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As MLB Breaks, It’s All Hot-Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) –  The Boston Red Sox have clicked on all cylinders over their first two games against the Oakland Athletics this weekend. Entering today’s series and unofficial first-half finale, Boston has won four straight games and seven out of eight, while scoring 27 runs in just the last three games.

The Red Sox have put together seven consecutive games with at least 10 hits after pounding out 15 in Saturday’s 10-3 triumph.

Jarren Duran went 3-for-5 with a double, home run, three RBIs and three runs to lead the way. It was his sixth three-hit game of the season and extended his hitting streak to five games.

“Man, he’s on fire,” James Paxton, Saturday’s starting pitcher for the Red Sox, said of Duran. “It’s fun to watch. You know, he’s such an athletic guy, and so many tools on the field. He’s an exciting player, and I’m glad he’s on our team.”

Boston’s recent success has hardly been a one-man effort. Justin Turner has also been on a hot streak with at least one RBI in eight straight games.

Nonetheless, Red Sox manager Alex Cora knows how crucial Duran’s surge has been.

“We know about Alex (Verdugo). We know about (Masataka) Yoshida. We know about the power of (Adam) Duvall,” Cora said. “But when we talk about Jarren, give credit to the front office. They stuck with the kid, and we have found ways to play him. He’s been very dynamic.”

Cora is expected to use Tayler Scott (0-0, 7.71 ERA) as an opener less than a week after his Red Sox debut. He was acquired from the Dodgers in a trade late last month. While with the Seattle Mariners in 2019, Scott made one relief appearance against the Athletics, surrendering two unearned runs over two innings.

Left-hander JP Sears (1-6, 4.09) is scheduled to make his team-leading 18th start for the Athletics, making him their only pitcher to remain in the rotation all season.

“One of the goals was just to be available every fifth day — give my team 30 starts by the end of the year,” Sears said. “Hopefully, I can just keep it up. Stay on top of my routine and stay healthy so we can be there by the end of the year.”

Sears has allowed two or fewer runs in six of his last eight starts, including Tuesday in Detroit. He worked 7 1/3 shutout innings and allowed just five hits while striking out four in Oakland’s 1-0 win. It was the longest start of his career in the majors.

“Probably the best start of the year for us by a starter,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said, calling that outing “the definition of how to pitch. He used his weapons. Kept the ball out of the middle of the plate.”

In his first career start against Boston, Sears will look to break the A’s out of a 6-16 drought. They allowed nine extra-base hits Saturday and have won just four road series all season.

Brent Rooker and Manny Pina homered Saturday against Paxton.

–Field Level Media

Sox Reinstate Rodriguez, Drop Garza

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BOSTON – Before Saturday’s game, the Red Sox reinstated left-handed pitcher Joely Rodriguez from the 15-Day Injured List. To make room for Rodriguez on the active Major League roster, the club optioned right-handed pitcher Justin Garza to Triple-A Worcester following Friday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics. Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the announcement.

Rodriguez, 31, was placed on the Injured List on June 4 due to left shoulder inflammation. The left-handed made five rehab appearances with Worcester (three games) and Double-A Portland (two), posting a 4.15 ERA (2 ER/4.1 IP) with six strikeouts. Signed by Boston as a free agent on November 23, 2022, Rodriguez has allowed eight runs in 4.0 innings pitched over five outings with the Red Sox this season, and owns a 4.92 ERA (82 ER/150.0 IP) in 162 career games with the Philadelphia Phillies (2016-17), Texas Rangers (2020-21), New York Yankees (2021), New York Mets (2022), and Red Sox (2023).

Garza, 29, has pitched in 16 games (one start) for the Red Sox this season, posting a 6.11 ERA (12 ER/17.2 IP). The right-hander also owns a 3.38 ERA (2 ER/5.1 IP) in four appearances for Worcester. Claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on April 28, Garza has pitched to a 5.24 ERA (27 ER/46.1 IP) in 37 career Major League games (one start) with the Cleveland Guardians (2021) and Red Sox (2023).

Red Sox Defeat Lowly A’s

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BOSTON – A five-run second inning gave the surging Red Sox all the offense they needed en route to a 7-3 win over the visiting Oakland Athletics on Friday night.

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Jarren Duran, Justin Turner and Alex Verdugo all went 2-for-4 with an RBI to lead Boston, while recently activated SS Yu Chang drove in two runs.

Boston’s Nick Pivetta (5-5) allowed two earned runs in five innings to earn the win following a strong starting effort of opener Brennan Bernardino.

Seth Brown homered and scored twice for Oakland in the losing effort.

The Red Sox offense rallied for its second big inning in as many nights, scoring five runs while batting around in the bottom of the second.

After Verdugo and Enrique Hernandez singled and Triston Casas walked to load the bases, A’s opener Sam Long (0-1) was pulled in favor of Luis Medina, who allowed three straight one-out singles that produced the opening runs.

Chang hit a ground ball single into center field to bring in the first two runs. After Medina uncorked a wild pitch, Duran and Turner laced back-to-back base hits to increase the Boston lead to 4-0. Rafael Devers finished the scoring in the inning with an RBI fielder’s choice.

Oakland got on the board with Tony Kemp’s two-out single in the fifth. Kemp was able to advance on a subsequent throwing error by Devers, but Pivetta got out of the jam with a popup.

Brown added to the Oakland offense with a one-out homer to right-center following Shea Langeliers’ double in the seventh

Yu Chang, Paxton Re-Join Red Sox

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The Boston Red Sox today announced the following roster moves:

  • Reinstated left-handed pitcher James Paxton from the Paternity Leave List.
  • Reinstated infielder Yu Chang from the 60-Day Injured List.
  • Placed right-handed pitcher Kaleb Ort on the 15-Day Injured List (retroactive to July 5) with right elbow inflammation.
  • Optioned infielder David Hamilton to Triple-A Worcester following last night’s game against the Texas Rangers.
  • Designated left-handed pitcher Ryan Sherriff for assignment.

Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the announcement.

Paxton, 34, was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for June, going 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA (6 ER/31.0 IP) and .165 opponent batting average (18-for-109) during the month. He last started on June 30 in Toronto, tossing a season-high 7.2 scoreless innings with three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts. Signed by Boston as a free agent on December 1, 2021, the left-hander is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA (15 ER/50.0 IP) in nine starts this season and has posted a 3.53 ERA (316 ER/804.2 IP) in 146 career starts with the Seattle Mariners (2013-18, 2021), New York Yankees (2019-20), and the Red Sox (2023).

Chang, 27, was placed on the Injured List on April 25 with a left hamate fracture. The right-handed hitter has played in 17 games with the Red Sox this season, making 11 starts at shortstop and two at second base. Signed by Boston on February 16, Chang has appeared in 213 Major League games with the Cleveland Guardians (2019-22), Pittsburgh Pirates (2022), Tampa Bay Rays (2022), and Red Sox (2022-23), third most among players born in Taiwan behind Wei-Yin Chen (219) and Hung-Chih Kuo (218).

Ort, 31, allowed two runs in 0.2 innings on Tuesday against Texas. The right-hander has posted a 6.26 ERA (16 ER/23.0 IP) with 24 strikeouts in 21 games (two starts) for Boston this season, while also recording a 1.86 ERA (2 ER/9.2 IP) in 10 games with Worcester. Selected from the New York Yankees in the Triple-A phase of the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, Ort owns a 6.27 ERA (36 ER/51.2 IP) in 47 career Major League games (two starts) with the Red Sox (2021-23).

Hamilton, 25, has played in 13 games for the Red Sox, making 10 starts at shortstop. The left-handed hitter has gone 4-for-29 with two doubles and five walks while going 2-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in a four-player trade on December 1, 2021, Hamilton has also hit .255 with an .825 OPS and 27 stolen bases in 52 games for Worcester this season, going 53-for-208 with nine doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 39 runs, and 25 RBI.

Sherriff, 33, has posted a 2.70 ERA (2 ER/6.2 IP) in five games for the Red Sox this season, most recently pitching in both games of the doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 3. The left-hander also owns a 2.82 ERA (7 ER/22.1 IP) in 21 appearances for Worcester this season. Signed by Boston as a minor league free agent on January 21, Sherriff has recorded a 3.53 ERA (20 ER/51.0 IP) in 49 career games for the St. Louis Cardinals (2017-18), Tampa Bay Rays (2020-21), and Red Sox (2023).

Red Sox Score Six in 7th; Defeat Texas

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox erased a one-run deficit by scoring six runs on seven hits in the seventh inning and went on to defeat the visiting Texas Rangers 10-6.

Enrique Hernandez’s two-run single against Grant Anderson put the Red Sox ahead 6-5 in the seventh and opened the floodgates. Christian Arroyo, Connor Wong, Justin Turner and Masataka Yoshida added RBI hits as the Red Sox piled up seven hits — six singles and a double — against four Texas relievers.

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Wong had three of Boston’s 13 hits overall. Corey Seager led Texas with three hits, including his 11th home run of the season to cap the scoring in the ninth.

Josh Winckowski (3-1) earned the win for tossing two innings of scoreless relief as Boston took the rubber match of the three-game series. The Red Sox have won five of their last six games.

Josh Sborz (4-4) allowed three runs on one hit and two walks in two-thirds of an inning and took the loss. The Rangers have lost four of five.

Alex Verdugo helped the Red Sox take a 1-0 lead when he scored from third on a Rafael Devers groundout in the bottom of the first inning, but the Rangers tied the game in the second on an RBI single from Jonah Heim that scored Adolis Garcia.

Boston took a 3-1 lead in the third. After Devers’ RBI double scored Turner, Adam Duvall’s sacrifice fly drove in Yoshida.

Texas quickly tied the game in the fourth. Josh Jung opened with a double and scored on Robbie Grossman’s sacrifice fly to pull the Rangers within a run, and then Ezequiel Duran scored on a single by Leody Taveras single.

The Rangers took the lead in the fifth. Garcia walked with two outs, took third on Jung’s double and scored on Yoshida’s throwing error. Heim followed with a double that drove in Jung to put Texas in front 5-3.

Boston was within a run after Hernandez scored on Rob Refsnyder’s single in the sixth.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Sign Alfaro

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The Boston Red Sox signed catcher Jorge Alfaro to a one-year contract for the 2023 season and added him to the active Major League roster. He will wear number 38.

To make room for Alfaro on the 40-man roster, the club designated catcher Caleb Hamilton for assignment. Boston’s Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom made the announcement.

Alfaro, 30, played in 10 games for the Colorado Rockies this season, going 5-for-31 with four doubles and one home run. The right-handed hitter was previously signed by Boston as a minor league free agent on January 18 and appeared in nine Grapefruit League games for the Red Sox, batting .478 (11-for-23) with three doubles and two home runs. He began the season with Triple-A Worcester, hitting .320 (56-for-175) with 30 RBI in 43 games. A Colombia native, Alfaro has batted .254 (400-for-1,573) with 71 doubles, four triples, and 48 home runs in 488 career Major League games with the Philadelphia Phillies (2016-18), Miami Marlins (2019-21), San Diego Padres (2022), and Rockies (2023).

Hamilton, 28, has played in four games for Boston this season, including two starts as the catcher. The right-handed hitter has also played in 30 games with Worcester, batting .180 (18-for-100) with four doubles and three home runs. Selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 23rd round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft, Hamilton has gone 1-for-23 with one home run in 26 career Major League games with Minnesota (2022) and Boston (2023).

Bello Gets the Job Done for Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and wire Service Report) – Red Sox starter Brayan Bello tossed seven innings to help the Boston Red Sox end a four-game home losing streak by beating the Texas Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday night.

Bello (6-5) limited the Rangers to two runs on eight hits. He struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

Bello has pitched at least six innings in eight of his 14 starts this season and has pitched into the seventh in each of his last five outings.

Reliever Chris Martin kept Texas off the scoreboard in the eighth inning and All-Star Kenley Jansen recorded his 18th save by pitching a scoreless ninth.

The Red Sox were held to five runs in their previous four home games — three losses to Miami and one to Texas.

Justin Turner had two hits and two RBIs for Boston, which dropped a 6-2 decision to Texas on Tuesday. Connor Wong and Masataka Yoshida also had two hits for the Red Sox.

Adolis Garcia hit a two-run home run for the Rangers, his 22nd home run of the season.

Texas received three hits from Corey Seager, who has reached base in 24 straight games.

Texas starting pitcher Jon Gray (6-5) allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out two.

Can Bello Get Red Sox on Track?

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox have lost their last four straight games at Fenway Park. To get on the right side of the W/L ledger, the Sox will send their best pitcher to the mound on tonight, when they try to win the second game of a three-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers.

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Right-hander Brayan Bello, 24, has established himself as one of the top young pitchers in the major leagues and has become the ace of a pitching staff that has been thinned by injuries to Chris Sale (shoulder), Tanner Houck (facial bone fracture) and Garrett Whitlock (elbow inflammation).

Bello (5-5, 3.08 ERA) missed the first three weeks of the season with a forearm strain suffered during spring training. He has been strong in 13 starts since joining the rotation, and his numbers would be much better if it weren’t for a lackluster season debut in which he allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Since that outing, Bello has an ERA of 2.56, and he hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any appearance since then.

Bello carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his last start, a 2-0 loss to Miami on Thursday. He went seven-plus innings and surrendered a run on two hits, walked one and struck out five.

“He has so many weapons and he’s still learning how to use them,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bello. “He’s just evolving, keeps getting better. His next (start) is going to be a challenge. It’s the Rangers, so he’ll be ready for that one and we’ll see what we got.”

Bello didn’t allow a run in six innings to earn the win back on Sept. 3, 2022, during his only career appearance against Texas. He gave up three hits and struck out five.

The latest blow to the Red Sox rotation came Sunday, when Whitlock left his start against Toronto after one inning. He was placed on the 15-day injured list on Tuesday.

“It’s just about getting treatment and all that stuff and reassessing the situation next week,” Cora said. “Obviously no timetable, but for how bad it looked or whatever people were thinking ligament-wise and all that stuff, this is the closest thing to good news.”

Right-hander Jon Gray (6-4, 3.21) is scheduled to oppose Bello. Gray has a 1-0 record and a 2.45 ERA in his career against Boston (one start). He went 7 1/3 innings in that appearance and allowed two runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked three.

Texas ended Boston’s three-game winning streak by earning a 6-2 victory on Tuesday.

There was some speculation that Texas might replace closer Will Smith with newly acquired reliever Aroldis Chapman after Smith allowed two runs in the top of the ninth of Monday’s 12-11 loss to Houston, but Smith was called upon to retire the final batter in Tuesday’s victory. The Rangers traded for Chapman on Friday.

“I’m not going to go there now because Smitty has been doing such a great job,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “That’s not what we’re even thinking about right now. … Those are important innings — seventh, eighth and ninth. We need to put zeroes up there, too. I’ll leave it at that.”

–Field Level Media

Red Sox: Home on the 4th of July

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Home on the 4th of July, the Boston Red Sox can stretch their winning streak to four games when they open a three-game series against the visiting Texas Rangers early this afternoon. Boston had lost five games in a row — and seven of eight — before it swept a three-game series at Toronto this past weekend.

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(Highlights from July 4, 2022)

“The way we played this weekend was fun to watch,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said following his team’s 5-4 victory on Sunday. “Hopefully it’s a lesson to everybody here in this group that if we play that way against everybody, we’ve got a chance.”

The bottom four batters in Boston’s lineup (Triston Casas, Enrique Hernandez, David Hamilton and Connor Wong) were 0-for-17 in Sunday’s win, but Jarren Duran went 5-for-5 and matched a franchise record by hitting four doubles. It was the 50th time since 1901 that a major league player has had four doubles in one game.

While Boston had a day off Monday, the Rangers are coming off Monday afternoon’s wild 12-11 loss to Houston. Texas fought back from a 10-2 deficit to take an 11-10 lead in the eighth inning, but it surrendered two runs in the top of the ninth.

Travis Jankowski went 3-for-4 with a career-high five RBIs in the setback, capping an eight-game homestand during which the Rangers went 3-5. Jankowki’s hits included a three-run home run that sliced Houston’s lead to 10-5.

Texas arrived in Boston with a fortified bullpen. Not only did the Rangers acquire closer Aroldis Chapman in a trade with Kansas City on Friday, but they also activated right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto from the 60-day injured list on the same day.

Otto was used exclusively as a starting pitcher in his first two seasons with Texas, but he pitched a scoreless ninth inning in Friday’s 5-3 loss to Houston and allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings of relief on Monday. He missed the first half of the season rehabbing a right shoulder strain.

“I’m here to get outs,” Otto told the Dallas Morning News. “Whatever form or fashion that is, I’m here to get outs. I’m going to do the best job I can do to attack the hitters and get them out as fast as I can, go from there and let everything else fall where it may.”

Texas is expected to start right-hander Dane Dunning (7-1, 2.69 ERA) in the series opener on Tuesday. Dunning matched his career high by striking out 10 batters in 8 2/3 innings during his last start, a 10-2 victory over Detroit last Wednesday.

Dunning began the season as a reliever but joined the rotation to fill in for Jacob deGrom in May and has been used in that role since then. He is 0-3 with a 9.42 ERA in three career appearances (all starts) against Boston.

Boston has not officially announced its starting pitcher, but left-hander Chris Murphy (0-0, 1.80 ERA) is among those who could get the start. Murphy, who hasn’t pitched since last Wednesday, made his major league debut against Cleveland last month and has never pitched against Texas.

Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida was hit in the leg by a pitch during Boston’s 7-6 triumph over Toronto on Saturday and was held out of the lineup Sunday. Cora said he expects Yoshida to be available to play Tuesday.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Sweep Blue Jays

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TORONTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – Alex Verdugo led off the ninth inning with a tie-breaking home run and the visiting Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep with a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.

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Jarren Duran tied a Red Sox club record with four doubles and finished 5-for-5 with three runs scored.

The Red Sox have won all seven games between the teams this season.

Brandon Belt hit two solo home runs for Toronto, which was held to six hits.

Boston right-hander Garrett Whitlock (right elbow tightness) allowed one run before being removed after the first inning.

Toronto right-hander Kevin Gausman allowed two runs, five hits and one walk while striking out seven in five innings.

Duran led off the game with a bloop double to left and scored on a two-out single by Rafael Devers.

Toronto tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the first on Belt’s fifth homer of the season.

After Gausman struck out five in a row, Duran doubled to right with one out in the third and scored on a two-out single by Devers, who finished 3-for-3 with two walks.

Toronto took the lead in the bottom of the third. Kevin Kiermaier hit a one-out single against Brennan Bernardino, who was replaced by Kaleb Ort. George Springer singled, and after a double steal, Bo Bichette hit a two-run single to right. Verdugo threw out Bichette trying for a double.

Belt hit his sixth homer of the season against Nick Pivetta with one out in the sixth to make it 4-2 Toronto.

Duran led off the seventh with his fourth double, a shot high off the left-field wall against Erik Swanson. Justin Turner singled to drive in Duran. Turner was running on the play when Verdugo chopped a groundout to third and continued to third, coming home on a throwing error by first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to tie the game at 4-4.

After Pivetta completed four innings of one-run ball, Chris Martin (2-1) took over and pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.

Verdugo hit his sixth home run of the season on the first pitch of the ninth off Toronto closer Jordan Romano (3-4) for the decisive run.

Boston’s Joe Jacques pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to earn his first career save.