The Boston Red Sox Thursday, August 30, 2018

Transcription

1 * The Boston Globe The Boston Red Sox Thursday, August 30, 2018 The Red Sox bats delivered big in this win 11 runs in the seventh inning Alex Speier A gloomy air descended upon Fenway Park for a stretch of Wednesday night, a series of on-field misfortunes and misdeeds combining with the humid, 94-degree night to intensify the sense of stagnancy forming around the Red Sox. One night after a late comeback win that interrupted a 2-6 stretch, the Red Sox bats descended into early inning dormancy against Marlins starter Trevor Richards. Yet of even greater concern to the Sox and the crowd of 36,628 at Fenway than the middle-inning deficits was the departure of David Price after just three innings. With two outs and Miami up, 3-1, Austin Dean s sizzling 103-mile-per-hour liner drilled the Red Sox starter on the inside of the left wrist, just below the hand. I put my hand up as a reaction so it didn t hit me in the face, Price detailed. I knew it hit me flush and it caught bone. The ball careened savagely off Price, traveling more than 60 feet to first baseman Steve Pearce, who flipped to Price (somehow alert enough to cover first) for the final out of the third inning. The pitcher, whose first six starts after the All-Star break had been among the most dominant in the game, proceeded directly down the dugout stairs and into the clubhouse, not to be seen again during the game a cloud in the team s postseason forecast. In all likelihood, the current Red Sox are unaware of the elbow injury suffered by Ted Williams in an exhibition game just before the 1946 Red Sox the last 100-win team in franchise history lost a sevengame World Series. Yet even without such institutional memory, it wasn t hard to conjure worst-case scenarios. Obviously, you just don t want anything bad to happen, especially this late in the season, said Mookie Betts. We re kind of getting ready for the playoffs but we need to make sure we get to the playoffs first. Hopefully everything is OK. Things were going slow for us at the time, added Brock Holt. To have things going the way they were and then to have [Price] come out of the game, it s kind of a big hit. Yet with the Red Sox trailing, 5-3, entering the bottom of the seventh, the team delivered a big hit or, more accurately, a number of big hits of a different kind. The Red Sox exploded for an 11-run, 12-hit seventh inning, buoying the spirits of the ballpark on the way to a 14-6 victory that improved the team s record to The Sox are now 7½ games in front of the Yankees (who lost to the White Sox, 4-1) in the AL East with 28 games remaining. The rally unfolded after the Red Sox chased Richards after 5⅔ innings, setting the stage for a relentless assault on a dreadful Marlins bullpen. Eduardo Nunez singled, and Ian Kinsler followed with the 400th double of his career, against righthander Drew Rucinski, to put runners on second and third.

2 Pinch hitter Blake Swihart, summoned to face lefty Adam Conley, lined a single to left to narrow the gap to one run, and for the second straight night Jackie Bradley Jr. delivered a late-inning, tying hit, this one a double smashed off the scoreboard in left-center. All of a sudden he s staying in the tunnel. Manny [Ramirez] used to talk about that. The head of the bat is staying through the zone. You don t see him rolling over too often, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Bradley, who is hitting.294 with an.882 OPS in his last 51 games. I bet people watching the game, there s no more like, Oh there it is, hitting into the shift. It s not happening anymore. He s staying in that left-center gap. He s swinging at pitches he can drive. It s good to see. Betts who went 3 for 4 with a double, homer, and walk then pushed the Red Sox ahead, 7-5, by drilling a two-run double to right-center, the fifth straight hit. Yet the team wasn t remotely done. A oneout Holt pinch-hit triple plated an eighth run and set in motion a run of eight straight Red Sox who reached base, seven by hits. When the dust settled, the Red Sox had plated 11 runs on 12 hits in the seventh, both season highs for an inning, and in fact the most runs scored by the team in a single frame since Five Red Sox Nunez (who is carrying a season-high seven-game hitting streak), Kinsler, Swihart, Bradley, and Betts had multiple hits in the inning. Only Andrew Benintendi who accounted for all three outs in the inning on a sacrifice bunt and a double play was left out of the festivities. When the third out finally arrived, Fenway erupted in a show of appreciation for the most prolific inning of the year by the most prolific offense in the game. To the Sox, the inning offered a measure of relief from what had been a night of some anxiety. That inning was big for us, said Holt. To kind of get things going again, to pick things up in the dugout gave us some life there. The air cleared further as updates about Price s condition arrived. An X-ray was negative; his injury was diagnosed as a contusion rather than something more menacing. While the Red Sox will continue to evaluate his wrist in the coming days, the first signs offered reassurance. I think it will be all right. I ve been hit a couple times this year, said Price, who was wearing a soft cast on his left wrist. I think I ll be OK. We expect him to pitch, said Cora. I do believe that s going to happen. Cora noted, however, that the team might push back his next scheduled start against the Braves in Atlanta on Monday even before seeing how quickly the soreness subsides, since having the pitcher swing a bat might prove less than ideal. Price did not embrace the suggestion. I m hitting Monday, he chuckled. I ll be ready. How the Red Sox pieced together an 11-run inning Matt Porter There was a point in Wednesday s proceedings really, we swear where the Red Sox found little but frustration. They struggled to tee off on soft-tossing Marlins starter Trevor Richards. The rookie s mid-80s stuff was more puzzling than the night s promotional giveaway, a Mookie Betts-branded Rubik s cube. Two solo home runs aside, they had no base runners through five innings. Then came the sixth, when they solved the Richards riddle, and the seventh, when they made it a laugher.

3 The Red Sox, ranked No. 1 in the majors in runs, batting average, slugging, OPS, doubles, and extra-base hits, padded those leads in a 14-6 win over moribund Miami. In an 11-run, 12-hit seventh inning, the Red Sox sent 15 batters to the plate. Few, if anyone, in the home clubhouse could recall being part of such an outburst. The only other time since 1984 the Red Sox recorded double-digit hits and runs in an inning was June 27, 2003, at Fenway Park. That game also came against the Marlins, then of teal and black and Florida across their road grays. Boston came up with 14 runs on 13 hits in the bottom of the first. The Red Sox departed that inning up, 14-1, after the first 11 batters reached base. The Marlins burned two pitchers before the first out was recorded. Johnny Damon had three hits in the frame. Boston won that game, Those Marlins, incidentally, went on to win the World Series. The current version, counting 53 wins as September draws near, will not be as fortunate. The Red Sox, 50 games over.500, showed Tuesday s bullpen-bashing was no aberration. The seventh inning featured four Marlins relievers, two of whom did not record an out. The Drews, Rucinski and Steckenrider, fared worse than Adam Conley and Javy Guerra, both of whom retired poor Andrew Benintendi. Benintendi, in a bit of a slump, laid down a run-scoring sacrifice bunt and grounded into an inning-ending double play. A pleasant fellow, he recognized the absurdity of making all three outs in a double-digit inning. In this situation, he said, I don t mind it. Did his teammates ever pick him up. To open the onslaught, Eduardo Nunez (single) and Ian Kinsler (wall-ball double) chased Rucinski. Pinch hitter Blake Swihart (RBI single), Jackie Bradley Jr. (RBI double), and Betts (two-run double) greeted Conley and gave the Red Sox their first lead, at 7-5. Everyone was just enjoying it, Betts said. It s one of those things when you re passing it back, having fun playing the game. After Benintendi s bunt, manager Alex Cora s atypical decision to use a second pinch hitter paid off. Brock Holt smacked a run-scoring triple to right off Steckenrider. The righty couldn t handle J.D. Martinez (intentional walk) or Xander Bogaerts (RBI single). Guerra gave up RBI singles to Nunez and Kinsler, a two-run double by Swihart, an RBI single by Bradley, and a Betts single, before the double play. For more than the record-setting seventh, Betts (3 for 4, three runs, three RBIs) was the catalyst. After inflating their AL East lead to 10½ games on Aug. 18, the Red Sox went 3-6. In that time, Betts saw his league-leading batting average drop from.352 to.335, in a 6-for-31 slide. Cora noted the right fielder swung the bat well during the most recent Tampa series, though the results weren t there. We lost a couple games, but it doesn t mean we re struggling, Betts said. We ve been on so many win streaks. It s just a matter of time before you lose a couple games. We ll keep pushing. As Richards, whose fastest pitch was 92.2 miles per hour, kept the Sox off-kilter with pedestrian fastballs and active changeups, Betts was similarly patient. He smacked a solo homer in the third, breaking a seasonlong 17-game homerless streak. That followed Nunez s homer in the first, which came on a 12-pitch at-bat. Boston is now 49-7 when homering two times or more.

4 Betts drew a four-pitch walk to lead off the sixth. Benintendi followed, and Betts s dancing off second caused Richards to spin off the mound. The sold-out crowd of 36,628 had some vocal ammunition. Suddenly, the soft-toss king looked like a rookie making his 20th career start. Martinez knocked a chest-high four-seamer up the middle. Richards spun and stabbed at the air as Betts charged home. Richards left with his head down, allowing three hits and three runs in 5⅔ innings. The Marlins, believe it or not, were up, 4-3, at the time. From then on, it was good at-bat after good at-bat, Cora said. It was fun to watch. Red Sox hitters have handled high velocity exceptionally this year. How? Alex Speier In Tuesday night s 8-7 victory over the Marlins, the Red Sox engaged in a form of batting practice that said a lot about the state of the game. Against a conga line of Marlins pitchers who threw anywhere from miles per hour, the Sox lineup lined pitches all over the park, amassing five hits against upper-90s pitches their most since collecting six hits on pitches of that speed against the Rays on June 3. One day later, Red Sox manager Alex Cora could only shake his head, marveling at how easily his hitters seemed as they stayed back on fastballs and drilled them up the middle and to the opposite field. As a.237 hitter, when people were throwing very hard, I would panic. I wanted to get the head out and all of a sudden I m rolling over, said Cora, before the Red Sox erupted for 11 runs on 12 hits in the seventh inning of Wednesday night s 14-6 rout of the Marlins. It impresses me, honestly. To hit at this level with the stuff they re throwing on a daily basis here, and for them to hit it like it s 88, 89, it s impressive. But I think them staying in the middle of the field, that s what I look for... They have that ability, hitters nowadays, where 100 doesn t matter. If you throw it over the plate or you don t have secondary pitches, they ll hit that fastball. While there s truth to the notion, the Red Sox have handled high velocity at an exceptional level in 2018 a critical component in the team s surge to a league-leading 5.4 runs per game. Entering Wednesday, the Sox led the majors with a.291 average against pitches of at least 95 m.p.h. Their.456 slugging percentage against such pitches ranked second in the majors. Such marks are a far cry from what the team did a year ago. In 2017, the Sox hit.237 (19th in the majors) and slugged.351 (25th) against offerings of 95-plus m.p.h. So what s different? Assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett who wasn t with the team in 2017, and so wasn t positioned to compare this year s approach to last year s identified a few factors. The first is the talent of the lineup. I do know that these guys are ready to hit the fastball. We have some really talented players that can hit fastballs with anybody. When they re looking for it, when they re on time for it, they re dangerous, said Barkett. Not everybody can do what these guys do. No doubt. On top of the physical skill to attack fastballs, Barkett believes that the team s nightly breakdowns of how opponents fastballs move as they cross the plate play into the team s success against high velocity. The team discusses the sorts of swing paths that will maximize their chances of doing damage based on how the pitch acts. The adoption by several hitters of a swing meant to get on the plane of the pitch rather than a more traditional approach that is down and direct to the ball has created more margin for error in allowing hitters to drive pitches even when their timing on a fastball is slightly off. I don t really think it s anything earth-shattering. It s just basically like the New England Patriots offensive coordinator talking to the offense and, this is the game plan for the game, this is the playbook,

5 and this is how we re going to do it, said Barkett. That goes into game-planning how we re going to attack: This guy is a high-spin-rate guy, you ve got to set your sites up and stay on top. This guy is a sinkerball guy, you ve got to get underneath it, stay to it and through it, get it in the air. Those are the kinds of conversations that hitting coaches have with hitters these days because of all the information out there. We talk about getting on plane. We do a lot of drills to work on that and have those types of conversations. Searching for relief Righthander Ryan Brasier, who was unavailable on Tuesday night due to pregame discomfort in his foot, declared himself healthy and ready to pitch on Wednesday. It just kind of started bothering me a little bit [Tuesday] afternoon during catch and running, said Brasier. It was minor. At a time when Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree have struggled, Brasier (0.90 ERA in 20 innings) has emerged as the Red Sox most consistent reliever in August, resulting in growing late-innings responsibilities. Righthander Joe Kelly has also been working his way back into higher-leverage situations this month, during which he has a 1.54 ERA with 12 strikeouts and four walks over 11⅔ innings. Little by little, the stuff is actually better right now than what it was early in the season. Now he s throwing 100 miles per hour every time, said Cora. It s just a matter of him putting guys away with other stuff and we feel he s getting there. Wright on target Knuckleballer Steven Wright showed no ill effects on Wednesday, one day after tossing two scoreless innings in a rehab outing for Triple A Pawtucket. The Red Sox are deciding whether Wright (2-1, 3.38 ERA) will pitch in a minor league game on Thursday or simply throw on the side, but he s expected to be activated when rosters expand on Sept. 1. Chris Sale, meanwhile, threw on flat ground for a third straight day, stretching out to 120 feet. He ll continue to play catch through the weekend before the lefthander sits down with Sox officials to map out a schedule moving forward. Rehab update Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers and catcher Christian Vazquez (serving as DH) joined Pawtucket for a rehab game on Wednesday. It was Devers s first rehab appearance since landing on the disabled list with a left hamstring strain on Aug. 17, and the third rehab game for Vazquez in his return from a broken pinkie suffered on July 7... Single A Greenville righthander Denyi Reyes was named South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year after forging a 10-3 record, 1.89 ERA, and 122 to 13 strikeout-to-walk rate in 21 games (18 starts) for the Drive. The Sox promoted the 21-year-old to High A Salem in early August... PGA Tour golfer Justin Thomas, in town for the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, toured Fenway Park and threw out the first pitch. It caught bone : David Price exits game after getting drilled by a line drive Alex Speier Red Sox lefthander David Price left his start against the Marlins on Wednesday night after a liner back up the middle caught him on the inner arm at the base of his pitching hand. The Sox announced the injury as a left wrist contusion. Initial X-rays on the wrist were negative, with further tests to come as needed. I put my hand up as a reaction so it didn t hit me in the face, Price said. I knew it hit me flush and it caught bone.

6 Austin Dean s mile-per-hour liner caught Price with enough force that it careened all the way to first baseman Steve Pearce. Pearce flipped the ball to Price, who covered the bag, for the final out of the inning, but the pitcher went straight into the dugout tunnel on his way off the field and did not return to the mound, with Hector Velazquez entering the game for the top of the fourth inning. Dean s liner was one of several balls hit hard off of Price, who allowed three runs (his most runs allowed since July 12) on five hits in three innings. The outing represented a departure from a dominant second half of the season, during which Price had forged a 1.09 ERA in six starts spanning 41⅓ innings. The Red Sox options for acquiring a reliever? Limited Nick Cafardo There is not much available in terms of relief pitchers who have cleared waivers that the Red Sox could go after. To get anyone who might be able to help them, the Red Sox would have to be willing to take on some money. Two familiar names who have cleared waivers are Minnesota s Addison Reed and San Francisco s Mark Melancon. Reed, who signed a two-year, $16.75 million deal with the Twins, has not had the best of seasons: He is 1-6 with a 4.80 ERA. The Sox would have to take on the 2019 salary. Melancon is 0-1 with a 2.83 ERA in 30 games. But he s in the middle of a four-year, $60 million deal that expires after the 2020 season. There are a few lefties who have cleared: the White Sox Xavier Cedeno, the Tigers Josh Smoker, and the Royals Brian Flynn. One interesting power reliever who cleared waivers is Kansas City righty Brandon Maurer, who according to scouts has pitched well of late, even though his 8.64 ERA doesn t look appealing. The Mets Jerry Blevins, a situational lefty, also cleared. With the pickings slim at this point, the Red Sox may have to solve whatever bullpen woes they have from within. You could see them getting Reed if they planned on using him as a late-inning reliever next season. Reed is certainly battle-tested with the Red Sox. Suddenly, Craig Kimbrel isn t automatic. That has to be fixed, and he knows it Nick Cafardo There s a lot of Jim Rice in Craig Kimbrel in that when Rice went 4 for 4 and knocked in a bunch of runs, he was seldom available to the media. If he made an error or somehow cost his team the game, he was right there to address his shortcomings. Kimbrel does the same. When he saves games, it s hard to find him for a comment. When he blows a save, he s willing to talk about his poor performance. He s accountable for a job he feels he needs to do well every time he steps on the mound. Kimbrel, like Rice, gets it. He has tremendous personal pride in what he does. Sometimes it s mindboggling to see him blow a save because his stuff is so extraordinary. You wonder how any hitter gets around on his fastball. But sometimes his performance this season has been helter-skelter.

7 He has blown five saves in one-run opportunities (13 for 18) but he s a perfect 24 for 24 in other save situations. In those one-run games, he has a 32.9 percent strikeout rate and 14.3 percent walk rate. In the two- and three-run opportunities, he has a 1.50 ERA, a 44 percent strikeout rate, and a 7.7 percent walk rate. In the past, he has had some tough outings at important moments. In the 2010 NL Division Series for the Braves, he entered Game 3 (with the series tied, 1-1) in the ninth inning with a one-run lead but was lifted after allowing a pair of base runners and was charged with the loss when both scored. In 2011, he was charged with a blown save in the final regular-season game, allowing one run on one hit and three walks in two-thirds of an inning, completing the Braves collapse. Last season, in Game 4 of the ALDS, he came into a tie game in the eighth inning and allowed an inherited runner to score the go-ahead run; in one inning of work, five Astros reached base on him. He s also had problems in the last two AL East clinchers. So he s had some issues. Given how he s done lately, the Red Sox have to be a little bit nervous when he comes into a game. Kimbrel used to be a lock, and now he s an adventure. He knows this. Nobody knows it more than he does, and of course it bothers him. Much of baseball considers him the premier closer in the game. Filthy is the way veteran slugger Jose Bautista describes him. You hear nasty from Oakland s Jed Lowrie. And you often hear the best from so many players who have looked silly against Kimbrel. So when he slumps, it s usually costly, because he s the last line of defense. He s the guy who preserves the lead. When he doesn t do that, it puts the team in an awful spot. Luckily the Red Sox were able to rally in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday after Kimbrel blew the lead. Listen, closers are quirky. For them, it s as much a mind game as it is a physical game. You look at different things that might be contributing to this. For instance, Kimbrel went through a terrible ordeal with his infant daughter needing surgeries and missed most of spring training. Is the lack of spring training catching up to him? Manager Alex Cora has mentioned at times that Kimbrel has needed down time. Kimbrel had to phone Houston manager A.J. Hinch, who managed the AL All-Star team, to tell him he couldn t pitch. And then he goes through long stretches where he doesn t pitch. Does he need to pitch more? Cora thinks he has identified one important mechanical thing that may be contributing to Kimbrel s recent struggles, in which he has allowed at least one run in six of his last 11 appearances (5.56 ERA) and has blown three of his last eight save opportunities. He s OK physically, Cora said. His velocity is there. Everything is location. It seems like the breaking ball is easy to see for the hitter. When he had velocity and he has that pitch going, he s almost unhittable. When he doesn t have the breaking ball, you saw what happened. Whatever it is, they re working at it. We need that breaking ball for him to be effective. After blowing the save Tuesday, Kimbrel addressed reporters, saying, We don t want to come out here and give up runs like we did tonight. All we can do is learn from it, take it, and go forward from there.

8 This is the team that we have and this is the team that we re going to make a run with, so we ve got to figure it out or we re not going to win. And I ve got a pretty good feeling we re going to figure it out. Kimbrel probably will figure it out. He always has. These days, however, you don t feel like it s automatic. Yes, it s hard to keep it going for nine years as he has. There are going to be hiccups, especially for closers. The best thing that could happen is that we never hear from Kimbrel again this season. That would mean that he s saving games, doing his job. He has never thought that s anything to brag about. Just like Rice, when he doesn t do the job, he ll stand up and admit it was his fault. * The Boston Herald Red Sox explode past Marlins, but David Price leaves with wrist injury Jason Mastrodonato It could have been a deflating and momentum-turning night for a Red Sox team swimming against the current over the last two weeks. Six losses in eight games leading into a series with the last-place Marlins with the Yankees playing well. The last thing the Sox needed was to get swept yet again. But they stormed back to a late-game win Tuesday night, and last night s comeback might have been even more spectacular after their only hot starting pitcher, David Price, was hit by a line drive and departed after three innings. The offense exploded for 11 runs on 12 hits in the seventh inning to bring life to Fenway Park in the 14-6 win over the Marlins. The last two games both have been very big for us, said Price, who has a bruised left wrist and is day to day. It s not the way we wanted to win these two games, but I think it was good for us to come out, get behind, and to come back late in the game yesterday in the ninth inning and to come back again today the way that we did. Paired with a loss by the Yankees, the Red Sox are 71 2 games up in the American League East. It could have been much worse the way this series was going, with the bullpen blowing two leads Tuesday and Price s injury causing concern last night. The Sox entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 5-3, when Eduardo Nunez knocked a single up the middle. Ian Kinsler doubled behind him, setting the stage for a Blake Swihart pinch-hit RBI single to bring the Sox within one. The suddenly clutch Jackie Bradley Jr., who tied Tuesday s game with a seventh-inning RBI single, stroked a double to center field to tie the game. Bradley quietly is hitting.278 with 15 extra-base hits in 33 games since the All-Star break. The head of the bat is staying through the zone, Sox manager Alex Cora said. You don t see him rolling over too often. He s staying in that left-center gap. He s swinging at pitches he can drive. You look at his numbers and I know you can t throw out the first part of the season, but he s one of the best offensive players in the big leagues. Mookie Betts followed by hammering a double to the right field wall and two more runs were in as the Sox took a 7-5 lead. Betts was 3-for-4 with a walk and was on base eight times in 10 trips to the plate in the two-game series.

9 It was a clinic in aggressive hitting, as all five hits came on the first, second or third pitch in the at-bat. Not until Brock Holt got up as the seventh batter in the inning did a hitter get deeper than three pitches. It s fun, Betts said. Hitting is contagious. Once you get a couple hits, the next guy, everybody can hit and you just pass it on back. After Andrew Benintendi bunted Betts to third, Holt then tripled to right. What followed was an intentional walk to J.D. Martinez, singles by Xander Bogaerts, Nunez and Kinsler, a double by Swihart, singles by Bradley and Betts and finally a double play off the bat of Benintendi to end a wild inning. The 11 runs were the most by any MLB team in a single inning this season, and most by a Red Sox team since Benintendi made all three outs in the inning, in which 15 batters recorded plate appearances. The Marlins made four mound visits and made three pitching changes. In summation, the inning went like this: Single, double, single, double, double, bunt out, triple, walk, single, single, single, double, single, single, GIDP. The energy was good in the dugout, Cora said. It was good to see. Now we go to Chicago and Atlanta. Chicago is playing great, pitching great. We have to be ready for them. In Atlanta, we know where they re at in the standings. It s a tough road trip but we re ready for it. It was everything the Red Sox needed after an ugly start in which Price gave up three runs to fall behind early, then left the game when Austin Dean hit him with a 102 mph line drive. X-rays on Price s wrist were negative and he was diagnosed with a bruise. Hector Velazquez went three innings while Tyler Thornburg (who got the win), Ryan Brasier and Drew Pomeranz submitted one inning each. Red Sox notebook: Rotation takes another big hit when David Price suffers bruised wrist Jason Mastrodonato Already without their No. 1 starter, the Red Sox lost their No. 2 man to an injury last night when David Price was struck in the left wrist by a line drive. Price had been on a roll in his previous six starts until this one, when he was pitching an unremarkable game against the Marlins on the hottest Aug. 29 in Boston history. He had allowed three runs with more traffic on the basepaths in the third inning when Austin Dean smoked a comebacker toward Price s head at 102 mph. Price threw both of his hands up to protect himself and the ball hit him in the left wrist, bouncing toward first base. Price looked stunned for a moment, then ran to first to cover and record the final out of the inning, before heading down the dugout steps to the Sox clubhouse. He did not return, though the Red Sox stormed back with an 11-run seventh inning and won, I knew it hit me flush and it caught bone, Price said. I knew it was hit hard. I knew it went to my left. So, I wanted to get that out. I think it will be all right. I ve been hit a couple times this year. I think I ll be OK.

10 Price was diagnosed with a left wrist contusion and X-rays were negative, though the Red Sox said further testing was possible. Price was wearing a soft brace after the game, but didn t know if he would make his next start. I m just taking it day by day, see where it s at tomorrow, he said. If it feels good enough to put a ball in it, we ll do it. If not, we ll just take it day by day. Hector Velazquez, who has been filling in for injured starter Chris Sale and gave up eight runs to the Rays five days earlier, had to warm up quickly before he replaced Price to start the fourth inning. Velazquez went three innings and gave up two runs. If Price isn t ready to pitch again in five days, the Sox might be in some trouble. The way he s been throwing the ball obviously, it sucks to see that, manager Alex Cora said. But we ve been going through this the whole season.... We expect him to pitch. I do believe that s going to happen. We ll see how it goes. In the meantime, today Hector did a good job. Price has been the only bright spot in a rotation that has just one quality start in the last 10 games, and that was from Price, who threw eight shutout innings in a gem against the Indians last week. Sale catches up Sale played catch from 120 feet before the game but the Red Sox still are unsure when he ll be ready to start building up toward a return from left shoulder inflammation. Obviously there s a buildup toward all this, Cora said. If it s five or six days of playing catch and then we ll go from there. The compounding injury concerns are relieved some by the pending return of Eduardo Rodriguez from an ankle injury. Rodriguez pitched well in two rehab starts with Double-A Portland and will make his next start for the Red Sox on Saturday against the White Sox. Drew Pomeranz has been in the bullpen since the first week in August, though he did throw 73 pitches in his last relief outing while holding the Rays to just two runs in four innings. Knuckleballer Steven Wright is expected to be activated from the disabled list and added to the bullpen when rosters expand Saturday. Cora said a big group of players will join the team along with Wright as the Red Sox look to take advantage of a bigger roster. Kimbrel struggles Craig Kimbrel is walking 4.2 batters per nine innings, one of the worst rates of his career, and he s giving up 1.2 home runs per nine innings, the highest rate of his career. Kimbrel still is throwing hard, averaging 97.5 mph on his fastball this year, but Cora thinks it s the curveball that s been an issue. I think everything is location, Cora said. I mentioned a few weeks ago that it seems like the breaking ball... they see it right away, for some reason.... When he has velocity and has that pitch going, then as a hitter, it s not that you pick one of them but it s almost unhittable. But when he doesn t have the breaking ball, then you can stay on the fastball. Spring slate set

11 The Red Sox released their spring training schedule for next year. They will begin Feb. 22 against Northeastern. It will not be a doubleheader with Boston College, unlike past years when the Sox would play two seven-inning games in one day to open their schedule. The Yankees will visit Fort Myers once, on Feb. 23, and the Sox will travel north to Tampa to play the Yankees on March 15. They ll finish the spring on the other side of the country for two games against the Cubs in Arizona on March Ryan Brasier (foot injury) was feeling better, throwing an inning of relief and allowing a solo homer to Dean.... Rafael Devers (hamstring) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket last night and went 1-for-3 with a double.... The Sox are 11-3 against the National League this year and 22-4 in their last 26 interleague games. * The Providence Journal Red Sox 14, Marlins 6: Boston breaks out in historic seventh inning Bill Koch BOSTON There would seem to be few printable words strong enough to describe what the Red Sox did to the Marlins in the seventh inning on Wednesday night. The 30th consecutive sellout crowd at Fenway Park rose as one and applauded as Boston made the final out, perhaps as rare a sight as what preceded the rousing ovation. The home team had just sent 15 batters to the plate and ended its brief two-game homestand in explosive fashion, pounding the beleaguered visitors from foul pole to foul pole. The Red Sox plated 11 runs on 12 hits, both season highs for an inning, to fuel a 14-6 win over Miami. A sweep of the short set was secured long before Andrew Benintendi bounced into a double play to end the carnage, as sure a sign as any that Boston s offense might be ready to emerge from a short slumber. It s fun, Boston outfielder Mookie Betts said. Hitting is contagious. Once you get a couple of hits then the next guy is ready to hit, and then you just pass it on back. It was just one of those innings where we did it. Betts lined a two-run double up the gap in right-center to snap a 5-5 tie, one of five extra-base hits in the frame against four different pitchers. Benintendi s sacrifice bunt was the only out recorded by Miami through the first 14 hitters, and the Red Sox drew just one walk in that span. Boston had only one such inning of 10-plus runs and 10-plus hits at home since 1984, that coming in June 2003 against the Marlins. We had a lot of fun that inning, said Brock Holt, who came off the bench to drill an RBI triple into the corner in right. You don t have too many innings like that. It was a good offensive inning for us, and the way we ve been going it was good for our offense to have a big inning like that. Eduardo Nunez, Ian Kinsler, Blake Swihart and Jackie Bradley Jr. each had two hits and combined for seven runs scored in the seventh inning alone. That they occupied the bottom four spots in the Red Sox order mattered little on this night, with Swihart coming off the bench to single through the left side and doubling down the line in right. Bradley s RBI double off the Green Monster tied the game at 5-5 and came off left-hander Adam Conley, who was charged with the defeat after retiring just one of the four batters he faced.

12 It was fun to watch, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. That inning we didn t hit the ball out of the ballpark, but we ran the bases well. The outburst turned what was a sour night early on, as David Price was hit on the left wrist by Austin Dean s liner back through the box in the third. Price threw his hands up to protect himself from the mph rocket, with the ball ricocheting toward the right side of the infield. First baseman Steve Pearce flipped to Price covering the bag for the final out, and the pitcher went immediately through the Red Sox dugout and down the tunnel toward the clubhouse. I knew it hit me flush and it caught bone, Price said. I knew it was hit hard. It went to my left and I wanted to get that out. Boston later announced Price had suffered a left wrist contusion and that X-rays were negative. It brought a premature end to a night where Price was attempting to continue his strong run out of the All-Star break. His 1.09 earned-run average through six starts included eight scoreless innings in a 7-0 win over Cleveland in his last start. Obviously a little bit sore, Cora said. We ll see how he feels tomorrow and we ll go from there. Red Sox relievers a source of concern in team s postseason outlook Bill Koch BOSTON Craig Kimbrel certainly seemed to have a strong grasp of the postgame talking points late Tuesday night at Fenway Park. The Red Sox closer knew the end result of two wild innings would be largely forgotten. Boston s walkoff victory over the Marlins, an 8-7 eyesore that neither team seemed too eager to claim, was obscured by one primary fact. Kimbrel and his mates in the bullpen had collectively failed. Good work by Brandon Workman and Joe Kelly over 2 2/3 innings was undone by Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Kimbrel, as leads of 4-1 and 7-6 vanished before a Miami error decided the contest. We can all see it, Kimbrel said. Our team going forward in the season, we have a lot of games left. If we re going to be a successful team we re going to have to turn it around. We know that. We don t want to come out here and give up runs on a given night. All we can do is learn from it, take it and go forward from there. It was an honest evaluation from the veteran, and Kimbrel s truthfulness will do little to soothe the angst felt by those in attendance or the awaiting mobs on social media and sports talk radio. Relief pitching has been a particular focus for the naysayers despite the gaudy Red Sox record through the first five months, and performances like this only seem to highlight what is perceived as the primary trouble spot. Workman is unlikely to have a key role in October. Kelly is working his way back to the fringes of the high-leverage picture, posting a 1.54 earned-run average through 12 appearances in August after a disastrous two-month run in June and July. But Barnes, Hembree and Kimbrel all figure to play key playoff roles, and all three picked the same night to falter. As far as the pitching, we need to get better, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. We know that. We weren t good today. Too many pitches in the middle of the zone. We weren t able to spin the ball the way we usually do. Not able to pitch up in the zone the way we usually do. And we paid the price, but at the end we won the game.

13 Flaws aside, the Red Sox have proven to be serial winners. But Kelly, Barnes, Hembree and Kimbrel are all walking more than four batters per nine innings. It s frustrating, Barnes said. You put all the work in and you go through stretches where you struggle and you hurt the team. And at this point in the season when we re in a close race and making a push to maintain that lead, you ve just got to be better. Which leads to the question is that possible? President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski declined to move for a bullpen arm at the deadline, instead relying on the fact that Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez or even Steven Wright could be taken from the starting rotation to help the relief corps. It was the model that propelled the Astros to the World Series title last season, with Lance McCullers and Charlie Morton proving to be power options who were able to spare a shaky back end. This is the team that we have and this is the team that we re going to end up running with, Kimbrel said. We ve got to figure out or we re not going to win, and I ve got a pretty good feeling we re going to figure it out. If Kimbrel is incorrect on that point, there will undoubtedly be a long line of critics waiting to pan the Red Sox players and front office for what will ultimately be branded a meaningless third straight American League East title. And that will remain the only talking point that matters heading into what would then be a long, cold offseason in Boston. Red Sox Journal: Cora will take wins, no matter how they come Bill Koch BOSTON Clichés tend to endure because they are often proven true, and Tuesday night at Fenway Park was yet another example. Style over substance need not apply when discussing results with a professional sports franchise. Of course, the Red Sox would have liked to approach something closer to peak performance in their first of a twogame series with the Marlins, but the final score was all that mattered. Boston manager Alex Cora had plenty to pick at following the unlikely 8-7 victory, one that saw J.D. Martinez score the winning run on an infield error in the bottom of the ninth inning. Cora was concerned by the pair of bullpen meltdowns that wiped out what seemed to be a comfortable 4-1 lead in the eighth, but he wasn t about to ask for a replay. For everything that happened yesterday, we won, Cora said. I think we lost a game 1-0 when Chris [Sale] pitched, so I don t know. Would you rather take the 1-0 loss or that game yesterday? A win is a win. I was part of a huge game last year Game 5. For everything that people think, that it was a great game it was a horrible game. And we won that game. We ll take it any way, anyhow it doesn t matter. Cora s memory was sharp as ever, that despite watching Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Craig Kimbrel stagger their way through the final six outs against Miami. Sale was indeed outdueled by Dylan Covey in a Red Sox loss to the White Sox on June 8. Cora served as the bench coach for the Astros during their World Series triumph last season, one that included a 13-12, five-hour marathon victory over the Dodgers in the key fifth game. Would Cora have preferred Boston s offense showed up for Sale that night? Could Houston s beleaguered pitching staff have done more to slow the relentless Dodgers last October? Yes and yes, but the bottom line is the defining factor for Cora now and going forward.

14 I think the most important thing is for them to stay the course, Cora said. Throughout the season you re going to have good offensive months, good pitching months and you re going to struggle certain ways. We ve been talking about trending the right way going to September. Healthy pitchers Boston is poised to welcome a pair of starting pitchers back to its roster on Saturday. Eduardo Rodriguez (right ankle sprain) and Steven Wright (left knee inflammation) are both on schedule to be activated in the midst of a four-game series with Chicago. Rodriguez is the scheduled starter against the White Sox while Wright checked out with a clean bill of health following two innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday. Red Sox fans awaiting the return of Sale (left shoulder inflammation) also received some good news on Wednesday. Sale played catch on flat ground for the third straight day, working out to 120 feet under the blistering afternoon sun. Sale later came in to pitching distance and threw with catcher Blake Swihart, exchanging a fist bump with the catcher at the end of the session. Obviously the player is going to be more aggressive than the medical staff, Cora said. We ll sit down after this weekend and then map it out and then go from there. Nunez powering up Eduardo Nunez entered Wednesday on a six-game hitting streak and feels like his right knee is finally approaching full health. Nunez was injured before and during Boston s postseason appearance against Houston in 2017, collapsing while coming out of the batter s box in Game One at Minute Maid Park and never returning. Nunez bypassed offseason surgery in favor of rest and recovery, and he was clearly favoring the leg throughout the early months of this season. My swing is starting to be more explosive, Nunez said. I m swinging at better pitches. More relaxed at home plate and enjoying my game. When I feel healthy, I want to enjoy the game. And I did. Nunez homered for the first time since Aug. 11, sending a laser over the Green Monster for his eighth of the season. It was a swing reminiscent of when the Red Sox acquired Nunez from the Giants in late July of last year, as Nunez bashed four homers in his first nine games with Boston and finished with 20 extra-base hits in just 38 games. We don t talk about launch angle it s the other way around with him, Cora said. Be more direct. He can create backspin, and he s been doing that. * MassLive.com Rafael Devers rehab: Boston Red Sox third baseman doubles for Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday Christopher Smith Rafael Devers went 1-for-3 with a double for Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday in his first rehab game since the Red Sox placed him on the disabled list Aug. 17 with a left hamstring strain. Devers played five innings at third base. The 21-year-old could be activated over the weekend in Chicago. Rosters expand beyond 25 on Saturday (Sept. 1).

15 Devers has experienced some growing pains in his second big league season. He is slashing.242/.298/.422/.719 with 16 homers, 22 doubles and 55 RBIs in 102 games. He spent from July on the disabled list with left shoulder inflammation. He then spent from July 29- Aug. 8 on the DL with a left hamstring strain before returning to the DL with the same injury Aug. 17. Vazquez goes 2-for-4 Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez went 2-for-4 with two singles, an RBI and run as he served as DH in his rehab game for Pawtucket on Wednesday. Vazquez has been sidelined since July 8 with a fractured right pinkie and is expected to return to the Red Sox when rosters expand Saturday. Vazquez caught in rehab games both Monday and Tuesday before DH'ing Wednesday. He's expected to catch again Thursday. 11-run seventh inning leads Boston Red Sox to 14-6 win over Marlins on Wednesday night Chris Cotillo BOSTON -- In the 30-minute stretch from 8:40 to 9:10 p.m. Wednesday, the Red Sox went from potentially having a disastrous night to walking out of Fenway Park breathing a major sigh of relief over David Price's negative X-rays and after a blowout 14-6 win over the Marlins. Price left the game after the third inning after being struck in the left wrist by an Austin Dean line drive that came off the bat at mph. He immediately retreated to the clubhouse to get examined by trainers and was replaced by Hector Velazquez. The team announced Price was dealing with a left wrist contusion and followed up at the beginning of the seventh inning with word that X-rays were negative. At just about that time, the Sox began their best inning of the season, scoring 11 runs on 12 hits to take a 14-5 lead after seven innings despite entering the inning trailing 5-3. Ian Kinsler, Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, Brock Holt and Blake Swihart each had extra-base hits in the seventh, which was Boston's highest-scoring inning of the season. Betts and Eduardo Nunez each had three hits on the night, including solo homers. Derek Dietrich led off the scoring with a solo homer off Price in the second before Nunez matched him in the bottom of the inning. J.T. Realmuto and Starlin Castro drove in runs in the third to make it 3-1, with Betts' homer closing the gap to 3-2 with his 28th blast of the year. The teams traded runs in the bottom of the sixth and top of the seventh before Boston exploded for 12 runs. Dean hit a solo homer off Ryan Brasier in the eighth to make it The win was Boston's second straight comeback win against Miami as they swept the two-game series at Fenway Park and improved to on the season. Up next is a four-game series against the White Sox in Chicago beginning Thursday night. Bullpen shoulders big load after Price exit Velazquez (three innings), Tyler Thornburg (one inning), Brasier (one inning) and Drew Pomeranz (one inning) pitched in relief for Boston, allowing three runs on four hits in total.

16 Velazquez returned to his long relief role after a short stint in the rotation and Brasier returned healthy after being unavailable Tuesday with a sore left foot. Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree and Craig Kimbrel all rested in advance of a seven-game road trip. Offensive explosion the sixth of its kind this season Wednesday was the sixth time the Sox have scored 14 or more runs on the year, with the last coming on Aug. 10 in Baltimore, when the team won The club's 14 runs and 16 hits served as a reminder that even when the offense doesn't look good on a particular night, it can explode at any time. White Sox up next Boston dropped two of three to the White Sox at home in June and will see the ChiSox for the second and final time for a four-game set this weekend. Thursday, 8:10 p.m.: RHP Rick Porcello (15-7, 4.18 ERA) vs. RHP Lucas Giolito (10-9, 5.85 ERA) Friday, 8:10 p.m.: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-6, 4.15 ERA) vs. RHP Michael Kopech (1-0, 1.13 ERA) Saturday, 7:10 p.m.: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-3, 3.44 ERA) vs. LHP Carlos Rodon (6-3, 2.70 ERA) Sunday, 2:10 p.m.: LHP Brian Johnson (4-3, 4.02 ERA) vs. RHP James Shields (5-15, 4.54 ERA) David Price injury: X-rays negative after Red Sox lefty leaves game after being hit in wrist with liner Chris Cotillo BOSTON -- Red Sox lefty David Price exited Wednesday's game after just three innings, having been hit in the wrist with an Austin Dean comebacker that came off the bat at mph. The team called the injury a left wrist contusion, with X-rays coming back negative. Price will undergo further testing as needed. Price deflected Dean's liner, preventing it from hitting him in the head and causing it to ricochet toward first baseman Steve Pearce. Pearce then flipped it to Price, who ran to cover first, and got the out. Price immediately looked at his left forearm and ran into the clubhouse, followed by team trainers. Trainers met with manager Alex Cora and pitching coach Dana LeVangie and determined Price would come out of the game after just three innings. Price allowed three runs on five hits in his short stint before being replaced by Hector Velazquez. The Red Sox trail the Marlins, 3-2, in the fourth inning at Fenway Park. Boston Red Sox will activate Steven Wright over weekend in Chicago Chris Cotillo BOSTON -- Red Sox right-hander Steven Wright is expected to come off the disabled list and join the team Saturday, manager Alex Cora said. Wright has been sidelined with a knee injury since late June and will re-join the Sox in a bullpen role for September. He made a rehab start with Pawtucket on Tuesday night, pitching two scoreless innings while walking one and recording one strikeout on 31 pitches.