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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 9:18:30 GMT -5
Mastrodonato: Series loss to Orioles put Red Sox in bad position, but it’s not over yet
By Jason Mastrodonato | jason.mastrodonato@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald October 1, 2021 at 5:35 a.m.
The same reason to feel bad about the Red Sox inexplicably dropping a series to the Baltimore Orioles is the same reason to feel good about it.
When the Sox played three ugly, disjointed and saddening games against the Orioles to start the year back in April, it was easy to see their flaws.
And when they recovered quickly, won the next nine in a row and ended the month with a 3-1/2 game lead in the American League East, it was easy to see all the talent they had, and why the season wasn’t going to be as bad as many of us thought.
The same can be said about what just happened this week in Baltimore.
The Red Sox were flattened by the not-so-funny laughing stock of the American League on Thursday, taking a 6-2 loss that secured the Orioles 2-1 series victory.
Chris Sale was just OK. Nathan Eovaldi dominated. Nick Pivetta was just OK. J.D. Martinez carried them on Wednesday. The rest of the offense was mostly silent on the trip. The defense wasn’t particularly good, as usual. The bullpen had its moments, but remains without any definition.
And we’re left looking at a team that has two possible directions here: overcome a terrible series, get hot at the right time and go on another run, or disappear into the crisp October air to put an ending on this roller coaster of a season.
“I mean, try not to look at the 1-5,” shortstop Xander Bogaerts said of the Sox’ record the last six games. “Before that, we were on the run (seven wins in a row). After the good times come the bad times. After the bad times come the good ones. That’s the way I see it. That’s the way I’ve always kind of seen stuff baseball-wise.
“There’s three more games, man.”
As poorly as the Red Sox have played in the last week, they’re still tied for the second Wild Card spot with the Mariners, who were off on Thursday and finish their schedule with three games against the Angels, who decided not to pitch Shohei Ohtani again, but aren’t bad enough to just roll over either. The Blue Jays, who have three games left against the Orioles, are a game behind.
The Red Sox take a short trip from Baltimore to Washington D.C. where they’ll get three games with National League rules against another last-place team.
It won’t be easy for manager Alex Cora to fit his imperfect roster into an eight-man lineup, but at least he’ll have a few weapons coming off the bench.
He’s showing a preference for keeping Kyle Schwarber in the lineup, even against lefties, leaving Bobby Dalbec on the outside looking in this weekend. J.D. Martinez hasn’t had a great second half, but given his performance on Wednesday it might be tough to take him out of the lineup. Alex Verdugo is hitting .329 this month and Hunter Renfroe has a seven-game hitting streak.
It won’t be an easy puzzle to solve.
“Obviously, we lost five out of six and it doesn’t look great, but at the same time, like I keep telling them, we’re still a good team,” Cora said. “We won a lot of games this year. And we still have a chance to make it. The fact that we control our own destiny after this week, I don’t want to say it’s surprising, but it’s actually, for everything going wrong the last few days, it feels good that tomorrow, you wake up and OK, you win this series or win out or whatever you have to do and we can play in October.”
Eduardo Rodriguez will start Friday, it’s to-be-determined on Saturday (Tanner Houck in an opener role, perhaps) and Sale is lined up for Sunday.
If every game counts and the Sox don’t lock it up by Sunday, expect Nathan Eovaldi to be ready to pitch out of the bullpen at some point, too.
It’s all hands on deck now. Every game is as important as the Wild Card Game.
Every game is win-or-probably-go-home.
The Red Sox had a chance to get comfortably in playoff position with three games against the worst pitching team in baseball and couldn’t get it done.
It was ugly, but it’s not over.
This is it.
Can the Red Sox bounce back from one more bad series against the Orioles?
“I ain’t prepared to go home yet, so better start turning it around,” said Bogaerts. “I know a lot of it I take responsibility for, because you’re going down the stretch like this and it’s not a good sign when you’re playing bad baseball.
“Sometimes it happens, man. It happens to the best of ‘em. But you can’t keep a good guy down for too long.”
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 11:23:33 GMT -5
All that’s left for the 2021 Red Sox is to write their own legacy this weekend The Red Sox still control their own playoff destiny even after losing two of three to the 107-loss Orioles.
By Jon Couture October 1, 2021 | 10:34 AM
Jay Jaffe has written for more than a decade that hot Septembers have little to do with postseason success. Looking at roughly 25 years of data, he declares no statistical correlation between the two. The Cardinals, winners in 20 of their last 22 games, are just as likely to make a deep run as the world champion 2000 Yankees were after losing 15 of 18 to end the season.
Much like “there is no such thing as clutch” and other frothy internet baseball declarations, it’s both backed by the numbers and yet still doesn’t feel entirely right. The tendency is to want to reach for contrary examples, but Jaffe’s point is modern baseball analysis personified.
Our eyes and our guts aren’t nearly as reliable as the numbers are.
Which is a good thing, because there’s not an eye or gut left in New England that sees much left in the 2021 Red Sox, who still have their fates in their hands as they make the short trip to Washington, despite what they just did with it the last three days.
Given I’m the guy whose last missive here couldn’t draw enough parallels to the last-chance 2011 series in Baltimore, let me be clear: There is no practical comparison between then and now. Ten years ago, the Red Sox were preseason favorites, a No. 2 payroll juggernaut built to win. This team was nobody’s pick, a bargain-basement by big-market standards.
Which, again, is about the only thing it has going for it today. They weren’t dreamed of as an 89-win team that, if it sweeps the stone-dead Nationals in D.C., is guaranteed to play past Sunday. But they are here as one, and if it ends there, it’ll feel like a lost opportunity all the same.
Cue Alex Cora, the voice of our rational brains, whether it’s the right thing for this moment or it isn’t. The 2019 Red Sox were going to be fine until the day they were eliminated. This group won’t be treated any different.
“Obviously we lost five out of six and it doesn’t look great,” Cora told reporters Thursday, after Alexander Wells and his 8.13 ERA as a starter mystified his Sox lineup for six innings, “but at the same time, like I keep telling them, we’re still a good team, we won a lot of games this year, and we still have a chance to make it.”
On Tuesday night, they were held to three hits by four Orioles pitchers with lineman numbers. On Wednesday, three early double plays let Baltimore hang around until a couple unearned runs eased the pressure. They got no such break Thursday, and showed they needed one.
When Ryan Mountcastle cracked Nick Pivetta — who got 16 swings and misses to Wells’s three, for the record — for a three-run homer in the fourth, the Boston lineup had exactly two hits left in it. When the top of the order got its third crack at Wells in the sixth inning, it somehow saw 10 total pitches including a Kyle Schwarber walk.
“You can slow it down as much as you want to and work counts, and grind at-bats, and put pressure on the opposition,” Cora told reporters. “And for a while there, we didn’t do that.”
And yet, this was not a three-game set highlighting the Boston lineup’s free-swinging — they’re easily league-worst among contenders at chasing pitches outside the zone. Their 11 plate appearances to last two pitches or fewer on Tuesday included both of their solo home runs, and none of the other nine ended on pitches outside the zone. (A few, let’s say three, were pitcher’s pitches that Baltimore was likely happy to get a swing on.)
Thursday had another dozen two-or-fewer pitch plate appearances, again yielding the night’s visitor home run — Kiké Hernández on the game’s first pitch — as well as J.D. Martinez’s seventh-inning double. And yet, eight two-or-fewer pitch at-bats in the final four innings (plus a ninth when Alex Verdugo grounded out a 2-0 changeup for the game’s penultimate out) is tough to stomach even if they were reasonable swings.
The Yankees are surging to the line, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton simply capitalizing on more mistakes than anyone else. Toronto’s young core is desperate to stake its claim, even after its ace Robbie Ray got hammered by those big New York bats on Thursday.
Seattle doesn’t care about its season-long negative run differential, spinning out of multiple apparent death spirals and repeatedly rising to the moment, even after its front office traded its closer away at the deadline.
“It’s kind of like one of those things that you see in movies and you see when you’re young, you see on SportsCenter and stuff like that,” said Jarred Kelenic after delivering the go-ahead double for the Mariners on Wednesday.
“You want to be that guy that breaks that curse or breaks the bad vibes over here,” said teammate J.P. Crawford, referencing Seattle’s two-decade playoff drought. “You want to be remembered, to be a legend in this city.”
Sound much like the other team in the wild-card mix? No?
The Red Sox’ days of belief are months old, and their spiritual leader, Xander Bogaerts, celebrates his 29th birthday on Friday in a 2-for-23 slump.
“The quality of my at-bats has been bad,” Bogaerts told reporters Thursday. “When you hit it good, there’s someone right there, but I don’t feel like there’s been many at-bats throughout these last couple of days. . . . It sucks, bro. It sucks.”
Bogaerts, even when he was on a tear following his return from COVID-19, suggested he still wasn’t right and that the toll of Boston’s outbreak was perhaps deeper than we could see. As we still can’t, I’ll leave that speculation there.
Suffice to say, of the four teams separated by three games with a weekend to play, exactly one has zero momentum. And for all the talk about schedule strength, Boston’s final leg is no easier than anyone else’s.
The Yankees have the Rays, who’ve already clinched the AL’s best record. The Jays host Baltimore. Seattle hosts the Angels, the AL’s worst team (9-17) in September and one game worse than the Nationals.
Is momentum a thing in baseball? Debatable, though the consensus is it’s bunk. “Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher,” the old quip goes, and there’s been not much substantive from the new school to disprove it.
Ten years ago, one more win could’ve changed how we remember the worst collapse in a Red Sox generation. One more hit, one more walk, one more play at some nondescript moment might not have saved Terry Francona’s job, but it could’ve changed a narrative now carved in stone about the end of that golden run.
Again, this team? No one’s carving a stone tablet to the 2021 we’re-building-the-farm-system Red Sox. But a pleasant surprise playoff berth makes this season a success immediately, rather than months from now when the sting has faded and Chaim Bloom’s patience is (hopefully) being rewarded.
It’s right there. It’s still right there. That’s what the numbers tell us. We just have to hope they’re right.
The Red Sox, for at least 24 more hours, can actually prove them right.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 11:59:52 GMT -5
This is how much the Red Sox' playoff odds have fallen after their dismal series against Baltimore
By Alex Reimer 38 minutes ago
How much did the Red Sox’ playoff odds suffer after their dismal series loss to the Orioles?
Quite a bit.
Despite being swept by the Yankees, Fangraphs still gave the Red Sox an 86.1% chance to make the postseason. That made sense, considering they were still in command of a wild card spot and set to play six games against the Orioles and Nationals.
Now, however, their odds stand at 59.7%. The Red Sox are now tied with the Mariners for the second wild card spot. If the season ended today, they would face off against Seattle in Game No. 163 to determine who would get into the play-in game against New York.
That’s a tough road.
With three games remaining against the moribund Nationals, the Red Sox are still in control of their own fate. They’re guaranteed a play-in game against the Mariners if they sweep Washington (the Mariners are playing the 75-84 Angels).
But then again, the Red Sox combined for eight hits in two losses to a Baltimore team that ran out a starting pitcher with an ERA of 6.75 in the series finale, and posts a collective ERA of 5.77.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 12:55:23 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 53m Red Sox rotation vs. Nationals:
FRI: Eduardo Rodriguez SAT: TBD SUN: Chris Sale
Sets up Eovaldi for Game 163 or the Wild Card Game.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 12:58:33 GMT -5
Boston Red Sox vs. Washington Nationals preview: TV schedule, pitching probables, key stories, how to watch (Oct. 1-4) Updated: 3:14 p.m. | Published: 3:14 p.m.
By Chris Cotillo | ccotillo@MassLive.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It all comes down to this. The Red Sox have three regular season games remaining and will need a good weekend against the Nationals to reach the postseason.
Entering Friday, the Sox are tied with the Mariners for the second American League wild-card spot and have a one-game lead over the Blue Jays. Chaos could ensue next week.
Here’s a preview of Boston’s season-ending series against Washington: Boston Red Sox (89-70) vs. Washington Nationals (65-94) · Nationals Park · Washington, DC
SERIES SCHEDULE (and TV information):
Fri. October 1, 7:05 p.m. ET -- NESN
Sat. October 2, 4:05 p.m. ET -- NESN
Sun. October 3, 3:05 p.m. ET -- NESN
HOW TO WATCH:
Fri. October 1, 7:05 p.m. ET -- NESN (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: Watch NESN Live, fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market)
Sat. October 2, 4:05 p.m. ET -- NESN (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: Watch NESN Live, fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market), ESPN+
Sun. October 3, 3:05 p.m. ET -- NESN (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: Watch NESN Live, fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market)
KNOW YOUR OPPONENT:
The Nationals have been one of the more disappointing teams in the National League this season. They enter the final series of the weekend 39 games under .500, tied for the third-worst record in the NL.
Washington looks nothing like the team that took the field early in the season. Before the July 30 trade deadline, the Nats engaged in a massive fire sale, shipping out Max Scherzer (Dodgers), Trea Turner (Dodgers), Kyle Schwarber (Red Sox), Jon Lester (Cardinals), Brad Hand (Blue Jays), Josh Harrison (Athletics), Yan Gomes (Athletics) and Daniel Hudson (Padres).
Offensively, the Nats are above league-average, ranking fourth in the majors in average (.259), eighth in OPS (.755) and 22nd in homers (179). Washington’s pitching has been an issue; the club is 24th in baseball in ERA (4.79), 22nd in opponent average (.254) and 20th in strikeouts (1,315).
Currently, the Nationals are without starters Stephen Strasburg (thoracic outlet syndrome surgery) and Joe Ross (partially torn elbow ligament) as well as relievers Luis Avilán (Tommy John surgery) and Will Harris (thoracic outlet syndrome surgery).
PITCHING PROBABLES:
Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET -- LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-8, 4.93 ERA) vs. LHP Josh Rogers (2-1, 2.73 ERA)
Saturday, 4:05 p.m. ET -- TBD vs. RHP Josiah Gray (2-2, 5.85 ERA)
Sunday, 3:05 p.m. ET -- LHP Chris Sale (5-1, 2.90 ERA) vs. TBD
THREE SOX TO WATCH:
Hunter Renfroe
During his current 11-game hitting streak, Renfroe is batting .318 with a .975 OPS (14-for-44, 3 HR). Since the All-Star break, he leads the Red Sox in HR (17), RBI (47), XBH (34), and runs (41).
J.D. Martinez
In his last 18 games, Martinez has hit .313 with 11 extra-base hits and a .962 OPS (21-for-67, 4 HR, 7 2B). The Sox are 22-3 this season when Martinez homers. Martinez has 99 RBI. He would be the only AL player to record 100+ RBI in 2018, 2019, and 2021; the only NL player to do that is Nolan Arenado.
Xander Bogaerts
Bogaerts is 2-for-23 (.087) in his last six games and the Sox are 1-5 in that span. He will look to turn things around over the final three days of the season.
SERIES NOTES:
At 89-70 (.560), the Red Sox are tied with the Mariners for the AL’s 2nd Wild Card spot, 2.0 games behind the Yankees and 1 game ahead of Toronto. The Sox are 1-5 in their last 6 games, on the heels of a 7-game winning streak...They went 14-11 in September and are 34-34 since the All-Star break. The Red Sox need 1 more win to reach 90 for the season...It would be their 13th time winning 90+ games under the current ownership group (2002-present), including the 4th time in the last 6 years. Under the current 10-team playoff format, which began in 2012, the Red Sox have never played in the Wild Card Game...They won the AL East in each of their 4 Postseason appearances during that time (2013, ‘16-18). The Red Sox are 13-4 against NL teams this season, after going 10-10 in each of the last 2 seasons (2019-20)...They are 276-184 (.600) all time against the NL, the highest Interleague winning % in MLB. This is the 7th season in which the Sox and Nationals are meeting in Interleague play (also 2006, ‘09, ‘12, ‘15, ‘18, and ‘20)...The Sox are 12-6 in the all-time series, including 5-1 at Nationals Park. In 21 plate appearances this season, Red Sox pitchers are 2-for-20 with 1 BB...Garrett Whitlock singled on 6/15 at ATL for his 1st career hit, snapping a streak of 34 PA without a hit for Sox pitchers...Nathan Eovaldi drew a walk on 5/22 at PHI and Garrett Richards doubled on 6/16 at ATL. In their last 18 games (beginning 9/8), the Sox have posted a 3.38 ERA (60 ER/159.2 IP)...In that time, they rank 3rd in the AL and 8th in the majors in ERA.
UP NEXT:
The regular season will end after Sunday’s game. What’s next for the Red Sox depends on how they play against the Nationals. A potential appearance in the AL Wild Card game awaits Tuesday. A tiebreaker game at Fenway Park is possible Monday as well.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 13:01:27 GMT -5
Jeff Wetherbee @jeffwetherbee1 · 1h @loumerloni talk me in off the edge Lou, I the Sox, but the are killing me .... tell me it's going to be ok
Lou Merloni @loumerloni · 20m I can’t Jeff. They’re in trouble. Best case scenario we have a game Monday but I don’t feel good about it. Absolute disaster the last 6 games. Can’t go 1-5. If they just went 3-3, this thing would be wrapped up
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 13:43:26 GMT -5
Red Sox vs. Nationals Series Preview Hopefully a season-saving series in our nation’s capital. By Bayleigh Von Schneider@Fraulein89 Oct 1, 2021, 2:19pm EDT
After selling off seemingly half the team at the trade deadline, the Nationals, two years separated from a World Series title, are virtually unrecognizable. Record
65-94 Head-to-Head Record
0-0 Trend
Down! The Nationals are just 10-18 in the 28 games played in the month of September, and they’ve lost five of their last six. Pitching Matchups
10/1: Eduardo Rodriguez vs. Josh Rogers, 7:05 PM ET
On Friday, Eduardo Rodriguez will make what could be his final start in a Red Sox uniform. In his last start against the Yankees, he pitched five innings, giving up two earned runs, walking one and striking out eight. One of Rodriguez’s biggest failures on the 2021 season has been the inability to go deep into games. In other areas, Rodriguez has a career-best FIP, xFIP, K/9, and B/9. The ERA isn’t pretty, but he’s also given up a lot of soft contact and has been extremely unlucky with a subpar Red Sox defense behind him for the season. Rodriguez is a solid number three in any rotation, and one of the worst things manager Alex Cora ever said was calling him “Eddie Aces.” The “Eddie Aces” moniker put unfounded fan perception on the lefty.
Josh Rogers, the soft-tossing lefty who will be making just his sixth start will be handed the ball in the final game of the season for the Nationals. Rogers has a 2.73 ERA, 5.65 xERA, 5.39 FIP, and a 5.57 xFIP in five starts. Rogers features a four-seam fastball, slider, changeup, and curveball. He relies mostly on his fastball.
10/2: TBD vs. Josiah Gray, 4:05 PM ET
According to FanGraphs, projected to start the game for the Red Sox will be Tanner Houck. Houck, in 17 games, and 12 starts has a 3.80 ERA, 3.48 xERA, 2.77 FIP, 3.42 xFIP, and an 11.11 K/9. The question has never been whether Tanner Houck has good stuff. Tanner Houck has filthy stuff, a truly disgusting fastball-slider combo. The question has always been if he is truly a starter. Houck struggles with control at times and has difficulty facing a lineup the third time through the order. Even if he does start, expect this to be more of a bullpen game.
The Nationals send RHP Josiah Gray to the mound in the middle game of the series. Gray and Keibert Ruiz were in the package sent to Washington in the mega Max Scherzer/Trea Turner deadline trade. In 12 starts on the season, Gray has a 5.85 ERA, 4.56 xERA, 6.18 FIP, and a 5.15 xFIP. Gray possesses a four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, and changeup. The fastball-slider combo is Gray’s bread and butter, using the combo more than 80% of the time.
10/3: Chris Sale vs. TBD, 3:05 PM ET
This is listed as Chris Sale, which was a late change from a TBD. There’s probably still a chance that they scratch Sale in the unlikely event they clinch a playoff spot before that, but more likely is that they’ll need this game on Sunday, and they’ll have their ace ready on full rest. He’s been a little uneven since his return, but other than a bad ending he looked good his last time out.
This is listed as TBD, but FanGraphs projects that Erick Fedde will get the nod to start for the Nationals. Fedde on the season, in 27 starts and 132 2⁄3 innings pitched has a 5.29 ERA, 4.85 xERA, 4.68 FIP, and a 4.06 xFIP. Fedde relies on a 94 mph sinker, 90 mph cutter, and a mix of an 88 mph changeup. He also has a splitter and a curve, but rarely utilizes those pitches. The righty generates a lot of hard contact and does not possess swing and miss stuff, look for the Red Sox bats to hit Fedde around the diamond. Old Friends
None. Notable Position Players
After the trade deadline fire sale, the Nationals truly only have one position player of note, and that is the wunderkind himself, Juan Soto. Mike Trout, hurt or not, is the best player in baseball. Juan Soto, at just 22-years-old, might just be the best pure hitter in the game. The season Soto is putting together is absolutely bonkers! Soto is slashing .318/.467/.543 with a 1.010 OPS, a wRC+ of 165, a bWAR of 7.3, and an fWAR of 6.6. Juan Soto might just be the National League MVP.
Besides Soto, Josh Bell is the other big bat in this lineup. The switch hitter isn’t elite by any means, but he’s solidly above average with good power and patience as well as a below-average strikeout rate.
Other than that, this Nationals lineup features a lot of youth. The aforementioned Ruiz is having a solid stint in the majors, striking out less than 11 percent of the time. Luis García and Carter Kieboom are two more young infielders still trying to get acclimated to big-league pitching. Each have wRC+’s below 80. Bullpen Snapshot
Washington has the second-worst bullpen ERA in the National League, and third-worst overall. The Nationals’ 5.04 bullpen ERA is only better than Arizona and Baltimore. Tanner Rainey will likely handle any save situation. He’s got major command issues, but his stuff does miss bats. Injuries
The de facto ace, Stephen Strasburg had season-ending neck surgery in July, and subsequently missed the rest of the 2021 season. Baby Shark, Gerardo Parra, is also on the IL, with right knee inflammation. Weather Forecast
The weather looks great for weekend baseball. Temperatures for Friday evening will feature a low of 52 degrees, so if you’re heading to D.C., bring a jacket with you. Saturday and Sunday, both day games, will be sunny skies and highs in the low 80’s.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 13:54:33 GMT -5
Red Sox open final series of season at Nationals after dropping five of six | Lineups and pregame notesBy Andrew Mahoney Globe Staff,Updated October 1, 2021, 11:36 a.m. The Red Sox limp into their final series of the season against the Washington Nationals having dropped five of their last six games, including two out of three to an Orioles team with 107 losses. Thursday night’s 6-2 loss at Baltimore plunged the Sox two games behind the Yankees, and into a tie with the Mariners for the final wild-card spot, one game ahead of the Blue Jays. Here are the standings. While the Red Sox close with a three-game set with the Nationals, the Yankees will host the Rays, the Mariners are home against the Angels, and Toronto has three at home against Baltimore. Alex Speier has your daily primer on where everything stands. Lineups RED SOX (89-70): 1. Enrique Hernandez (R) 2B 2. Kyle Schwarber (L) LF 3. Xander Bogaerts (R) SS 4. Rafael Devers (L) 3B 5. J.D. Martinez (R) RF 6. Hunter Renfroe (R) CF 7. Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B 8. Christian Vazquez (R) C 9. Eduardo Rodriguez (L) P Pitching: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-8, 4.93 ERA) NATIONALS (65-94): 1. Lane Thomas (R) CF 2. Alcides Escobar (R) SS 3. Juan Soto (L) RF 4. Josh Bell (S) 1B 5. Keibert Ruiz (S) C 6. Yadiel Hernandez (L) LF 7. Jordy Mercer (R) 2B 8. Carter Kieboom (R) 3B 9. Josh Rogers (L) P Pitching: LHP Josh Rogers (2-1, 2.73 ERA) Time: 7:05 p.m. TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7 Red Sox vs. Rogers: Xander Bogaerts 0-1, Rafael Devers 1-1, J.D. Martinez 1-2, Hunter Renfroe 0-1, Christian Vázquez 1-2. Nationals vs. Rodriguez: Josh Bell 0-2, Alcides Escobar 2-8, Jordy Mercer 0-4. Stat of the day: With the Sox playing in a National League park, there will be no designated hitter. Rodriguez is 0 for 23 lifetime at the plate. Notes: Rodriguez has given up two earned runs or fewer in four of his past five starts. He won his only career appearance against the Nationals, when he tossed six scoreless innings in 2018. … Bogaerts grounded into two double plays Thursday night and is 2 for 23 (.087) over the past six games. … The Red Sox have scored 19 runs in the last six games, six of which came in Wednesday night’s 6-0 win. … Washington right fielder Juan Soto, 22, has put up MVP numbers, batting .318 (second in the NL behind Trea Turner’s .325) with 29 homers and 94 RBIs. Song of the Day: U2 "Bad"www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s30qw4XV_E
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 14:56:34 GMT -5
Bill Koch @billkoch25 · 53m No designated hitter in the National League park. Was always going to be interesting to see how the #RedSox lined up defensively.
Schwarber and Martinez as your corner outfielders is.....not exactly fleet-footed. Renfroe moves to center field and Hernandez comes in at second.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 14:58:01 GMT -5
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 15:05:58 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 59s Doesn’t seem like Josh Taylor will pitch again in the regular season. Not throwing yet.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 15:10:54 GMT -5
Chris Cotillo @chriscotillo · 1m Cora on Dalbec taking grounders at 2B: “He’s just trying to stay as ready as possible”. Says it has been going on for a month. More a “just in case” than anything.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 15:11:51 GMT -5
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne · 5m "The hope is for the offense to wake up -- that's the most important thing." -- Alex Cora.
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 15:15:28 GMT -5
Chris Hatfield @spchrishatfield 28m The @woosox game notes had previously listed Connor Seabold (or Kyle Hart) as Saturday's starter and Daniel Gossett as Sunday's starter. They now list Gossett for Sat, Seabold for Sun. Honestly not sure what that means for tomorrow. LHV is 4 hrs from DC, so not really "close"
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Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2021 15:31:08 GMT -5
Pete Abraham @peteabe · 3m Of note: This is the first time the Schwarber-Renfroe-Martinez OF has been used. Sox are giving away defense hoping for more offense.
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