The National League Central is the Red Sox’s inexplicable kryptonite this season.
Entering Thursday night time’s sequence finale in opposition to the Cincinnati Reds, Boston was 0-8 in opposition to that division.
In their second sequence of the season, they allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates to brush them at Fenway Park for the primary time in franchise historical past.
But in Boston’s protection, their May sequence in opposition to the St. Louis Cardinals may’ve simply gone very otherwise. They carried a lead into the ninth inning within the sequence opener, solely to have Kenley Jansen blow the save and full a loss. Likewise within the second recreation, when Chris Sale’s eight-inning, one-run gem fell aside when Jansen once more struggled.
The Cards got here to city 13-25, and left with a brand new lease on life; the Red Sox haven’t precisely been the identical since. Now, they had been two video games within the gap in opposition to the Reds, who entered this sequence 24-29.
Why can’t the Red Sox, who’ve been a profitable crew for many of the season, work out the NL Central?
Opting out
Jorge Alfaro exercised his opt-out on Thursday, placing the Red Sox on the clock.
The membership has 48 hours so as to add the 30-year-old catcher to the roster, or they need to grant him his launch.
Alfaro is hitting .320/.366/.520 with two triples, six residence runs, 13 doubles in Triple-A Worcester this season, however though Alex Cora praised his efficiency, he reiterated his confidence within the big-league membership’s present catching tandem, Connor Wong and Reese McGuire.
“Right now, we’re very comfortable with Reese and Wong,” the supervisor stated Wednesday. “There’s 29 other teams out there, they might have a chance.”
“In a selfish way, hopefully nobody wants him. As a person and as a player, I would love him to be in the big leagues, either with us or somebody else, but this is where we’re at right now. We’re very comfortable with these two guys.”
Injury updates
Yu Chang is bettering after urgent pause on his hitting program, and can try and resume hitting on Friday.
Christian Arroyo’s rehab stint with Triple-A Worcester continues on Thursday night time, and he might be activated earlier than subsequent week. Adam Duvall has the night time off after back-to-back rehab video games, additionally with the WooSox. The earliest he could be activated is June 9.
Next up
The Red Sox are getting ready to host essentially the most formidable crew within the American League, although how does one actually put together to face the one crew with 40 wins?
Atop the East, the Tampa Bay Rays are 40-18, an eye-popping .690 win proportion, together with 26-6 at Tropicana Field. Boston’s solely hope is that its propensity for profitable at residence (15-13) will coalesce with the Rays’ 14-12 street file.
The four-game set features a Saturday doubleheader. Though doubleheaders aren’t unusual, the upcoming pair is exclusive, even when it received’t really feel totally different. This twofer is Boston’s first scheduled doubleheader since 1978.
Tanner Houck will begin one of many doubleheader video games, and Cora says it’s doable Corey Kluber will probably be pulled from the bullpen to take the opposite. He’s on the Paternity List after he and his spouse welcomed a brand new child.
Source: www.bostonherald.com