The Boston Red Sox Monday, April 9, 2018

Transcription

1 * The Boston Globe The Boston Red Sox Monday, April 9, 2018 A wild comeback pushes Red Sox winning streak to eight Julian Benbow For a split second, when the Red Sox were staring up out of a five-run hole in the eighth inning Sunday against the Rays, the thought crossed their minds that if their seven-game winning streak had to come to an end, this wasn t necessarily the worst possible way. The brutal 38-degree game-time temperature at Fenway made the dugout much cozier than the field. Eduardo Rodriguez, making his first start after recovering from offseason knee surgery, exhausted his pitch count in just 3⅔ innings. Xander Bogaerts, the hottest bat in the Sox lineup, had to be helped off the field in the seventh inning after injuring his leg sliding into the Rays dugout chasing down an errant throw. And even if they dropped the finale to the Rays they d still be sitting atop the AL East when the Yankees came to town on Tuesday. But what Sox manager Alex Cora told his team in the dugout was that the winning streak didn t have to end. The challenge was that if they wanted the win, they d have to go get it. It s tough to walk yourself into a five-run rally, Cora said. Back in the day you take pitches, and you work the count and hopefully they walk you and you get a rally going. In the dugout, it was like, Be ready to hit. Let s put pressure on them. From there the seed to the Sox s improbable 8-7 come-from-behind win was planted. The Sox put together their biggest inning of a young season in the eighth, scoring six runs to stun the Rays and finish off the series sweep. All six runs and all but one of the seven hits came with two outs. Three of the hits came with two strikes. Each swing built a bridge to the next. Hanley Ramirez led off the inning with a single to left, but the Sox chances seemed slim when J.D. Martinez struck out and Brock Holt flew out to left. Mitch Moreland got a fastball on a 1-and-2 count and bounced it off the Monster for a double that plated Ramirez and cut the deficit to 7-3. Eduardo Nunez got another fastball on a 1-and-2 count and lined it to center to set up a first-and third situation for Rafael Devers. Devers shot a ground ball into the left-field corner that kicked off the garage door and while Rays outfielder Mallex Smith chased it down, Moreland and Nunez both scored to make it 7-5. Certain little things happen like that and we score a run here, score an extra run there and it s just like, Hey, we re here, we might as well be confident and go do it, Mookie Betts said. [Instead of] trying to just let it happen, it s like, Go make it happen.

2 At that point, Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to closer Alex Colome to try stop the bleeding, but the Sox could sense the momentum was already tilting. We pushed him to bring him in early, Cora said. After that, it was good at-bat after good at-bat. It was fun to watch. The lineup kept stringing hits together. Christian Vazquez, who fouled off three pitches from Colome before finally getting a cutter that he could handle, singled to center to bring in Devers and make it a onerun game. At the start of the inning, the Sox had to squint to see themselves in a possible save situation. But in a 7-6 game, Cora had to call to the bullpen to get closer Craig Kimbrel warm. I m sitting there, I m like, Wow, this is great, he said. The chips kept falling the Sox way. A wild pitch by Colome moved Vazquez into scoring position with Betts coming to the plate. Betts got a 2-and-0 cutter and lined it to left for another single. Vazquez gambled, wheeling around from second and sliding into home just ahead of the throw to tie it. Vazky scoring on that ball, that s tough, Andrew Benintendi said. He was touching third when the left fielder was picking up the ball. He can move a little bit for a catcher. With all the momentum, Benintendi finished the job. You hear the crowd, they re into it, everybody s into it, the dugout s into it, Benintendi said. So we were just trying to get up there and keep the line moving. He lifted a fly ball to left field that he thought might grab some of the Wall, but didn t. Instead, the wind made the play tricky for Smith, who ran into the Monster trying to grab a ball that dropped in front of him on the warning track. I thought it was off the Wall, Benintendi said. But it s cold out, I think the wind was maybe blowing it a little bit. But I ll take it. Betts scored the go-ahead run easily, roaring as he crossed the plate. Obviously, we were trying to go make it happen, but as it starts to happen you see some emotion from guys, Betts said. It was the Sox fifth come-from-behind win of the season. At 8-1, they re off to their best start through nine games in franchise history. Their eight-game winning streak matches the longest run they went on in It lives on because they refused to let it die. It takes 27 outs to beat us, Cora said. Red Sox did their jobs in beating up on bad opponents Nick Cafardo Many of us have made a few off-handed comments about the Red Sox easy schedule to this point. But you know what? The Red Sox took care of business during this nine-game stretch to start the season. As one wise old baseball sage said, They all count.

3 One of the biggest byproducts of the nine-game stretch, in which the Red Sox went 8-1 (losing Game 1, 6-4, to Tampa Bay and coming back in dramatic fashion to win Game 9, 8-7, also against Tampa Bay) was building team confidence. It got Alex Cora off to a good start as the new Red Sox manager. It got the starting rotation off to two really good cycles. It allowed Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez to establish themselves as quality depth starters in the absence of Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Steven Wright, all of whom started the season on the disabled list. While Cora hoped for this type of start, now that it s happened is he somewhat surprised? Honestly, no. We ve been playing good baseball for months now. I know spring training doesn t count, but we re playing fast, we re catching the ball, and we re pitching. Whether it s Fort Myers or in Tampa or here when you re playing good baseball you get good results. I don t know if that group needs more confidence, he added. They re just playing good baseball. They re just having fun right now, Cora said. Unfortunately, the good times Sunday cost the Red Sox their hottest hitter Xander Bogaerts who injured his left ankle when he slid into the Rays dugout after making a quick flip of the ball to third base when there as no one manning the base. He tried retrieving the ball before it entered the dugout by sliding after it. The ball never made it in, but Bogaerts did. He was helped off the field and was undergoing further evaluation. Bogaerts was back into the elite shortstop conversation after his strong offensive start. He was 12 for 27 (.444) with seven doubles, two homers, and nine RBIs in seven games against the Rays this season. Even if Bogaerts is OK, you hate to see him have to play less than 100 percent as he had to for a majority of last season with a hand injury. Rodriguez s 2018 debut proved the worst pitched game by a starter this season as he lasted only 3⅔ innings and allowed five hits, three runs with seven strikeouts and two walks. He threw 92 pitches. Before Sunday s outing, Sox starters were 5-0 with a 1.28 ERA (seven earned runs in 49⅓ innings). The last time a team had an ERA lower from their starters in their first eight games was the 2002 Giants (1.11 ERA). But you d have to say the Red Sox started the 2018 season exactly as they had envisioned. It gave Craig Kimbrel some valuable early season work after he missed most of March to tend to his infant daughter, who underwent heart surgery. It allowed J.D. Martinez to get his timing down after a late start to spring training, though a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning on Sunday wasn t what the Red Sox were looking for from him. It enabled Hanley Ramirez to establish positive results early in a season in which he s trying to get a 2019 option worth $22 million to vest. It s allowed David Price to earn some goodwill with the fans and show that he s healthy and can pitch like a $31 million pitcher. The other thing that happened was the Red Sox did not make one error in nine games, the only team in the majors not to be charged with one. That s significant considering the Red Sox have an elite defensive outfield but a UZR-deficient infield. Yes, there have been balls that have skipped through the infield, especially on the right side, where Eduardo Nunez simply doesn t have the range of Dustin Pedroia.

4 If there were any negatives one would be Carson Smith has had a couple of rough outings in the set-up role. Jackie Bradley Jr. s normally streaky offense has started out on the downside, though his defense has been stellar. As good as 8-1 sounds, it should have been 9-0 given they blew a 4-0, eighth-inning lead on Opening Day. But fun time is over. Now the Red Sox face the mettle the New York Yankees who have managed to survive a plethora of injuries with a 5-5 record and without the benefit of a hot Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, or Gary Sanchez, a trio that will surely mash at some juncture in The three-game series starts Tuesday at Fenway. If you go by the theory that the Sox should beat up the bad teams and play around.500 against the good teams then winning two out of three against the Yankees would be sublime for them, but losing two out of three wouldn t be acceptable. Since 2013, the Yankees have the series edge, In that time, the Red Sox have won a World Series and won two divisional titles, so a.500 or so record against them isn t the worst thing. The Red Sox could also prove to those still skeptical because of their weak schedule, that they can also beat good teams. The Yankees will have their own stretches of layups. Maybe not as long as this Red Sox stretch, but, for instance, there s a five-game stretch beginning April 13 against the Tigers and Marlins. There s a six-game stretch in June with the Rays and Phillies. There a seven-game stretch in July vs. the Rays and Royals and a stretch of games in August against the White Sox and Tigers. There are plenty of places the Yankees can make up ground or pull ahead. The Yankees have CC Sabathia, Ben Heller, Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney, Brendan Drury and Greg Bird all on the disabled list. Other than Bird, who could return in late May, and Heller (Tommy John surgery), none are considered serious. The Red Sox looked like goners when they trailed, 7-2, heading into the eighth on Sunday and they turned that seemingly dire situation into a W. It s a testament to how bad the Rays are. It s also a testament to the Red Sox, who didn t give up on the game and beat up the teams they had to beat up. Eduardo Rodriguez was down for the count in his 2018 debut Julian Benbow Even as Eduardo Rodriguez was piling up the strikeouts Sunday against the Rays, his pitch count was climbing. He used 21 pitches to strike out the side in the first inning. He spent 17 to shake off a leadoff homer to C.J. Cron in the second and get out of the inning with minimal damage. By the third inning he was sitting on 73 pitches and bodies were starting to bustle in the Red Sox bullpen. Ultimately Rodriguez lasted just 3⅔ innings and 92 pitches in a game the Sox rallied to pull out, 8-7. He gave up three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and a pair of walks in his 2018 debut. The Sox were in a 3-1 hole when Rodriguez left the mound in the fourth inning. He had to lean heavily on his fastball because he couldn t count on his signature changeup to put hitters away. The only good changeup I feel like I threw today was the one to [Carlos] Gomez in the first inning, Rodriguez said. Then the rest was running away. After that I had to throw fastballs and they just fouled it off and fouled it off.

5 It s always frustrating like that. As a starter, you ve got to try to go deep into games and not just go three innings like that. They loved it Down five runs with two outs in the eighth inning, Holt had something up his sleeve to break the tension. His walk-up music was a surprise pick: Whitney Houston s 1992 hit I Will Always Love You. The song was the centerpiece of Houston s star turn in The Bodyguard, and and 26 years after it hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it became an instant crowd-pleaser at Fenway Park. That s kind of what got us going that inning: Whitney, Holt said. Holt had been sitting on the ballad for a while, but didn t expect it to premiere at such a critical moment. I kind of wanted something everyone could relate to and I said, Why not Whitney? Holt said. I was a little nervous there for it to play in the situation we were in. I think they might ve turned the volume up because I feel like it was a lot louder than everyone else s walk-up song. He noticed Rays reliever Matt Andriese let out a chuckle on the mound. But the crowd seemed to love it, Holt said. So I don t know if I m going to have to keep that or what, because it s kind of obnoxious. But it was pretty cool in that moment. Keeping the faith The start of the season has been somewhat of a struggle at the plate for Jackie Bradley Jr. Over his first seven games, he s been on base only six times. Cora watches Bradley s at-bats, he doesn t see his.115 batting average; he sees a hitter who has made solid contact but hasn t gotten the results. We re good with him right now, Cora said. One thing about him, I do feel he can drive the ball to leftcenter. He can stay on the fastball and drive the ball to left-center. And that s something, when he s going well, that s what he does. He s a very dynamic player. I feel that he can do other stuff to get himself going, and we ll talk about it. I know it s early in the season, and the numbers they go from.400 to.200 in four or five at-bats. But right now, we re comfortable where he s at, but there s a few things that he can do to be a better hitter. Bradley was out of the lineup for the series finale with the Rays on Sunday. Andrew Benintendi started in center field, and J.D. Martinez manned left. The lineup choice had nothing to do with how Bradley was faring at the plate, Cora said, and more to do with the plan Cora had already laid out to build in rest for certain players and navigate a tricky schedule with an odd set of early off days followed by a stretch of 12 straight games starting Tuesday with the Yankees. I don t look at it on a day-to-day basis, Cora said. I look ahead. There s a lot of stuff that goes into play that s going to help us to get Mitch [Moreland] going. It s going to help us get Brock into games. We ve got to keep guys off their feet. I know it s early and we had three off days and all that. But for everything to work the way I want to and we want to as an organization some guys are going to get certain days off.

6 Throughout Bradley s career, many of the cold stretches he s gone through have been balanced by incredibly hot runs like a year ago, when he hit.353 with four homers and 15 RBIs in June, or two years ago, when he put together a 29-game hitting streak. Cora wasn t concerned with whether the down days may interfere with Bradley s ability to work himself out of a rut and into a rhythm. The consistent playing time, he will get, Cora said. It s just a matter that our schedule is a lot different than I ve ever seen. The off day on Friday. The off day [Monday]. It makes it like, Oh, he s not playing three out of four days. Well, it s true. But we re not concerned about that. All these guys are going to benefit from it, the days off, regardless if it s April, May, August, September. They re going to be better players because they re going to be rested. Pomeranz getting close Another piece of the Red Sox rotation could return as soon as next weekend. Lefthander Drew Pomeranz made a rehab start in Pawtucket on Sunday, throwing 4⅓ innings against Lehigh Valley. The outing started rocky. He gave up a single, a walk, and a two-run homer in the first inning, struggling with his command. He didn t give up another hit after the first, but he issued five more walks. Pomeranz started the season on the disabled list after straining his forearm March 2. He remained in Fort Myers, pitching in minor league games. Pomeranz went 17-6 with a 3.32 ERA last season. Pedroia progressing He looks good, Cora said. I know it s tough for him right now just to watch and not be part of it. But he s helping out, too, in the dugout and clubhouse, he s helping. The Sox have brought Pedroia along carefully. He s been hitting for the past month and just began work in the field. The 34-year-old second baseman missed 57 games a year ago. His running progression will most likely be the final test. He was moving well, hopping and turning double plays, Cora said. His batting practice is a lot better. Now it s just a matter of running the bases, and we ll see where we go after that. Xander Bogaerts exits game after suffering ankle injury Julian Benbow Shortstop Xander Bogaerts had to be helped off the field in the seventh inning of the Red Sox 8-7 comeback win Sunday over the Tampa Bay Rays. After cutting off a throw to third from left fielder J.D. Martinez, Bogaerts tried to make a flip toss to the bag, but no one was there. He ended up chasing the ball down to keep it from rolling into the Rays dugout, sliding to try to stop it. In the process, his momentum carried him over and down the dugout steps, causing what the team announced as a left ankle injury. The extent of the injury is yet to be determined. Sox manager Alex Cora said Bogaerts will be evaluated Monday. We ll know tomorrow after all the tests, Cora said.

7 Bogaerts was swinging the hottest bat in the Sox lineup. After going 1 for 3 Sunday, he was hitting.368 with two homers and nine RBIs. He drove in a career-high six runs in Saturday s 10-3 win over the Rays. He s played great, said Sox outfielder Mookie Betts. Hopefully it s nothing too serious. If he has to miss a couple games, that s OK. But if we have him in the long run, that s a huge plus. With Bogaerts out, Cora turned to Brock Holt at shortstop. It was Holt s first appearance at short since Sept. 22, He raced to his right for a ground ball for the final out of the Sox s 8-7 comeback win. If Bogaert is out for an extended period, Holt said he feels comfortable playing short. He s been our best player up to this point, so we ll definitely miss him, but hopefully everything turns out OK, Holt said. I feel comfortable at shortstop, second base, third base, pretty much anywhere. It s a tough team to crack the lineup. You hate to see Bogey get injured there, especially with his spot coming up in the order there in a big spot. But I feel like I can step in and do a good job. * The Boston Herald Red Sox find a way to make it happen and keep streak alive Michael Silverman No matter what happens the rest of the way, the Red Sox will always have the Feast of the Fish. The 8-1 Red Sox finally pushed away from the soft beginning to their season yesterday, with one more buttons-bursting, gluttonous why not? victory staging an improbable rally for an 8-7 victory over the Rays. The six-run rally in the eighth all the runs came with two outs in a crescendo-building stretch of six straight hits, the last three against Rays closer Alex Colome ended a nine-game season-opening sprint against the two woeful Florida teams, the Marlins and Rays. After losing Game 1 in St. Petersburg to the Rays, who staged their own devastating six-run eighth that day, it s as if the Red Sox awoke to the reality that they were standing over a barrel of helpless fish. They took aim, fired and never missed, even when they should have like in yesterday s sloppy game. They re fun to watch, they re cool to watch, said manager Alex Cora. I m sitting there like, Wow, this is great, you know? It wasn t a great game as a team, but it takes 27 outs to beat us, and they proved it. Sure the.500 Yankees arrive tomorrow with Giancarlo 5K Stanton. They re a threat. They re also charged with teaching a Red Sox team how to lose. That s a lesson they stubbornly refuse to master. I don t know if that group needs confidence down there, said Cora. I said it (Saturday), they re playing, they don t really know what s going on. They re just playing baseball and having fun with it. They prepare themselves, and they go out and every team plays hard but they re just having fun right now. I don t think they need more confidence. Coming out of spring training, we felt great about that group and they felt great as a group. Remember, the Red Sox came out of spring training with a 22-9 record, the best in baseball. Before that first loss to the Rays, the Red Sox had won five in a row in spring training and 14 of their last 15 games.

8 That s right: Since March 12, the Red Sox have played 24 games 15 in spring training, nine in the regular season and gone We ve been playing good baseball for a month now, said Cora. And I know spring training doesn t count, I know the record doesn t count, but we were playing good baseball. We were playing fast, we were catching the ball, and we were pitching. And regardless if it was Fort Myers or here or Tampa, it doesn t matter. When you play good baseball, you have good results. Today, defensively, we were OK. We didn t make some plays, but we made the ones we had to make and, overall, it was pretty good. The game was certainly there for the Rays to capture, but their roster is simply not up for the challenge against this Red Sox team with their deep bench and bullpen. Still, they did everything they could to let the Rays win. Eduardo Rodriguez was unable to continue the starters remarkable season-opening run (5-0, 1.28 ERA so far) in his first outing of the season. He got pushed out of the game in the fourth after allowing three runs and five hits. Left fielder J.D. Martinez misplayed a ball off the Wall in the seventh inning, and after receiving his relay throw, shortstop Xander Bogaerts made a regrettable dish-off to a non-existent defender at third base. In chasing down the ball, Bogaerts slid into the Rays dugout and injured his left ankle, leaving the game. The Red Sox were down 7-2 when the eighth began. Hanley Ramirez walked, then came two quick outs. Cue the hit parade: First was Mitch Moreland s RBI double, then a Eduardo Nunez single and Rafael Devers two-rbi double that caromed off the side of the garage door. On came Colome, and Christian Vazquez greeted him with a RBI single, followed by Mookie Betts single to tie the game, and finally Andrew Benintendi s game-winning RBI double. The hitting, the confidence and, of course, the winning were contagious. Said Betts: Certain little things happen like that. We score a run here, we score an extra run there, it s just like Hey, we re here, we might just as well be confident and go do it versus trying to just let it happen. Go make it happen. Red Sox notebook: Slide into dugout damages Xander Bogaerts ankle Michael Silverman Shortstop Xander Bogaerts injured his ankle badly enough that he had to come out of yesterday s 8-7 victory in the seventh inning. The nature and severity of the injury remains unknown he is undergoing more evaluation but the availability of the Red Sox best player to date for tomorrow night s Yankees series opener at Fenway Park appears unlikely. Bogaerts hurt himself sliding into the Rays dugout after he made an ill-advised feed to an invisible Sox defender at third base in the seventh inning. Bogaerts chased after his toss and slid hard across the top step of the visitors dugout. Somewhere, he hurt himself.

9 I just asked him he doesn t know if it was when he slid or when he landed, said manager Alex Cora. Bogaerts has been the Red Sox top hitter this season, leading the team in batting average (.368) and tied for the team lead in RBI (nine). Brock Holt came in to replace Bogaerts. It s obviously big if it s a big injury, I m not sure if it is or not, said Holt. He s been our best player up to this point, so we ll definitely miss him, but hopefully everything turns out OK. I guess we ll find out sooner rather than later. Said Mookie Betts: (Bogaerts) played great. Hopefully it s nothing too serious, miss a couple games, that s OK, but to have him for the long run, that s a huge plus. Brief outing for E-Rod Starter Eduardo Rodriguez was lifted with two outs in the fourth inning, with two runners on base. Reliever Hector Velazquez came in and stranded the runners, leaving Rodriguez with a line of three runs allowed on five hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. He was a one-pitch pitcher (yesterday). He only threw one good changeup to (Carlos) Gomez, he struck him out 3-2, said Cora. Besides that, his changeup wasn t great. You saw it infield hits, bloop singles. The 3-1 pitch to (C.J.) Cron (on his a solo shot that led off the second), you ll take that. You don t want to walk him. But when you only have one pitch, that s what s going to happen. Teams are going to adjust and they re going to foul pitches off. But I thought overall he was good. We wanted him to go deep in the game, of course, but for his first outing it was a good one. Mixed outing In Pawtucket, rehabbing starter Drew Pomeranz went 41 3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits, with six walks and one strikeout in a 4-3 win over the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. He threw 85 pitches, 47 for strikes.... Without fanfare, the Red Sox replaced their Welcome to Yawkey Way banner that hung over the street near Gate D. The new banner now reads Welcome to Fenway Park. The Sox and other abutters along Yawkey Way filed a petition with the City of Boston to change the name of the street back to its original Jersey Street in order to distance themselves from the negative legacy of the former Sox owner. A vote on the name change by the city s Public Improvement Commission is scheduled for this Thursday.... Early in the game, a drone hovered a couple hundred feet directly over the diamond. Before the drone flew up, up and away, Fenway Park security scanned nearby buildings for the operator. Magical beginning The Red Sox 8-1 record is their best through nine games in franchise history. And the last time a Sox manager began his tenure by winning at least eight of his first nine games was Joe Morgan during Morgan Magic in The Red Sox are also now 5-0 in one-run games this season....

10 The Sox still have not committed an error this season, their best season-starting mark ever.... The first-pitch temperature of 38 degrees was the coldest at Fenway since the 34-degree start to the April 17, 2003 game here, also against the Rays.... Andrew Benintendi s game-winning RBI double in the eighth was his first extra-base hit of the year.... Mookie Betts is 10-for-22 (.455) with eight runs scored in his six April games.... Hanley Ramirez drove in two runs, and all eight of his RBI have come in his last five games.... Rafael Devers is tied with Bogaerts for the team lead in RBI with nine. Devers two-run double in the eighth brought the Sox to within two.... Craig Kimbrel collected his third save of the season. He s now 14-for-14 in save opportunities against the Rays. Red Sox stage improbable rally over Rays, improve record to 8-1 Michael Silverman The Red Sox simply cannot lose for trying. On a chilly afternoon in which they lost their shortstop Xander Bogaerts (ankle) to injury, played poor defense, finally got a poor start (Eduardo Rodriguez) from a starter and trailed by five runs in the eighth inning, the Red Sox still wound up on top of the Rays, 8-7. The victory improved the Red Sox' record to 8-1, an almost perfect start to a season in which they have faced only two teams so far the Rays and Marlins. With much stiffer competition coming in the Yankees arrive for three games on Tuesday the Red Sox will greet them on a high after Sunday's thrilling 6-run rally in the eighth that put them over the top. Trailing 7-2 in the eighth, the Red Sox batted around, doing all their damage with two strikes. After a leadoff walk by Hanley Ramirez, Mitch Moreland doubled him in with a double off the Wall. Eduardo Nunez' single put Moreland on third. Then Rafael Devers poked a dirve down the left-field line. The ball managed to ricochet off the frame of the garage door along the wall, allowing time for both runners to score. Down just two, the Red Sox strung together three RBI hits in a row back-to-back singles from Christian Vazquez and Mookie Betts before Andrew Benintendi's RBI double drove in Betts for the go-ahead run. Before the eighth, little had gone right for the Red Sox. Bogaerts hurt himself sliding into the Rays' dugout after he made an ill-advised feed to an invisible Red Sox defender at third base.in the seventh inning. Bogaerts chased after his toss and slid hard across the wooden threshold that's the top step of the visitors' dugout. Before the dish by Bogaerts, left fielder J.D. Martinez had played a ball poorly off the Wall. Bogaerts had been the Red Sox hitter this season, leading the team in RBI (nine) and batting average (.371) coming into the game. Eduardo Rodriguez' first start of the season was way too short to be judged a success. It wasn't an outright failure, but he left a great deal of room for improvement.

11 Rodriguez was lifted with two outs in the third inning, with two runners on base. Reliever Hector Velazquez came in and stranded the runners, leaving Rodriguez with a Game 1 bottom line of three runs, five hits and two walks allowed. On the positive side, Rodriguez did begin his start with three consecutive strikeouts, before he spread out his damage, one run over each of the three innings. C.J. Cron hit a leadoff bomb in the second, Carlos Gomez doubled in a run in the second and Adeiny Hechavarria singled in the third run one batter before Rodriguez was lifted. Rodriguez was on the slow track this offseason and spring training after having right knee surgery. The Red Sox scored one run in the first on a Ramirez groundout, and another in the fifth, on Ramirez' infield RBI single. Fearsome threesomes Michael Silverman The top three of the Red Sox rotation is certainly an elite commodity, but it s difficult to proclaim Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello to be the best trio in the game. There are a couple of other teams, primarily the Nationals, Indians and Astros, who can go mano a mano a mano with the top of the Red Sox rotation. That s not to say the Red Sox trio won t be the best this season it s just too soon to say that. Age, Last 3 seasons: WAR, Single- season peak WAR (Yr), 2017 WAR, Last 3 seasons: IP, ERA,WHIP, K/BB, K/9 Red Sox Chris Sale 29, 14.4, 6.5 (2013), 6.0, , 3.21, 1.031, 6.27, 11.3 David Price 32, 7.2, 6.6 (2012), 1.6, 525, 3.26, 1.149, 4.37, 9.1 Rick Porcello 29, 5.1, 4.8 (2016), 0.2, , 4.17, 1.242, 4.40, 7.8 Total WAR last 3 seasons: 26.7 avg. 8.9 Single-season peak WAR totals: 17.9 avg 6.0 Nationals Max Scherzer 33, 20.1,7.1 (2017), 7.1, , 2.76, 0.931, 5.71, 11.3 Stephen Strasburg 29, 11.6, 6.2 (2017), 6.2, , 3.14, 1.070, 4.63, 10.8 Gio Gonzalez 32, 9.8, 6.4 (2017), 6.4, 554, 3.74,1.309, 2.35, 8.6 Total WAR last 3 seasons: 41.5 avg Single-season peak WAR totals: 19.7 avg. 6.6 Indians Corey Kluber 32, (2014) Carlos Carrasco 31, (2017) Trevor Bauer (2017) Total WAR last 3 seasons: 38.0 avg Single-season peak WAR totals: 17.0 avg. 5.7

12 Astros Dallas Keuchel 30, 11.0, 6.7 (2015), 3.9, , 3.23, 1.127, 3.32, 8.0 Justin Verlander 35, 16.0, 8.6 (2011), 6.5, 567, 3.24, 1.085, 3.64, 9.3 Gerrit Cole 27, 8.9, 4.6 (2015), 2.8, 527, 3.52, 1.230, 3.67, 8.5 Total WAR last 3 seasons: 35.9 avg Single-season peak WAR totals: 19.9 avg. 6.6 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw 30, 18.2, 8.0 (2013), 4.9, ,2.07, 0.860, 8.13, 10.9 Alex Wood 27, 4.1, 3.8 (2014), 3.4, , 3.40, 1.228, 3.04, 8.0 Rich Hill 35, 8.1, 3.4 (2007), 2.2, 275, 2.65, 1.007, 3.80, 10.8 Total WAR last 3 seasons: 30.4 avg Single season peak WAR totals: 15.2 avg. 5.1 Cubs Jon Lester 34, 9.0, 6.2 (2009), , 3.33, 1.147, 3.67, 8.9 Kyle Hendricks 28, 10.5, 5.4 (2016,) 3.5, , 3.02, 1.101, 3.62, 8.1 Yu Darvish 31, 6.2, 5.6 (2013), 0.6, 287, 3.70, 1.146, 3.83, 10.7 Total WAR last 3 seasons: 25.7 avg. 8.6 Single season peak WAR totals: 17.2 avg. 5.7 Mets Jacob degrom 30, 13.1, 5.2 (2015), 4.4, , 3.05, 1.118, 4.41, 9.8 Noah Syndergaard 25, 8.0, 5.0 (2016), 0.6, 364, 2.09, 1.099, 5.43, 10.3 Matt Harvey 29, 3.8, 5.4 (2013), 0.9, , 4.23, 1.297, 3.04, 8.0 Total WAR last 3 seasons: 25.7 avg. 8.6 Single season peak WAR totals: 15.6 avg. 5.2 Eduardo Rodriguez' 2018 debut does not go well Michael Silverman Eduardo Rodriguez' first start of the season Sunday afternoon was way too short to be judged a success. It wasn't an outright failure, but he has a great deal of room for improvement. Rodriguez was lifted with two outs in the third inning, with two runners on base. Reliever Hector Velazquez came in and stranded the runners, leaving Rodriguez with a Game 1 bottom line of three runs, five hits and two walks allowed. He threw 92 pitches. On the positive side, Rodriguez did begin his start with three consecutive strikeouts, before he spread out his damage, one run over each of the three innings.

13 C.J. Cron hit a leadoff bomb in the second, Carlos Gomez doubled in a run in the second and Adeiny Hechavarria singled in the third run one batter before Rodriguez was lifted. Rodriguez was on the slow track this offseason and spring training after having right knee surgery. Xander Bogaerts leaves game with left ankle injury Michael Silverman The Red Sox may also have lost shortstop Xander Bogaerts for awhile due to a left ankle injury. Bogaerts hurt himself sliding into the Rays' dugout after he made an ill-advised feed to an invisible Red Sox defender at third base.in the seventh inning. Bogaerts chased after his toss and slid hard across the wooden threshold that's the top step of the visitors' dugout. He left the game shortly after the slide, requiring a trainer for support as he limped off the field. Bogaerts had been the Red Sox hitter this season, leading the team in RBI (nine) and batting average (.371) coming into the game. The Red Sox trailed, 7-2 in the eighth inning. The Red Sox said Bogaerts will need further evaluation for the injury. Brock Holt replaced Bogaerts at shortstop. * The Providence Journal Red Sox Journal: J.D. Martinez hoping for more air time Bill Koch BOSTON It goes beyond the sacrifice fly in the first inning, the walk drawn in the second and the solo home run to left center in the seventh. For J.D. Martinez, it s much simpler to quantify success at the plate. Both balls the outfielder put in play during Saturday s 10-3 demolition of Tampa Bay were hit in the air, exactly what Martinez is hoping to do each time he digs in from the right side. His success last season made him one of the prime examples of the latest hitting trend in the game launch angle. I preach about getting the ball in the air, Martinez said. Whenever you see me and I m hitting ground ball after ground ball, you know I m not feeling right. Martinez was released by the Houston Astros in 2014 after hitting just seven home runs the previous season. He was a 26-year-old in the midst of swing changes, just starting the work with California guru Craig Wallenbrock that would see him progress to a career-high 45 homers between two teams in Martinez developed into one of the most coveted free agents on the market last winter, inking a five-year, $110-million deal with Boston. Martinez put the ball in play 317 times last year in 119 games with Detroit and Arizona, hitting it in the air on 199 of those occasions. He found the bleachers 22.6 percent of the time, including 29 homers in just 62 games with the Diamondbacks. Whether or not his power will play at Fenway Park was evident in the first inning on Saturday, as Martinez was slightly jammed on an inside fastball from Jake Faria and still found the warning track in deep right center.

14 The one with the bases loaded he mis-hit, and that ball kept going, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. That s a good sign. I guarantee you after that one he felt better. Martinez finally broke through for his first home run with his new team in his final at-bat of the day, crushing a pitch from Chaz Roe onto Lansdowne Street. It was the 10th ball he s put in play in the air this season compared with nine on the ground. He hit two more balls in the air on Sunday but had nothing to show for it, going 0-for-4. He lined to right in the first, flew to deep right in the fourth and struck out twice. Pedey making progress Dustin Pedroia (left knee) is expected to run the bases Tuesday prior to the 7:05 p.m. first pitch against the Yankees, the final step in his rehabilitation from offseason surgery. Cora said Pedroia has been taking batting practice for the last month and participated in pregame infieldoutfield workout with Boston s regulars on Saturday. He did the same during the brief two-game stint on the natural grass at Miami. Pedroia skipped on-field workouts on the somewhat harsher turf surface at Tropicana Field during the season s first series against the Rays. I know it s tough for him right now just to watch and not be part of it, but he s helping out, too, Cora said. In the dugout and the clubhouse, he s helping. Pedroia underwent cartilage restoration surgery on the knee in October. The 34-year-old will further jam an infield rotation between second base and third base that includes Eduardo Nunez, Brock Holt and Rafael Devers. He looked a lot better than what I saw in October, Cora said. That s awesome. That s good. He was moving well, hopping and turning double plays. Tweaking the lineup Jackie Bradley Jr. received the day off on Sunday, with Andrew Benintendi sliding to center field and Martinez starting in left. That opened the designated hitter spot for Hanley Ramirez and allowed Cora to start Mitch Moreland at first base against Tampa Bay right-hander Andrew Kittredge. The Red Sox have another scheduled off day Monday before playing 13 straight, including home series against the Yankees and Orioles and a West Coast swing against the Angels and Athletics. There s a lot of stuff that goes into play that s going to help us get Mitch going, Cora said. It s going to help Brock get into games. We re going to keep guys off their feet. And I know it s early and we had three off days and all that, but for everything to work the way I want it to and we want it to as an organization some guys are going to have certain days off. Bogaerts injured Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts left Boston s game with the Rays on Sunday in the seventh inning after injuring his left ankle while chasing an errant throw by Martinez that took him toward the Rays dugout. He needed help to get off the field and left with a noticeable limp. Holt replaced him at short. Red Sox 8, Rays 7: Boston loses Bogaerts, rallies past Tampa Bay Bill Koch

15 BOSTON --- If there was ever a time to hang their heads, this was it for the Red Sox. Xander Bogaerts had just departed with a left ankle injury and Boston looked lifeless into the late innings against Tampa Bay. A new best start to a season in franchise history would have to wait until at least its 119th year. Then the bottom of the eighth unfolded late Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, and those of the chilled 31,979 in the stands who bothered to stick around were treated to the latest example of what looks like a Red Sox revival in Six straight two-out hits finished off a three-game sweep of the Rays and made it eight straight victories for Boston, the unlikeliest of 8-7 wins if ever there was one. Andrew Benintendi s towering double to left center completed the carnage against two Rays relievers and Craig Kimbrel came on for a ninth as the Red Sox moved to 8-1 for the first time. It s just their fourth April winning streak of eight or more games and the second time in four days they tagged Tampa Bay closer Alex Colome with a blown save. You can hear the crowd, Benintendi said. They re into it everybody s into it. The dugout s into it. You re just trying to get up there and keep the line moving. Hanley Ramirez grounded a leadoff single to left and looked certain to be stranded after Matt Andriese retired the next two men. Then Mitch Moreland visited the Green Monster with an RBI double, Eduardo Nuñez singled up the middle and Rafael Devers grounded a two-run double into the left field corner. It was 7-5 and Boston had life, with back-to-back RBI singles by Christian Vazquez and Mookie Betts tying things up for the first time since the second. We re some good hitters, too, Betts said. It kind of makes us put together some good at-bats and makes him make pitches. Moreland, Nuñuez and Vazquez each did their damage with two strikes, with muscle memory reverting back to a spring training drill conducted by hitting coach Tim Hyers. Certain situations like the ones that arose on Sunday are presented to each player, and Boston was able to win for the first time in 97 games when trailing by five or more runs into the eighth. We never give up, Vazquez said. That s a key for this team. We ve got great talent in this room. Together, as a group, we fight to the end. You have to grind out at-bats, and they did, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. There s not an explanation, honestly. What they did was exceptional. Bogaerts slid into the Rays dugout attempting to run down an errant throw from left field in the seventh and appeared to turn his left ankle. The shortstop limped across the diamond to the Red Sox dugout with the help of training staff members and Brock Holt came on as his replacement. Bogaerts is scheduled to be evaluated further on Monday. He s been our best player to this point, so we ll definitely miss him, Holt said. Hopefully everything turns out okay. I guess we ll find out sooner rather than later. Then there was Eduardo Rodriguez, who simply couldn t put hitters away after coming off the disabled list to make his first start of the season. Strikeouts accounted for seven of the 11 men he retired, but the Rays worked Rodriguez for 92 pitches through 3 2/3 innings and saw at least four pitches in 15 of their 18 plate appearances against the left-hander.

16 It s always frustrating like that, Rodriguez said. As a starter you ve got to try to go deep in the game, not just go three innings like that. C.J. Cron s solo homer into the center field bleachers leading off the second was the only real hard-hit ball against Rodriguez. Carlos Gomez knocked in a run in the third on a check-swing double down the line in right and Adeiny Hechavarria looped an RBI single to short center in the fourth, making it 3-1. Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson each came out of the bullpen to surrender a pair of runs, but Heath Hembree, Carson Smith and Kimbrel recorded the final eight outs to seal a historic start. We still have a lot of things we can improve, but we re 8-1, Cora said. Nobody can take that away from us. * MassLive.com Tim Hyers, Red Sox's launch angle expert, learned 'a lot' from Dodgers' MIT grad, ex-wall Streeter Christopher Smith BOSTON -- Jackie Bradley Jr. flied out to right field against Rays starter Jake Faria for the final out of the first inning Saturday. Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers, a.k.a. "Boston Launch Angle Expert," pointed out that Bradley crushed it, but the ball traveled too high in the air. Bradley hit it 351 feet with a mph exit velocity. "It was over 100 mph but he hit it just a little too high," Hyers said. "If it happened to be a little bit lower, that's a homer." Bradley's flyout had a 36-degree launch angle. Not good enough. So what it is? "If we're hitting anything 15 degrees to 25 degrees with good exit velocity," Hyers said. "Launch angle means nothing if you don't hit the ball hard. You can hit the ball 60 mph and have the perfect launch angle but nothing's going to happen. "So when they hit the ball hard at the right launch angle, then that's when they're going to get serious results," Hyers added. "We're ultimately shooting for line drives. If we hit something at 10 degrees at 100 mph, it's still great. But it's really hard to do that. What we're doing is we're giving ourselves a little leeway of going, 'OK, hit it 15 to degrees and you hit it really hard, a lot of good things are really going to happen.'" The 46-year-old Hyers spent from as Red Sox minor league hitting coordinator. He began to embrace launch angle before leaving this organization in 2016 to serve as Dodgers assistant hitting coach. "I think it was bubbling here," Hyers said. "We were gaining momentum here. I think the whole industry (was)." But his knowledge continued to grow in Los Angeles where he received the opportunity to work with one of the major's most interesting front offices. Hyers enjoyed his talks with GM Farhan Zaidi, who earned an economics degree from MIT in 1998 and a Ph.D in economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011.

17 He also certainly enjoyed talking with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who worked as an investment analyst at Bear Stearns and an associate at MidMark Capital, before entering the world of professional baseball with the Rays in "Both of those guys taught me a lot," Hyers said. "Just their freedom to talk and have conversations about different things, about hitters. It wasn't, 'You've got to do this.' We just talked baseball and implemented the numbers that they had: this equals this." Hyers said Friedman and Zaidi share an incredible passion for pitching analytics, something he benefited from as a hitting coach. "Their focus is more on pitching," Hyers said. "And I think pitching is easier. There's more that you can do with a pitcher than a hitter because we're on the reaction side where the pitcher is more in control. "I learned a lot about what pitchers were trying to do to hitters, probably more than (how) hitters can benefit from the technology because they were always talking about how to get hitters out," he added. "So because the ball is in the pitcher's hand, he starts it, it's harder for us hitters to (say), 'Well, I want to do this' when you're reacting to things. If a pitcher doesn't let you do it, you can't do it. But it is easier to help hitters out when you can see what a pitcher is trying to do to get you out." Hitting coaches must break down video of opposing pitchers for launch angle. "Because it all comes to the pitcher," Hyers explained. "Every pitcher is almost different. So it's not, 'OK, I've got one swing and that fits all.' That's not the case." Some pitchers run the ball inside on hitters. Some run it away from batters. Some pitchers sink the ball. "You've got a guy that works east to west, north and south," Hyers said. Hitters must change their swing path against different pitchers. Friedman played baseball at Tulane on an athletic scholarship. But he and Zaidi never played professional baseball. Still, they bring a coach's perspective because of all their analysis and number crunching. "What I saw in my short period there is they are really good listeners," Hyers said. "So I don't think you need to be a player. If you listen and you're a hard worker and have some instincts and you see the game a certain way and you're very smart, those things equal them being very successful." Those conversations help him in his new position as hitting coach here. He has experienced a similar atmosphere here in Boston with Brian Bannister, who serves as vice president of pitching development and assistant pitching coach, as well as president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski providing any resources the coaches request. "I don't look at it as they (the Dodgers) have all the answers. It's very, very similar here," Hyers said. "We're going to take advantage of anything we can get our hands on.... So I think that's Andrew's and that's Dave Dombrowski's gameplan." In a way, Red Sox reporters have bombarded Hyers with questions about launch angle since spring training began, and especially the past week and a half with Xander Bogaerts ripping seven doubles and two homers. He's not tired of being asked about it though. "I love talking hitting. Any time you want to talk hitting, I love it. That's what I was meant to do."

18 He has talked more in detail about launch angle with reporters than with his players. "Just because it's more putting a definition to it (with reporters)," he said. "Players just want to go out there, feel good, have success and be the best player they can be. They don't care about all the numbers as much as 'We can talk the game and find that right swing plane and stay in that zone as long as we can.' "That's all they care about. And I don't blame them. Because the one thing I have learned in this game is that if you make it more complicated to a player, you will hurt more than you will help. It has to be simple. It has to be direct. It's helping them see things simply but also giving them substance." Hyers batted.217 in 133 major league games ( , '99). Major leaguers lacked technology in those days. Hyers thinks understanding launch angle would have benefited his own career. "Us hitters feel stuff," Hyers explained. "When you can actually put a number with a feeling, I think it helps a hitter really zone in on that swing. So a hitter puts a good swing on a ball and he's like, 'OK, that felt really good.' And then they actually see exactly, 'I'm feeling what's actually really happening.' That's where we start to nail down, 'OK, that's what we're shooting for on certain pitches.'" Hyer said launch angle especially has gained momentum in the majors the past three or four years. "Because some big-name players have started to use it," he said. "We've always visually seen how the ball comes off the bat and want to replicate that. But now they can put numbers to it upstairs. With all the TrackMan data and all the information we have, you can quantify it. You can actually see, 'OK, this number and this number together equal this.'" Boston Red Sox are off to best start in franchise history after collecting eighth straight win Kevin Dillon BOSTON -- When the Boston Red Sox trailed the Tampa Bay Rays 7-2 in the eighth inning Sunday, it looked as though their chance at having the best start in franchise history would be eliminated. Boston had already tied its best start in franchise history at something only the 1904, 1918 and 1920 editions of the team had done. But then, of course, the Red Sox rallied off six straight two-out hits to score six runs and beat the Rays 8-7. At 8-1, this year's Red Sox stand alone for having the best start in team history. They also have an eightgame winning streak, which matches their longest winning streak from last year. Is new Red Sox manager Alex Cora surprised by this historic accomplishment? "Honestly no." Cora said. 'We have been playing good baseball for a month now. I know spring training doesn't count, I know the record doesn't count, but we were playing good baseball. We were playing fast, we were catching the ball, we were pitching. Regardless of if it was Fort Myers or here or Tampa, it doesn't matter. If you play good baseball, you'll have good results." It is worth noting that the Red Sox have faced the Rays seven times and the Miami Marlins twice, which does not exactly represent the toughest matchups in the league. Still, what the Red Sox are doing is incredible impressive, and gives them some momentum going into a series with the rival New York Yankees. Here's a look at some other fun notes from Sunday's game. - An eight-game winning streak is tied for the Red Sox' second-longest April winning streak in the last 100 years, which came in 1978 and They had an 11-game winning streak in April of 2009.