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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.

Devers, Sox Upset Blue Jays

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TORONTO – Boston’s 3B Rafael Devers hit a two-run home run and had three RBIs in a three-hit game as the visiting Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-6. Boston’s Justin Turner added a solo homer and an RBI double for the Red Sox, who have won the first two games of the three-game series. Boston is 6-0 against Toronto this season.

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Matt Chapman had a two-run homer for the Blue Jays while George Springer and Bo Bichette added solo home runs.

The game ended when Bichette was thrown out at home by right fielder Alex Verdugo. Bichette was trying to score the tying run on Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s single, which had already plated Springer.

Toronto left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (7-3) allowed five runs, seven hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings.

Boston right-hander Kutter Crawford (3-4) allowed two runs, three hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings.

Springer led off the home half of the first with his 12th home run of the season.

Boston scored twice in the third. Turner singled with one out and Devers hit a 3-2 fastball to left center for his 20th homer of the season.

Bichette tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the third with his 15th homer of the season.

Boston regained the lead in the fifth. Rob Refsnyder led off with a single and scored on Turner’s double. Devers followed with an RBI single and took second on the throw home. Trevor Richards replaced Kikuchi and allowed Masataka Yoshida’s run-scoring single.

Christian Arroyo led off the Boston sixth with a single, took third on Refsnyder’s double and scored on Verdugo’s sacrifice fly. Nate Pearson then replaced Richards.

Josh Winckowski allowed Chapman’s leadoff double in the Toronto seventh before Danny Jansen hit an infield single. With runners at second and third and two outs, Winckowski’s errant pickoff throw to second resulted in a run.

Winckowski walked Guerrero with two outs in the eighth and allowed Chapman’s 11th homer of the season, which pulled the Blue Jays within 6-5.

Turner led off the ninth with his 13th homer of the season. It came against Erik Swanson.

Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen allowed Springer’s single and Bichette’s double ahead of Guerrero’s single that nearly tied the game until Verdugo’s pinpoint throw finished off the Jays.

–Field Level Media

Miami: 10 Runs, 19 Hits vs Red Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Following a 10-1, series-opening triumph on Tuesday, the Miami Marlins will look to keep up their winning ways when a three-game series against the Red Sox continues in Boston on Wednesday.

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Miami has won three straight games and nine of 12, and the Marlins remain in a National League playoff position at nearly the halfway mark of the season.

Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who got the win on Tuesday in one of his best outings of the season, said, “Everybody’s happy. Everybody’s supporting each other. But what we are doing this year is something that people will know (about), because we surprised a lot of people this year, and we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Braxton Garrett (3-2, 3.64 ERA) takes the ball for Miami in the second of three games against Boston. It will be the 25-year-old’s first career start against the Red Sox.

While the Marlins’ rotation also includes reigning Cy Young Award winner Alcantara and star rookie Eury Perez, Garrett is in the midst of an strong run of his own. The left-hander has allowed just two earned runs — one in each of his two most recent starts — over his past 18 1/3 innings.

Despite taking a no-decision on Thursday in his start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Garrett became the first left-hander in Marlins history to record 13 strikeouts without walking a batter. He allowed just two runs, one earned, on three hits across seven innings.

“This guy can really pitch,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said. “If you have stuff and pitch, you’ll be an All-Star. He might be an All-Star. He’s pitching like one and putting together some really good outings for us.”

Another exciting piece of Miami’s success is Luis Arraez’s chase for .400. The second baseman went 2-for-5 on Tuesday and has a 10-game hit streak while sitting at .399.

The Marlins’ lineup as a whole banged out 19 hits to tie a season high on Tuesday. Joey Wendle went 4-for-4 with two runs.

The Red Sox did not officially name a Wednesday starter following the Tuesday game, though manager Alex Cora named Kaleb Ort (1-1, 5.79 ERA) as the “most likely” option to get that nod.

Only one of Ort’s 17 appearances this season was a start, when he went 2 1/3 innings to help Boston in its June 18 doubleheader sweep of the New York Yankees.

He has since pitched twice in relief, most recently recording the last two outs of the eighth inning on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.

After finishing 26-50 against American League East opponents last season, the Red Sox have taken their lumps during interleague play this year. Boston is 11-16 against the NL — including 2-11 at home, which is the worst mark in the majors.

All in all, Boston is exactly a .500 team for the first time in more than a week and will look to step it up in the dog days of the summer.

“40-40, yep. No more, no less,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Like I said, we’re not great, we’re not bad. We are where we’re at. Obviously, we’ve got a long way to go. (Wednesday) is the halfway game of the season and we just got to be better, man. That’s the bottom line.”

Cora’s club has been held to a single run in back-to-back games for the third time this season. The Red Sox also had a three-game stretch in May when they managed a total of one run.

On Tuesday, Alex Verdugo had two doubles and Triston Casas went 3-for-4 to lead the Boston offense. It wasn’t nearly enough as Garrett Whitlock allowed 11 hits and six runs in 4 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Lose Series to White Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Luis Robert Jr. hit two home runs to power the Chicago White Sox to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

Robert hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and a solo homer in the sixth. Both home runs came against Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford (2-4). Robert, who went 3-for-4 in the win, also homered in Chicago’s 5-4 triumph over Boston on Saturday. He has 21 home runs this season.

The victory allowed the White Sox to win the final two games in the three-game series after Boston posted a 3-1 victory on Friday night. Chicago’s Andrew Benintendi, who began his career with the Red Sox, went 2-for-4 Sunday and had seven hits in the series.

Jesse Scholtens (1-2) tossed four innings of scoreless relief to earn the victory. He gave up two hits, struck out three and walked one. Scholtens replaced starter Tanner Banks with two outs in the third inning.

Keynan Middleton pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his second save.

Crawford gave up four runs on five hits in six innings. He recorded four strikeouts and walked one.

Boston’s Adam Duvall doubled in the third inning and drove in Justin Turner to give the Red Sox a 1-0 lead, but the White Sox grabbed the lead when Robert hit the first of his two home runs to make it a 2-1 game in the fourth. Benintendi also scored on the play.

Duvall collected two of Boston’s five hits.

In the fifth inning, Benintendi hit an RBI double that scored Gavin Sheets to increase the lead to 3-1, and Robert’s solo home run in the sixth capped the scoring.

Sunday’s game ended Boston’s seven-game road trip. The Red Sox went 3-4 in those seven contests.

The loss dropped Boston’s record against teams at or below the .500 mark to 12-15.

–Field Level Media

Devers, Red Sox Blast White Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Brayan Bello turned in another strong start and Rafael Devers hit a two-run home run as the Boston Red Sox ended a two-game losing streak by beating the host Chicago White Sox 3-1 on Friday night.

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It was a 1-1 game until Devers hit his 18th home run of the season in the fourth inning. Masataka Yoshida, who reached on an error, also scored on the blast.

The homer came against Chicago starting pitcher Lucas Giolito (5-5), who allowed three runs (one earned) and struck out 10 in six innings. Giolito surrendered three hits and walked one.

Devers raised his RBI total to 60. Yoshida had two of Boston’s four hits in the win, with Enrique Hernandez collected the Red Sox’s other hit.

Bello (5-4) limited the White Sox to a run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He recorded five strikeouts and walked one. Bello has given up no more than two earned runs in nine of his past 10 starts, and pitching to a 2.45 ERA in that span.

Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 16th save of the season.

The Red Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the third, when David Hamilton walked, stole second and scored on a two-base error by second baseman Tim Anderson. The White Sox made it 1-1 in the bottom of the inning on Anderson’s sacrifice fly, which scored Seby Zavala.

Hamilton made his major league debut on Wednesday and made his second start on Friday, going 0-for-2 to leave him 1-for-5 overall. He stole 70 bases for Double-A Portland last season and had 27 thefts with Triple-A Worcester this year.

Eloy Jimenez had three hits for the White Sox, who have lost nine of their last 12 games. Chicago, which finished with eight hits, is 18-20 at home this season.

Boston’s victory came in the opener of a three-game series. It was the first meeting between the Red Sox and White Sox this season.

–Field Level Media

Scouts Sue MLB for Age Discrimination

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A group of former Major League Baseball scouts sued commissioner Rob Manfred, the league office and all 30 teams on Wednesday, contending age discrimination, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Denver and contends MLB “blacklisted” older scouts and used the pandemic and the trend toward analytics as a “pretext for coordinated and systemic discrimination based on age.”

The lawsuit alleges MLB and the teams violated the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act and age discrimination laws in 12 states.

“We believe the commissioner and the owners colluded to eliminate veteran personnel because of salaries,” Rick Ingalls, who was a scout for 37 years, told the Times.

Named as plaintiffs in the suit are 17 former scouts between the ages of 55 and 71. All but one had at least 24 years’ experience. The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status that could grow the case to involve more than 100 “older” scouts and a request for at least $100 million in lost wages and damages.

Per the Times, the suit contends that MLB stopped posting notices when scouts became available to hire, listed older scouts who shouldn’t be hired and used the pandemic as “an opportunity to terminate an entire class of older employees.”

Ingalls told the Times that some of the scouts are in financial straits.

“These guys, when they’re let go, they’re not given a year of severance, they have no health insurance, no paycheck,” Ingalls said. “A lot of guys who are 55-60 when they’re fired can’t take pensions without penalties until they’re 65. They can’t get social security until they’re 62. They have no health insurance.

“A lot of these guys who we’re fighting for are losing their homes. They have kids, and the cost of [health] insurance is off the charts.”

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Clicking Over Five Game Streak

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MINNEAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Everything is clicking for the Boston Red Sox, who have outscored their opponents 40-14 during their current five-game winning streak. Boston will look to maintain its momentum when it continues a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins tonight in Minneapolis.

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Alex Verdugo drove in four runs and Triston Casas belted a two-run homer in Boston’s 9-3 win over Minnesota on Monday. Jarren Duran added three doubles and two RBIs.

Alex Cora, who recorded his 400th victory as the Red Sox’s manager on Monday, said the team’s recent offensive output has been building for several weeks.

“The line was moving before we started scoring runs the last few days,” Cora said. “Now we’re getting the big hits, so hopefully the fun starts.”

While Boston is receiving contributions from throughout the order, Minnesota’s offense is becoming a source of concern. Byron Buxton is mired in an 0-for-24 slump for the Twins, who have lost four of their past five.

“Baseball is a hot and cold game, and we’re kind of lukewarm right now,” Twins infielder Kyle Farmer said. “We’ve just got to keep playing and putting good at-bats together and stick to our routines and keep working.”

Minnesota will aim to bounce back against Boston right-hander Kutter Crawford (1-3, 4.20 ERA), who is set to make his sixth start of the season. Crawford returned to the rotation earlier this month after Chris Sale landed on the injured list with a stress reaction in his scapula.

Crawford allowed four runs over four innings in a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies on June 13.

Crawford owns a 5.40 ERA in seven home games (three starts) this season compared to a 2.60 mark in six appearances (two starts) away from Fenway Park. He is 0-1 with a 12.00 ERA in two career games (one start) vs. Minnesota.

Right-hander Bailey Ober (4-3, 2.65 ERA) will get the nod for the Twins. He earned a win on Wednesday after allowing two runs and striking out seven over six innings in a 4-2 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Ober has pitched at least five innings in each of his 10 starts this season, compiling a 54-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.86) over that stretch.

Ober will be facing the Red Sox for the third time in his career after not allowing an earned run in his previous two starts covering 11 innings.

Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli is looking for an improved effort on Tuesday after his team struck out 11 times and had just one extra-base hit — Christian Vazquez’s three-run homer — in the series opener.

“One of these days we’re going to show up and this is going to flip on us, but not everything is up to chance. It’s up to us,” Baldelli said. “We have our work cut out for us, and we have to figure it out because we aren’t playing well.”

The Twins will need a strong game at the plate to keep pace with Boston, which is averaging 7.7 runs per game in its past six games. Verdugo is 17-for-43 (.395) with seven RBIs during his 10-game hitting streak.

“Just kind of keep the next guy going and just timely hitting, I think that’s the big thing,” Verdugo said. “We were getting a lot of hits, but getting the runners in is what we’re trying to pride ourselves with.”

Sweeps x 2 for Red Sox Over Yankees

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BOSTON – Brayan Bello pitched seven innings against the New York Yankees for the second time in as many starts, leading the host Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 win on Sunday night. The win capped sweeps of a day-night doubleheader and the three-game series for Boston, which is 5-1 against the rival Yankees this season.

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Bello (4-4) struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed just one run on four hits and three walks across his seven-inning outing.

Alex Verdugo went 2-for-4 and Triston Casas hit a two-run double to lead the Red Sox offense.

After Josh Winckowski pitched a scoreless eighth inning, Kenley Jansen struck out two and worked around a single in the ninth to post his 15th save.

Gleyber Torres had a pair of doubles to account for two of New York’s five hits. Anthony Rizzo had the Yankees’ lone RBI.

Bello danced out of the first allowing only one run after Jake Bauers walked, Torres lined a double to right and Rizzo had an RBI groundout. Bello retired the next two Yankees to limit the damage.

A two-out run allowed the Red Sox to even the score in the second. After a Rafael Devers leadoff single and Rob Refsnyder’s sacrifice bunt, Enrique Hernandez ripped an RBI double down into the left field corner.

The Red Sox defense made several strong plays to keep the visitors to one run. Center fielder Jarren Duran’s running catch into the triangle in center was a definite highlight, robbing Rizzo of an extra-base hit to end the third.

In the fourth, Reese McGuire reached on catcher’s interference to score Verdugo for Boston’s go-ahead run.

Two runs in the fifth allowed the Red Sox to extend their lead to 4-1. Duran drew a leadoff walk and stole second base with one out. Shortly after Verdugo’s fly ball to shallow center landed for a base hit, Casas stepped up with the bases loaded and hit a two-out, two-run double that bounced into the right field stands.

Luis Severino (0-2) was the New York starter, and he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in five innings. He fanned six.

Bello stranded two Yankees in both the sixth and seventh innings, striking out Bauers swinging on his final pitch of the game.

–Field Level Media

Let’s Play Two on Father’s Day

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BOSTON – The Red Sox-Yankees game scheduled for Saturday, June 17, at Fenway Park was postponed due to the heavy rainfall in the Fenway area throughout last evening.

The Saturday night game has been rescheduled as the first game of a split doubleheader today, June 18, beginning at 1:35 p.m. Tickets for Saturday’s game will be good for admission to the rescheduled contest. Tonight’s regularly scheduled game remains at 7:10 p.m.

The rescheduled game on June 18 will be televised on NESN and broadcast in English on WEEI 93.7 FM and in Spanish on WAMG 890 AM/WCCM 1490 AM.