More free passes could be headed Rafael Devers's way
'I think they made the right decisions,' Megill told reporters of the intentional walk to Devers. 'He's got 48 RBIs and 12 homers, so he's doing something right. I put the trust in what they're seeing back there in the dugout and just go and attack the next guy. It seemed to work out.'
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Megill instead went after
who came into the game in the eighth inning as a pinch-runner for
Carlos Narváez
. Wong got ahead in the count, 2-0, but Megill challenged him in the zone with back-to-back 99 m.p.h. fastballs, then got a game-ending flyout to right on a 100 m.p.h. heater.
Devers now has 43 walks for the year — a pace that would yield 124 over 162 games. He has the most walks for a Red Sox hitter through 56 games since
Kevin Youkilis
(also 43) in 2010.
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Without Bregman, how difficult is it for manager
Alex Cora
to protect Devers in the lineup?
'Very. Very,' he said. 'But I'm going to keep saying it. We have to find a way.'
Related
:
Narváez became the third player in four Bregman-less contests to hit behind Devers, with the team previously employing
Wilyer Abreu
and
Rob Refsnyder
. On Monday, Cora put Narváez in the third spot in the order with
Kristian Campbell
back at cleanup in order to try to create space between Devers and Abreu (batting fifth on Monday) in the lineup.
Undecided on Tuesday starter
With the Red Sox rotation jumbled by Saturday's doubleheader, the team remained undecided as of Monday afternoon about its starter for Tuesday night's game. Cora said the Sox could employ a bullpen game, but that the team might also consider having righthander
Fitts, who went on the injured list on April 13 with a right pec strain, logged three scoreless innings for Double A Portland last week, sitting at 94-95 m.p.h. in the first two innings before his velocity dipped in the third.
'We feel [Fitts] is healthy, which is great,' said Cora. 'He might be a consideration [for Tuesday].' … While the Sox had yet to make a decision on Fitts, righthander
Zack Kelly
was sent down following the game as the Red Sox continue to scramble for bullpen innings …
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PawSox reunion
The series in Milwaukee offered a reminder of the remarkable broadcasting pipeline created by the PawSox and more recently WooSox. Four PawSox alums called the game, with
Mike Monaco
handling the radio call for the Red Sox and
Jeff Levering
(TV) and
Josh Maurer
(radio) both on the Brewers' broadcast. Maurer worked with all three as play-by-play partners during his time broadcasting PawSox and WooSox games from 2014-21.
'I thought about how incredibly special that is, that you could have the three people I worked with in Pawtucket for a lot of years all doing a Major League Baseball game together on Memorial Day,' said Maurer. 'It's kind of a pinch-yourself moment.' … Packers quarterback
Jordan Love
threw out the first pitch, drawing the loudest cheer of the day from the sellout crowd of 40,181.
Alex Speier can be reached at
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Alex Cora on pinch hitting Red Sox rookies: ‘The lefties here are real'
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has long held a philosophy of pinch hitting for rookies and young players against left-handed relievers or sitting them against lefty starters. It's something he did with lefties Rafael Devers, Jarren Duran, Triston Casas and Wilyer Abreu over the last few years, finding them pockets as they gain experience in the league. Sometimes he's been passive to a fault, not letting his young lefties gain enough experience. Advertisement Now that he has two of the top prospects in baseball on the big-league roster in Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer — both lefties — he doesn't plan to change that philosophy. Both players started Tuesday with Rays right-hander Ryan Pepiot on the mound. Anthony collected his first big-league hit with a two-run double in the first to help the Red Sox in a 3-1 win. He made a nice sliding catch in the sixth. Roman's 1st career hit is an RBI-double ✔️ — Red Sox (@RedSox) June 10, 2025 But with lefties looming on the schedule, Cora is planning to stick to his process. On Monday night, with the Red Sox trailing the Rays 3-1 in the sixth and Mayer due up at the plate against lefty Garrett Cleavinger, Cora pinch hit for Mayer with Romy Gonzalez, who promptly hit a two-run double to tie the score. On Friday night in New York, after Mayer had hit his first career homer, Cora pinch hit for Mayer with Gonzalez in the sixth with the Red Sox trailing 8-2 and lefty Brent Headrick on the mound. Gonzalez hit a two-run single to make it 8-4. A similar scenario with Anthony happened Monday night against the Rays. In the 11th inning of Anthony's big-league debut, he was scheduled to come to the plate to lead off the inning with the Red Sox down 10-8. Anthony had grounded out in the ninth to bring the Red Sox within a run before they tied it to send the game to extras. Rather than let Anthony hit in the big spot against a lefty, Cora turned to Rob Refsnyder, who drew a walk. But three batters later, the game was over. Part of the pinch hitting is the ability of Gonzalez and Refsnyder to hit lefties so well. Entering Tuesday, Gonzalez was hitting .353 with a .950 OPS in 38 plate appearances against lefties. Refsnyder was hitting .279 with a .958 OPS in 55 plate appearances. Advertisement 'This is what we do here, right?' Cora said. 'There's going to be lefties that, we're going to hit for them, they're going to pinch hit for other guys. We've got some good pinch hitters here. Romy, that's his job, and Ref, too, so we'll pick and choose. They understand.' Cora said he spoke with Mayer in New York about the pinch hit situation. 'That's a balance between developing the player and winning the game,' Cora said. 'It felt right there to pinch hit for him. Like I told him, I don't know if it's going to be this season, but at one point in his career, we're not going to pinch hit for him. I made sure to let him know that. Because he's very important in what we're trying to accomplish, he's part of the future and he's a good player.' Anthony, in particular, hit lefties well in Triple A this season, with a .361 average and .955 OPS in 75 plate appearances. Mayer hit .255 with a .699 OPS in 57 plate appearances against lefties this year for Worcester. But Cora said it's more about the level of pitching. 'The gap is big. It's very big,' Cora said, making note of the Triple-A schedule in which teams play six straight games against the same team, getting a chance to see pitchers multiple times in a week. 'I think the lefties here (in the majors) are real lefties, there's stuff here,' Cora said. 'Especially the guys in the bullpen, I truly believe that if you got stuff, you're going to be here, you're not going to be in Triple A or Double A. So what they (rookies) see here is different. And we have two of the best (pinch hitters). That's the reality of our roster.' Cora has by no means been a perfect manager with questionable bullpen moves and in-game decisions. On Monday, in a 6-5 game in the eighth, he pinch hit David Hamilton for catcher Connor Wong instead of hot-hitting catcher Carlos Narvaez. Advertisement 'I don't think people here are happy where we're at,' Cora acknowledged. 'This team is supposed to play better baseball and be in the hunt, right? And we're not there yet. So, my job is to try to maximize matchups and help win games. We haven't done that. But I think Romy has done an amazing job. Ref has done an amazing job. And the kids, they understand, they know. I had a conversation with Marcelo in New York, and today I talked to Roman about a lot of stuff, including pinch hitting. They're all into winning. They know. We will keep doing that.' This weekend, with the Yankees coming to town, the Red Sox may face three lefties in Carlos Rodon, Ryan Yarbrough and Max Fried. Mayer didn't start last Saturday or Sunday against Yarbrough and Rodon. Cora wouldn't say whether the rookies will start this weekend. 'We're trying to actually play the game of how to protect them,' Cora said. 'They don't see many lefties during the game, understanding that there's the pocket up there with Jarren (Duran) and Raffy (Devers). (Teams) bring in the lefties for those guys, then that's good. It's good for us. We'll keep making adjustments and see where we at.' Cora did note that if Monday's game had been tied in extra innings, Anthony would have hit. '(Anthony has) seen that guy (Rays reliever Ian Seymour) in the minor leagues before,' Cora said. 'So let him hit, get the guy over, probably pinch hit with Ref later on. You just got to manage the game, play the game.' The time will come for both Anthony and Mayer to face more lefties, and even though they are top prospects in baseball, Cora wants to ease them into certain situations while giving his team the best chance to win. 'They're very talented and they're here because they have earned the right to be in the big leagues,' Cora said. 'But there's a big gap. There's a big gap.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Red Sox and Rays meet in series rubber match
Tampa Bay Rays (36-31, third in the AL East) vs. Boston Red Sox (33-36, fourth in the AL East) Boston; Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Zack Littell (6-5, 3.68 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 52 strikeouts); Red Sox: Walker Buehler (4-4, 5.18 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 44 strikeouts) Advertisement BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -115, Rays -104; over/under is 9 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays meet on Wednesday with the winner claiming the three-game series. Boston has a 33-36 record overall and an 18-17 record at home. The Red Sox have gone 15-7 in games when they hit at least two home runs. Tampa Bay has a 13-11 record in road games and a 36-31 record overall. The Rays have a 23-6 record in games when they have more hits than their opponents. The teams square off Wednesday for the sixth time this season. The Red Sox lead the season series 3-2. TOP PERFORMERS: Ceddanne Rafaela has 10 doubles, two triples and six home runs for the Red Sox. Trevor Story is 12 for 38 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games. Advertisement Junior Caminero has 15 home runs, 12 walks and 41 RBIs while hitting .252 for the Rays. Yandy Diaz is 13 for 39 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 5-5, .263 batting average, 5.04 ERA, outscored opponents by one run Rays: 7-3, .249 batting average, 3.46 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs INJURIES: Red Sox: Wilyer Abreu: 10-Day IL (oblique), Josh Winckowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Burdi: 15-Day IL (knee), Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Liam Hendriks: 15-Day IL (hip), Alex Bregman: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Masataka Yoshida: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (knee), Tanner Houck: 15-Day IL (flexor), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow) Advertisement Rays: Jonny Deluca: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ha-Seong Kim: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Hunter Bigge: 15-Day IL (lat), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (tricep), Richie Palacios: 10-Day IL (knee), Alex Faedo: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nathan Lavender: 60-Day IL (elbow) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Red Sox and Rays meet in series rubber match
Tampa Bay Rays (36-31, third in the AL East) vs. Boston Red Sox (33-36, fourth in the AL East) Boston; Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Zack Littell (6-5, 3.68 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 52 strikeouts); Red Sox: Walker Buehler (4-4, 5.18 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 44 strikeouts) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Red Sox -115, Rays -104; over/under is 9 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays meet on Wednesday with the winner claiming the three-game series. Boston has a 33-36 record overall and an 18-17 record at home. The Red Sox have gone 15-7 in games when they hit at least two home runs. Tampa Bay has a 13-11 record in road games and a 36-31 record overall. The Rays have a 23-6 record in games when they have more hits than their opponents. The teams square off Wednesday for the sixth time this season. The Red Sox lead the season series 3-2. TOP PERFORMERS: Ceddanne Rafaela has 10 doubles, two triples and six home runs for the Red Sox. Trevor Story is 12 for 38 with two doubles and two home runs over the past 10 games. Junior Caminero has 15 home runs, 12 walks and 41 RBIs while hitting .252 for the Rays. Yandy Diaz is 13 for 39 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Red Sox: 5-5, .263 batting average, 5.04 ERA, outscored opponents by one run Rays: 7-3, .249 batting average, 3.46 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs INJURIES: Red Sox: Wilyer Abreu: 10-Day IL (oblique), Josh Winckowski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Nick Burdi: 15-Day IL (knee), Justin Slaten: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Liam Hendriks: 15-Day IL (hip), Alex Bregman: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Triston Casas: 60-Day IL (knee), Masataka Yoshida: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Kutter Crawford: 60-Day IL (knee), Tanner Houck: 15-Day IL (flexor), Chris Murphy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Patrick Sandoval: 60-Day IL (elbow) Rays: Jonny Deluca: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ha-Seong Kim: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Hunter Bigge: 15-Day IL (lat), Shane McClanahan: 60-Day IL (tricep), Richie Palacios: 10-Day IL (knee), Alex Faedo: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nathan Lavender: 60-Day IL (elbow) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
