Alex Cora had a colourful technique to describe his bullpen state of affairs on Sunday morning.
“You like rainbows? It’s a rainbow today on the card. We got green, got yellow, orange, red,” the Red Sox supervisor continued, alluding to the degrees of availability and unavailability on the lineup card. “We’ll be OK.”
Indeed, the Red Sox have been “OK” on Sunday, however not adequate to beat Mookie Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who took the sequence with a 7-4 victory.
“We tried, but they were really good today,” Cora mentioned.
Sunday was the Red Sox’s thirteenth of a 16-game stretch and not using a time without work, and so they’d gone by 5 relievers on Saturday. They’d additionally performed with out Kenley Jansen since Aug. 23 and misplaced Brennan Bernardino to the COVID-related injured checklist on Sunday morning.
In different phrases, Cora wanted his starter to get the job executed.
Unfortunately, Tanner Houck scuffled a bit. Making his first profession begin towards the Dodgers and solely his second begin since struggling a facial fracture in June, he lasted simply 4 innings.
When all was mentioned and executed, Houck was fortunate to have a comparatively clear last line. The 27-year-old right-hander exited charged with one earned run, 5 hits, two walks, and 4 strikeouts. He’d thrown 80 pitches, solely 50 for strikes, and induced seven swings & misses.
The Red Sox are being cautious with Houck after his damage, and 80 pitches was across the restrict imposed for this begin. Next day trip, Cora mentioned the righty might be full go.
Chris Murphy, recalled earlier within the day to take Bernardino’s spot, took over. He didn’t concern a stroll in his 4-inning outing, however the Dodgers didn’t want any free passes to place the damage on him. They pounced on the rookie left-hander for six earned runs on 9 hits, together with Betts’ first house run of the sequence and thirty fifth of the season, tying his profession excessive.
Meanwhile, opener Caleb Ferguson (1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB) and rookie Gavin Stone (6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2K) shut out the house staff till the underside of the sixth. Only then, with a runner on, did Triston Casas put Boston on the board along with his twenty first house run of the yr.
Not since Nomar Garciaparra’s Rookie of the Year season in 1997 has a Red Sox rookie underneath the age of 24 had a season with as many house runs. Casas has come a good distance because the begin of the season, when he completed the month of April hitting .133 with a .576 OPS and simply 10 hits in 25 video games.
It turned out, the one method the Red Sox may rating in any respect on Sunday was through the lengthy ball. In the underside of the eighth, Justin Turner and Adam Duvall started the body with back-to-back house runs into the Green Monster seats.
Much of this season hasn’t gone to plan, however there’s no denying the Red Sox are a a lot better home-run hitting staff than final yr. A yr in the past, they’d hit 119 house runs by Aug. 27; as of Sunday, they’ve collected 157 on the season.
Unfortunately, the three round-trippers weren’t sufficient to beat the guests from Los Angeles. All advised, the Boston bats collected seven hits and Turner drew the lineup’s solely stroll. The Red Sox have been 1-for-3 with runners in scoring place and left six on base.
The Dodgers may’ve executed much more injury. They amassed 14 hits and two walks, however went 4-for-9 RISP with 9 males stranded.
As he did so many occasions in a Red Sox uniform, Betts made the distinction for the Dodgers. He completed the day 3-for-5 with a house run, two runs, and a trio of RBI. His thirty fifth house run of the season sailed excessive and deep to the again row of the Monster seats, and tied the career-high he set final season. With over a month left to play, he’s sure to set a brand new benchmark for himself earlier than lengthy.
Betts had been the Dodgers’ final hope on Saturday, so it was solely becoming that Alex Verdugo was Boston’s on Sunday. With a runner on and two outs within the backside of the ninth, Verdugo struck out swinging on the third pitch.
Game over. Beaten by LA.
While a number of former Red Sox and Dodgers confronted off from new sides this weekend — together with Ryan Brasier, who sat the Red Sox down 1-2-3 within the eighth — Kenley Jansen didn’t pitch as soon as towards the staff with whom he spent the primary 12 years of his profession. After leaving his Aug. 23 outing in Houston with a hamstring ailment, the veteran pitcher rested by Saturday, and didn’t pitch Sunday as a result of Dodgers’ snug lead within the late innings.
“They’re just another team,” Jansen advised the Herald on Sunday night. “I love them, that’s where I came from, but we gotta treat every situation just like another team.”
Instead, the nearer had ample time to watch his present staff versus his former staff all weekend, and got here away from the sequence with a whole lot of ideas. He particularly lauded Casas.
“You know what’s impressive to me? It’s not just that he’s succeeding, it’s how he handled himself,” he mentioned. “To have a pretty tough April and May — and credit to (Alex Cora), and the front office, to give him that room to become a better player and not give up on him — he went on a road to have a legit season right now. It’s unbelievable. That, to me, is the most impressive, to see his mental side.”
Jansen and Turner have been teammates collectively on the Dodgers for a few years earlier than each signing with Boston as free brokers final winter. But not like Jansen, who already spent final season away from Los Angeles, Turner’s departure is recent. They declined his membership possibility for 2023, then spent over a month negotiating a deal earlier than the Dodgers pivoted to signing J.D. Martinez.
““I’m happy to watch JT having a big series against them. I’m so happy that he had a big series,” the Red Sox nearer mentioned. “People assume, you’ll be able to assume no matter you consider age, however typically, you gotta deal with it as only a quantity.
“He could easily play into his 40s, and he’s one of the smartest ballplayers I ever played with probably, and the most clutch.”
In truth, Turner, 38, and Duvall, 34, are the primary pair of Red Sox hitters aged 34 or older to every hit a minimum of 16 house runs in a season since J.D. Drew and David Ortiz in 2010.
Hearing that, Jansen smiled. “It’s impressive. I mean, it’s great,” he mentioned.
“But at the same time,” he mentioned, rising severe, “we want to be up by three now or something in the Wild Card, instead of being back.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com