Kutter Crawford gave the Red Sox the standard begin they wanted to finish a sweep of the Tigers.
Making his second begin of the season on Sunday in Detroit, the 27-year-old righty pitched 5 innings of one-run ball. He allowed 5 hits, struck out six, and didn’t concern a single stroll.
After dealing with six batters in a 22-pitch first inning extended by some shaky protection, Crawford settled in. He didn’t face greater than 4 batters in another body, and sat them down 1-2-3 in each the second and fourth.
The Florida native stored the Tigers on their toes with 5 sorts of pitches. He primarily relied on his cutter and four-seam fastball, but additionally blended within the curveball, changeup, and slider, with velocity starting from 77.4-95.2 mph.
Even although he solely wanted 65 pitches (44 for strikes) to get by way of his outing, Crawford’s location was spotty. He threw extra pitches out of the strike zone than in (36-29), and solely obtained seven known as strikes. Batters made contact 28 instances, and he was lucky that solely 5 resulted in base hits.
Still, he efficiently flummoxed the Tigers, getting them to swing at 36 of his pitches, with little to indicate for his or her efforts, and was rewarded along with his first win of the season.
It simply received’t really feel like a victory for very lengthy in the event that they lose Adam Duvall for any important period of time.
The Red Sox have been unable to finish the sweep unscathed. Attempting to make a rolling catch for the primary out of the ninth, the tip of Duvall’s glove caught on the grass, pulling his left wrist in a clumsy path. He was visibly grimacing as he walked off the sphere along with his supervisor and a coach, however was capable of wiggle his fingers as he went into the dugout and down the tunnel to the clubhouse.
The 34-year-old outfielder obtained off to a scorching begin to the season. Entering Sunday’s sport, he led MLB in runs, RBI, batting common, slugging proportion, OPS, and complete bases.
There’s an elevated degree of concern given {that a} torn tendon sheath in the identical wrist ended Duvall’s 2022 marketing campaign after 86 video games. According to Julian McWilliams and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox moved shortly to get x-rays carried out.
A supply informed the Herald that Bobby Dalbec is flying to Florida to fulfill the group. He’d exchange Duvall if an injured listing stint is important, however no official roster strikes shall be made till Monday.
Quick hits
Triston Casas continues to show that he could make fast changes. Facing a lefty-heavy pitching crew on Sunday, the rookie first baseman went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. Leading off the ninth, he turned Chasen Shreve’s 90.8 mph four-seamer right into a 401-foot, 107.4 mph house run. This enchancment couldn’t come at a extra opportune time; the Red Sox will face a really lefty-heavy pitching employees of their second and closing leg of the street journey, a four-game set in opposition to the undefeated Tampa Bay Rays.
Kenley Jansen labored his means into and out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam on Sunday afternoon, pitching a scoreless ninth to cement the sweep. He earned his second save of the 12 months, which places him only one away from tying Craig Kimbrel for seventh-most in MLB historical past.
Alex Cora says he hasn’t spoken to Kiké Hernández about his struggles at shortstop, however known as the super-utilityman’s play “robotic” twice forward of Sunday’s sport.
“It’s moving fast on him right now,” the supervisor informed reporters. “I do believe that he’s forgetting that he’s probably one of the best athletes on the field and he’s becoming very robotic out there.”
When the Red Sox prolonged Hernández for an additional 12 months final fall, the plan was to have him primarily in centerfield, however they needed to make some rearrangements once they misplaced Xander Bogaerts in free company and Trevor Story to UCL surgical procedure. Hernández was their greatest inside choice for shortstop, with 618 profession innings on the place, however taking up the place in an on a regular basis capability has been a battle up to now. He’s minus-2 defensive runs saved with 5 errors in his first eight video games.
There was additionally reward inside Cora’s critique.
“The same way you play second or the same way you play center: attack the ball, get rid of it. One of his pluses is this and the accuracy of his arm, so just go out there and be an athlete. I think he’s been too cautious, too perfect from my eyes,” Cora stated.
Speaking of Bogaerts, the latest member of the San Diego Padres remains to be maintaining along with his outdated membership. He current made an look on MassLive’s “Fenway Rundown” podcast and informed Chris Cotillo that he stays in fixed contact with Rafael Devers and has even been watching Red Sox video games.
Next up
The Red Sox head south for a four-game set at Tropicana Field. They’ll need to deal with the undefeated Tampa Bay Rays, who stand 9-0 atop the American League East. No different MLB group has greater than six wins.
According to ESPN, the Rays are the primary group since 1884 with a run differential over 50 by way of their first 9 video games of the season.
The presumed pitching matchups for the collection are RHP Nick Pivetta/LHP Josh Fleming, RHP Garrett Whitlock/LHP Shane McClanahan, LHP Chris Sale/RHP Zach Eflin, and RHP Corey Kluber/LHP Jeffrey Springs.
Whitlock is ready to make his season debut on Tuesday. After season-ending hip surgical procedure final September, the Red Sox dealt with him with care this spring. He started the 12 months with a pair of minor league begins, opening Triple-A Worcester and Double-A Portland’s seasons.
Putting on the headset within the dugout throughout Sunday’s sport, Pivetta informed the published sales space what his largest focus is that this season.
“Limiting walks… putting batters away early, as fast as I can, so I can go deep into games,” the righty stated. “It’s what starters are meant to do.”
Expect to see a number of Rob Refsnyder on this collection. He demolished lefties final 12 months, hitting .359 with a 1.005 OPS in 38 video games.
Source: www.bostonherald.com