“I didn’t think I hit it good. I knew I didn’t hit it good,” Sogard said. “It might’ve been just soft enough to get it done. Great job by Nate on third to get a good jump and then obviously he’s really fast, so a lot of credit to him.”

Eaton slid ahead of the throw home from second base and the Sox came back to win, 5-4, in 10 innings after trailing 4-2 in the fifth. Lucas Giolito faltered after walking five, Justin Wilson let his inherited runners cross and Boston scraped together game-tying runs in the fifth and sixth while leaving five additional runners on.

Steal attempts by Trevor Story and David Hamilton couldn’t produce runs between the seventh and ninth, so the Sox turned to a Carlos Narváez sacrifice bunt to set up the Sogard winner. An approach Alex Cora considered a growth experience for the increasingly young team.

“A lot of guys grew up today,” Cora said, commenting on Zack Kelly’s contribution in the 10th. “That’s where we’re at too. It’s not like we have a lot of veterans that know what happens in October, so that was a huge learning experience.”

Yet Cora smiled and laughed when asked how they’re balancing winning with development. They’re not, he said. They plan to play in the playoffs, recalling his comments from last week about preferring not to talk talk about October. The Guardians could’ve pulled within 1.0 game of Boston if the Sox lost. September is to suffer, he said, quoting a friend.

Boston suffered plenty while leaving 12 runners on base across the game. Alex Bregman’s struggles continued with hard line outs and fly outs in his first four at-bats. Masataka Yoshida reached three times on his liners, and produced the first run in the cleanup spot. Cora shuffled the lineup again, got early returns between Yoshida and a Rob Refsnyder solo shot in the second, then familiar issues emerged. The heart of the order went down in order with a runner on second and no outs in the third. Narváez hit into a double play in the fourth. González and Refsnyder struck out with the bases loaded in the fifth. Cora had altered how they’d approach strikes going in.

“Hopefully, today, we’re very stubborn, as a group in the strike zone,” Cora said. “I think that’s where we’re at our best. We know that.”

The returns over the last week continue to puzzle, the Sox producing hits and walks early in innings only to falter when the time comes to drive them in. Boston fell to 20th (.249) with RISP, and 17th in OPS in those situations (.749), though the team has continued to stress that it’s not because of the pressure, inexperience and moment.

Giolito wore Wednesday’s near loss while praising the efforts of the team’s young arms like Connelly Early, who thrived the day before in a loss. Kelly, an AAA call-up righty, picked the back end of the bullpen up in back-to-back days. For Trevor Story, who himself hasn’t played significant amounts of October games in his career, and Giolito, they’ve mostly preferred to let the young cast be through this process while being available for advice when needed. But he handed it to the young contributors on Wednesday while putting the blame for the harder-than-necessary win on himself.

“I was trash,” Giolito said. “Battling the command thing, there were periods of time where I was locked in, I was executing pitches, especially pitches I needed to in that one situation with runners in scoring position where we got out of that scoreless. Same situation in the fifth, I just didn’t have it … you can’t walk five, that’s just not acceptable, but I’m glad that everyone else picked me up today. It was a much needed win.”

• Wilyer Abreu (calf) will not make his return from the injured list on Thursday afternoon against the Athletics in the series finale, Alex Cora said on Wednesday. Abreu continued running the bases and ramping up, with a return still in play at Tampa this weekend, but felt continued soreness that the team will manage cautiously in an effort to avoid a set-back. He’s now missed 28 games with the injury.
• Roman Anthony (oblique) walked for 25 minutes on the treadmill, Cora said, two weeks after suffering the injury against the Guardians. The Sox have lost 7-of-11 since Anthony exited their lineup.
• Kyle Harrison will join the Red Sox rotation on Saturday against Tampa after Boston steered clear of using him in relief on Tuesday and Wednesday. Cora said the Sox made the decision based on his effort against Sacramento last week, when he kept the Sox in play late through three innings of relief, allowing no runs on three hits while striking out two. He tossed 35 strikes on 49 pitches in his first MLB appearance since arriving from San Francisco in the Rafael Devers trade. Payton Tolle will go to the bullpen, with Connelly Early returning for his third career start on Sunday in Tampa. Garrett Crochet will pitch as scheduled on Friday to begin the series.
• Trevor Story broke the AL record for most steals to begin a season without getting caught (31) before Shea Langeliers put him out in a 4-4 game to end the eighth inning. Cora discussed his base-running prowess before the game: “I don’t know where he’s at in his career, 82%, probably, success rate. I know Carlos Beltran is the best one in the history of the game, it’s 85-86% and one of the things both of them talk about is like, ‘I’m in scoring position at first, so when I go, I better be safe’ … I remember last year, or the year before, he got thrown out and he doesn’t show a lot of emotion, but in the dugout, he was very upset … it’s not a gamble with him. It’s not. With him, he knows when he’s gonna be safe and he takes off. I think his first step is great. His leads are the ones. You guys should take a look at them, I think it’s the biggest lead in the big leagues … he does everything fundamentally sound, perfect, to be in this position.”
• OF Kristian Campbell remains in play to joined the Red Sox once the AAA season ends, but Cora stressed that despite an uptick in hitting, particular putting the ball in the air, he still has things to work on, including a recent switch to the outfield defensively: “He’s had some good days hitting the ball hard, and others, not so great. He’s been getting hits, he’s been playing better defensively in the outfield, there’s still work, I think, offensively and we’re gonna grind with him.”

The post Red Sox Young Players Learning Through Playoff Push appeared first on CLNS Media.

“We lose that game because I can’t do my job,” Weissert said. “It’s so important to get it to (Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman). We’re fighting all game. Early pitches an unbelievable game and I go in there and do that bullshit. It sucks.”

The Sox squandered a stellar second career start by Early, 5.1 shutout innings before his inherited runner scored, working around hits in five of his six innings with no walks and seven strikeouts. More impressively, he faced the Athletics again, so many of Sacramento’s hitters faced Early for the second time in as many weeks. They finished 10-40 against him, striking out 18 times and managing only that one run across 10.1 innings. Yet the Sox lost on Tuesday, and fell behind Houston into the second wild card by 0.5 games.

Cora pulled Early as four Athletics righties loomed with one out, already planning to turn to Weissert who struck out Brent Rooker, who Boston feared most seeing Early for the third time. Then, the Athletics pinch hit a lefty, Tyler Soderstrom, who scored Jacob Wilson from first base with a double. Brett Harris drove Soderstrom home with a single on an outside slider in what became the game-winning hit.

“That was (Weissert’s) pocket right there,” Cora said. “(Early) did an amazing job. They had some tough righties coming up and we just have to close the deal.”

It hurt Cora that he said before the game that Early entered with no limitations and the ability to reach 90-95 pitches. He finished with 80 and had retired six of the previous eight hitters he faced. Early also held Rooker and Colby Thomas, the next two batters due up in the sixth, to 2-9 with a pair of singles and five strikeouts between the two games. The next batter, Darell Hernaiz, combined to hit 0-4 against Early in their matchups.

The offense let the Sox down most. They stranded 10 runners against A’s starter Jeffrey Springs, who they lit up last week, left the bases loaded in the second inning and finished 0-7 with runners in scoring position. Sacramento’s Mitch Spence managed 3.2 innings and 52 pitches while holding the Sox to 3-15. When he exited, Boston couldn’t even get an at-bat off against Hogan Harris, who picked off Nick Sogard. The Sox scored their only run on Carlos Narváez’ double in the third because Lawrence Butler bobbled the ball in center.

Early’s pull became the defining moment though, drawing the most visceral reaction from fans, and it didn’t help that a similar scene played out weeks prior when Cora removed a scorching Payton Tolle from his MLB debut after a pair of singles and called on Weissert — who blew the game.

“Weissert’s a really good matchup against (Rooker),” Early said. “That’s why we went with that. I struggled a little bit against him the first time, and he saw me pretty well, so I think that’s why we went with it.”

• Wilyer Abreu (calf) took more batting practice on Tuesday after running and feeling some pain during Monday’s Red Sox off day. He felt better after arriving on Tuesday, Cora said, and is day-to-day to begin a week where he’s expected to return from the injured list. Cora added that the pain did not include tightness.
• RHP Payton Tolle and RHP Kyle Harrison will pitch out of the bullpen to begin the week. The Sox haven’t decided how they’ll use them beyond that, though Cora noted that they’ll need to enter by Wednesday’s game to stay in line to start this weekend. RHP Lucas Giolito and RHP Brayan Bello will pitch on shorter rest on Wednesday and Thursday against Sacramento.
• Romy Gonzalez’ (0-5) 14-game hit streak ended on Tuesday, grounding out into a double play with the bases loaded in the second and ending the game with a double play in the ninth.

The post Alex Cora Pulls Connelly Early Too Soon in Key Red Sox Loss appeared first on CLNS Media.

There, Garrett Crochet’s start, easily his most consequential in a Sox uniform, nearly proved enough to calm a teetering season on its own. But the Sox would need run support in a game where the ball left the yard three times off Yankee bats. And Boston created more than enough in the first by keeping the line moving, as the team often says. All nine Sox batters made plate appearances in the opening frame after starving for offense on Friday and Saturday, the first five recording hits before Crochet and the bullpen carried them to a 6-4 win.

“That was huge,” Cora said. “We’ve been talking about runners in scoring position. We did an amazing job putting the ball in play. Alex, man on third, two strikes, makes contact, gets the single and we kept going. In an era that people love what (the Yankees do), hit the ball out of the ballpark. That’s the reason they’re so good. Where we’re at right now, we’re not doing that, so we have to cash in. We have to make contact when it matters and try to score, of course, as many runs as possible.”

Yet aside from that flash, a definitive difference between the two teams emerged from the final Yankees-Red Sox series. Aaron Judge resembled himself. Jazz Chisholm Jr. stole the show on Saturday and Cody Bellinger alongside Giancarlo Stanton give the Yankees lineup pop the Sox don’t have without Bregman playing at his best, Roman Anthony available or the Trevor Story from earlier in the year. So the Sox needed to lean on their pitching, which Cora called for since the day Anthony went down and received to near perfection.

Crochet got ahead on Yankees hitters, dialing up to 99 miles-per-hour early and dropping sweepers into the low-80s to strike out Judge in his first two at-bats. The first five New York batters fell, all fell behind in a 1-2 count or saw fewer pitches into the third before Ben Rice struck the Yankees’ first hit in the eighth hole. Then, Crochet downed Austin Slater and Judge in six-pitch at bats. The long ball hurt him again, Amed Rosario lifting an off-speed pitch over the monster before Judge hit a fastball 400 feet. Crochet’s now allowed 10 homers over his last seven starts while still managing a 5-2 record for the team with an ERA just below 4.00. It’s part of his approach — deliberately throwing strikes.

“He’s an ace. Big, big stuff,” Aaron Boone said before the game. “Big arm. Deception to the delivery. Pitches in the strike zone. Big fastball, cutter, slider. He’s tough. As best as you can, easier said than done, you’re gonna get some pitches to hit, and you gotta make hay on those and then hopefully have the ability to lay off when he is expanding, which he does a good job of, especially when he’s ahead, where he can get you expand because his stuff’s so good. So as best as we can, we gotta do that and then take advantage of the pitches that we’ll get, because we’ll get some to hit.”

The win marked Crochet’s 20th quality start, the most from a Red Sox pitcher since Chris Sale in 2017. He completed the sixth inning with 99 pitches before passing a 6-3 lead onto Steven Matz, who worked around a homer of his own, before Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman retired six batters in a row. That’s the formula for a Sox win over the Yankees as their collision course continued over the weekend, though New York’s series win tilted the likelihood toward the three AL wild card games taking place in Yankee Stadium. An even harder park to keep the ball in.

Crochet can do so by missing bats, all of his strikeouts, which came one short of tying a career-high, came on swings-and-misses. And the distance he covered in the game, avoiding turning the middle innings over for relief, came as part of a careful management plan that has him on the verge of the playoffs healthy and peaking. The start that got postponed in August and an abbreviated one before that, along with a careful watch on his pitch totals frustrated him earlier in the year. He understood more, in retrospect, what he can allow this Sox team to do even after losing two crucial games to begin the series. One win in his Game 1 start in October would give the Sox two chances to advance. That’s a good bet after taking 21 of his 30 starts through Sunday.

“For all those questions about workload and stuff down, I think the last pitch was what, 99 (MPH)?” Cora said. “So he’s in a good spot. I think the trainers and the organization have done an amazing job taking care of him. Obviously, the Mets one, everybody was going nuts, but there’s a reason, right? For him to be doing this, we needed to do it that way when we did it, then after the all-star break, the group prepared a schedule for him, and we took care of him for him to take care of us, and hopefully the rest of the month and hopefully, in the next one, he’s a huge part of it.”

• Wilyer Abreu (calf) took more batting practice and ran the bases as he progressed toward a potential returning in this week’s Athletics series. Alex Cora did not share a more definitive timeline for now.
• The Red Sox did not announce their starting pitching plan for the Sacramento series between Tuesday and Thursday, though it will likely involve some combination of Connelly Early, Payton Tolle and Kyle Harrison.
• Boston moved 1.0 game ahead of the Astros in the wild card standings as Seattle built a full game edge on Houston for the west with its win on Sunday. The Rangers, who also lost, fell 3.0 games behind the Sox outside the playoff picture. The Sox trail the Yankees by 1.5 games for the top wild card spot and home field in the first round of the playoffs, where they’re still lined up against each other.

The post Garrett Crochet Best Hope for Red Sox Making Extended Playoff Run appeared first on CLNS Media.

“You gotta be careful,” Cora said. “One bad step can put you in a bad spot … talking about health. A lot of conversations with trainers … and then we go from there. I think we’re deeper, pitching-wise than, obviously, the last three years. We’re in a good spot. We got our starters rolling this weekend, Gio, Bello and Crochet. Hopefully they can go deep into the game and then we can mix-and-match.”

Finally, it all came together. His pre-game sessions, in recent weeks, had involved laundry lists so injury updates, lineup-shuffling so drastic that Jarren Duran landed on the bench on Saturday and an unfinished pitching rotation plan that the team hopes to finalize on Sunday. Despite it all — the prospect of missing the playoffs didn’t emerge as a possibility until a difficult loss on Saturday that Cora already sat wary of hours before. He prepared to manage aggressively.

The Red Sox submitted a lineup card filled with righties against Yankees starter and Cy Young candidate Max Fried. Cora, calling Fried a different kind of lefty, took drastic measures. Then, he continued to after Brayan Bello put Boston in an early hole. The Red Sox pinch hit three times, used Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman while trailing late and still lost 5-3 after nearly erasing a 4-0 deficit. Boston fell 2.5 games behind New York, and closer to missing the playoffs — 2.0 games above Texas — than hosting the wild card round at Fenway.

Cora deflected several questions about roster plans leading up to October. One, wondering how the Sox would line up against lefties, drew the manager to cast some doubt, or at least remind his team, reporters and fans that Boston’s first trip to the playoffs wasn’t inevitable. It felt that way when the Sox took 3-of-4 from the Yankees in the Bronx last month. Boston peaked at a 98.2% chance to reach the postseason on Sept. 2.

Those odds plummeted to 82.3% this weekend.

“I think we should stop talking October, to be honest with you,” Cora said before Saturday’s game. “There’s a lot of stuff going on, and we have to play better. I’m not saying we’re in a bad spot, but I think we have to wait to see if October is part of this.”

Was it a call-out? A reminder of their reality? Roster limitations, late season exhaustion and a string of injuries could all explain a fourth straight year out of the playoffs. But it feels like a failure given what they achieved in August.

Cora challenged the offense, specifically, to play to the level they had all season. To keep the line moving. Most of the roster began the year with Boston and hit productively, he said. Later, Cora saw Saturday’s loss a progress, including nine hits off Fried, solo shots for Alex Bregman and Jarren Duran. The Sox put three runners in scoring position in the first two innings, then Fried retired six straight batters. Boston finished 1-7 with runners in scoring position, falling to 3-31 over the past three games.

Bregman faced the media after, a familiar sight after emerging as the vocal leader for the clubhouse in his first season. He, too, fell from his offensive height (.309) in mid-August to .278, but broke a homer-less streak by hooking a 1-2 fastball off the Pesky Pole. Prior, he saw what he feared could happen following Roman Anthony’s injury earlier this month. The Sox lost 5-of-9 since, and pressed into the New York series. Nate Eaton ran into an out going first-to-third on a shallow hit in the second and Bello threw only 52-of-92 pitches for strikes.

“You can start swinging harder, trying to do more,” Bregman said. “You can start trying to throw harder and miss over the middle of the plate. I think it’s just slow it down, execute. Sometimes less is more. I feel like that’s something that we need to do a little bit better of a job of. I think the last two days, we’ve been pretty amped up. Obviously, we’re excited, we got a packed house here at Fenway. Sometimes, I think less is more. Try to simplify.”

Anthony’s return doesn’t loom anytime soon. Wilyer Abreu’s could come next week, and while his defense and bat could help, he’ll need time to return to form after missing roughly one month with a nagging calf injury. Cora relented that the bullpen won’t change much from its current cast of right-handers. They lined up the rotation to pitch their three best starters against the Red Sox. Balancing innings, workload and the playoff picture, Cora managed with desperation. Duran stepped in with a home run to slash the lead to 4-3 late. Nathaniel Lowe couldn’t get on base in front of him to make it a game-tying blast. Half the plan worked in the eighth inning.

Aaron Judge beat Chapman in the ninth before the Sox fell 1-2-3 in the bottom half. Cora knew Chapman’s un-hittable streak would end eventually. That dominance on the mound needed to continue to carry the team through missing so much lineup depth. When Anthony fell, Cora stressed the group would keep going. Pitching carried them to a start better than many anticipated.

Now, to avoid an all-too-familiar late season collapse, they’ll need to remain calm, yet urgent, in a playoff race that few players in the locker room have experienced.

“We tried everything today, understanding that the two guys have been rested throughout the week, especially Whit,” Cora said. “We took a chance there, it just didn’t work out.”

• OF Roman Anthony (oblique) will begin working on the treadmill in the first progression of his rehab following initial treatment.
• OF Wilyer Abreu (calf) will return in either the Athletics series between Tuesday-Thursday, or the weekend series in Tampa that follows, Alex Cora said. Abreu last played on Aug. 17 after exiting a home loss to Miami, needing to slow his rehab process after not responding well to running. He’s since been visible in batting practice and has progressed in his running: “He’s out there working out today … he seems like he’s doing a lot better. Yesterday, he ran at 86%. Like I said, getting to 90 is good enough for us. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
• They can measure running percentage, of course: “With the catapult.”
• RHP Liam Hendriks felt forearm tightness during his throwing routine that led the Red Sox to shut him down several weeks ago. He’s unlikely to pitch again this season, Cora said. He last appeared on May 27 and finished 0-2 with a 6.59 ERA in 13.2 innings after missing the entire 2024 season. His two-year, $10 million contract expires this winter, but he plans to keep playing.
• Cora expects that Justin Slaten, Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock and Zack Kelly will likely constitute their right-handed relief pitching for the stretch run. It’s possible, he said, that Slaten can extend beyond the one inning usage he’s handled since returning from injury last month.
• Romy Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
• The Astros defeated the Braves and Mariners won their eighth straight to tie the Red Sox for the second wild card spot. One of the two will likely win the AL West, while Texas now sits only 2.0 games behind those three teams to steal a wild card spot.

The post Alex Cora Can Sense Red Sox Season Teetering After Yankees Loss appeared first on CLNS Media.

Reinforcements loom. Wilyer Abreu should return next week. Romy Gonzalez‘ 12-game hitting streak helped before he fell injured earlier in the week. Roman Anthony could return for the playoffs, however unlikely. But a 4-1 loss put the Red Sox in a difficult position on Friday, 1.5 games behind the Yankees with two remaining head-to-head on Saturday and Sunday. Two of those players won’t help immediately after Boston hit 0-8 with runners in scoring position, squandering opportunities Yankees mistakes handed them in the fifth and sixth innings.

“We have to go out there and execute,” Alex Cora said. “Nate (Eaton) put a good at-bat with first and second, 3-2 count, then he hit the homer. Ceddanne took the two walks, Alex walked and got the base hit, so there’s a few signs out there that tells me that some guys are gonna get hot, but as a unit we have to be better.”

After Judge blasted his 47th home run and third in two days to pass Joe DiMaggio in Yankees career home runs, Gil held the Sox hitless for his six innings and 93 pitches. New York was far from perfect. In the second, Jose Caballero let Masataka Yoshida reach on an error and Gil threw a wild pitch to send Carlos Narváez to second after a fielder’s choice. In the fifth, Narváez advanced again after walking, which Boston did four times against Gil. He balked to advance both runners after David Hamilton’s walk, then three straight Sox went down.

An Alex Bregman leadoff walk in the sixth and Jazz Chisholm toss into the dugout gave the Sox more chances in the sixth that they couldn’t take advantage of. As did Aaron Boone pulling Gil with his no-hitter intact, Fernando Cruz allowing a two-out home run to Nate Eaton in the seventh and Ceddanne Rafaela walking in the following at bat. But Jarren Duran, leading off on Friday, ended the inning in the seventh as he did with two RISP in the fifth. Three straight Sox batters went down after Bregman’s single in the eighth.

“In any game, you have to cash in. It really doesn’t matter who you’re playing,” Cora said. “It’s something that I think the last few days we’ve been lacking production with runners in scoring position. We just gotta be better.”

While the Sox have emerged as one of MLB’s stronger offenses, ranking fifth in average and sixth in runs for the season, they’re 15th in average and 14th in OPS with runners in scoring position. Over the past week, around the time they’ve been missing Roman Anthony, they’re 18th in average and 17th in runs.

On the other side, execution cost the Sox an opportunity to keep it close later. New York’s second run came after a catcher’s interference call on Narváez, a play that originally was a Ben Rice inning ending fly out. Judge scored on Cody Bellinger’s ensuing single. Justin Wilson allowed a double to Caballero in the seventh, Narváez let him steal third then couldn’t connect on an infield-in tag play with Hamilton on the following play. Rice made it 4-0 only two batters later after the decision to intentionally walk Judge, and it probably should’ve became 5-1 in the eighth on a close sacrifice fly attempt by Chisholm, albeit Eaton firing home a great throw from right.

There’s time to get hitters back, win the series and rally for a postseason run. But each loss has hurt an offense that’s increasingly relying on minor league call-ups and moving hitters higher in the order to sustain. They’ve made it work for five months already. Much of that came following Anthony’s emergence atop the lineup.

“We had a few walks, but we didn’t square the baseball up as much as we should have today. I thought Jarren took some good swings, hit some balls hard, especially with 1st and 2nd, he hit the ball on the screws twice. I think we come back tomorrow ready to go and execute better tomorrow. Tip your hat to (Gil) tonight, he threw the ball really well and get back after it and keep going … you flush tonight and you focus on the next pitch. We’ve been talking about that for the last month.”

• LHP Brennan Bernardino (lat strain) is uncertain to pitch again this season after feeling something while playing catch in Sacramento earlier this week. The Red Sox placed him on the 15-day injured list and recalled LHP Chris Murphy (2-0, 2.81 ERA, 25.2 IP).
• OF Wilyer Abreu (calf) continued his progress toward a potential return next week, doing more running in recent days and taking batting practice on Friday. IF Romy González (knee) also hit pre-game and was available off the bench after leaving Tuesday’s win and missing Wednesday’s loss at Sacramento. He moved to the leadoff spot on Tuesday. OF Roman Anthony (oblique) is only receiving treatment at this stage, while RHP Jordan Hicks (shoulder) seemed to have a better chance of returning than RHP Richard Fitts (arm).

The post Red Sox Offense Feeling Losses Into Crucial Yankees Series appeared first on CLNS Media.

When he stumbled out of the batter’s box, laboring with his oblique strain suffered during the at-bat, he knew it felt worse than back pain he battled earlier in the season. Red Sox trainers saw it too, and Wednesday’s MRI only confirmed their suspicions. Anthony woke up feeling sore, and his mood worsened when he received a 4-6 week outlook for what he believed was a Grade 2 strain.

That could prove optimistic based on other Grade 2 cases that stretched longer.

“It sucks,” Anthony said. “I wish I could play. That’s all I really care about, so it sucks.”

“I’m gonna show up every day, do everything I can and trust our training staff, and trust the people around me and do everything I can to get out there as soon as I can.”

Anthony remained hopeful that he’ll play again this season, while Alex Cora stressed: Keep going. Pitching and defense alongside mixing-and-matching lineups already led them through the Triston Casas injury, Rafael Devers trade and additional turmoil into becoming an unlikely postseason lock. Yet another hit to their lineup depth while the team already searched for back-end rotation answers previewed a challenging final month for the Red Sox. As did falling behind 7-0 to the Guardians early in the series finale, Cleveland jumping all over Boston openers Brennan Bernardino, Jordan Hicks and Steven Matz for seven runs in the first two innings in the eventual loss.

Alex Bregman already prepared his message for the team the night before Anthony’s outlook became official. Don’t try to do too much, he told them. If everyone follows the game plan that got Boston where they are already, they’ll be fine, whether it’s situational hitting or fielding, he added. That plan fell apart quickly in the second inning on Wednesday, when Connor Wong committed catcher’s interference, allowing a hit and run after five straight Guardians hits to begin the frame. Jarren Duran dropped a ball in left field and the Sox fell out of the game before they could even reach planned bulk reliever Dustin May.

“We’ve seen it over the course of the last 10 years,” Bregman said when asked to elaborate by CLNS Media earlier in the afternoon. “It’s the same thing as the playoffs. When you’re playing postseason baseball, you don’t try and be the hero, you try to execute your game plan, and then you end up becoming the hero by coming through and doing those things. You have to focus on the task at hand, the next pitch, your game plan in an at-bat, or your game plan on the mound, or executing the fundamentals on defense and running the bases the right way. You gotta play good baseball and that’s the name of the game, especially this time of the year.”

Cora also sensed that the natural urgency September brings would carry the Sox through their latest loss, though Wilyer Abreu’s (calf) continued absence loomed even larger with Anthony out. Abreu’s without a timeline until he begins running. Boston promoted Nick Sogard into play the infield rather than outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, while Kristian Campbell’s ascension doesn’t appear imminent.

Neither does Kyle Harrison’s despite the need for starting pitching. Harrison reportedly headed for Boston to take part in Wednesday’s bullpen game before turning back, possibly over an ankle injury that Cora would not comment on. Spot starter Cooper Criswell also remained down with elbow inflammation with no update. The Sox, despite their depth, looked like a team running thin on Wednesday. Cora, however, expressed confidence in Rob Refsnyder and Nate Eaton defending in right field with Masataka Yoshida playing more in left.

“Obviously, waiting for (Abreu) to get back, but we’ll move it around,” Cora said. “We’ll mix-and-match, just like we’ve been throughout the season. We’ll be ok …  Nate is a good outfielder. Ref can do the job. This is where we’re at, so it really doesn’t matter. There’s no excuses, right? We just gotta keep continuing playing, and we will.”

Anthony’s rise from AAA marked a turning point in the Sox’ season. Boston went 32-35 to begin the season, trailing by 8.5 games in the division and 4.0 in the wild card. They won 46-of-73 (.630) since, and their 36-18 record since July began trails only the Brewers across MLB. Anthony hit .292/.396/.463 with eight home runs, 32 RBI and 40 walks to 84 strikeouts through his first 71 career games. The league named him AL rookie of the month for August on Wednesday.

Teammates have praised his poise, while Cora lauded his base-running and fielding improvement while he adapted to right field in place of Abreu. Bregman called Anthony one of the best hitters in baseball numerous times this season, and noted in New York last month that the team’s veterans have struggled to find something he’s not good at. He and Anthony became the team’s 1-2 punch with Duran now likely to take over the leadoff spot on most nights.

Life without Anthony immediately became difficult on Wednesday after two games and change where Boston exploded for 18 runs, 36 hits and secured a three-game win streak. The Sox managed only one run through the first seven innings while hitting .222. Boos rained down at Fenway after another ineffective Hicks appearance.

Now, they’ll try to hold on for as long as they can before whatever reinforcements they can find arrive.

“I told (Anthony) to envision ALCS first at-bat,” Cora said. “That’s what I told him. Put that goal in your mind and hopefully it happens.”

The post Roman Anthony (Oblique) Placed on IL and Out 4-6 Weeks for Sox appeared first on CLNS Media.

“I felt it today on the check swing, pitch before I swung and missed for a strikeout, just pretty sudden,” Anthony said after the game. “I’ll see tomorrow after the MRI … this is definitely worse (than the back injury earlier this season) in terms of the way it feels, but that’s right now. Again, I’ll just have to re-evaluate how I feel tomorrow … I wish I knew. I haven’t dealt with something like this before, so I’d be lying if I said I knew.”

“It sucks.”

The Red Sox led, 5-1, at the time entering a quiet fifth inning. Garrett Crochet had retired 11 straight Guardians and appeared on the verge of another stellar start and win. Then, he yielded a leadoff home run to Austin Hedges on the second pitch, the first of three blasts in the inning that nearly ruined his night in the worst start of his Red Sox tenure. Ceddanne Rafaela picked him up with a game-tying run in the seventh before the Sox scored four runs in the eighth to secure their third straight win, 11-7, over Cleveland.

“It is what it is, gotta move on. This interview looked a lot different 45 minutes ago, but that was a huge win,” Crochet said. “I wish that they could’ve picked me up after giving up one run, but it is what it is. I think that just goes what to show what this offense is capable of, and we’re never out of any game … I felt like I was getting the four-seam glove side a little more, that had been a big thing … was getting the sweeper below until I didn’t on that one … stuff felt really good, just made a couple of bad pitches there in the sixth.”

Eaton filled in for Anthony with two hits, including one to keep the eighth going after the Guardians recorded two quick outs with a runner on first. Bregman pushed Rafaela, who had reached on a fielders choice, home with a go-ahead infield single. Then, Jarren Duran and Trevor Story launched back-to-back doubles to give Boston enough breathing room to stay away from Aroldis Chapman on back-to-back days. Since Duran’s inside the park home run on Sunday woke up a slumping offense, the Sox have scored 18 runs on 36 hits.

But Boston already lost Wilyer Abreu in August with a calf injury that he’s made limited progress in recovering from. Alex Cora had announced before the game that Abreu still hadn’t started running after being told by trainers to slow his rehab last week. The Sox believe he’ll return, though they planned for Anthony to stagger Abreu’s right field duties once he did.

“Obviously, losing Roman today is a gut punch,” Bregman said. “One of the best players in all of baseball, but we gotta continue to push along. Nobody needs to try and do more, nobody needs to try and do more than they’re capable of. They just need to try and execute their game plan the same way that we’ve been talking about all year long, and continue to find ways to win, whether it’s high-scoring games, pitching and playing good defense, stealing a big base, moving a guy over.”

“It’s meaningful games in September, and all that matters is winning. I think the guys in here have the right mentality. Obviously today was a bit of gut punch for us, but everyone in here is mature enough to know to show up tomorrow ready to execute and continue to do that for the rest of the month and into the postseason.”

• Crochet gave up a home run for the fifth straight game going back to his Aug. 11 start: “I was actually talking to Fatsy the other day, how would you game plan against me? A lot of it was looking out over, anticipating the ball coming into you. So that would explain the Hedges (home run), that would explain the Rocchio one, but the one to Noel was kind of crazy and just gotta tip your cap, but up until this point, I’ve given up my fair share of solos this year, last year, years prior to that. It’s just kind of is what it is. For me, it’s limiting the multiple-run homers, which obviously I didn’t tonight and I think that’s why, ultimately, the start collapsed on itself.”
• The Red Sox will start LHP Brennan Bernardino on Wednesday in the series finale against the Guardians with RHP Dustin May likely to fulfill a bulk role as Boston lines up its rotation for the west coast road trip that begins this weekend. The Sox pushed back rookie Payton Tolle’s next start until Friday to manage his workload following his call-up from AAA-Worcester. It’s unclear what role LHP Kyle Harrison, acquired from San Francisco in the Rafael Devers trade, could play in the bullpen game. He’s reportedly dealing with an ankle injury. Harrison drove to Boston on Tuesday in preparation for a call-up.
• May is available for up to 40 pitches on Wednesday before he’ll return to the starting rotation on this upcoming road trip.
• Boston Red Sox recalled RHP Zack Kelly from the Worcester Red Sox and selected the contract of C Ali Sánchez for September call-ups, Sánchez acquired in a trade with the Mets. They declined to promote IF Kristian Campbell for now. OF Jhostynxon Garcia is a likely call-up if Anthony misses time.
• The Mariners, Rangers and Royals all lost on Wednesday, cementing the Sox and Yankees, winners, as relative playoff locks barring a massive collapse. Boston is now 4.5 games up on Seattle in the third wild card spot, 6.0 games above the Rangers outside the playoff picture, 7.0 games ahead of Kansas City and 8.0 over Tampa, who passed the Guardians (8.5 GB) after Cleveland’s two losses in Boston. The Sox are tied with New York, 2.5 games behind the Blue Jays for the division. Boston has a 98.1% chance to make the playoffs and 12.6% to win the division.
  

The post Roman Anthony (Oblique) Exits in 11-7 Red Sox Win over Guardians appeared first on CLNS Media.

“I knew (Alex Bregman) was in front of me, so I thought I was going to hold up at three,” Duran joked in the clubhouse. “I said, ‘oh crap, I’m gonna have to go here.’ I was running out of gas, but I’m just happy it worked out … they’re so rare. When you see one, it’s almost like an oh crap moment, like, this is gonna happen, this is gonna happen.”

The Sox started the night 3-18, 0-5 with runners in scoring position and averaged only 3.1 runs per game over the previous week. At risk of suffering a sweep to the 61-76 Pirates, Duran plated three runs and gave the Sox a 4-1 edge in the fifth inning. They went on to win, 5-2, and hoped they put the recent offensive lull behind them.

Duran finished with a double, the home run and two walks, Alex Bregman broke an 0-17 skid and Nathaniel Lowe returned from paternity leave with a pair of hits. Ceddanne Rafaela scored Lowe with an infield single in the sixth, stretching the lead to 5-1 after Narváez doubled in front of Duran the previous inning. Still, Bregman left the bases loaded to end the inning and Boston finished 2-9 with RISP. An Alexander Canario solo shot to lead off the next inning at least created some doubt, and a save situation Aroldis Chapman made easy work off once Garrett Whitlock escaped a bases loaded jam in the eighth.

“The energy in the stadium changed (after the Duran home run),” Alex Cora said.  “You could see them, hear them after that. It gave us energy … it’s hard to get energy when you’re not hitting. It’s not that we’re flat, or whatever. In this game, the energy comes from the offense and throughout the series, they did an outstanding job against us. We put some good at-bats … we ran the bases extremely well. Nate, first to third, that was huge, then the ground ball to short, he took off, he was safe. We did some good things, and hopefully we can get going against Cleveland.”

The Pirates found an early opportunity to knock Lucas Giolito out of the game after he retired the first seven hitters he faced. He walked three batters in a row with one out after yielding a leadoff double in the fourth inning. The lead runner Spencer Horwitz tried to steal third base too early and ran into an out, limiting the damage when Giolito threw a pitch away and allowed Nick Gonzales to score and secure a 1-0 lead.

Giolito bounced back with a 2-2 slider against Henry Davis that stranded runners at second and third. The Sox stranded two runners in scoring position for three straight at-bats in the bottom half before Duran’s long run an inning later. The sprint around all four bags took 14 seconds and reinvigorated Giolito as he watched from the batters cage and reworked his command with Boston’s coaches to make it through six innings allowing one run. The Sox have won 10 of his last 12 starts.

“It really fired me up,” Giolito said. “I told myself after that, it’s go time now. They don’t get anything else.”

• Wilyer Abreu (calf) did not come off the injured list this weekend after trainers told him to slow his recovery process. He’s hit and done fielding drills 13 days removed from his ailment, but Cora said before Sunday’s game that it’s taking longer than expected for him to return, though he’s still expected to. Abreu will be evaluated again on Monday. He did not aggravate the injury, Abreu said: “He hasn’t been able to run. Are we concerned? Yes and no. He’ll be back at one point, but I think it’s been longer than expected.”
• The Red Sox signed Chapman to a two-year extension worth $13.3 million in 2026 with a vesting option for 2027 should he reach 40 innings and finish the first season healthy, Chris Cotillo reported. The second year becomes a mutual option if not. The Sox officially announced the deal late on Sunday after he recorded his 27th save with two strikeouts: “The guy has been great for us, not only on the field … but as you guys see, in the clubhouse. The way he prepares. He’s been great,” Cora said.
  
• “(Continuity) is something we needed,” Cora said later. “It’s been a revolving door since (2021). If you look around, (Whitlock) and Tanner (Houck) are the only ones left from ’21. Ramon (Vasquez) and the clubbies, and the trainers, but as far as players, it’s been a revolving door. It’s hard to create a culture when you have so many moving parts and guys that come here, impact and then leave. To have familiar faces when you go to Ft. Myers, it means a lot. Obviously, we’re in the middle of a youth movement that we know those guys are gonna be here for a long period of time, but to surround them with guys who have been there, done that is very important.”
• Masataka Yoshida and Trevor Story combined to hit 0-8 on Sunday. Yoshida recorded hits in the first two games of the series and Cora saw improvement from him, seeing the ball better and staying in pitches going the other way. He entered Sunday hitting .227 in August. Story fell to 5-29 (.172) over the last eight games. Abreu could break into Yoshida’s time at DH when he returns, while Anthony has also spent time at DH.
• Bryan Bello and Garrett Crochet will open the Guardians series on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, before Payton Tolle will likely see his next start pushed back to Thursday. That could open the door for Kyle Harrison to make his Red Sox debut after he was scratched from his start with Worcester on Sunday. Harrison posted a 3.83 ERA in 11 starts and 49.1 innings with AAA-Worcester since joining the Sox in the Rafael Devers trade.
• The Phillies signed RHP Walker Buehler on Sunday, who Boston released last week.
• Boston pulled back within 0.5 games of the Yankees for the top wild card spot and stayed 2.5 games ahead of Seattle in the third spot and 5.0 games up on Texas outside of the playoff picture. The Sox are 3.5 games back in the division with 24 games remaining.

The post Jarren Duran Inside the Park Home Run Wakes Up Red Sox Offense in Win appeared first on CLNS Media.

Red Sox Content Brought to you by…. Prize Picks – https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS at PrizePicks.com/CLNS & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!

The post Payton Tolle and Roman Anthony Show Off as Red Sox Future appeared first on CLNS Media.

Payton Tolle walked off the mound after five stellar innings in his MLB debut. Andrew Bailey had checked in on him after allowing a single with one out, Boston maintaining a 2-0 lead at the time behind his brilliance and Roman Anthony’s 400-foot blast in the fifth inning. The Sox left him in the game, and another Pirates single followed, then an ovation once Alex Cora pulled him.

But Greg Weissert couldn’t escape the inning. Former Sox outfielder Tommy Pham and Pittsburgh legend Andrew McCutchen ripped back-to-back doubles off Tolle into center field. Tolle’s runners scored on the first to tie the game, and the latter gave the Pirates a decisive 3-2 edge as Cy Young favorite Paul Skenes avoided trouble for most of the night. Pittsburgh won, 4-2, adding an insurance run in the eighth.

Tolle’s night, a no-decision, still marked a massive positive in the Sox’ search for back-end rotation pitching for the final month and beyond. Boston surprisingly waived Walker Buehler, whose spot Tolle filled after a bullpen game earlier in the week. Dustin May moved to Saturday, so Tolle took the mound to loud applause after rain swept through the park earlier in the afternoon. With no delay, he powered four fastballs 97 miles per hour or faster at Pirates leadoff hitter, who struck out on a 98 mph rocket.

“It was a great night for us,” Cora said. “It sucked that we didn’t win, but the overall picture, that was a step forward for the organization. This season, his stuff plays and we’re trying to win as many games as possible, so he’s part of this. I’m just happy that he’s here.”

Tolle struck out four of the first seven Pittsburgh hitters he saw, mostly tossing fastballs with strong control throughout 5.1 innings where he allowed three hits. His eight strikeouts marked the most in a Red Sox debut since Daisuke Matsuzaka fanned 10 in 2007. Two of them came back-to-back in the second inning after he allowed a leadoff walk and double to McCutchen that put two Pirates in scoring position early. He escaped the jam with just 10 pitches to the next three Pittsburgh batters.

The Fenway crowd loudly saluted Tolle for his efforts throughout the game, while he flashed smiles back toward his fielders Nick Sogard and Alex Bregman, who hauled in difficult balls in play. Sogard narrowly avoided a major collision with Roman Anthony to secure his first catch in right field. The Sox took a 1-0 lead when Isiah Kiner-Falefa threw a ground ball away in the fourth, then Anthony took a 3-2, low-and-in fastball at 99 miles-per-hour to deep right field. Tolle struck out two more batters in a 1-2-3 fifth that took only 12 pitches to get through.

“A lot of chills,” Tolle said. “I tried to get out there a little early to take it in, just everything that I could, but it was incredible. I came off the mound after the first and I couldn’t feel my feet. It was the greatest experience of my life and it was the greatest atmosphere in baseball. I was very proud of it and I’ll look back on this day for a long time, thinking about this moment … I thought it was good. I thought we pounded zone, especially early. There were a couple times I got out of my legs a little … I’m just gonna compete every day, every outing … if I’m not competing, I’m dead.”

Tolle’s rapid ascent from 2024 second-round draft pick through Greenville (A+), Portland (AA) and Worcester (AAA) bookended a regular season marked by unfathomable readiness from the Sox’ young stars. While Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer faced more typical rookie challenges, Anthony quickly became one of Boston’s most important hitters while Tolle’s debut stood up with many other starts by Sox pitchers this year. His challenge will come pushing longer in games after averaging 4 2/3 innings per start in Worcester. Cora defended the decision to bring him back for the sixth, saying that’s what they expect from him.

The loss fell on Boston’s relievers, Weissert allowing Tolle’s baserunners to score before giving up another run. Jordan Hicks struggled again in the eighth, lasting only 0.1 innings and yielding an insurance run to Pittsburgh. The Sox hit 3-13 after falling behind in the sixth, and finished 1-7 with runners in scoring position.

“The roar after the third out, I wish everybody could experience that,” Tolle said.

“I was fighting back tears. I’m not gonna lie. It was special.”

• The Red Sox released RHP Walker Buehler on Friday after his removal from the rotation last month. Boston originally planned to move him to the bullpen. He posted a 5.45 ERA in 22 starts and 23 appearances, walking 55 batters and 1.56 WHIP. The Sox signed him to a one-year, $21 million deal last winter: “He was close to getting rolling,” Cora said before the game. “It just so happens that we ran out of time here.”
• Boston selected Sogard from AAA-Worcester for his positional versatility, Cora said. Sogard started at second base and walked in the ninth after recording outs in his first three at-bats. Nathaniel Lowe remained on paternity leave on Friday, while Romy González played first base and racked up three hits against the righty Skenes.
• RHP Justin Slaten made his first appearance since May after allowing no earned runs in three AAA rehab outings. He put three batters on base in the seventh, working around the first by forcing a double play and the second and third by striking out Bryan Reynolds in an important spot with Boston only down one. As Cora anticipated, they didn’t push Slaten multiple innings as they manage him carefully in his return from a right shoulder injury.
• Boston optioned OF Jhostynxon Garcia to AAA-Worcester after he hit 1-7 through his first five MLB games following his call-up last week. He recorded his first career hit with a double on Thursday.

The post Payton Tolle Sparks New Life into Red Sox Rotation in Debut appeared first on CLNS Media.