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Cora Boiling-Over After Verdugo Scratch

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – The Boston Red Sox will try to put a bad day behind them and salvage the finale of a three-game series with the visiting Toronto Blue Jays this afternoon.

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Boston’s bad day started when outfielder Alex Verdugo was scratched from the lineup with no explanation. Neither Red Sox manager Alex Cora nor Verdugo, who never got into the game, commented on the reason.

The day ended when Reese McGuire, who had singled as a pinch hitter, was doubled off second base after a flyout to the wall in left-center field to cut a ninth-inning rally short in the Blue Jays’ 5-4 victory.

“This is probably one of my worst days here in this organization,” Cora said after the game.

He said that Verdugo’s benching was a “manager’s decision.”

“I’m just taking care of the 26 guys (on the roster), and he wasn’t gonna play,” Cora said.

Cora has benched Verdugo for a lack of hustle in the past.

“That was a different situation,” Cora said. “I think (Saturday), we took a step back as a team. We have to make sure everybody’s available every single day here for us to get to wherever we’re going to go. And that wasn’t the case. And as a manager, I’ve got to take charge of this, and I decided he wasn’t going to play.”

“Just a manager’s decision,” Verdugo said. “We’re gonna leave it at that.”

When asked if he arrived to Fenway Park on time on Saturday, Verdugo said he did.

The Red Sox won the first seven meetings with the Blue Jays this season and now have lost two straight to a team they are chasing for an American League wild-card spot.

Toronto is scheduled to start right-hander Chris Bassitt (10-6, 4.00 ERA) on Sunday. Bassitt has faced the Red Sox once in his career, in 2021, when he allowed two runs and three hits with 10 strikeouts in seven innings.

The Red Sox are expected to start left-hander Brennan Bernardino (1-1, 2.72). Bernardino, who will be making his sixth start of the season, is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in four relief appearances against Toronto in his career.

McGuire’s baserunning mistake allowed Erik Swanson to earn his fourth save.

Sox: Home Sweet Home

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) -The Boston Red Sox will look to continue their dominance over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays when the American League wild-card contenders open a three-game series tonight, weather permitting.

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Boston has won each of the seven meetings between the teams this season, and outscored Toronto 49-29 in those games. The Red Sox scored at least five runs in each of those contests, four of which were played in Boston.

The Red Sox lost 16 of their 19 games against the Blue Jays last season.

Tonight’s game will be the start of a 10-game home stand for the Red Sox, who have a 30-23 record at home this season. Boston is coming off a 2-4 road trip during which it took two walk-off losses and squandered a 3-0 lead in a 6-3 setback against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

“Tough one,” Boston manager Alex Cora said after the latest defeat. “We’re going home and we got a good stretch coming up. Two walk-off losses (at San Francisco) and two tough games here. So we didn’t play terrible baseball, but it just didn’t happen. We’ll be ready for Friday.”

Toronto’s 6-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday was the Blue Jays’ fourth setback in five games.

Right-hander Alek Manoah (2-8, 5.87 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for the Blue Jays on Friday.

Manoah is still trying to regain the form that made him an American League All-Star and a Cy Young Award finalist in 2022, when he went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts. He was sent to the minors this season after going 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA in his first 13 starts.

Manoah may have to overcome another obstacle as his last outing ended after he hit Los Angeles Angels outfielder Taylor Ward in the head with a fastball in the fifth inning on Saturday. Ward sustained facial fractures and ended up on the 60-day IL, likely ending his season.

Manoah seemed rattled on the mound as Ward was being examined by medical personnel near home plate.

“That’s probably the worst feeling ever,” Manoah said following the game. “Definitely want to pray for him and his family. That’s the last thing you want to do, no matter the situation, no matter the team, no matter anything. I feel really bad about it.”

Manoah has pitched well against Boston during his career, going 4-1 with a 1.71 ERA in seven starts (42 innings) against the Red Sox. The loss came earlier this season, when he allowed five runs (two earned) on eight hits in five innings of Boston’s 8-3 victory on May 3.

Left-hander James Paxton (6-2, 3.34 ERA) is Boston’s probable starter. The 34-year-old Canadian is 6-3 with a 3.98 ERA in 11 career starts against the Blue Jays, producing 55 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings.

Paxton was the winning pitcher when Boston beat Toronto 5-0 on June 30. He limited the Blue Jays to three hits and two walks while striking out seven in 7 2/3 innings.

Infielder Justin Turner didn’t play in Boston’s past two games because of a heel contusion, but Cora said he hopes Turner can play on Friday.

Toronto’s best hitter, Bo Bichette, is out and on the IL with a leg injury.

–Field Level Media

Mariners Take It To the Red Sox

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SEATTLE – Julio Rodriguez‘s broken-bat single brought home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning and capped the rally with a steal of home as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox 6-3 on Wednesday, the final day of the Red Sox west coast road trip.

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The Mariners’ Cal Raleigh homered for the fifth time in six games against Boston this season. The Mariners took two of three games between these American League wild-card contenders in the series.

Jarren Duran went deep for the Red Sox, who lost for the fourth time in their past five games.

Seattle’s Matt Brash (7-3) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the victory, and Andres Munoz worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save. Boston reliever John Schreiber (1-1) took the loss.

Trailing 3-0, the Mariners began their comeback in the sixth inning. Eugenio Suarez doubled to left with one out, and Raleigh followed with a two-run shot to right off Schreiber. It was Raleigh’s 17th homer of the season.

Seattle took the lead with a four-run seventh. Newly acquired Dominic Canzone led off with a walk, and Tom Murphy singled down the left-field line. Pinch-hitter Cade Marlowe greeted reliever Richard Bleier with a single to right to tie the score and leave runners at the corners.

An out later, Rodriguez hit a slow roller that trickled into left field when third baseman Rafael Devers and shortstop Yu Chang collided as the shattered bat sailed past them, scoring Murphy from third to make it 4-3. Suarez lined a run-scoring single to right to extend the lead, and, with two outs, he and Rodriguez pulled off a double steal to cap the scoring.

The Red Sox got on the scoreboard in the third as Connor Wong drew a leadoff walk, and an out later, Duran went deep to right.

The Red Sox tacked on a run in the fifth as Wong led off with a double to left, moved to third on Chang’s single and scored on Masataka Yoshida‘s two-out infield single.

Red Sox right-hander Kutter Crawford pitched five scoreless innings in his bid to win consecutive starts for the first time in his career, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Crawford allowed four hits, walked one and struck out five.

Mariners right-hander Logan Gilbert put up a quality start, giving up three runs on five hits in six innings, with three walks and five strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Bounce Back vs Seattle

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SEATTLE – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – As the clock ticked down to Major League Baseball’s trade deadline on Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners found themselves in similar situations.

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Both were multiple games back in the American League’s wild-card race and in the end made only minor moves on deadline day. The Red Sox acquired infielder Luis Urias from the Milwaukee Brewers, and the Mariners dealt for Baltimore Orioles reliever Eduard Bazardo.

The Red Sox responded with a 6-4 victory over host Seattle behind homers from Alex Verdugo and Reese McGuire, snapping a three-game losing streak. The three-game series wraps up Wednesday afternoon.

The solo shot by McGuire, who graduated from Kentwood High School in the Seattle suburbs, was his first of the season. McGuire, who was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ first-round draft pick in 2013, just returned from a rehabilitation assignment after missing more than a month with a right oblique strain.

“He’s a good player. There’s a reason he’s here,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He worked hard to get back and we gave him a chance, and he put (up) two good at-bats.”

Both Red Sox and Mariners front-office officials said they didn’t find any fits for bigger moves at the deadline.

“We really liked what we’re building,” said Red Sox chief operating officer Chaim Bloom, whose team pulled within 1 1/2 games of a playoff position with the Tuesday win. “You’re seeing it more and more each night on the field — the core we’re building and what we’re building toward. Understanding that we’re underdogs this year right now, where we are in the playoff odds, we just tried to stay true to that.”

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto, whose team is 3 1/2 games back in the wild-card hunt, delivered a similar message.

“We didn’t want to be disruptive,” Dipoto said. “We also didn’t want to create holes. I think the team has played so well over the course of this last month and, generally speaking, over the course of the last 10 days, it’s really started to progress. It’s the first time we’ve really seen this team have this type of traction. This team has the talent to do it. We’ve always known that we have the talent to do it.

“We would have liked to have done more to help, but we did what we thought we should do. I wish we could have been more aggressive. They gave us every reason to believe in them and be more aggressive. There just wasn’t a lot to be aggressive with.”

Today’s series finale will feature a pair of right-handers, Boston’s Kutter Crawford (5-5, 3.86 ERA) and Seattle’s Logan Gilbert (9-5, 3.83).

Crawford beat the host San Francisco Giants 3-2 today as he allowed just one run on three hits in 5 2/3 innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. Crawford has faced Seattle once before, tossing five scoreless innings in a no-decision on June 12, 2022.

Gilbert went 4-0 with a 2.78 ERA over five starts in July. He beat the host Arizona Diamondbacks 5-2 on Friday after giving up two runs on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. Gilbert is 0-0 with a 3.46 ERA in two career starts against Boston.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Acquire Urias

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Boston Red Sox acquired infielder Luis Urías from the Milwaukee Brewers, in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Bradley Blalock. The club also optioned Urías to Triple-A Worcester.

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Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the announcement on Tuesday, immediately before the MLB Trading Deadline.

Urías, 26, has played in 413 career games with the San Diego Padres (2018-19) and Brewers (2020-23), making 143 starts at third base, 124 at shortstop, and 100 at second base and batting .235 (311-for-1,323). The right-handed hitter has played in 20 games for Milwaukee in 2023, going 8-for-55 while making 10 starts at third base and seven at second base. The Mexico native has also batted .233 (27-for-116) with five doubles and four home runs in 29 games for Triple-A Nashville this season. Urías was originally signed as a non-drafted free agent by the San Diego Padres on December 27, 2013. His brother, Ramon, currently plays for the Baltimore Orioles.

Blalock, 22, has posted a 2.19 ERA (13 ER/53.1 IP) in 11 starts this season between Single-A Salem (four starts) and High-A Greenville (seven starts). The Georgia native was selected by the Red Sox in the 32nd round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Grayson High School (GA).

 

Seattle Knocks Down Pivetta, Red Sox

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SEATTLE – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – Seattle’s Cal Raleigh hit two solo home runs as the Mariners defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox 6-2 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Julio Rodriguez added a two-run single in a four-run eighth inning as the Mariners pulled away.

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The Mariners won for the fifth time in their past six games and finished July with a 17-9 record, tied with Baltimore for the second-best mark in the majors. Boston’s 15-8 record was the month’s best.

Rafael Devers went 3-for-4 for the Red Sox, who took their third consecutive defeat.

Raleigh hit both his homers off right-hander Nick Pivetta (7-6), who was making his first start since beating the Mariners 9-4 on May 16 in Boston. Pivetta gave up three runs on five hits in 7 1/3 innings, with no walks and 10 strikeouts.

Raleigh broke a one-all tie with one out in the seventh, hammering a 1-1 slider just inside the right field foul pole.

Sox Visit Seattle for 3-Game Set

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SEATTLE – (Staff and Wire Service Report – The Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners have been playing better than anyone this month as they attempt to chase down American League wild-card berths.

The two teams open a three-game series tonight in Seattle.

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Despite losing their past two games in San Francisco, the Red Sox have a major-league-best .682 winning percentage in July, going 15-7.

The Mariners, who just completed a six-game road trip in which they took two of three games at both Minnesota and Arizona, are 16-9 with a .640 winning percentage this month — matching the Baltimore Orioles for the second-best winning percentage in July behind the Sox.

Tampa Bay begins Monday with a four-game lead in the AL’s wild-card race, with Toronto and Houston tied for the remaining two berths. The Red Sox are 2 1/2 games back of the Blue Jays and Astros, while the Mariners are 4 1/2 out.

“Guys know where we’re at in the season, quite frankly, and they know we needed to play well to put themselves in a position with 48 hours here ahead of the trade deadline,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said after Sunday’s 4-0 victory against the Diamondbacks. “You see what other teams are doing in our division.

“Our guys want to go after it. I credit them. They are super competitive. We went 4-2 on this trip and very easily could’ve gone 6-0. It’s a credit to our players. They want to push. They want to go for it.”

Luis Castillo, acquired at last year’s deadline from Cincinnati, pitched six innings of two-hit ball and struck out seven on Sunday, while leadoff hitter J.P. Crawford doubled, homered and scored three times.

The Red Sox lost their series finale 4-3 to the Giants in 11 innings on Sunday despite home runs by Justin Turner and Adam Duvall.

“I feel like we’re playing the right brand of baseball at the right time,” Duvall said last week. “We’ve got to keep continuing to build as a team, to continue to get better at the little things, and it’ll be fun to see how good we can be.”

On Monday, Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta (7-5, 4.11 ERA) is scheduled to make his first start since beating the Mariners 9-4 on May 16 despite allowing four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, with four walks and six strikeouts.

Since his prior assignments for bullpen duty, Pivetta has a 1.98 ERA, holding batters to a .128 average.

Pivetta pitched five scoreless innings of relief on Tuesday in a 7-1 victory against visiting Atlanta, allowing three hits and one walk, and striking out five.

“Yeah, whenever my name is called from the bullpen, however long I pitch, it’s just what I do,” said Pivetta, who is 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA in two career starts covering 11 1/3 innings against Seattle. “I just go out and try to put us in the best position to win.”

The Mariners are set to start right-hander George Kirby (9-8, 3.49), who is 1-1 with a 4.86 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox. That includes a 10-1 victory on May 15 in Boston in which he allowed one run on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings, with one walk and six strikeouts.

Davis HR Beats Jansen, Red Sox

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SAN FRANCISCO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – J.D. Davis of San Francisco belted Red Sox reliever Kenley Jansen‘s first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning over the left field wall, giving the Giants a game-winning, 3-2, victory over Boston on Saturday.

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Davis’ homer, his 14th of the season, came shortly after the Red Sox had scored twice off Giants closer Camilo Doval in the top of the ninth, drawing even on a two-run single by Justin Turner.

Despite suffering his third blown save of the season, Doval (3-3) was credited with the win. Jansen (2-5) took the loss.

The dramatic ending came after Sean Manaea had combined with opener Ryan Walker and set-up reliever Tyler Rogers to take a 2-0 lead into the ninth.

Casas Leads Red Sox Over SF Giants

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SAN FRANCISCO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Sox first baseman Triston Casas doubled, homered and drove in two runs, reliever Josh Winckowski pitched out of a seventh-inning jam to protect a one-run lead and the Boston Red Sox opened a three-game road inter-league series with a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants Friday night.

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Boston OF Rob Refsnyder drove in a key run with a pinch-hit single and Sox starter Kutter Crawford (5-5) struck out seven in 5 2/3 innings for the Red Sox, who were opening a six-game West Coast swing.

Casas produced all the game’s scoring in the first five innings with a second-inning double that plated Adam Duvall, who also had doubled, and a fifth-inning solo homer, his 16th of the season.

The Giants got one back in the sixth when Marco Luciano recorded his first big-league hit, a single off third baseman Rafael Devers’ glove, and scored his first big-league run on a single by Michael Conforto.

Crawford was pulled after 5 2/3 innings, having allowed just one run and three hits. He walked one to complement his seven strikeouts.

Down 2-1, the Giants got back-to-back singles from J.D. Davis and Patrick Bailey to open the seventh, but Winckowski retired the next three batters, including a pair of strikeouts after Davis, the potential tying run, had reached third with one out.

Refsnyder’s hit came in the top of the eighth, scoring Connor Wong, who had singled, to produce what turned out to be the difference-making run.

Giants starter Logan Webb (8-9) was lifted one out into the eighth, charged with all three Boston runs on six hits. He walked none and struck out four.

San Francisco immediately got back within a run when Joc Pederson smacked his 11th homer of the year against Chris Martin leading off the last of the eighth. But Martin retired the next three batters he faced to close out the inning, before Kenley Jansen threw a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 23rd save.

Sox Experience Power Surge

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A barrage of three home runs in the late innings helped the Boston Red Sox top the visiting Atlanta Braves 5-3 to complete a two-game series sweep on Wednesday night.

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Rafael Devers, Triston Casas and Adam Duvall all homered for Boston, which has won four straight. Justin Turner hit a two-run double that flipped the score for good in the seventh.

Turner, Casas and Connor Wong all had multi-hit games to support Brayan Bello, who allowed three runs on four hits over his six innings. Joe Jacques (2-1) followed with a scoreless inning to earn the win.

The early duel began with Bello erasing Atlanta’s first two hits with double play balls, helping him face just one batter over the minimum through the first five innings.

One swing of the bat broke the game open for the Braves in the sixth after Harris lined a leadoff double to center and Ronald Acuna Jr. was hit by a pitch. Ozzie Albies ripped a three-run homer into the right-center field bullpen.

Albies was 2-for-4 to lead the six-hit offense for the Braves, who have lost three of their last four games.

Harris’ double made him the first Atlanta runner in scoring position in the game.

The Red Sox quickly broke the shutout bid in the sixth when Devers golfed a two-out solo homer out to right. Spencer Strider had started the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, helping him reach double digits for the ninth time this season.

Boston chased Strider (6 1/3 innings, two runs, six hits, 10 strikeouts, one walk) with one out in the seventh after Casas homered to center and Connor Wong followed with a single. The homer marked Casas’ third during a five-game hit streak.

Two batters after Pierce Johnson (1-6) entered, Turner hit a two-out double to left that lifted Boston to its first lead.

Duvall’s solo homer extended the Boston lead in the eighth.

Kenley Jansen worked out of a two-on, one-out jam to post his 22nd save.

–Field Level Media