Latest news with #Alex Cora
Al Arabiya
4 days ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Shohei Ohtani's home run streak ends at 5 games in Dodgers' win over Red Sox at Fenway Park
Shohei Ohtani was held homerless for the first time in a week in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. Ohtani struck out twice, singled, walked, and hit a foul popup. His five-game home run streak leaves him tied with six other players in Dodgers history. When Ohtani came up for the final time with one out and one on and the Dodgers leading 5-2 in the top of the ninth, Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought in left-hander Brennan Bernardino to replace righty Jorge Alcala. Ohtani popped up foul to the catcher. 'All good things must come to an end,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. Ohtani did not speak to reporters after the game. The three-time MVP homered on Wednesday night in the series finale against the Minnesota Twins, joining Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Shawn Green, and Roy Campanella as Dodgers with home runs in five games in a row. Ohtani is batting .273 with 70 RBIs and an NL-leading 37 homers. He's also pitched in six games and is scheduled to throw four innings on Monday in Cincinnati as he builds himself back up as a starter after his his second right UCL repair surgery. The record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, which has been held for a long time by Dale Long, Ken Griffey Jr., and Don Mattingly. Griffey in 1993 was the last player to do it.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Red Sox takeaways: Inconsistency, stealing strikes, and a homecoming
With the trade deadline looming next week — and with losses in four of their five games coming out of the break — it would be reasonable to question whether the Boston Red Sox will be buyers. But internally, the team seems confident that it can make a run. That belief stems from parity in the American League playoff picture and an ability to stick in close games, as they have lately. Advertisement The Red Sox have shown a frustrating imbalance, alternating between lackluster losses and gritty victories, with Wednesday's 9-8, 11-inning win over the Philadelphia Phillies falling into the latter category. It was a playoff-like game against a strong opponent and Alex Cora managed like it, sending Aroldis Chapman into the game in the seventh to face the dangerous Kyle Schwarber with one out and one on. Chapman got the job done, but he gave up a game-tying homer the next inning. However, the Red Sox badly needed a win, and they ultimately prevailed. They battled back from a 5-0 deficit on Romy Gonzalez's grand slam to take a lead, lost it with their closer on the mound in the eighth, went ahead again in the 10th and then did it again for good in the 11th on a Carlos Narvaez homer. Desperation might be too strong of a word, but Chapman's early entrance highlighted an mistakable sense of urgency. The Red Sox scuffled entering the trade deadline last season and made middling moves with three pitchers who were quickly injured. The previous year, they were in wild-card contention and didn't add much, as then chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom labeled them underdogs. Prior to the break, Cora was forthright about why the club has faltered after the break in recent years. 'When teams add and you stay put, other teams get better,' he said. 'It's not that you got worse. It's just that other teams took a step forward, and we haven't done that in a few years here.' Here are a few takeaways from a tough series in Philly as the Red Sox head home for a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday: The Jekyll-and-Hyde offense that has plagued the Red Sox all season resurfaced after the break. Boston's offense still ranks among league leaders, partly due to 16 games in which the Red Sox have scored 10 or more runs. Advertisement Wednesday's six-run outburst in the fifth inning was the fourth time this month the club has scored six or more runs in an inning, tops in the majors. Still, it's been a struggle for the Red Sox to post consistent numbers throughout the season. In their first five games out of the break, they scored 10 runs, but six came in Sunday's win in Chicago. They'd scored four runs in their other four games. The Red Sox have undoubtedly faced tough pitching, particularly in Philadelphia against Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez, but their inability to even put the ball in play hurt them as the strikeout numbers ballooned again. Through the first two games in Philadelphia, the Red Sox struck out 28 times: 16 in the first game and 12 in the second game. On Wednesday, they struck out 16 more times, albeit over 11 innings. They'd found a way to curb those whiff rates during their 10-game winning streak, but that hasn't been the case lately. They sit in ignominious company with the third-most strikeouts behind the Rockies and Angels. On Wednesday, they showed what they can do when they have a more patient approach and don't let innings snowball. The lack of offense has led to more one-run games, something the club battled earlier in the season, too. Their 33 one-run games are tied with Seattle for most in the AL. It's tempting to suggest a big bat is what the Red Sox need at the deadline, and while they are looking for more help at first base, is one bat the solution? When the lineup goes through tough offensive stretches, it's a team-wide issue. Moreover, the lineup is already crowded as Cora juggles to find a versatile group searching for playing time. Of course, if they add a first baseman, it would seem like they'd move on from Abraham Toro (versus Gonzalez, with whom Toro has split time. Gonzalez mashes left-handed pitching and is a more versatile defender). Either way, the offensive struggles have hurt the team, and if the Red Sox are pushing for the postseason, they'll face just as many tough pitchers. Rookie catcher Carlos Narvaez has been among Boston's most valuable players, leading all catchers with 16 Defensive Runs Saved and third with 11 Outs Above Average, while hitting .266 with a .778 OPS over 78 games. He unexpectedly took over as the team's starting catcher when incumbent starting catcher Connor Wong went on the injury list in April after breaking a finger on a catcher's interference call. Advertisement The catcher's interference calls have been costly for the Red Sox, and they came into focus again this week in Philadelphia. On Monday night, in a strange play that gave the Phillies a walk-off win in extra innings, home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott ruled Narvaez had interfered with Edmundo Sosa's bat path on a check swing with the bases loaded, forcing in the go-ahead run. It was the first time since 1971 that a game ended in a walk-off on a catcher's interference call. On Tuesday, Narvaez was docked again on another run-scoring catcher's interference when he stepped in front of the plate before the pitch, attempting to get Bryce Harper trying to steal home. The more traditional bat-clipping-mitt interferences have been on the rise across the league, but the Red Sox lead the league in such calls with eight, according to Stats Perform, with St. Louis second at five. Last year, San Diego led the league with nine calls through 162 games. The increase across the league is due in large part to catchers setting up closer to the plate. That helps catchers frame pitches better — the idea being that there's less movement for a ball to stray out of the zone if it's caught closer to the plate. 'The interferences around the league are way up,' Cora said on WEEI radio Wednesday. 'We're pushing our catchers — not only us — but as an industry, closer to hitters to steal strikes. That's the reality of it.' In recent years, as teams have searched for every advantage possible, tracking hitter positioning in the box with cameras around the ballpark and with internal data has become a focus. While Narvaez has been docked four times, he's also among MLB's best pitch framers. Per Statcast's catcher framing runs, he's tied for fifth league-wide with five. Veteran pitchers on the Red Sox have lauded Narvaez for his presence behind the plate and game-calling skills, but whether the Red Sox adjust his set up to prevent more interference calls remains to be seen. Advertisement The Red Sox knew this tough stretch was coming, and it hasn't been any less foreboding upon arrival. Each of their first three opponents after the break — Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles — lead their respective National League divisions. The Red Sox dropped two of three in Chicago and Philadelphia. They weren't blown out in those games, but losses are losses. The Dodgers come to Fenway this weekend, and for as good as they've been this season, they're in the midst of their own struggles, having gone 7-11 in July. They did pull off a walk-off win on Wednesday against the Twins. Mookie Betts is hitting just .238 on the season and .185 with a .548 OPS in July. With Brayan Bello, Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler due to start this weekend, the Red Sox need to find a way to use Fenway to their advantage, as their 32-20 home record indicates compared to a 22-29 road record. Cora said this past week that Alex Bregman should be a full-go, which will likely help the club. Since returning sooner than expected from a severe quad injury, Bregman has played two out of three games in each of the past three series. He was off Wednesday ahead of the team's scheduled off day Thursday, and while he hasn't been running at full speed on the bases, he has said he's felt he can push it if needed. Though the Red Sox are healthier than last year at this point, their pre-break surge and post-break struggles have been eerily similar to 2024, when they came out of the break with five losses in six road games in Colorado and Los Angeles. If the Red Sox can capitalize on the Dodgers' scuffles while playing at home, it would help in the days leading up to the trade deadline.
New York Times
20-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Tanner Houck setback a reminder Red Sox need rotation help entering trade deadline
CHICAGO — With the trade deadline looming a week from Thursday, the Boston Red Sox have shown their potential as a playoff contender but just as often have shown their flaws. How — or perhaps with whom — chief baseball officer Craig Breslow remedies the club's situation over the next 10 days is the obvious question as baseball's many contending teams jockey for the best available players. Advertisement Boston's offense has looked lethargic coming out of the break, as evidenced by one run scored through its first two games in the second half, but Breslow has said fortifying the rotation will be a priority, and Saturday offered more reason toward that end. Before a 6-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs, manager Alex Cora revealed that Tanner Houck suffered a setback at the end of his rehab assignment from a flexor pronator strain, an injury that has kept him out since May 14. 'We pulled him off the rehab assignment, and we're going to keep him on the IL,' Cora said. 'The trainers are working on him in Boston, and we'll have more information in the upcoming days.' Houck had begun a rehab assignment but gave up 10 earned runs in 15 2/3 innings, though just one earned run in his most recent 9 1/3 innings over two starts. Though he hadn't been part of the rotation mix for the past two months, his return would have offered more depth to the team's rapidly thinning rotation ranks. Nine of the 10 starters in the rotation mix to start the year have seen time on the injured list. Garrett Crochet, the lone healthy starter this season, is 17 1/3 innings away from a career high in innings pitched. Crochet will start Sunday against the Cubs, with a few built-in days off following the break, after a complete-game shutout during his final start of the first half eight days ago. Meanwhile, the Red Sox lost Hunter Dobbins for the season with an ACL tear just before the break and Kutter Crawford to wrist surgery a couple of weeks prior. Patrick Sandoval, who signed with the Red Sox in the offseason as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery, was expected to be ready at some point in the second half but still hasn't begun a rehab assignment. In Triple-A Worcester, Cooper Criswell and Kyle Harrison, acquired in the Rafael Devers trade, remain options. Advertisement Behind Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito have become the de facto Nos. 2 and 3 starters. Saturday, the Cubs pounded Bello early with back-to-back homers in the first inning and added a sacrifice fly in the third, making it 3-0, before Bello settled into a rhythm and made his eighth straight quality start of the season. Bello entered the break with a 2.69 ERA over his previous 10 starts after starting the year on the IL with shoulder inflammation and struggling through the first month. 'I told him today, the bad (starts) are those — six innings, three runs — (and he still) gave us a chance to win the game,' Cora said. And yet, the Red Sox know they need more pitching. Internally, the Red Sox are seeking a No. 2 starter, but balancing their desires with what they're willing to give up in a seller's market will be challenging. There is too much parity in the AL for the Red Sox to pass on improving their roster, but that also means the buyers outweigh the sellers and the cost for pitching will be high. The Minnesota Twins' Joe Ryan has been the pie-in-the-sky name floated as a target for many teams. The 29-year-old right-hander has posted a 2.72 ERA through 18 starts and is under control through 2027. But the Twins likely won't part with him easily. The Pittsburgh Pirates' Mitch Keller, who has a 3.48 ERA through 20 starts and is under control through 2028, offers the same issue of cost. Other controllable starters, such as the Miami Marlins' Edward Cabrera and Sandy Alcantara, haven't been as dominant but would still come with a high price tag. Controllable starters are almost always the preference, but as Breslow holds on to a 'future is now' mindset, adding rental starters might end up being the move. As it is, the Red Sox have their own cache of controllable starters, with Crochet signed through 2031 and Bello through 2029. Dobbins and Richard Fitts are in their first full year of service time. Harrison will eventually be in Boston's rotation mix and won't be a free agent until after the 2029 season. Advertisement That makes targeting starters who will enter free agency this winter more palatable and perhaps less expensive (trade package-wise) than those under control, like Ryan and Keller. Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are two pending free agents who could fit the Red Sox. Gallen was a Cy Young finalist and All-Star two years ago, though he is having a tough season with a 5.40 ERA. Kelly is amid one of his better seasons with a 3.34 ERA through 20 starts. Both pitchers have postseason experience from the 2023 World Series run. The Kansas City Royals are expected to trade veteran starter Seth Lugo, a free agent this offseason, who has a 2.94 ERA in 18 starts. He pitched well for the Royals in the postseason last year and has been tied to the Red Sox previously. There are other free-agent starters, like Andrew Heaney, Michael Soroka and Nick Martinez, but none fit the No. 2 starter profile to slide in ahead of Bello and Giolito. It's possible the Red Sox will pursue bolstering the rotation with any starter, but the asking price will be, as usual, the determining factor. With moves likely to pick up over the next week or so, the pitching picture figures to gain more clarity soon as the deadline approaches.
