feel on my curveball or splitter tonight,” he said. “Early in the first inning, I was sweating a lot and the splitter just kept slipping out, I wasn’t executing, I wasn’t able to get down in the zone.”
Because of the sweat, Eovaldi said he wasn’t able to grip the ball until the second inning, and by that time he had already given up on his signature splitter and curve.
“I never really established the curveball in the zone,” he said. “And when I’m sticking hard with all my pitches, fastballs, slider, cutter, they did a really good job of protecting on the slider down and away…
“I felt like I just didn’t do my job tonight going out and attacking batters the way I should have and the way I’m capable of doing. It’s one of those things, too, when I don’t have a certain pitch working, I can’t shy away from it. I have to keep forcing it and figuring it out.”
Of the 13 times the Yankees swung at one of Eovaldi’s off-speed pitches, they made contact all 13 times.
And when Eovaldi went out of the zone, the Yankees let it go.
It was Hitting 101, but the Yankees looked a little too comfortable doing it.
Have the Yankees simply seen enough of this guy and finally figured out a winning attack plan? Eovaldi thought so.
“The gameplan is going to change, the hitters are going to show you what they’re geared up,” he said. “They were protecting on the off-speed down-and-away. Some of the guys were closer to the plate (in their batting stances). I have to do a better job of adjusting on the fly. I have to be able to run the fastballs inside. Once I’m ahead I have to be able to put the batters away and tonight I just wasn’t able to do that.
“The splitter I didn’t have it working for me. The curveball I wasn’t throwing it for a first-pitch strike. I was falling behind after that and those guys were able to put together quality at-bats and getting knocks.”
The only pitch he was able to generate a swing-and-miss on was his four-seam fastball, but even that pitch was knocked around a fair amount. Six of his fastballs got put into play, and five of them were for hits, including a 386-foot homer by Giancarlo Stanton, who tagged him for a three-run dagger in the third inning.
It was a disheartening effort for Eovaldi, who saw his ERA go from 3.58 to 3.88 in the process.
He’s on schedule to start either Wednesday or Thursday in Baltimore, depending if the Sox want him to be on normal rest or extra rest for the Wild Card Game the following Tuesday.
At this point it’s fair to wonder if Chris Sale would be the better choice if the Sox and Yanks match up in the single-elimination event. Sale hasn’t faced the Yankees in two years. And while their offense has been better against lefties than against righties, that was before they added a pair of impressive left-handed hitters, Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo, at the trade deadline.
Rizzo and Gallo went 3-for-4 with a double and two singles off Eovaldi on Friday night.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:17:59 GMT -5
Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes urgently trying to regain form: ‘It’s gotta happen quick’
By Steve Hewitt | stephen.hewitt@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald PUBLISHED: September 24, 2021 at 7:02 p.m. | UPDATED: September 24, 2021 at 9:49 p.m.
Matt Barnes knows he doesn’t have much time to figure things out, but he feels like he has pinpointed some of the issues that have led to his struggles.
As the Red Sox inch toward the wild card game and a potential postseason run, they’re doing so without a set closer. Barnes, an All-Star after a dominant first half, lost the job thanks to an awful August before testing positive for COVID-19. Now healthy and pitching in meaningful games again, Barnes and the Red Sox know the veteran could be a huge boost to the playoff push if he can at least come close to regaining his early-season form.
But with a week to go in the regular season, he knows time is not on his side.
“I don’t have many games to figure this (expletive) out,” Barnes said before Friday’s series opener against the Yankees. “It’s gotta happen quick. That’s the crazy part about baseball. You can be going really, really good and then one day, it’s gone. You can be going really bad and literally the next day, it’s back. It clicks and you’re back and it’s good. We’re going to keep moving. I know we don’t have a lot of time to get that done, but I’m going to keep doing my thing and keep working towards getting back to that spot.”
Entering Friday, Barnes had made two appearances since being activated from the COVID-19 IL. He struck out two in an encouraging return last Friday against the Orioles, but he took a step back Wednesday against the Mets. Replacing Chris Sale in the sixth inning of a lopsided game, Barnes recorded just one out as he walked two. Only eight of his 21 pitches were strikes.
Manager Alex Cora noted that Barnes’ velocity had been down, but the biggest key for Barnes is to get back to attacking the strike zone and getting ahead early in counts, which led to his success in the first half. But it’s not for a lack of effort.
“I’m trying to attack the strike zone,” Barnes said. “I’m not trying to throw balls on purpose. I don’t even feel like I’m trying to nibble, I feel like I’m trying to go right after guys and it’s just out of sync right now. It’s spraying. I think I’m getting rotational, getting too high on my front side which is forcing me to rush and then kind of start yanking.”
Barnes is optimistic, though. He, the coaching staff and his teammates have noticed those mechanical issues while watching video over the last few days and Barnes said that he’s felt really good during bullpens and warming up before his appearances.
“I think it’s just translating that into the game,” Barnes said. “I went back and watched some video after I was done (on Wednesday). I felt like we picked up on a couple of things, so I was working on that today. Listen, it’s been a grind for me for a little while. Luckily the offense is doing their thing, the starters have been doing their thing and the bullpen has been really rock solid for the last month, month and a half. I’m grinding right now, but we’re not going to stop. We’re going to keep working and keep moving forward.”
On Friday night, Barnes translated the work into an encouraging step forward. He worked around a two-out double from Giancarlo Stanton to throw a scoreless sixth inning against the heart of the Yankees’ order. He struck out two, didn’t issue a walk and 16 of his 23 pitches were strikes, though he only threw five fastballs.
Cora knows what he has when Barnes is at his best, and they’re hopeful that he can unlock it over the next week.
“We’ll keep working with him,” Cora said. “Hopefully we can get him back on track because we do believe that obviously when he’s right, he’s one of the best relievers in the big leagues.”
Whitlock progressing
Garrett Whitlock, who’s on the 10-day injured list with a right pectoral strain, is feeling better, Cora said. He’s not throwing yet, but the hope remains for the star rookie reliever to return before the end of the season.
“We’ll see how he’s reacting to treatment but he’s been feeling well, he’s been feeling better,” Cora said. “We’ll map it out. As soon as the medical staff feels like we can move ahead and do the next step, we’ll do it.”
Schwarber gets another nod
After hitting two home runs Wednesday against the Mets, Kyle Schwarber was back at first base for his sixth start at the new position for him. Cora has been pleased with how he’s handled it.
“He’s been OK,” Cora said. “I know everybody talks about that play in Seattle, but he’s been solid. He’s moving around and getting used to it, he’s been really good. We’re very pleased with the progress and we feel comfortable playing him at first base.”
Nathan Eovaldi made his 200th career start on Friday night. His 31st start of the season is the most since he made 33 with Miami in 2014. … Alex Rodriguez was chatting with Bobby Dalbec on the field prior to Friday’s game. Rodriguez is in town to call Sunday night’s game on ESPN.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:20:08 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 8h About as poor command in an inning as you'll ever see from Eovaldi. Hits on 2 fastballs down, a cutter over the plate, and a splitter up. Breaking and off-speed offerings mostly in non-competitive locations. 15 swings, 0 whiffs. That was ugly.
This is Eovaldi's first start with Vazquez since August 28, he has been much better throwing to Plawecki this year, but I don't think that was the issue in that inning.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:22:03 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 5h Cora says Eovaldi lacked command from the jump. "He wasn't able to put them away, either."
"The good ones, they have bad ones."
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 25, 2021 3:23:30 GMT -5
Red Sox Nation Stats @rsnstats · 5h #RedSox fall to 34-42 when opponents score first, 72-36 when hitting a home run, 11-52 when trailing after 6 innings, 10-48 when scoring fewer than 4 runs, and 32-19 in series openers. #MLB
#RedSox were 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position in this one, left 7 runners on. #Yankees were 4-for-13 with RISP, left 9 runners on base. #MLB
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