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Red Sox End Home-stand with a “W”

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox concluded their season-long 10-game home stand with a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners Sunday at Fenway Park. Boston finished a season-long 10 game stretch at Fenway with a disappointing 5-5 record but are 14-6 in their last 20 games and 3-0-3 in their last six series.

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Trailing 1-0 after the first half of the 1st inning, utility man Marwin Gonzalez and right fielder Hunter Renfroe each worked bases-loaded walks in the Sox’ half of the 1st inning and 2B Christian Arroyo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. It marked the time the Red Sox have scored four (or more) runs on two hits or fewer in the 1st inning since August 11, 2018 vs. TB (4 R, 2 H, 3 BB, 1 E).

Boston starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez (7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R) struck-out a season-high eight over his season-high 7.0 innings. Rodriguez retired his final nine batters faced on 29 pitches after allowing 3 straight hits and two runs to begin the 5th inning. It was Rodriguez third career start with no walks over 7.0+ innings pitched.

Boston begins a six-game road trip in New York on Tuesday when they face the Mets in a pair of night games before heading to Arlington, Texas to take-on the Texas Rangers in a four-game set. The Sox return to Fenway Park on May 4th to start a three-game series against Detroit.

Inconsistency Plagues the Red Sox

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BOSTON – It’s nowhere near as bad as Scripture’s calling “idle hands being the Devil’s work shop, but for a Major League Baseball team, inconsistency – especially at home – can lead a club to places even worse than hell. Inconsistency can lead to idle time in October.

Here’s a snapshot at the 2021 Boston Red Sox season:

  • April 1 – Boston hosted Baltimore for Opening Day – Postponed
  • April 2-4 – Boston lost three straight to the Orioles – (0-3)
  • April 5-14 – The Red Sox strike back and won nine in a row (vs. combo of TB, Balt, and Minn) – (9-3)
  • April 15-18 – Sox lost three-of-four (Chicago White Sox)
  • April 19-20 – Boston took two straight games (CWS and Toronto)
  • April 21-24 – Boston dropped three-of-four (Toronto and Seattle) – (13-9)
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In Spring Training, Red Sox Manager Alex Cora hoped for a better record (and some consistency), at least at Fenway Park. Boston is 4-5 through the first nine games of the current home stand, but maintain a 13-6 record in their last 19 games. Entering Sunday’s series finale against the Seattle Mariners, the Red Sox are (7-8) at Fenway but (6-1) on the road.

On Saturday, the Sox fell victim to Seattle’s starter Chris Flexen (2-1) – (7.0 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 7 SO) who pitched a career-high 7.0 innings, the Mariners’ longest road start of the season. Flexen’s pitching was backed up by Mariners’ 3B Kyle Seager’s bat as Seager went 3-for-5, with two runs scored, a double, triple and three RBI). He came a HR shy of the cycle but his RBI single in the 1st, a 2=two-run triple in the 2nd and a double in the 5th inning made the difference in Seattle’s 8-7 victory.

Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi (3-2) took the loss. He pitched five innings, allowing, seven hits, five runs (four earned), with a walk and three strike-outs. Eovaldi had extended his streak of consecutive batters faced without a walk to 73 before issuing the four ball pass to Evan White with two outs in the 5th inning.

 

Bogaerts, Martinez Lead Sox to 6-5 Win

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BOSTON – Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts went 2-for-4, with a run scored, a home run and  3 RBI to match his season high in RBI with his  2-run homer in the 1st to lead the Red Sox to a 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners. Bogaerts has homered in three of the last four games and the Sox are 4-4 in their current eight-game home stand.

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J.D. Martinez followed for Boston and hit a solo home run down the right field line in the 3rd inning. to extend the Sox’ lead to 3-1. It was Martinez’ seventh homer of the season, matching his (60-game) 2020 season total.

Boston reliever Hirokazu Sawamura earned his first MLB win after entering in the 4th inning, leading 3-2 with two outs and runners on 1st and 2nd. Sawamura struck out Seattle OF Mitch Haniger to strand both runners. Overall, Sawamura has stranded each of his four inherited runners this season and seven of his nine appearances have been scoreless (1.80 ERA, 2 ER/10.0 IP).

Garrett Whitlock spelled Sawamura and extended a streak of 25 consecutive batters retired before allowing a two-out single to Sam Haggerty in the 6th inning. The string of scoreless innings marks the longest streak by a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale retired 25 consecutive batters in June 2019. Whitlock was credited with a hold.

The Mariners allowed six runs after holding opponents to five runs or fewer in each of their previous eight games, including 3 runs or fewer in 7 of those 8 games. Tonight’s 6-5 loss was their 10th one-run game of the season, the most in the majors.

The teams meet again at 1:10pm on Saturday at Fenway Park.

 

Seattle Defeats Boston in 10th Inning

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BOSTON – Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and the Seattle Mariners rallied to defeat the Boston Red Sox in the first game of a four-game series at Fenway Park.

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The Mariners managed only three hits, including doubles by Ty France and Sam Haggerty, but capitalized despite only one hit through the first nine innings. Mariners right-hander Rafael Montero (2-0) earned the victory after retiring the side in order in the ninth.

Red Sox right-hand pitcher Nick Pivetta didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning, when France tied the game with a two-run double with two outs. Pivetta went six innings, allowing the two runs on one hit with three walks and four strikeouts. Boston’s Rafael Devers had two hits and a homer.

MLB Legacies Take It to Red Sox

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BOSTON – MLB legacies Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – batting one-two-three – in the Toronto Blue Jays’ order, combined to go 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI over the opening two innings of the game to lead Toronto to a 6-3 win over Boston at Fenway Park.

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Toronto snapped their three-game losing streak while the Red Sox dropped to 3-3 on their current home stand but 12-4 overall. Boston remains tied with the Oakland A’s for the best record in the AL (12-7, .632), and trail only the LA Dodgers (14-4, .778) for the best record in MLB.

Biggio and Guerrero are the sons of Baseball Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and 16-year veteran Vladimir Guerrero while Biggio is the son of former MLB outfielder Dante Bichette.

Toronto utilized seven pitchers with Trent Thornton getting the start, his first of the season. Thornton allowed an Alex Verdugo single and a Rafael Devers double over 2.0 scoreless innings to maintain his record of holding opponents scoreless in his last four outings (7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 SO).

Blue Jays reliever Ryan Borucki was credited with the win and Anthony Castro earned a save.

Boston Starter Garrett Richards (0-2) took the loss after going 4.2 innings and throwing a season-high 92 pitches. He allowed four runs on four hits and was hurt by six walks.

Boston SS Xander Bogaerts went 1-for-4 with a home run in the 8th inning, his second homer in two nights.

 

 

Red Sox Win 12th of Last 15 Games

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BOSTON – After a day off to rest, Boston shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run home run to provide Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez with some run support in his first start at Fenway Park since 2019. That combination gave the Boston Red Sox their second consecutive win and 12 wins in their last 15 games, by way of  a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night.

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Rodriguez (3-0), who missed last season due to COVID-19 complications, allowed two runs on three hits over six innings and struck out six for AL East-leading Boston. The Boston bullpen was strong, as Matt Andriese, Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes each worked a scoreless inning in relief. Barnes earned his third save.

Toronto Blue Jays starter Hyun Jin Ryu (1-2) pitched five innings, giving up eight hits, four runs and striking out two.

Rodriguez received a warm greeting from the COVID-19 protocol-limited Fenway faithful  crowd of 4,728.

Boston 2B Christian Arroyo and OF/DH J.D. Martinez singled ahead of Bogaerts’ blast to left-center in the bottom of the inning. Red Sox utility man Marwin Gonzalez doubled later in the fourth and 1B Bobby Dalbec drove him in with a triple.

It Was Patri-HITS Day for Sox at Fenway

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BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox celebrated the annual Commonwealth of Massachusetts holiday, Patriots’ Day, by turning it into “Patri-HITS” Day, clocking 17 hits and scoring 11 runs, six coming in a first inning bat-around barrage against Chicago White Sox starter and All-Star pitcher Lucas Giolito. Ultimately, the Red Sox registered an 11-4 victory to counter the sweep at the hands of the White Sox on Sunday.

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Boston’s strong offensive output supported the efforts of their starter, Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched 6.1 innings, allowing nine hits and four earned runs while striking out 10 batters and walking none. Eovaldi is now (3-1) and has emerged as the Sox ace starter in this young 2021 season when the Red Sox have surprised the American League East with an 11-6 record, after starting the season 0-3.

Eovaldi has not walked any of his last 51 batters he’s faced (beginning in the 7th inning on April 7 game vs. TB) and has not allowed a home run in his last six starts. Dating back to last season, he is 6-1 with a 2.01 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over his last 8 starts (44.2 IP, 29 H, 10 ER, 6 BB, 49 SO). He has started four games for Boston this season and leads the team in wins.

Boston has now scored 10+ runs for the third time (14 on 4/11 at Baltimore, and 11 on 4/5 vs. Tampa).. The Sox offense came alive after a semi-dormant weekend, homering three times for their 2nd-highest single-game total (six HRs on 4/11 at Baltimore). Six Red Sox players had multiple hits, including each of the “one” through “five” hitters. Three players – Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers – had 3+ hits.

Chicago surrendered 10+ runs for the first time in 2021, with the previous occurrence coming last September 27th against their cross-town rival Cubs. The six runs allowed in the 1st was their most in the opening frame since August 31, 2019 vs. Atlanta (6 runs, 11-5 loss).

As the game became out of hand, catcher/DH Yermín Mercedes (7th) and Danny Mendick (8th) each made their first career pitching appearances to mark the first time a position player has pitched for the White Sox since Yolmer Sánchez last September.

The Red Sox will next face the Toronto Blue Jays for a two game series, starting Tuesday night, and then the Seattle Mariners will be at Fenway Park for a four-game set from Thursday through the weekend.

 

WHITE-WASHED!

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BOSTON – Designated hitter Yermín Mercedes started the dismantling of Boston with a home run in Chicago’s three-run fourth inning, and the White Sox completed a sweep of the Sunday “day-evening” doubleheader against the Red Sox on with a 5-1 victory at Fenway Park.

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Nick Madrigal had two hits and drove in two runs for Chicago, which climbed back to .500 at 8-8. In the opener, Tim Anderson homered on the game’s first pitch and Dallas Keuchel pitched five solid innings in a 3-2 victory.

Catcher Yasmani Grandal had an RBI double and former Red Sox 3B Yoán Moncada drove in a run with a single for the White Sox. Keuchel (1-0) gave up two runs and Hendriks got his second save.

Boston was held to four hits in the nightcap, anchored by Keuchel’s impressive performance.

The doubleheader was scheduled after Friday’s game was postponed due to snow and rain.

 

Red Sox Drop First of Two on Sunday

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BOSTON – Chicago White Sox starter Dallas Keuchel (1-0) gave up two runs and six hits, but breezed through his first seven batters and enjoyed early run support by way of a Tim Anderson home run on the first pitch in the 1st inning to set the tone in Chicago’s 3-2 victory over Boston.

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It was just the second loss in the last 12 games for the Red Sox, who wore their yellow-and-blue Nike City Series uniforms for the second straight game to celebrate the usual April tradition of the Boston Marathon. The race will be held in October this year, as the Boston Athletic Association hopes for more clearance from the COVID-19 disease.

Boston made it close and exciting in the 7th and final inning when Kiké Hernández homered around the right-field foul pole for the Red Sox, which entered the day with a majors’ most come-from-behind victories with seven.

When 1B Bobby Dalbec struck-out with a man on first, the come-from-behind streak remained at seven.

 

Wet Socks for Red Sox and White Sox!

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BOSTON – (Source: Official Team News Release) – The Red Sox-White Sox game scheduled for tonight, Friday, April 16, at Fenway Park has been postponed due to winter-like conditions and a forecast for continued period of snow and rain throughout the afternoon and evening in the Fenway area.

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Tonight’s game has been rescheduled as the second game of a split doubleheader on Sunday, April 18, beginning at 5:10 p.m. Tickets for tonight’s game will be good for admission to the rescheduled contest. Fenway Park gates are expected to open 45 minutes before the 5:10 p.m. game (4:25 p.m.). Sunday’s regularly scheduled game remains at 1:10 p.m.

Both games on Sunday will be televised on NESN and broadcast on WEEI 93.7 FM

Sunday Schedule:

Game 1: 1:10pm EDT – Chicago White Sox at Boston Sox

Game 2: 5:10pm EDT – Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox