BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox are facing a light portion of their schedule and taking advantage of it.
Alex Cora’s club has scored 76 runs and hit 16 home runs in the past nine games and will try for a fifth win in a row when a three-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies continues tonight.
Boston’s recent offensive exploits include a three-hit game for rookie Roman Anthony, who kicked off the team’s three-homer night in the fifth inning. Ceddanne Rafaela and Romy Gonzalez both went deep in the eighth.
“It’s fun to win,” Anthony said.
And Anthony has been fun to watch, hitting .386 with six RBIs in his last 10 games. Six of his last nine have been multi-hit affairs.
“He’s a good player, a good hitter. That’s why he’s playing every day,” Cora said. “We’re going to push him out there, play the outfield … play the top of the lineup.”
The manager’s lineup soon will include reinforcements as the return of both Masataka Yoshida and All-Star Alex Bregman from the injured list is nearing.
Yoshida has been recovering from shoulder surgery all season and could be activated on Wednesday, while Bregman is potentially just days behind as he feels that he is “trending towards a return here really quickly.”
Boston righty Brayan Bello (4-3, 3.42 ERA) is coming off a unique relief appearance in the Wednesday restart of a suspended game against the Cincinnati Reds. Bello threw five innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts en route to a 5-3 Red Sox win.
Excluding his last outing, which came after Richard Fitts threw the first three innings the previous night, Bello has thrown five consecutive quality starts but lost back-to-back.
The 26-year-old will be making his first career start against Colorado.
The Rockies have now lost three of four. For the season, their 70 losses in their first 91 games are the second-most all-time.
Colorado gives the ball to left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-9, 5.49 ERA), who will be making his third start since returning from the 15-day injured list on June 27. He follows Austin Gomber, who allowed four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings Monday.
“Overall, I thought he pitched well and gave us a chance to win,” Colorado manager Warren Schaefer said. “He was one or two pitches away from getting out of that (big three-run second) inning. Obviously it didn’t work out tonight, but it could have.”
Freeland last pitched on Thursday against the Houston Astros, allowing three runs — including two in the first inning — on six hits in six innings. It was his eighth quality start of the season, despite a meager win-loss record to show for it.
“When you start a game with weak hits, frustration starts to build immediately,” Freeland said. “He struck out two and walked two. “It’s all about how quickly you can wash it, forget about it, and get back to work. I was able to do that, as best I could.”
Freeland has made just one career appearance against Boston, throwing six innings in a May 14, 2019 start. He gave up three solo home runs and received a no-decision.
Ryan McMahon and Tyler Freeman both went 2-for-4 on Monday. Freeman has a 21-game on-base streak, the longest in the majors at present.