The Boston Red Sox Sunday, July 15, 2018

* The Boston Globe

Eduardo Rodriguez injury throws Red Sox trade plans for a loop

Nick Cafardo

Everyone always thought Eduardo Rodriguez would put it together and be a front-of-the-rotation starter someday. He was really getting close to being there in previous outings and especially Saturday until on a cover play at first base in the sixth inning when Rodriguez sprained his right ankle and had to come out of the game.

What a blow to the Red Sox on a day when they took an exhilarating 6-2 10th-inning walkoff win on a Xander Bogaerts grand slam before an electric crowd at Fenway.

“I was just talking to [trainer] Brad [Pearson]. It looks bad,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was referring to the swelling in Rodriguez’s ankle. “He’s walking around, which is encouraging. We have to go through the tests and see what happens.

“Today was probably his best one. Throwing strikes, great tempo, pitching to contact and then that happens. We’ll see. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I felt he was making strides and making great pitches. Hopefully he’ll be OK.”

While X-rays were negative, there was more exploration to be done because of Rodriguez’s history with kneecap issues (although they seemed to be resolved by offseason surgery).

Sprained ankles aren’t good for any player and it’s especially tough for a pitcher since, in E-Rod’s case, that’s his landing leg. Cora insisted that there was nothing wrong with his knee after the incident.

Rodriguez had already left the ballpark before media availability after the game, so he was not around to comment.

The bigger question is do the Red Sox need to be in the market for a starting pitcher?

Rodriguez extended his scoreless string to 19 innings. He has become a significant part of the starting rotation. Are the Sox now destined to have to scout the Tigers’ Michael Fulmer or the Rangers’ Cole Hamels or the Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ when they should be devoting their resources toward a reliever, such as the Orioles’ Zach Britton? It’s a shame for a team to be on such a roll and have to put an 11-game winner on the shelf.

They benefit on the healing side by added days off from the All-Star break, but they have two pitchers — Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright — who can’t seem to make it back. Pomeranz has had all sorts of delivery issues in his three rehab starts, while Wright’s knee remains inflamed and the cartilage restoration rehab is going about as well as Dustin Pedroia’s.

Brian Johnson has also been on the DL with a hip ailment though he’s expected back Sunday. Would the Red Sox go with a staff of Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Johnson, and Hector Velazquez for the short term? Would they include Jalen Beeks? This would be a staff that on paper is weaker than the Yankees, who are also looking to add a starting pitcher.

With one out in the sixth inning Saturday, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounded to the right side where first baseman Blake Swihart ranged to his right but bobbled the ball. He caught the ball barehanded and threw to Rodriguez, who was running to cover the bag. The throw sailed behind E-Rod, who then had to jump over Gurriel as he was sliding headfirst into the bag. However, Rodriguez caught his left leg on Gurriel’s helmet and landed awkwardly on his right foot.

Rodriguez tried to work it out and got on the mound. But, after one throw to the plate, flexed his leg again, and that’s when the Red Sox training staff and Cora told him to shut it down.

It was an unfortunate development for a 25-year-old guy that was really pitching well (11-3, 3.44 ERA). There are things that still drive you cuckoo about him, like the parade of injuries and throwing too many pitches, which limit the length of his outings.

Economizing is often a problem of young pitchers. Most of them eventually figure it out. Jon Lester used to suffer from this, but he learned to economize to the point where he could pitch beyond seven innings but still throw 100-115 pitches in a game.

Rodriguez had won his last start vs. the Rangers on Monday throwing 5⅔ scoreless innings and allowing just three hits.

So it’s all been good for Rodriguez. The Red Sox have needed it with David Price’s inconsistencies and injuries to Pomeranz and Wright.

Rodriguez, who was acquired from the Orioles four years ago for Andrew Miller, has always had good stuff and mid-90s velocity. The Orioles were always high on Rodriguez, but there were issues and injuries that kept Rodriguez from excelling.

But now there’s a new injury, which couldn’t have happened at the worst possible time. The Red Sox now have a another pitching problem that they’ll likely need to address.

Xander Bogaerts’s walkoff grand slam was music to Red Sox’ ears

Julian Benbow

Xander Bogaerts doesn’t always hear his walk-up music on his way to the plate. But when he made his way to the batter’s box Saturday with the Sox knotted at 2 in the 10th inning against the Blue Jays, he picked up the lyrics as they cut through the extra-inning tension.

Bogaerts was 11 years old, barely old enough to rip off the parental advisory sticker, when DMX’s “X Gon’ Give It To Ya” led off the soundtrack to his 2003 action flick “Cradle 2 The Grave,” but 15 years later the song scored the drama for Bogaerts as he stepped in with the bases loaded.

“They played ‘X gon’ give it to ya,’ ‘X gon’ deliver to ya,’ ” Bogaerts said. “I’m like, ‘Oh, my god.’ All this is coming to my head. It was a good time for it. I have certain spots where I like to hear that and it helped me. I kind of smiled going to the plate because it was some good words in there.”

The table was set for Bogaerts after Mookie Betts reached on an error with one out, then worked a hit and run with Brock Holt to make it first and third. Jays reliever Chris Rowley intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases, setting the stage for Bogaerts.

“It was loud,” Bogaerts said. “The stadium was really loud, but I think he put the music up even louder because I was hearing everything.”

Above all else, Bogaerts wanted to be patient. At the very least, if he put the ball in the air, he could deliver a win with a sacrifice fly. Once he got ahead 2 and 0, he locked in.

“I’m like, ‘I’m going to swing if it’s anything close,’ ” Bogaerts said.

Rowley left an 87-mile-per-hour fastball up in the zone and Bogaerts drilled it to deep center field.

“As soon as he hit it, I was like, ‘We won the game,’ ” Holt said.

As it sailed toward the flagpole, Bogaerts still wasn’t quite sure.

“I hit it real good, but I didn’t expect for it to go out,” he said. “But I knew I hit it good and I knew it was at least a sac fly and we would’ve won it.”

When the ball landed, Fenway Park exploded. Bogaerts’s grand slam sealed the Sox’s 6-2 walkoff win.

It was Sox’s the first walkoff grand slam in 18 years. Bogaerts was so swept up that midway through his trot, he forgot he had homered.

Drew Pomeranz’s mechanics still out of whack during rehab

Julian Benbow

Drew Pomeranz’s search for consistency on the mound has stretched for nearly two months now, even before he went on the disabled list in June with left biceps tendinitis.

But after three starts on his minor league rehabilitation assignment, he’s still looking for answers.

Pomeranz gave up three runs on four hits, including a two-run homer, in 3⅔ innings Friday night in Pawtucket.

Overall, he’s 0-1 with an 8.68 ERA in his three outings.

The report Sox manager Alex Cora received on Pomeranz was that his velocity was still lower than ideal — sitting around 89-90 miles per hour — and his breaking ball has been inconsistent.

He’s scheduled to make another rehab start Wednesday with Pawtucket.

“I think with Drew it’s all about timing and mechanics honestly,” Cora said. “That’s why he’s going to go out there and pitch on Wednesday. And he knows it. He knows he has to get it right before he gets here. It’s very important, very important. We saw what he did last year with this team and we need the good Drew Pomeranz, the guy that can repeat his delivery and be consistent with his breaking ball.”

Pomeranz was 1-3 with a 6.81 ERA in eight starts before going on the disabled list. How he’ll factor into the rotation after the All-Star break is uncertain.

“I’m not concerned,” Cora said. “Sometimes we talk about [over-adjusting] sometimes. Maybe that’s what’s going on. I haven’t talked to him today. I don’t know how he felt about his delivery, I just read the report. It’s very important for him to find it. Important for us obviously.”

Kelly struggles again

A day after giving up three runs without recording an out, Joe Kelly’s misfortunes continued Saturday.

With a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning, Kelly gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning before the Sox rallied for a 6-2 walkoff win in 10 innings.

He threw just eight of his 18 pitches for strikes. After he walked the Blue Jays’ No. 9 hitter Luke Maile with two outs, Cora took the ball from him.

“Another bad one,” Cora said. “I think the two-out walk, that was the one that made me make the move right there. Talking to [catcher] Sandy [Leon], it seems like his breaking stuff is not as sharp as early.

“It’s clearly a ball out of the hand or just hangs in the zone. It’s not as sharp. So we’ll take a look at it and go from there. But he’ll be the first one to tell you he didn’t do his job.”

Slow road for Wright

The Sox are still figuring out a plan for Steven Wright as the All-Star break approaches.

The knuckleballer has been on the disabled list since June 26 (retroactive to June 23) with left knee inflammation and is still experiencing soreness, Cora said. He threw on flat ground before Saturday’s game.

“He’ll have good days and then he takes a few steps back,” Cora said.

Wright underwent a cartilage restoration procedure last year and returned in May, progressing from a bullpen role to a starter and going 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA.

“So we have to see what we’re going to do next week. Not sure if he’s going to stay here rehabbing or if he’s going to come with us on the road, but it’s taking longer than expected.

Pearce was ready

Steve Pearce was in the on-deck circle in the ninth inning, preparing to possibly pinch hit for Tzu-Wei Lin if needed.

Ultimately, he didn’t have to.

Pearce is still day-to-day with a left shin contusion after being hit by a pitch Thursday.

Cora said he wanted to be cautious with Pearce and Mitch Moreland, who was out of the lineup for a second straight day.

“They’ll be available tomorrow,” Cora said. “Most likely they’ll start tomorrow.”

Phillips joins PawSox

Second baseman Brandon Phillips was promoted to Triple A Pawtucket on Saturday after six games with Single A Lowell. Phillips hit .318 with one homer and seven RBIs. He played three games at second base and spent the other three as the designated hitter . . . Cora said he’s had a few conversations with Astros manager A.J. Hinch about the challenges that come with managing the American League in next week’s All-Star Game. He joked that he was able to get him to settle on one thing: “He agreed that Chris [Sale] is going to pitch one inning,” Cora said.

Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez exits game with right ankle sprain

Julian Benbow

Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez left in the sixth inning Saturday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a right ankle sprain after a collision at first base with Blue Jays second baseman Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

X-rays came back negative, and Rodriguez will be evaluated further.

With one out and the bases empty, Gurriel sent a ground ball to the right side of the infield. Sox first baseman Blake Swihart tried to backhand the ball, bobbled it but managed to grab it with his bare hand. With Rodriguez running to cover first, Swihart fired a quick throw that sailed wide.

When Rodriguez turned around, Gurriel was sliding head-first into the bag. Rodriguez tried to jump over Gurriel, but caught his left leg on Gurriel’s helmet. Rodriguez landed awkwardly on his right leg, then tumbled to the grass in foul territory.

Sox trainers came from the dugout to tend to the Rodriguez. After the left-hander attempted a handful of practice pitches from the mound, Sox manager Alex Cora decided to pull him out of the game.

Rodriguez threw 5⅓ scoreless innings, giving up four hits while striking out five, extending his scoreless innings streak to 19 innings.

Coming into Saturday, Rodriguez was 11-3 with a 3.62 ERA.

Baseball 2018 clearly needs some fixing. But is the game in trouble?

Kevin Paul Dupont

If we follow the arc of professional sports in the United States, we have to believe baseball is in some trouble. History has shown us it’s possible for the games we love today to become the memories of our fathers and grandfathers, the faded tickets and newspaper clippings of our scrapbooks.

Boxing and horse racing, once bedrock industries of our sporting pastimes, entered into a tailspin in the 1960s and today hang on, respectively, like a punch-drunk middleweight and a $500 fairground claimer.

Tennis is better than either of those two, but it has lost much of its traction and charisma of the ’70s and ’80s, particularly when judging it by the stuck-in-the-tar-pit American field, which these days can be summed up thusly: Serena and everybody else. I know, I know, Sloane Stephens. Impressive. But she is still one Grand Slam title short of reaching even the Tracy Austin (two titles) level of discussion, never mind Chris Evert (18).

Baseball, meanwhile, could be in its descent, if we’re to believe that this year’s dip in Major League Baseball attendance — on track for its lowest in 15 years — is indeed the canary in the bullpen. I’m somewhat hesitant to go there yet, only because ticket sales, once the key metric in determining any sport’s financial health, is now but one form of measuring fan engagement and fiscal viability.

Are the Red Sox’ books better off if 3 million and not 2 million stream into Fenway every year? You don’t have to work for John Henry to know that. But the Sox’ coffers thrive, too, because of robust NESN and national TV dough, and whatever additional dollars the ever-expanding world of digital streaming funnels to Sox corporate headquarters on the Street That Cannot Be Named.

A humble crowd of only 10,454 came to Fenway for what was Ted Williams’s final game with the Sox on Sept. 28, 1960. It was a day game. On a cold, overcast Wednesday. And no one was certain, beyond Williams and manager Mike Higgins, that No. 9 never would play again, that come the ninth inning Carroll Hardy would trot out to left field to relieve him of his duties.

We know how that kind of ending would be staged today. See: David Ortiz, Oct. 2, 2016 . . . and the summer-long farewell Ode to Papi tour. His final game was a Sunday. Fenway attendance: 36,787. It’s as impossible to compare the times as it is the businesses.

Baseball 2018 clearly needs some fixin’. The games are too long. For instance: The Hub’s adieu to The Kid was played in 2:18. And 15 of the Red Sox’ final 28 games in 1960 finished in under 2:30.

The Ortiz finale took 3:14. This past Sunday, I watched every out of the Sox’ 7-4 win over the hapless Royals, and the root canal in KC lasted 3:25. Bob Tillman could have run a full lap around Kauffman Stadium in Wily Peralta’s time between pitches. Install the pitch clock now!

Worse, though, is the risible disparity between the game’s haves and its franchises of empty uniforms.

MLB is aching for a hard salary cap. Its Players Association won’t go for it, of course, because the current CBA, with its, shall we say, fungible luxury tax, continues to stock a free-access ATM that allows utility infielders and bridge relievers to earn . . . heck, fill in the blank with as many zeros as you like. That ATM is deeper than the pockets in Warren Buffett’s cargo pants.

No, I’m not against these guys, even the banjo hitters, making gobs of money. It’s a wide-open market. Have at it, boys, fill yer boots.

What I’m against is how the current salary system allows the Red Sox to spend upward of a quarter billion bucks on payroll, while the spendthrift likes of Oakland, Chicago (White Sox), and Tampa Bay all log in under $100 million. Those clubs are operating at X while the Red Sox are running at 2.5 X, and game after game after game between the haves and empty uniforms is nothing but zzzzzzzz’s.

Obviously, spending freely guarantees nothing, and likewise teams can be thrifty and yet successful. But by and large, money sets the market in the standings and in the entertainment factor.

The NFL and NHL, each with very restrictive salary systems, have become the models for parity and quality entertainment (setting aside my perpetual rant about the NHL’s need to increase scoring).

The NBA and MLB, meanwhile, have the most liberal salary systems and, I would argue, the greatest divide in franchise competitiveness and fan appeal. And while I’m here clearing kids off my front lawn, who in their right mind could believe the 3-point shot makes for a better NBA? I’d buy it for the final two minutes of regulation and/or overtime, but overall it has stripped out too much of the game’s strategy, ballhandling, and playmaking.

If the MLB attendance slide indeed turns out to be the game’s boxing or horse racing moment, it might not be saved by picking up the pace and getting the money/competitiveness right. It may be just too late.

I hope not. I hope the game survives and thrives. I also hope, if the minds ever do come to the table for a reckoning day, they’ll allow it to live or die on its own merits, maintain the game’s dignity. Sure, shorten game times and bring competition more into balance. Great. Too bad it took so long to address it.

But let’s not limit infield shifts for pull hitters, or place a designated scorer at second base when games reach extra innings, or cut the bushes back from nine innings to seven.

There’s a million ideas out there on how to improve baseball, and I fear just a few could turn the game, a large portion of its beauty based on its traditions and longevity, into some unrecognizable version of a game that dates to 19th century America’s farm fields.

Frankly, I would rather see baseball die tomorrow than have it morph into some plastic surgeon’s hideous makeover, the kind of game that shows up at the class reunion with everyone guessing who it is, or whispering in the corner about how it coped with age with clownish results.

Baseball, if what we are looking at is the onset of your three strikes and out, then tip your hat and shamble back to the dugout and off to history. You’ve been too good for too long to go out any other way.

‘Holy cow, who is that guy?’: Bryan Mata’s journey from Venezuela to MLB Futures Game

Alex Speier

As storm clouds gathered over the field in Venezuela in January of 2016, Red Sox decision makers in attendance caught a glimpse of possibility and a closing window in which to realize it.

While Eddie Romero (then the team’s vice president of international amateur scouting, now its assistant GM) and international crosschecker Rollie Pino were theoretically at the workout to see the pitcher who was on the mound, down the left field line they saw another pitcher preparing to get into the game.

“He started doing some sprints, and he looked right when he was running sprints, a real athletic gait, and when he started just tossing, you were like, ‘Holy cow, who is that guy?’ ” Romero recalled.

But with rain seemingly threatening the workout, Romero and Pino weren’t sure they’d have a chance to get a good look at the pitcher before another team had such an opportunity at another workout. And so, they hastened the proceedings to ensure that they got a look at Bryan Mata.

Mata hadn’t expected to be in such a position. He thought he was set to sign with the Brewers near the start of the 2015-16 signing period, which had started on July 2. But what Mata recalled as a groin injury had prevented an agreement from happening, and the 16-year-old was instead left to rehab on his own for the next several months.

“It was very frustrating for me at first. The first month I was injured, I didn’t want to know anything about baseball,” Mata said through translator Daveson Perez this spring. “I felt deceived by baseball.”

But he moved beyond the frustration and remained diligent in his rehab, culminating in the January workout organized by Alex Requena, a Red Sox scout in Venezuela. With only a few pitches to make an impression, Mata managed to do just that.

The righthander believes that he threw harder that day than he had ever before in his life, touching 90 miles per hour for the first time. More than just the radar gun convinced the Red Sox that Mata was a pitcher they wanted to sign immediately.

“He probably threw eight or 10 pitches. It’s easy when they stand out like that. It was a combination of athleticism, physicality, the rhythm in his delivery, the way he stood over the rubber, and then he showed you three pitches while he was throwing strikes,” said Romero. “That was an easy one. We got him off the mound right away. We didn’t want to expose him to anybody else who could have been there. We signed him that day.”

For just $25,000, the Sox added Mata. It was less than he thought he’d make with the Brewers, but after having waited through the prior months of uncertainty, the righthander wasn’t concerned.

“In that time, I didn’t care about the money,” he said. “I just wanted an opportunity.”

So far as a Red Sox minor leaguer, he’s made the most of it. In 2½ years, the slight 6-foot-3-inch righthander with athleticism and a projectable body has developed physically (he now weighs 220 pounds) and on the mound into one of the Sox’ most exciting prospects, a notion underscored by his participation as a 19-year-old in the All-Star Futures Game in Washington on Sunday.

At 19, Mata has spent the year in the High A Carolina League, a level in which he’s been the youngest pitcher in the league. He features a two-seam fastball (a switch from the four-seamer he emphasized in the past) that shows good movement while sitting at 94-95 m.p.h., a swing-and-miss changeup with late dive, and he currently shows flashes of a solid curveball. The Sox anticipate growth with both that pitch and eventually the addition of one more offering in a pitcher they see as having clear mid-rotation potential.

“He’s just got a great aptitude for pitching, advanced feel for things, soaks up information,” said Red Sox VP of pitching analysis Brian Bannister. “He’s just a really exciting kid.”

While the Sox see tremendous promise from Mata — one of the team’s two most exciting pitching prospect signed out of Latin America in the last 10 years — the 2018 season has been a challenging one. He’s struggled at times to harness the movement of the two-seamer, resulting in a skyrocketing walk rate (he’s walked 57 batters while striking out 60) and 12 hit batters.

Yet those struggles — the late diving action out of the strike zone — are in some way a testament to the potential of his new primary weapon, as is his 3.42 ERA, .226 batting average against, one homer allowed in 16 starts (none in his last 14), and a 57.8 percent groundball rate that is the fourth highest in the Carolina League. He’s shown the toughness to compete and succeed even in games where he’s been challenged to take control of his arsenal.

“I don’t think it’s surprising,” said Romero, who recalled that in his first pro season Mata was the victorious pitcher as the Red Sox’ affiliate in the Dominican Summer League clinched a championship. “He’s not afraid of the spotlight. Knowing that he struggled with the walks early on but has been able to minimize damage, I think that just goes back to his competitiveness and not being afraid to make a pitch when he needs to. That’s a trait that, here in Boston or at the big league level, you need to have. You need to be able to control the damage.

“We’ve just got to remind ourselves sometimes that he’s extremely, extremely young, he’s young for the league, and he’s still got a lot of upside. He’s still learning every start. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but he’s exciting. He’s got a competitive streak to him. He’s not afraid to work. I love that about him, I love the attributes he has for a starting pitcher. He’s exciting. We’re proud of him for being named to the Futures Game.”

For Mata, who came into the Red Sox organization against the backdrop of threatening skies and a challenging signing process, the assignment serves as a marker both of his growth and a potentially bright future.

Here’s a look at the top teams that could upgrade at the trade deadline

Nick Cafardo

About half of the teams in baseball are good or competitive. The other half are lousy or tanking. So there’s a lot of inventory to choose from for contending teams hoping to improve their rosters. Consequently, the teams with players on the market may not be able to get as much in return this season.

This likely doesn’t apply to the Orioles, who can get what they need for Manny Machado, even though he is a perceived rental. But the others?

Here’s a look at the top teams that might be looking to upgrade:

■ Red Sox — The reminders are aplenty from Dave Dombrowski teams of the past. He loves the big splash and when he has a team he feels can win it all — and I believe he feels that way about the 2018 Red Sox — don’t look for him to sit still. Yes, he’s handicapped by a lack of depth in the farm system. But he may be able to turn some lower-level pieces in Greenville and Salem and perhaps Blake Swihart and/or Brian Johnson into something of value. We know the Red Sox like Orioles closer Zach Britton, who will have about eight teams interested in him as he is now beginning to look like the Britton of old. Don’t be surprised if there’s also shopping going on for a righthanded starting pitcher (Dan Straily?) and a second baseman (Brian Dozier?)

■ Yankees — As of Thursday, the Yankees still had the best offer on the table for Machado, according to an Orioles source, even though he wasn’t their main need. The Yankees seem to believe they can pull off both Machado and a starting pitcher if things break correctly. They have a few pieces. Baltimore wants Justus Sheffield, but they could settle for Miguel Andujar and a secondary pitching prospect. The Yankees could save Sheffield for a deal with the Mets on Jacob deGrom. Those seem to be the two most prominent names mentioned with the Yankees, but if not deGrom, there’s Michael Fullmer, J.A. Happ, and Cole Hamels.

■ Astros — They need to do something to separate themselves from the Red Sox and Yankees, which has been harder to do this season. They’re after Britton. They have an eye on San Diego lefthander Brad Hand, though he might be harder to get. If they can, they’ll add a righthanded power bat such as White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu or Tampa Bay catcher Wilson Ramos (with Brian McCann on the DL).

■ Indians — You never know where they are with expanding their payroll, but it appears they’d be willing to do so. They have been linked to Machado, Britton, Brad Brach, Mychal Givens, and other relievers because their bullpen is 30th in the majors with a 5.37 ERA. If not Machado then Mike Moustakas? Adrian Beltre? They may also be looking for an outfield bat and Baltimore’s Adam Jones makes a lot of sense.

■ Mariners — They would love another starting pitcher (Happ or Hamels seem to fit) and reliever. Their need for a bat may not be as prominent with Robinson Cano coming back after his 80-game suspension in August, but Jones seems appealing to them. The Mariners are also trying to stave off the Oakland A’s for the final wild-card spot.

■ Athletics — They have played well enough to be buyers and fight for the second wild-card spot. Much will depend on how they come out of the gate after the All-Star break. If they’re buyers they could use upgrades to their offense and starting pitching. If they sell, then Jed Lowrie would be an attractive piece, as would catcher Jonathan Lucroy and closer Blake Treinen.

■ Dodgers — They have had so many injuries to contend with, including losing shortstop Corey Seager for the season. They are very much in the Machado hunt and have the pieces to make it happen. They also have a bullpen need and the Reds are heavily scouting the Dodgers’ system, likely ahead of a possible Raisel Iglesias deal. They’re also in on Britton, Hand or Miami closer Kyle Barraclough.

■Braves — You hear two different things about them: They’re not necessarily going to go all out for the top trade targets because they don’t want to disrupt their team and young arsenal of players just yet, or they’re waiting to see how things break and could thrust themselves into a number of deals, including a third baseman (Beltre, Josh Donaldson, who is on DL, or Moustakas) or a starting pitcher (perhaps Happ, who Atlanta general manager Alex Anthopoulos once traded for in Toronto). But will Anthopoulos give up prospects such as lefty starter Kolby Allard, righty starter Kyle Wright, or third baseman Austin Riley?

■ Phillies — They also are uncertain whether to jump in and deal their arsenal of prospects now or wait until the offseason. There’s a clear opportunity to pick off Machado or Act II of Hamels in Philly. One of the two could happen, but we doubt both will. And do they need power? Rhys Hoskins has 14 homers and a .465 slugging percentage. You wonder if Jose Bautista could help the Phillies.

■ Brewers — They have an aggressive owner in Mark Attanasio and he wants the Brewers to possibly do something that changes the game in the NL Central — where the Cubs are also liable to shock the world. The Brewers are deep into the Machado hunt and would love to land the superstar and also try to sign him long term. The Brewers know they’ll have to overpay to get Machado. Would they pay a bigger price than anyone else? They also need another starting pitcher. Straily could fit here.

■ Cubs — Theo Epstein normally doesn’t sit out the trade deadline and we doubt he will this time. He’s been quiet on the Machado front, which leads me to believe that he’s ready to pounce. Like Dombrowski, Epstein doesn’t have a lot left in the farm system after his deals of the past two years. The Cubs, however, have been scouting Happ.

■ Diamondbacks — Mike Hazen did it last year, obtaining rental J.D. Martinez, and his thoughts seem to be geared toward doing the same with Machado. Baseball executives feel Hazen has enough to pull off a Machado deal, but his farm system is also thin.

■ Cardinals — They could do some reshuffling in their infield to make room for a productive hitter such as Donaldson, Moustakas, Beltre or Todd Frazier. They could add to the pitching staff either in the bullpen or in the rotation. The Cardinals have a very good farm system with the chips to pull off whatever they need to.

■ Nationals — Mike Rizzo has already pulled off the Kelvin Herrera deal with the Royals and it’s likely he’ll do more with the catching position (perhaps even reacquire Ramos). Rizzo isn’t about to throw in the towel despite an underachieving team. As Alex Cora said, “They’ll be around at the end.” And we suspect they will.

Apropos of nothing 1. Could Kevin Cash be Manager of the Year in the AL? He’s got that team four games over .500 entering the weekend. With virtually no starting rotation, that’s impressive. The Rays are set up to be a spoiler team down the stretch.

2. These Braves remind me of the 1991 Braves, who weren’t supposed to be in this position butnearly won a World Series (Atlanta lost to the Twins, 4-3). That team had older positional players and young pitchers. If I’m Alex Anthopoulos, I go for it. Don’t think just because you have great young talent that this opportunity is going to be around the following year and beyond. He’s got redundancy with some of his prospects. Go get that veteran third baseman, veteran starter, and make your run.

3. Turns out Gabe Kapler isn’t the far-out guy everyone thought he was when he got off to a bizarre start with the Phillies. Turns out he’s a pretty good manager.

4. This Pawtucket stadium situation turned out to be tougher than expected.

5. Book plugs: Bill Nowlin has done great work lately with his Tom Yawkey book and now he’s got a book out titled “Ted Williams: First Latino In the Baseball Hall of Fame.” It’s about Williams’s Mexican heritage. Fascinating read.

6. Bob Melvin could be the best manager in baseball. He exhibits a nice blend of instincts and analytics. He’s had to adapt to so many situations in Oakland — from rebuilding to building — and he’s survived and thrived in every situation.

7. Please, Rob Manfred, do something with shifts. They are killing baseball.

8. I’ve been accused of making too much of the Red Sox’ record against teams above .500. But the Indians should be concerned. They entered the weekend 15-23 (.395) vs. teams that are currently above .500.

9. Katie Kirschner Haas, who has been the Red Sox’ vice president of Florida operations, is leaving her post to become COO of The Western and Southern Open. Big loss for the Red Sox. Congratulations, Katie.

Updates on nine

1. Jeff Samardzija, RHP, Giants — The Giants would deal Samardzija, whose performances have been uneven the past couple of years, mainly due to injuries. But he’s healthy now and you’re likely to see scouting on him by teams, such as the Yankees, that may be seeking a middle-rotation starter. Samardzija is 1-5 with a 6.42 ERA, but he pitched decently in his return start, going five innings and allowing three runs in a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals on July 7. Salary-wise, he’s at $19.8 million in 2019 and 2020, which means the Giants would have to swallow some greenbacks.

2. Brad Ziegler, RHP, Marlins — Ziegler has started to pitch better and his market is starting to heat up. The Marlins are getting calls and may be willing to eat some of the remaining portion of his $9 million salary to make it happen. Ziegler offers the submarine view, which proved effective for the Red Sox in 2016. Ziegler had 11 consecutive scoreless outings heading into the weekend.

3. Adam Conley, LHP, Marlins — Conley’s 96-mile-per-hour heat is starting to attract suitors. The one question a contender would ask is whether he can do it when the heat is on. He’s a strikeout guy because of his electric stuff, but he’s pitched in noncompetitive situations in terms of being in a pennant race.

4. Clint Frazier, OF, Yankees — Teams looking to make a big deal with the Yankees may take on Frazier, but not as a primary piece, according to an NL executive. Frazier, however, “could be a good second or third piece depending upon who the trade is built around.” Frazier has a love/hate relationship with the trading world. Evaluators like his competitiveness and ability but feel he’s a bit pigheaded about instruction and they’re not sure how good he’s going to be as a full-time major leaguer.

5. Manny Machado, SS, Orioles — The subject of whether Machado would move to third in any deal he’s involved with is a “discussion point,” according to Orioles GM Dan Duquette. “But that’s up to an individual team.” It’s an interesting point. Machado is a Gold Glove third baseman and a good shortstop. His long-term future is obviously at third base, but Machado may not see it that way just yet.

6. Nathan Eovaldi, RHP, Tampa Bay — Eovaldi has drawn interest from scouts who have watched his recent outings. He was always a guy who lit up the radar gun and impressed scouts. But he’s had an injury history that has prevented him from reaching the next level. Is he good enough to be a back-end starter? Sure. And that’s why his former team, the Yankees, as well as the Brewers and Braves among others, have been watching closely.

7. Whit Merrifield, 2B, Royals — Jackie Bradley Jr.’s teammate at the University of South Carolina is an impressive player who the Red Sox really like and who the Brewers are pursuing. But the Royals would be hesitant to move him given he’s not even arbitration eligible until 2020. The Red Sox are certainly torn about their second base situation. Dustin Pedroia is likely not coming back this year. Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez are holding down the position and the Red Sox need to use what resources they have toward a bullpen piece. Merrifield is desirable because of his salary ($569,000), but there are second basemen aplenty out there, including Brian Dozier, Starlin Castro, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Brandon Phillips, who is working his way back in the Red Sox minor league system.

8. Hanley Ramirez, 1B/DH, free agent — Sources close to Ramirez indicate that the former Red Sox would consider signing with a new team. Ramirez had kept himself out of the game after there seemed to be initial interest in him when he was first released by Boston. Ramirez decided to take some time off and then had to fend off a phony allegation that he was part of drug investigation.

9. Jose Bautista, OF/3B, Mets — Bautista has almost an .800 OPS and despite a .219 average is back to being a power threat. “He’s done a great job for us,” said J.P. Ricciardi, who is running the Mets with John Ricco and Omar Minaya in Sandy Alderson’s absence (cancer). “He made a terrific play at third base the other night and he’s played a good outfield.” Ricciardi said he was surprised there wasn’t more action on Bautista and also said most of the interest has centered around Mets pitching — Zack Wheeler, StevenMatz, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard.

Extra innings From the Bill Chuck files — “The Padres have not been over .500 this season. In fact, the last time the Padres were over .500 was June 8, 2015.” . . . Also, “With all the talk about MLB’s overall decline in attendance, you must note that five losing teams are responsible for a two million fan drop in attendance. Miami and Toronto account for one million lost fans, and Baltimore, KC, and Pittsburgh combine for another lost million fans.” . . . Happy birthday (Saturday), Mark Brandenburg (48), John Dopson (55), Chuck Rainey (64).

* The Boston Herald

Baseball Notes: Joe Kelly is critical character in bullpen

Jason Mastrodonato

Every bullpen needs a joker.

The Red Sox’ joker is a psychology nerd who throws 100 mph, begs his opponents to charge the mound and has become the Wild Thing of the bunch.

Two years ago, Joe Kelly was on the edge of the big leagues. He was the pitcher everybody knew was talented, but without the results to prove it.

Now, Kelly has two years of dominance on his resume as he prepares for free agency, a new comfort level in Boston and a personality that the Red Sox bullpen has needed.

“It’s outstanding to have a person that’s able to maintain the levity of the hours you spend before you get into the game,” bullpen coach Craig Bjornson said of Kelly. “You don’t want to be overly intense for that long period of time. Some of the younger pitchers try to focus on the game in an inappropriate way that tenses them up. He brings some levity to those situations and allows the bullpen to relax, and young guys to be comfortable. That it’s OK to have some fun and joke a bit, that we’re not here to be so tight and tense.

“It’s actually a value, really a value to have that person in the bullpen that does that.”

Kelly says a big part of his personality is the desire to be genuine.

“To be able to have fun while you’re playing, good or bad,” he said. “It’s been a lot better to go home being able to show your true colors on the baseball field or outside of it. I try to put an emphasis on letting the baseball part speak for itself, and then the way I normally act, act, instead of hiding it. It’s been fun and it’s a lot more relaxing for me to come to the field all the time and play baseball in a relaxed way.

“There were times here in Boston where I wasn’t able to do that. Or didn’t have as much fun as I wanted to. It’s something mentally, I was like, ‘Just have fun. If you pitch bad or pitch good. Just don’t hide your personality. Don’t shy away from it.’ And I’m happy going home from the field. It’s been good.”

Kelly’s quirkiness has a new outlet since he was moved to the ‘pen two years ago. Rather than wait his turn to pitch for five days, he needs to be ready to go every day. It’s a new sense of pressure, and he has new ways to deal with it.

“It’s different,” he said. “It’s obviously not the same as the dugout. You’re far away. And sometimes there are points throughout the season where it gets a little bit, not boring, but a little stagnant or dead.

“The bullpen guys are high-energy or a little crazy, just because it makes good for talks down there. It’s never a dull moment. We’re always doing something. But 99 percent of it is dogging each other, talking crap. The other 1 percent is pitching.”

One percent was enough for the Sox to be the second-best bullpen in the majors last year. And as of Saturday morning, they ranked sixth this year with a 3.31 ERA, despite a season-ending injury to Carson Smith and only three appearances from Tyler Thornburg.

Kelly’s breakout last year solved a big problem for the Sox, who haven’t signed a single free agent reliever to the major league roster in Dave Dombrowski’s tenure. They’ve relied heavily on the development of Matt Barnes (2.43 ERA) and Kelly (3.92) from failed starters to dominant relievers.

“I figure stuff out mechanically a little quicker than when I was a starter,” Kelly said. “Obviously the velocity is up, too. I think command has been for the most part a lot better overall than when I was a starting pitcher. Then going out there and throwing like a starting pitcher but just for three outs.

“It’s a combination of a bunch of things. And confidence.”

Off the field, Kelly says he spends most of his free time reading psychology books by the likes of Malcolm Gladwell and Jordan Peterson.

“I was a psych major in college,” said Kelly, who played three years at Cal-Riverside. “I’d like to get my degree, maybe go to more schooling. I just find it fascinating to see why people react and how they react. There are no clear-cut answers. Just to see how the brain works, why things happen, is something I’ve always been fascinated by.”

Said Bjornson, “That’s really a great thing about Joe Kelly, is he’s growth-minding and knows you can get better and do things in a more efficient manner. He seeks to do those on a year-to-year basis.

“He will tell you, ‘I read a book (by) Malcolm Gladwell,’ and then he can pull from that and apply it to adapt it to a pitching-type of learning. . . . It’s really been a pleasure to be first-hand with him now and what he does pitching and his work ethic and all that.”

PEDROIA ALREADY PAID OFF

Dustin Pedroia was firm this week when discussing his belief that he’ll be fully healthy and playing baseball for the Red Sox again at some point, even if it doesn’t happen this year.

An MRI in 4-5 weeks will give him more information about his availability. But even if he doesn’t play another game for the Sox, they should be able to look back at his 13-year career and feel satisfied. Not only did he help provide two World Series trophies, but he did it while making below-market salaries for almost his entire career.

He’s making $16 million this year, the highest salary of his career, and still has $40 million owed to him the next three years. Will his eight-year, $110 million contract still have been worth it when it’s all over? Consider:

Pedroia signed his first extension following his MVP 2008 season. Had he not, he would’ve been eligible for free agency after the 2012 season.

Over the four years in between 2009 and 2012, just before he could’ve tested the market, he made just $20 million.

What might’ve Pedroia made if he was a free agent after 2012? He was one of the six most valuable players in baseball from 2007-2012 by FanGraphs’ WAR, behind only Albert Pujols, Chase Utley, Matt Holliday, Miguel Cabrera and David Wright.

Holiday signed a seven-year, $120 million deal before the 2010 season. Pujols was on a team-friendly extension with the Cardinals through 2011, then signed a 10-year, $254-million deal with the Angels. After 2012, Wright signed a seven-year extension worth $122 million. And Cabrera signed for eight years, $248 million before the 2014 season. Pedroia made substantially less than all of them.

Then there’s Robinson Cano.

From 2007-2013, just before Cano elected for free agency, Pedroia topped Cano in Gold Gloves, 3-2. He had the only MVP between them. Pedroia hit .305 with an .829 OPS; Cano hit .307 with an .866 OPS. According to fWAR, Pedroia was worth 34.8 to Cano’s 33.

The debate could be made for either, but the point is that Pedroia was equally deserving of the 10-year, $240 million contract Cano signed with Seattle before the 2014 season. Instead, he signed for $110 million in the summer of 2013.

Shortly after Cano signed, some front office executive of other clubs were asked on the condition of anonymity if Pedroia would garner an equal contract if he were a free agent. Most agreed he would, but this answer stood out:

“I think it would be close. It’s actually weird to think about. There are certain players you know are untouchable. You can dream of having the opportunity to negotiate with them and imagine them wearing the uniform. And it’s just impossible to see Dustin Pedroia in another uniform. And really, in a couple years (when Pedroia would’ve been a free agent had he not signed an extension), with the money these free agents are getting, a player of his caliber could conceivably bring in more. But again, it’s silly to even think about. He’s a great player for sure.”

From 2014-2017, Pedroia was worth 13 fWAR. At the time, the industry was evaluating 1.0 WAR as being worth around $6-$8 million. That puts Pedroia’s value between $78-$104 million in those four years. The entire contract was worth $110 million, and he still has 31⁄2 years to add to it.

“I’m a pretty loyal guy,” Pedroia said when he signed. “I love being here. I live and die by this team. It’s important to me to be here my whole time.”

Injuries or not, he’s been well worth the cost.

HUMBLING HONOR

Last year was one of the Red Sox’ worst in recent memory when it comes to public relations.

Racism at Fenway Park became a glaring issue, the Yawkey Way name change debate was still hot, David Price was cursing out media members and broadcasters alike, and there was also a perception that, despite the team’s division title, it was an unlikable group.

This year, they’ve made a 180. Ratings are up 20 percent on NESN and the Red Sox are one of four professional teams nominated for ESPN’s Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year, “for their strategy that finds creative solutions to ongoing challenges for children, families, veterans and communities in need.”

The Anaheim Ducks (NHL), Chicago Fire (MLS) and the U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team are the other finalists. The winner will be announced on Tuesday.

“We are honored and humbled by the nomination, given we made a fundamental commitment back in 2002 to be active participants in the New England community,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said in an email to the Herald. “In fact, since its inception in 2002, the Red Sox Foundation has raised and given away more money than any other foundation in professional sports.

“This nomination is a testament to the hard work of the men and women at the RSF, led by our incredible new leader Bekah Salwasser, who is taking the foundation to new heights. Specifically, we were likely nominated this year given the remarkable success of our Home Base program, created by Tom Werner nearly 10 years ago. This program has transformed the way we treat the invisible wounds of war (PTSD and TBI) and has treated over 15,000 service men and women.”

On Tony C, Mookie and rivalry matters

Steve Buckley

Today’s column is one of those hitting-to-all-fields specials, beginning with an incident that took place Thursday night at Fenway Park when a photo of the late Tony Conigliaro was used as part of an out-of- order sign that was attached to an elevator.

As I suspected when I saw the sign and tweeted about it, it was a rogue action by an employee who simply didn’t know that the photo — from the famous Sports Illustrated cover showing the Sox slugger’s horribly bruised left eye in the aftermath of his 1967 beaning — is symbolic of one of the saddest moments in Boston sports history.

From what I’ve been told, the Red Sox did not fire the employee. Nor should they have.

This reminds me of an incident a few years back at San Diego’s Petco Park, when the local Gay Men’s Chorus was invited to sing the national anthem prior to a Padres game. For optimum sound quality, the group was instructed to record the anthem earlier in the day, after which they were to lip-sync it. But then somebody used the wrong version of the national anthem, which was followed by outrage and calls for firings.

Instead, former Red Sox exec Mike Dee, who was running the Padres at the time, issued a team apology and then worked to make things right with the chorus. The employee was not fired.

So, no, firings are not in order here. But it’s sad that the Tony C story has dissolved into a mostly forgotten chapter in Red Sox history, to the degree that most people under the age of 60 don’t know that Conig, a North Shore native, was on his way to becoming one of the game’s greatest home run hitters until he took that Jack Hamilton pitch off the face in August of ’67.

-- On that same night, Mookie Betts hit his 13-pitch grand slam, followed by a magnificent celebration by the Red Sox MVP up the first-base line. So let me say this for the one millionth time: Baseball needs more of these celebrations, not less. As former Sox infielder Lou Merloni likes to say, “We’re not robots.” So let’s celebrate the athletes as humans and let them act like humans.

L The most moving aspect of taking part in the Herald’s four-part series on ALS was witnessing the unflinching support that family members provide when a loved one has been afflicted with this terrible disease. More than that, though, is their commitment to making life around the house as “normal” as possible.

It may seem like a small thing, but I can’t get it out of my head that during my interview with ALS patient John Welch last week, his daughter Mollie was in the other room, methodically assembling a shower curtain for the new handicap-accessible bathroom off the kitchen.

I’m sure there’s plenty of crying, plenty of hand-wringing and, yes, plenty of arguing and turmoil that takes place inside the homes of ALS patients. There’s also plenty of work to be done, and that’s when family members become heroes.

L Baseball’s schedule-makers have done a splendid job with this year’s Red Sox-Yankees showdowns, meting out the meetings in small does right up to the last couple of weeks of September.

And then . . . bang!

If you’re a fan of the Red Sox, if you’re a fan of the Yankees, if you’re a fan of baseball, you should be happy with the manner in which all this is playing out. The two forever rivals happen to be very, very good at the same time, and if they stay that way deep into September, it’ll turn the last 10 days of the regular season into Must See Hardball TV.

The Sox and Yankees meet for three games at Yankee Stadium Sept. 18-20, then at Fenway for three games on Sept. 28-30 to close out the regular season. If the two teams remain in shouting distance of each other, those six games will determine first place in the American League East, with the loser headed for the one-and-done wild-card game.

It should always be this way. And the Red Sox and Yankees should never, under any circumstances, play each other in April — especially on Opening Day. Let the two teams be apart for a month or so to get their sea legs and forge their identities, and then throw them on the same field.

L NHL Hall of Famer Ray Bourque and former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield will be facing each other in the 25th annual Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game, to be played at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 16, at St. Peter’s Field in North Cambridge. (Disclaimer: I am among the dozens of volunteers who organize the game.)

This year’s game is being played as a fundraiser for the American Heart Association in memory of longtime Herald sportswriter Steve Harris, who died in February. Steve was in attendance at the game from 2008-10 when his son Jack, a Merrimack College student at the time, was playing. Jack has been invited to play in the game this year, along with his brother Mat, currently playing hockey at RPI. Ray Bourque’s sons Ryan and Chris, both professional hockey players, will also be playing.

Ray will be wearing the uniform of the Boston Royal Giants, an independent Negro Leagues team from the 1930s. And in case you’re wondering, he’ll be wearing his original No. 7 — an oldtime uniform number for an oldtime baseball game.

Grand! Bogaerts blasts walkoff slam in 10th as Red Sox knock off Blue Jays

Michael Silverman

Xander Bogaerts will not be heading to Washington with five of his teammates later tonight for the All-Star Game.

His numbers are not as good as a couple of other shortstops in the American League, including Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor and Baltimore’s Manny Machado.

But Bogaerts played like an All-Star, MVP, rock star and living legend all rolled into one yesterday with a 10th-inning walkoff grand slam at Fenway Park. The decidedly clutch moment lifted the surging 67-30 Red Sox to not only another victory but also brought into sharper focus the season being produced by the 25- year-old Bogaerts.

In what is shaping up as a special season for the Red Sox, Bogaerts is having his best season yet.

The 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays means far more than being voted to an exhibition team.

“I think a lot of us need to re-set our bodies, get some rest, the veteran guys especially,” said Bogaerts about the break that begins after today’s game against the Blue Jays. “Just your veteran guys, the pitchers — some off days would be huge and come back and have the same fun with each other.”

Bogaerts’ .884 OPS, 15 home runs, 62 RBI and 26 doubles are obscured in the impressive shadows of teammates Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. But more performances like yesterday’s will raise Bogaerts’ profile in the second half when the stakes increase for the Sox.

“The quality of the at-bats are great. I love the fact that he’s actually trying to do damage, which is great,” said manager Alex Cora.

Bogaerts takes a team-first approach instead of putting value on star status.

“We have so many good hitters in the lineup, guys hitting behind me, guys hitting in front of me, pitchers obviously are going to be more careful with some guys — try to get me some good pitches to hit,” said Bogaerts. “I think I’ve been more aggressive in some counts. I still feel I take so many pitches sometimes, I guess that’s just who I am. But in certain counts I’ve been doing more damage.”

He came to the plate in the 10th inning, just after Toronto reliever Chris Rowley had intentionally walked Martinez to load the bases. Betts reached on an error before Brock Holt singled in the 10th. There was one out, and when the count moved into Bogaerts’ wheelhouse, he took advantage and damaged the offering, launching it a few feet from the base of the flagpole in left-center field.

“The first two pitches were real in, probably (Rowley was) trying to get me to be aggressive and ground into a double play but I was patient and he left one up there,” said Bogaerts. “I hit it real good but I didn’t expect it to go out. But I knew I did hit it good, so I knew it was at least a sac fly and we would have won.”

The victory brought the Red Sox back in winning territory after a one-game hiatus, which had served to end a 10-game winning streak. Along the way, the Sox had created breathing room on the Yankees in the AL East. The victory came two days after Betts had hit a game-winning grand slam against the Blue Jays in the series opener.

After zero grand slams last season, the Red Sox have nine this year. Three are off the bat of Bogaerts.

“I guess the ball is just going over the wall,” said Bogaerts. “We’ve been having a pretty special season as a team, maybe that has a lot to do with it.”

The victory was marred by a sprained right ankle sustained by starter Eduardo Rodriguez in a collision with a baserunner at first base with one out in the sixth inning.

Rodriguez was pitching very efficiently when the injury occurred, holding the Blue Jays scoreless and to just four hits, all singles, with no walks and five strikeouts. And he was at only 67 pitches.

“Today was probably his best one — throwing strikes, great tempo, pitching to contact and then that happens,” said Cora.

Martinez hit a solo home run in the fourth inning. The Blue Jays scored two times in the seventh. The Red Sox tied the game in the ninth as Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled in Bogaerts, who had led off with a double.

Red Sox notebook: Eduardo Rodriguez sprains ankle in first base collision

Michael Silverman

The Red Sox’ to-do list before the trade deadline may have grown longer than they wanted after starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez sustained a sprained right ankle in yesterday’s 6-2 win against the Toronto Blue Jays.

X-rays were negative, but Rodriguez is undergoing more tests before the team knows the exact severity of the sprain.

But it is the landing leg of the 25-year-old southpaw, who last October had surgery on his right knee.

He had pitched inconsistently but was very effective his last two starts, including yesterday’s 51⁄3 shutout innings (four hits allowed, five strikeouts, no walks).

“It looks bad, but he’s moving it around, which is encouraging,” manager Alex Cora said. “We have to go through the tests and all that and see what happens.”

Cora said there was nothing wrong with Rodriguez’ knee.

“No, no, no, probably he was thinking about the knee, just to make sure, but he was fine,” said Cora.

Rodriguez was unavailable after the game because he was undergoing more tests on the ankle.

On the sixth-inning play, Rodriguez ran to cover first base and received a throw from first baseman Blake Swihart. The batter/runner, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., dove for the base as Rodriguez got there and the burly pitcher had to leap over him. Rodriguez’ left foot kicked Gurriel in the helmet and then his right foot got twisted as he landed on it and Gurriel slid over it.

Rodriguez remained on the ground, on all fours, for a minute or two, gathering himself before walking to the mound. After throwing one practice pitch, Rodriguez walked off the mound and his day was done.

KELLY IN RUT

Reliever Joe Kelly is struggling. He allowed the Blue Jays to score twice off two hits and a walk in the seventh inning after he started the frame trying to protect a 1-0 lead. Kelly allowed three runs Friday night. After allowing runs in only two of his first 25 appearances, Kelly has now given up runs in eight of his last 17 games.

Cora was blunt about it.

“Another bad one,” the manager said. “I think the two-out walk, that was the one that made me make the move right there (lifting Kelly). Talking to (catcher) Sandy (Leon), it seems like his breaking stuff is not as sharp as early. It’s either a ball out of the hand, or it just hangs in the zone. It’s not as sharp. So, we’ll take a look at it and go from there, but he’ll be the first one to tell you that he didn’t do his job.”

SWIHART SWINDLED

Swihart ran into an out in the seventh inning. On first base after singling with one out, Swihart took off on Leon’s fly ball but instead of following the flight of the ball, he got faked out by the infielders and ran past second before realizing he had to get back to first — where the throw from left fielder Teoscar Hernandez beat him.

“He didn’t know where the ball was, and they did a good job faking the double play — we’ve got to be better than that,” said Cora. “You take off, you peek, and you know where the ball is. If not, you have to pick up the third base coach. He will let you know where the ball is. Obviously the shortstop and second baseman, they have a job to do, it’s to do the opposite — and they were great, don’t get me wrong, but he knows it. He was pretty upset about it.”

WRIGHT NOW NO GOOD

Steven Wright’s sore knee is not getting better.

“Not having great days — he’s been throwing and all that but he’s still sore, we have to see what we’re going to do next week,” said Cora. “It’s taking longer than expected. …

Cora said he expected both Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce to be in the starting lineup today. …

The Red Sox are tied with the Yankees with the best home record in the majors: 33-13. … The Sox have won seven straight day games to up their daylight mark to 23-5. …

Xander Bogaerts’ walkoff grand slam was the first by a Red Sox since Rico Brogna in August 2000. … Jackie Bradley Jr. tied the game in the ninth with an RBI double. He has eight RBI in his last nine games.

J.D. Martinez hit his 29th home run and became the sixth player to hit 60 or more home runs in between All-Star Games, joining Albert Belle, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Jose Bautista.

SOUTHPAW SWITCH

Before the game, the Sox optioned left-hander Robby Scott to Triple-A Pawtucket and recalled lefty Bobby Poyner.

“A guy we trust,” said Cora of Poyner. “Robby went two (innings Friday) so trying to reset the bullpen. Bobby can go two or he can match up with a lefty or switch hitter.” …

Left-hander Drew Pomeranz will remain with Pawtucket after another uninspiring appearance on Friday.

“We want him to go deeper in the games,” said Cora. “He’ll pitch again on Wednesday. The reports, he was OK.

“Velocity is not up. It’s been 89, 90, I think. Inconsistent with the breaking stuff. I read something (Friday) about, 3-0 count somebody swung and hit a home run. Well, they swing at 3-0 counts here, too.”

Another day, another grand slam and yet another Red Sox victory.

Two days after Mookie Betts beat Toronto with a mid-game, go-ahead grand slam, Xander Bogaerts one- upped him with a 10th-inning walk-off grand slam. It delivered a 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays, but one marred by a sprained right ankle that knocked out starter Eduardo Rodriguez.

The 10th-inning dramatics began when Betts reached on a one-out error by shortstop Lourdes Gurriel Jr. He reached third on Brock Holt's single to left, and after the Blue Jays intentionally walked J.D. Martinez, up came Bogaerts with the bases loaded. Bogaerts blast cleared the wall in center field, landing right next to the base of the flag pole.

The victory brought the Red Sox (67-30) back in winning territory after a one-game hiatus.

Rodriguez sprained his right ankle in a first-base collision in the sixth inning. X-rays were negative and he is being evaluated further, but the loss of the team's best young starter for an unknown amount of time is a significant blow to a ballclub blessed with overall good health for much of the season.

Rodriguez was covering to receive a throw from first baseman Blake Swihart. Gurriel Jr. was diving into first base as Rodriguez got there; Rodriguez' left foot kicked Gurriel in the helmet, and his right foot got twisted as he landed. Rodriguez remained on the ground, on all fours, for a minute or two, gathering himself before walking to the mound. After throwing one practice pitch, Rodriguez walked off the mound and his day was done.

Up to then, Rodriguez had been having one of his best starts of the season: four hits, all singles, with no walks and five strikeouts in 5-1/3 innings. Also encouraging was that his pitch count was at a more than respectable 67 pitches in the sixth inning.

The 25-year-old had not allowed a run in his two prior starts. He had surgery on his right knee last October, and it took much of spring training for him to gain confidence in his landing leg.

Martinez' 29th home run of the season in the fourth was all the scoring into the seventh, when reliever Joe Kelly continued to struggle. He allowed a single, double and a walk before Matt Barnes took over. The Blue Jays scored twice, both runs charged to Kelly.

The Red Sox came close to tying it in the eighth, but Martinez struck out with Betts on third base after a single, error and stolen base. Down to their last three outs in the ninth, Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit back-to-back doubles to tie the game at 2. With Bradley at second base with no outs, a walk-off felt possible then, but Eduardo Nunez, Blake Swihart and Sandy Leon went down in order.

Before the Martinez homer, Toronto starter Sam Gaviglio had done a good job of shutting down a bench- heavy lineup, with Tzu-Wei Lin in at third base and Swihart at first.

With the home run, Martinez became the sixth player to ever hit 60 or more home runs in between All-Star Games, joining Albert Belle, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and, most recently, Jose Bautista (2010-2011).

Bogaerts bring Red Sox back from brink to top Jays in 10

Michael Silverman

Another day, another grand slam and yet another Red Sox victory.

Two days after Mookie Betts beat Toronto with a mid-game, go-ahead grand slam, Xander Bogaerts one- upped him with a 10th-inning walk-off grand slam. It delivered a 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays, but one marred by a sprained right ankle that knocked out starter Eduardo Rodriguez.

The 10th-inning dramatics began when Betts reached on a one-out error by shortstop Lourdes Gurriel Jr. He reached third on Brock Holt's single to left, and after the Blue Jays intentionally walked J.D. Martinez, up came Bogaerts with the bases loaded. Bogaerts blast cleared the wall in center field, landing right next to the base of the flag pole.

The victory brought the Red Sox (67-30) back in winning territory after a one-game hiatus.

Rodriguez sprained his right ankle in a first-base collision in the sixth inning. X-rays were negative and he is being evaluated further, but the loss of the team's best young starter for an unknown amount of time is a significant blow to a ballclub blessed with overall good health for much of the season.

Rodriguez was covering to receive a throw from first baseman Blake Swihart. Gurriel Jr. was diving into first base as Rodriguez got there; Rodriguez' left foot kicked Gurriel in the helmet, and his right foot got twisted as he landed. Rodriguez remained on the ground, on all fours, for a minute or two, gathering himself before walking to the mound. After throwing one practice pitch, Rodriguez walked off the mound and his day was done.

Up to then, Rodriguez had been having one of his best starts of the season: four hits, all singles, with no walks and five strikeouts in 5-1/3 innings. Also encouraging was that his pitch count was at a more than respectable 67 pitches in the sixth inning.

The 25-year-old had not allowed a run in his two prior starts. He had surgery on his right knee last October, and it took much of spring training for him to gain confidence in his landing leg.

Martinez' 29th home run of the season in the fourth was all the scoring into the seventh, when reliever Joe Kelly continued to struggle. He allowed a single, double and a walk before Matt Barnes took over. The Blue Jays scored twice, both runs charged to Kelly.

The Red Sox came close to tying it in the eighth, but Martinez struck out with Betts on third base after a single, error and stolen base. Down to their last three outs in the ninth, Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit back-to-back doubles to tie the game at 2. With Bradley at second base with no outs, a walk-off felt possible then, but Eduardo Nunez, Blake Swihart and Sandy Leon went down in order.

Before the Martinez homer, Toronto starter Sam Gaviglio had done a good job of shutting down a bench- heavy lineup, with Tzu-Wei Lin in at third base and Swihart at first.

With the home run, Martinez became the sixth player to ever hit 60 or more home runs in between All-Star Games, joining Albert Belle, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and, most recently, Jose Bautista (2010-2011).

Eduardo Rodriguez sprains right ankle, X-rays negative

Michael Silverman

The Red Sox rotation took a hit on Saturday, losing Eduardo Rodriguez to an ankle injury that will keep him out of action for an unknown amount of time.

Rodriguez has a right ankle sprain, a result of a sixth-inning collision at first base where he was covering to receive a throw from first baseman Blake Swihart. The base-runner, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., was diving into first base as Rodriguez got there and he had to leap over the runner. His left foot kicked Gurriel in the helmet and then his right foot got twisted as he landed on it and Gurriel's body slid over it.

X-rays were negative, and Rodriguez is being evaluated further.

Rodriguez remained on the ground, on all fours, for a minute or two, gathering himself before walking to the mound. After throwing one practice pitch, Rodriguez walked off the mound and his day was done.

Up to then, Rodriguez had been having one of his best starts of the season: four hits, all singles, with no walks and five strikeouts in 5-1/3 innings. Also encouraging was that his pitch count was at a more than respectable 67 pitches in the sixth inning.

Rodriguez, 25, had not allowed a run in his two prior starts.

He had surgery on his right knee last October.

* The Providence Journal

Despite exciting finish, all was not rosy for Red Sox

Bill Koch

BOSTON — The save opportunity in a baseball game generally belongs to a team’s closer, and Craig Kimbrel has been only too happy to convert them by the dozen since his Red Sox debut in 2016.

The right-hander did pitch in what turned out to be the final inning on this splendid Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park, but it was Boston’s shortstop who rescued a pair of teammates from a rather disappointing finish.

Xander Bogaerts wiped away the differing miseries associated with Eduardo Rodriguez and Joe Kelly on one majestic swing. The drive he struck to deep left-center field settled adjacent to the flag pole and ignited a full-throated roar from the 36,390 fans on hand.

The Red Sox secured their second walkoff victory of this remarkable season, a 6-2, 10-inning thriller against the Blue Jays. Jackie Bradley Jr. lined a double to plate Bogaerts in the ninth with the tying run, and Bogaerts did the honors against Tyler Clippard to lessen the pain felt by Rodriguez, Kelly and the rest of the Boston pitching staff.

“We’ve been having a pretty special season as a team,” Bogaerts said. “Maybe that has a lot to do with it. Guys are blending in tremendously, helping out each other.”

So long as we’re recapping the statistics from this one, a pair of assists must also be granted on the game’s critical play. Earl Simmons — the rapper better known by his stage name, DMX — and ballpark music maestro TJ Connelly combined to set the tone for the critical at-bat. ‘X Gon’ Give It To Ya’ rumbled through the speakers and out into the fresh Back Bay air, loosed from the fraternity basements and stale nightclubs in which it has marinated since its 2003 release.

In accordance with the song’s frequently profane commands, Bogaerts rocked, rolled and delivered against Toronto. The mood of the day and the final series ahead of the All-Star break changed for the better, with the Red Sox assured of at least a split heading into Sunday’s finale. The right ankle injury suffered by Rodriguez in the sixth and Kelly’s latest struggle in the top of the seventh were rendered to footnote status for at least the next couple of hours.

Rodriguez extended his scoreless string to 19 innings over his last three outings before pulling up lame. He raced to cover first base on a grounder to the right side by Lourdes Gurriel Jr., reached back for an errant throw by Blake Swihart and attempted to leap over the sliding baserunner. Rodriguez landed awkwardly and left after 5 1/3 innings, accompanied to the clubhouse by members of Boston’s medical staff.

“It looks bad,” Boston manager Alex Cora said, referring to the swelling already visible in Rodriguez’s ankle. “We’ll see. We’ll wait. He’s moving around, which is encouraging, but obviously we’ve got to go through the tests and see what happens.”

Kelly has entered the third act of what feels like a season-long play, and this one veers toward Shakespearean tragedy. A disaster on Opening Day in Tampa was followed by one earned run allowed over his next 24 appearances, with the right-handed reliever enjoying his best Red Sox stretch since his 2014 acquisition from the Cardinals. Then the calendar turned to June, and Kelly has been hammered to the tune of a 9.22 earned-run average over his last 18 games and 13 2/3 innings.

“His breaking stuff is not as sharp as earlier,” Cora said. “It’s either a ball out of the hand or it hangs in the zone. It’s not as sharp. We’ll take a look at it and go from there. He’ll be the first one to tell you that he didn’t do the job.”

Kelly didn’t retire any of the three men he faced on Friday night in an ugly 13-7 loss, and he was on the hook again after coughing up a 1-0 lead in the seventh. Matt Barnes ultimately conceded the go-ahead RBI single to Gurriel, the first of 13 inherited runners he’s allowed to score in 2018, to make it a 2-1 game. But it was Kelly who heard the boos from the crowd when Cora came out to remove him after a walk to No. 9 hitter Luke Maile.

Though not officially on the disabled list as of yet, Rodriguez joins Drew Pomeranz (left biceps tendinitis), Steven Wright (left knee inflammation), Brian Johnson (left hip inflammation), Austin Maddox (right shoulder strain) and Carson Smith (right shoulder surgery) among the ranks of ailing Boston pitchers. Add the Rodriguez injury to a poor two-inning start by Rick Porcello on Friday and the taxed Red Sox relief corps have been forced to record exactly half of the 84 Toronto outs in this series. Three more weren’t required on Saturday thanks to a welcome contribution from their shortstop.

* MassLive.com

World Cup Boston Red Sox: Chris Sale played goalkeeper, Hector Velazquez received professional showcase invite

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- The World Cup Final between France and Croatia on Sunday (11 a.m.) will mark the end of a month long soccer fever in the Red Sox clubhouse.

Call this team the World Cup Red Sox.

The players have been watching matches together in the clubhouse before their own games. They even have dribbled the soccer ball around in the outfield pregame.

So who's the best soccer player on the Red Sox?

"Me," Red Sox pitcher Hector Velazquez said through translator Daveson Perez, smiling.

Check out the video above of Velazquez, Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Heath Hembree, Craig Kimbrel and other Red Sox pitchers dribbling the soccer before their June 27 game at Fenway Park.

Velazquez was a talented soccer player growing up in Mexico.

"I played up until I was 15," Velazquez told MassLive.com. "In fact, there was a (professional) team down there that invited me to a showcase. But I told them that soccer is just something I play as a hobby. I like baseball better."

He received a showcase invitation from Club Atlas.

Velazquez said Xander Bogaerts would have advanced the farthest of any Red Sox player if he had continued to pursue soccer.

"Bogey for sure," Velazquez said. "He knows how to dribble the ball pretty well."

Chris Sale played goalkeeper, forward as a kid

Velazquez was impressed by Sale's dribbling ability as well.

"He's very good," Velazquez said about Sale. "Since it's more of a South American thing, to see somebody from America play as good as him, it's pretty cool."

Sale said he played soccer until the seventh or eighth grade. He played only baseball and golf during high school.

Dribbling the soccer ball in the major league outfield is nothing new for Sale.

"We did that a lot when I was in Chicago," Sale said. "All the (White Sox) pitchers would go out in the outfield. Like we throw the football here, we'd just play soccer while trying to keep juggling it."

Sale was a goalkeeper and forward when he played organized soccer.

Bogaerts always loved baseball more

Who does Sale view as the most gifted soccer player on the Red Sox?

"Probably Bogey," Sale said.

Bogaerts never considered pursuing soccer professionally when he was growing up in Aruba.

"I wasn't into soccer like that," Bogaerts said. "I liked it but I didn't like it that much. It's not close with baseball. I never even tried to do it like that."

Eduardo Rodriguez injury: Boston Red Sox lefty's ankle 'looks bad' but he's 'moving around'

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez suffered a right ankle sprain during a sixth-inning collision at first base when he went to cover the bag against the Blue Jays here Saturday.

X-rays were negative. He'll receive further tests.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said the ankle itself "looks bad."

"But he's moving around, which is encouraging," Cora said. "Obviously we've gotta go through the tests and all of that and then see what happens."

The Red Sox won 6-2 on Xander Bogaerts' 10th-inning walkoff grand slam.

Rodriguez pitched well. He hurled 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out five. He threw 67 pitches (47 for strikes).

"Today was probably his best one," Cora said. "Throwing strikes, great tempo, pitching to contact and then that happens. But we'll see. I don't want to get ahead of myself. I do feel like he was making strides. He was throwing more offspeed pitches the last two, which is great. And hopefully he'll be OK."

Cora said Rodriguez didn't hurt his knee at all. He underwent a right knee patellofemoral ligament reconstruction Oct. 17.

Xander Bogaerts' DMX walkup song before his Boston Red Sox walkoff grand slam made him smile, fired him up

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- The Blue Jays intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases for Xander Bogaerts with the scored tied 2-2 in bottom of the 10th inning.

The intentional walk in front of him didn't fire up the cleanup hitter. But his walkup song, DMX's X Gon' Give It to Ya, did.

"The music. The music. I'll be honest," said Bogaerts whose nickname is 'X'. "They played, 'X gon' give it to ya. X gon' deliver to ya.' And I'm like, 'Oh, my God.' All this is coming into my head. But it was a good time for it. I have certain spots where I like to hit at and it really helped me. I kind of smiled a little bit going up to hit because there were some good words in there."

"X" delivered. The Red Sox shortstop blasted a 104.2 mph, 392-foot grand slam over the center field wall. The Red Sox walked off with a 6-2 victory.

Bogaerts began Boston's comeback in the ninth when he led off with a double into the left field corner. He scored the game-tying run on Jackie Bradley Jr.'s double.

He finished it in the 10th with his first career walkoff homer.

"I hit it real good but I didn't expect for it go out," he said.

He said he doesn't always hear his walkup music. He also has two walkup tunes. The other is Migos' Walk It Talk It featuring Drake.

"So he could've picked whichever one he wanted in that at-bat," Bogaerts said. "But that one right there, that was a nice one."

Did Fenway Park DJ TJ Connelly turn up the music a bit louder than normal? Bogaerts thinks maybe.

"It was loud," Bogaerts said. "The stadium was loud but I think he put the music up even louder because I was hearing everything."

It marked the Red Sox's first walkoff grand slam since Rico Brogna did it April 14, 2000, vs. Tampa Bay.

"Running the bases, I didn't even remember I hit a home run to be honest," Bogaerts said. "Because some guys when they cross third base, they take off their helmet. I just had my helmet on. I never did it. I took my helmet off at the last minute. ... It was completely a good feeling."

Bogaerts has hit three grand slams already this season.

Xander Bogaerts bashes walkoff grand slam to lead Boston Red Sox to win over Blue Jays in 10 innings

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Xander Bogaerts began the Red Sox's comeback in the ninth. He finished it in the 10th.

Bogaerts led off the ninth with a double into the left field corner. He scored the game-tying run on Jackie Bradley Jr.'s double.

He then stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the 10th. He blasted a 104.2 mph, 392- foot grand slam over the wall in center field.

The Red Sox won 6-2 over Toronto and improved to 67-30. Bogaerts' DMX walkup song fired him up before walkoff homer

The Blue Jays intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases for Bogaerts.

Bogaerts' DMX walkup song fired him up before walkoff homer

The Blue Jays intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases for Bogaerts.

Manager Alex Cora went right back to him Saturday with the Red Sox leading Toronto 1-0 in the seventh and Kelly allowed two runs.

Kelly gave up a single to Kendrys Morales and double to Dwight Smith Jr. to begin the seventh. The righty recorded the inning's first out without Morales scoring when Randal Grichuk grounded out to third base.

But Aledmys Diaz's groundout to shortstop scored Morales. Kelly was pulled after he walked No. 9 hitter Luke Maile.

Matt Barnes allowed the inherited runner (Smith) to score.

Kelly has allowed 15 runs, 14 earned runs, in 13 2/3 innings for a 9.22 ERA since the beginning of June. He has given up 17 hits and nine walks (1.90 WHIP) during the stretch.

His season ERA has increased to 4.31.

Awful base running

Blake Swihart singled with one out in the seventh inning. He represented the tying run. But he got doubled off first base on Sandy Leon's routine flyout to left field.

Swihart rounded the second base bag and was easily doubled off.

Red Sox squander chance to tie game in eighth

Mookie Betts reached third base with one out in the eighth. But Brock Holt grounded out second base with the infield playing in. J.D. Martinez struck out swinging.

Martinez crushes MLB-leading 29th homer

J.D. Martinez crushed his major league-leading 29th homer in the fourth. He connected on an 87.5 mph sinker from Blue Jays starter Sam Gaviglio and sent it 100.7 mph and 389 feet to left field. The Red Sox took a 1-0 lead.

Rodriguez leaves with ankle sprain

Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez left his start after he collided at first base with Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

It was announced in the press box he has a right ankle sprain and X-rays were negative. He's being evaluated further.

Rodriguez was covering the bag on a grounder to first baseman Blake Swihart.

He hurled 5 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and no walks while striking out five. The lefty hasn't allowed a run in his past 19.0 innings.

Eduardo Rodriguez leaves Boston Red Sox start with right ankle sprain; X-rays were negative

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez left his start vs. the Blue Jays in the sixth inning here at Fenway Park on Saturday after he collided at first base with Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

It was announced in the press box he has a right ankle sprain and X-rays were negative. He's being evaluated further.

Rodriguez was covering the bag on a grounder to first baseman Blake Swihart. The pitcher went airborne and appeared to land hard on his right leg.

He tested out the leg on the mound before deciding to leave the game. The good news is he didn't hurt his knee. He underwent a right knee patellofemoral ligament reconstruction Oct. 17.

Rodriguez hurled 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks while striking out five. He threw 67 pitches (47 for strikes).

Alex Cora 'not concerned' about Drew Pomeranz but Boston Red Sox lefty's velocity still down, breaking ball 'inconsistent'

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Red Sox's Drew Pomeranz will make a fourth rehab start Wednesday.

The lefty, who Boston placed on the DL with left biceps tendinitis June 5, gave up three runs, all earned, four hits (one homer) and one walk while striking out three in 3 2/3 innings against Syracuse on Friday.

"Velocity is not up. It's been 89-90, I think,"Cora said. "Inconsistent with the breaking stuff."

He has allowed nine earned runs in 9 2/3 innings over his three rehab outings.

He struggled with his mechanics while going 1-3 with a 6.81 ERA in his first eight starts of 2018 with Boston before landing on the DL.

How concerned is Cora that it's taking Pomeranz so long to figure things out?

"I'm not concerned but sometimes we talk about over-making adjustments," Cora said. "Sometimes maybe that's what's going on. I haven't talked to him today. I don't know how he felt about his delivery. I just read the report. But like I said, it's very important for him to find it. Important for us, obviously."

The Red Sox want him to pitch deeper into a rehab start.

"I think with Drew it's all about timing and mechanics, honestly," Cora said. "That's why he's going to go out there and pitch on Wednesday. And he knows it. He knows he needs to get it right before he gets here. It's very important. We saw what he did last year with this team. We need the good Drew Pomeranz, the guy that can repeat his delivery and he can be consistent with his breaking ball."

Steven Wright injury: Boston Red Sox knuckleballer's knee still sore, 'taking longer than expected'

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Knuckleballer Steven Wright still is experiencing soreness in his left knee.

The Red Sox placed Wright on the 10-day disabled list June 26 with knee inflammation.

Wright underwent a cartilage restoration procedure in his left knee in May 2017. It was the same surgery Dustin Pedroia underwent last October.

"Not having a great day," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "So he's been throwing, all that. But he's still sore. ... It's taking longer than expected."

Cora said he's unsure whether Wright will remain in Boston to continue his rehab and receive treatment when the Red Sox return from the All-Star Break next Friday or if he'll make the trip to Detroit and Baltimore.

"He'll have good days and then he takes a few steps back," Cora said.

* The Lawrence Eagle Tribune

Newcomer Steve Pearce struck by Red Sox chemistry

Chris Mason

BOSTON — Steve Pearce can offer a perspective on the Red Sox clubhouse that nobody else has.

A 34-year-old veteran, Pearce parachuted into Boston just over two weeks ago. When he arrived, the Sox were already a first-place team on a 100-win pace. They'd endured spring training and half a season together. Most of the jelling was already done.

So what's it like when an outsider becomes an insider?

Pearce has been a member of quite a few teams — the Red Sox are his seventh, to be exact — but when he walked into a clubhouse with Mookie Betts, Chris Sale, and J.D. Martinez, something beyond their skill jumped out at him.

"The obvious thing is, you look around and the talent here is unbelievable, but what I like most is the chemistry part of it," Pearce said. "You walk in the clubhouse and everybody is together. It's a small clubhouse, so everybody is talking. Seems like everybody has a different kind of relationship with everybody.

"So it's actually pretty cool that not only are these guys awesome on the field, they're also awesome off the field, too."

Was there anyone in particular that gave him a Red Sox crash course?

"It was a little bit of everybody just giving me advice," Pearce said. "So I can't even say it was one specific person, because everybody was coming up right off the get-go and talking to me. It made it a very easy transition for me."

That must be music to Alex Cora's ears: It's exactly what the rookie manager has been striving for. Cora doesn't want anyone dominating the dynamic, and that likely played into dumping Hanley Ramirez. Though there is certainly still a veteran hierarchy, everybody has a voice.

On the field, Pearce's role will be a significant one.

A right-handed bat that's always hit lefties well, the Sox sent prospect Santiago Espinal to Toronto for his services. Though it's never easy to leave, Pearce was excited to join a team that has a real shot at the World Series.

"You know, it was bittersweet at the time," Pearce said. "When you're playing with a team you develop relationships... so you're sad to leave those guys. But at the end of the day, it's like, 'Wow, I'm going to the Red Sox, the team that's kicking butt right now, and they traded for me. They wanted me.' So it feels good. At the end of the day it's better for my career to be over here."

It certainly didn't hurt that Pearce got off to a white-hot start with his new team. The veteran has been on base in half of his first 28 at-bats — a .500 OBP — with four doubles and a homer.

"Coming over here and swinging it well has also made the transition easy for me," Pearce said. "It's hard to go to a new team and struggle because then they don't know how to fix you because they don't really know who you are. So when you come over here and swing the bat well it's kind of, all right, it's a lot easier for people come up and talk to you because you know you're playing well."

Since February, Cora has loved that how much his Red Sox team talks about the game itself. That hasn't relented. The amount of baseball chatter in clubhouse stood out to Pearce, too, and the camaraderie is something he kept coming back to.

"This team, they want to win and they're always looking to improve," Pearce explained. "Everybody is communicating with each other. If somebody has a problem or something like that, just like mechanically, everybody is talking to each other and trying to help them figure it out and going to other players and asking for advice. That's really cool. That shows you the chemistry and how well these guys are as a unit together."

* The Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Morgan’s Magic a treasured memory 30 years later

Bill Ballou

Thursday’s memorable Red Sox victory over the Toronto Blue Jays — a 6-4 classic thanks to Mookie Betts’ grand slam on pitch No. 13 of his at-bat — was timely in recalling what was going on with the team 30 years ago.

Sunday is the 30th anniversary of the start of what became known as Morgan’s Magic.

It was a 20-game stretch during which almost every Red Sox game played out like last Thursday night. In my 32 years covering the team, and 58 years watching it, Morgan’s Magic was a unsurpassed span of three weeks of unforgettable moments both on and off the field.

That includes the 1967 Impossible Dream pennant, and the three World Series championships throughout those nearly six decades.

It all happened by accident. The Red Sox had clumsily fired John McNamara, who deserved to get fired but could have gotten the news in a better way, as he was let go after he arrived at Fenway Park for the team’s first game after the 1988 All-Star break on July 14, 1988.

It was done so hastily, that rather than remove the magnetic raised letters on the door to the manager’s office at Fenway, they were just covered over with black electrical tape. Like, nobody could read the outline of “McNamara” under the tape. It was ghoulish.

With McNamara suddenly gone, somebody had to run the team that night and Sox management did the traditional thing. They brought in the third base coach — Joe Morgan of Walpole located 30 miles south of Boston — to do the job. He was, Morgan was told by team president John Harrington, the “interim” manager, to which he responded, “Mr. Harrington, the word ‘interim’ is not in my vocabulary.”

It was prophetic.

That night’s game against the Kansas City Royals was rained out and the Red Sox then swept a doubleheader versus KC the next day to go from nine games out of first to seven. Boston played well, but not magically. That happened the next day, a Saturday afternoon game at Fenway.

The Sox trailed, 6-0, after five then picked up four in the sixth. With one out in the eighth, Dwight Evans tied it with a two-run homer. Boston’s leadoff batter in the ninth was Kevin Romine, who had entered the game as a pinch runner and who had never hit a home run in 126 major league bats as he stepped into the batter’s box against right-hander Steve Farr.

Romine hit the first pitch he saw over the Green Monster for a 7-6 victory.

Morgan was 6-0 as the interim manager on July 20 when his team trailed the Minnesota Twins, 7-5, going into the last of the 10th at Fenway. Minnesota had reliever Juan Berenguer on the mound and as the inning started a fan climbed one of poles behind third base and began to shinny down the guide wire to the screen behind home plate.

Everybody in the ballpark saw it, but nobody tried to stop it, even the umpires. Berenguer could not take his eyes off that fan and walked Mike Greenwell and Spike Owen before being relieved by Keith Atherton. He gave up a double to Jody Reed and it was 7-6.

Todd Benzinger then curled a three-run homer around Pesky’s Pole and the Red Sox won, 9-7.

Mike Smithson and Oil Can Boyd both flirted with no-hitters during the magical run. Clemens made three starts and gave up three earned runs with 33 strikeouts in 24-1/3 innings.

Morgan, who went from being an interim manager to having a three-year contract, became the only manager in history — still is — to win his first 12 games. The Sox finally lost in Texas on July 26, then won another seven in a row to make it 19-1 in Morgan’s first 20 games.

Boston’s victory on Aug. 2 at Fenway, 5-4 over the Texas Rangers, brought the team into a tie for first in the American League East with the Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox had picked up nine games in 18 days.

While that was the end of the box score magic, there was one final chapter.

From Boston, the Red Sox went to Detroit for a five-game series and lost the first four games to fall four games back. It looked like another heartbreaker in the making for Sox fans.

After the fourth loss, 4-2 on Aug. 6, Morgan was doing his postgame interviews in the visiting manager’s office at old Tiger Stadium, when his desk phone rang unexpectedly. It was a fan, somehow put through by the stadium operator who said the caller was an “old friend.”

“How can you say no to an old friend?” Morgan responded and took the call.

It was from Dick Duncan, and he advised Morgan on what action he should take to snap the team out of his skid. Morgan listened graciously, then told Duncan he had called “at a bit of inopportune time” but thanked him for the advice.

“Never heard of him,” Morgan told reporters. “Maybe he’s from East Walpole.”

With the magic over and the team in danger of falling right back out of the AL East race, Morgan was asked if he was worried about Sunday’s finale of the series.

He was not, he said, adding, ”(Bruce) Hurst will spin a beauty and we’ll leave here three games out.”

Hurst pitched a 10-inning shutout, the last extra-inning shutout pitched by a Sox starter, as Boston won, 3- 0, leaving Detroit three games out as Morgan had predicted. It took a while, but the Sox finally went back into first place in Anaheim on Sept. 4 and stayed there the rest of the way.

It was, indeed, baseball magic, an unexpected dose, and while Alex Cora and the 2018 Red Sox can never quite duplicate what happened in ’88, with the fateful All-Star break here they are giving it a shot.

Baseball Jeopardy

Answers:

1. He holds the Red Sox record among position players for most career at bats without ever hitting a double.

2. The only Boston batter to record an on-base slugging percentage above 1.000 as a rookie.

3. The last time the Red Sox played fewer than 162 games in a season.

Questions below.

Successful surgery

So Marco Hernandez had a third successful operation on his left shoulder. Makes you wonder what would have happened if the operations had been unsuccessful. ... When Eduardo Escobar had a pair of doubles in the Twins’ 6-2 victory over the Red Sox on June 19, it gave him 32 for the season in 69 games and he looked well on his way to breaking Earl Webb’s major league record of 67, set in 1931. Rest easy, Earl. Escobar has had three doubles in 21 games since then and projects to 63 for the season. ... Anybody else out there notice how way too many Blue Jays batters are not running out ground balls during this series? That’s not a good reflection on Toronto’s clubhouse culture. ... After David Price got the win in the Betts granny game Thursday, the Red Sox had four different pitchers with at least 10 wins at the All-Star break. Some research indicates that has never happened before. It is an interesting note, but not foolproof. For one thing, the All-Star break is unusually late this season. For another, the first All-Star game wasn’t until 1933, so that precludes the great Sox teams of the 1900s and 1910s from being included. Still, it’s a sign of just how good this particular Red Sox team has been and leads to the question of how many 20-game winners they might have if they keep winning at this pace through the end of the season.

Homering JD

Thanks to our sports editor, Jim Wilson, for pointing this out.

J.D. Martinez has hit his league-leading 29 home runs in 28 games. Martinez has just one two-homer game this year, on May 20 versus the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway.

Considering that Martinez is on a pace to hit 47 homers this year, which would be tied for third-best in Red Sox history, what’s the team record for most number of games homered in for one season? It’s 48 by David Ortiz in 2006 when he hit a record 54 home runs. Ortiz had six two-homer games that year.

Of Boston’s top 10, the closest batters to Martinez’ consistency are Tony Armas and Ted Williams. Armas hit 43 homers in 41 games in 1984, while Williams did exactly the same thing in 1939.

Jeopardy questions:

1. Who is Chico Walker? The utility man, best known for replacing Carl Yastrzemski in left field on the day Yaz retired, had two triples and a home run in 81 at bats for Boston, but no doubles.

2. Who is Ted Williams? The Hall of Famer, playing right field as a rookie in 1939, had an OPS of 1.045 that year.

3. What is 2001? Boston played 161 games that year. The Sox were rained out in New York on Monday, Sept. 10, and did not make it up later as the schedule was rewritten after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Catching up with...

Former first base coach Arnie Beyeler (2013-15) is the manager at New Orleans of the Pacific Coast League, the Miami Marlins’ Triple A farm team; hustling outfielder Darren Bragg (1996-98) is the Cincinnati Reds minor league outfield coach; Gene Lamont, who should have been Jimy Williams’ successor as manager in 2001, when Joe Kerrigan was hired, is an advisor to Royals general manager Dayton Moore.

Reliever Joe Nelson, who had two separate tours of duty with the Red Sox in 2004 and 2010, is a major league scout for the Chicago Cubs; and short-time infielder Jim Pankovits (1990) is the manager of the Cleveland Indians’ farm team in Mahoning Valley.

Xander Bogaerts’ grand slam gives Red Sox walk-off win over Blue Jays

Bill Ballou

BOSTON — For all the things the Red Sox did wrong Saturday, it still seemed inevitable that they would beat the Toronto Blue Jays.

That’s the way it has gone all year long for Boston. When the Red Sox can’t find a way to win a game, the opposition finds a way to lose it.

Saturday’s pulsating 6-2 triumph over Toronto via Xander Bogaerts’ 10th-inning, walk-off grand slam made it 67 victories, 30 defeats, with no end in sight to the metronome beat of success.

Boston has not lost two straight games since June 19-20 in Minnesota. Since then, the Red Sox are 18-4 and their overall record has them on a pace to win 112 games.

That seems like a ridiculously high number, but as the season has progressed it has gone from a best-case scenario outcome to something entirely possible given the way they are able to conjure up victories from the thickening summer air.

When Boston began the season 17-2 it seemed to be one of those freakish statistical aberrations, like Daniel Nava hitting .303 in 2013. But considering that the Sox were 17-2 in two in their first 19 games and are 16- 3 in their most recent, maybe this is just their reality.

Saturday’s victory saw them trailing, 2-1, going into the bottom of the ninth. They tied it when Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit consecutive doubles with nobody out, then won it after Blue Jays manager John Gibbons intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases with one out in the 10th.

Bogaerts hit a 2-0 pitch from Chris Rowley onto the platform that surrounds the flagpole in left-center.

Now, considering that Martinez is baseball’s leading home run hitter and had hit one earlier in the afternoon, that seemed like reasonable strategy. Except that Bogaerts is and always has been a deadly batter with the bases loaded and wound up hitting his third grand slam of the season and fourth of his career. As a team, the Red Sox have now hit nine grannies this season.

He is 23 for 68 (.338) with the bases full for his career and has delivered 69 RBIs.

“I got two balls and said, ’I’m gonna swing at anything close,” Bogaerts said. “The first two pitches were a little in and he was probably trying to get me to be aggressive and hit into a double play but I was patient. He got one up there, and I hit it real good but I didn’t expect for it to go out.

“I knew it was at least a sacrifice fly.”

Like Mookie Betts on Thursday night, Bogaerts showed his glee as he toured the bases.

“It was amazing,” Bogaerts said, adding, “A walk-off homer is different, a walk-off grand slam is even more. It’s a homer and you help your team win. Running the bases, I didn’t even remember I hit a homer to be honest.”

Seeing the Blue Jays walk Martinez to get to him didn’t motivate Bogaerts, he said. The walk-off homer could be credited to his walk-up music, which was loud and inspiring.

There was no walk-up music for Boston’s last walk-off grand slam. That happened on Aug. 14, 2000 versus the Tampa Bay Rays when Rico Brogna produced a 7-3 victory, and the first in extra innings since Jim Rice beat Oakland, 13-9, in the 10th on July 4, 1984.

Martinez’ homer in the fourth gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead and the way Eduardo Rodriguez was pitching, that almost looked like it would be enough. He was working on one of the best performances of his career when he tripped over Lourdes Gurriell Jr. while covering first base in the sixth inning.

Rodriguez had to leave with a sprained ankle — it looked bad, according to manager Alex Cora — and while Heath Hembree got out of the sixth with the Sox still ahead, Joe Kelly made sure the Blue Jays had a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Brandon Workman, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel kept the Jays from scoring after that and when Mookie Betts hit a one-out ground ball to shortstop that went through Gurriell’s legs for an error, that Red Sox feeling took over at Fenway again.

Bogaerts carried that feeling with him to the plate, and for the duration of his 360-foot journey around the bases.

Red Sox notes: Mookie Betts leader in the clubhouse to capture AL batting title

Bill Ballou

BOSTON — It took the Red Sox 32 years to produce an American League batting champion, Dale Alexander, who claimed one with a .372 average in 1932.

After that, Boston batters were batting champs all the time but that has changed.

Bill Mueller was the last Sox player to win the AL batting crown. That happened in 2003 with Manny Ramirez second. That was 14 years ago, the team’s longest drought since those first 32 years.

It may be on its way to ending, however, as Mookie Betts continues on his way to producing one of the best offensive seasons in team history.

Betts was 3 for 4 on Saturday to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. He is 24-for-50 (.480) during the streak and has raised his average from .339 to .362.

Betts will be the first Boston batter to be above .350 at the All-Star break since 2011 when Adrian Gonzalez was hitting .354.

The break that year began on July 11. Gonzalez finished the season batting .338, second to Miguel Cabrera for the championship.

The last Boston batter to hit better than .350 for a season was Nomar Garciaparra in 2000 who hit .372. His average at the All-Star break that year was .389.

Twin killings

In the last 21 years the Red Sox have grounded into more double plays than the opposition 19 times and are on their way to making it 20 of 22 in 2018. They grounded into one Saturday, the Blue Jays none.

Boston has hit into 77 and turned 53 this year and in the last 11 games the difference is 17-2. The two times they were out-doubleplayed were 2012 and 2006 and they missed the playoffs in both of those seasons. Beginning with 1998, Boston batters have grounded into 2,723 double plays and opposing hitters have grounded into 2,321.

Johnson up next

Boston plays its final game before the All-Star break at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday, and Brian Johnson will be sprung from the disabled list to make the start. The Blue Jays will counter with Marcus Stroman.

Johnson’s overall record is 1-2, his earned run average 4.23. As a starting pitcher the lefty is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA and the Red Sox have won all three of his starts. In fact, Boston has won eight of his nine career starts.

Stroman is 2-6, 5.90. This will be his fifth start since a stint on the disabled list and he had his best one of the the year the last time he pitched. Stroman allowed just a run in seven innings in Toronto’s 6-2 victory over Atlanta on July 10.

Stroman is 4-2 with a 4.19 ERA in 10 career starts versus Boston. That includes a 1-1, 3.26 mark in three starts at Fenway Park.

Pearce, Moreland out

Steve Pearce was not in the starting lineup as he recuperates from a bruised shin and Mitch Moreland was not available at all, although Red Sox manager Alex Cora would not say why. They should be available on Sunday.

Blake Swihart was at first on Saturday and had a hit, but blundered on the basepaths. He ran into a double play in the seventh when he lost the ball on Sandy Leon’s fly to left.

“He didn’t know where the ball was,” Cora said. “We’ve got to be better there.”

Kelly awful again

Joe Kelly was terrible again in relief and blew the save, making him 2 for 10 in those situations in a Boston uniform. Although the blown save stat is misleading for middle relievers in general, it suits Kelly fine. He does not pitch well in tight games.

Kelly’s ERA was 1.73 at the end of May. Since then he has been charged with 14 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings and his earned run average has jumped to 4.31.

Diamond Dust

The Red Sox swapped relievers, sending Robby Scott back to Pawtucket and bringing Bobby Poyner up. ... Jackie Bradley Jr. batted fifth. It was the first time he’d been a middle-of-the order hitter since last Aug. 1, when also hit in the No. 5 spot. Bradley had a key hit and is 7-for-21 (.333) in his last six games. ... Tzu- Wei Lin’s single to right in the fifth snapped an 0-for-26 drought for him at the major league level. ... Betts has scored a run in nine straight games. ... Leon was the only Boston starter without a hit.

* The Portland Press Herald

Red Sox have options at trade deadline

Kevin Thomas

The Boston Red Sox are on target to win more than 110 games, so this team hardly needs much improvement as the trade deadline looms.

But the Red Sox can look in the rearview mirror, and there are the New York Yankees, only two games behind in the loss column before Saturday’s games. And if objects are closer than they appear in the mirror, the same is true of the New Yorkers, who are bound to seek improvement before the deadline.

Must Boston make moves to stay ahead? And do the Red Sox have enough prospects to trade for better players?

Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski does not shy from trading prospects – though there are not many prime players left in the system. Still, no one expects Dombrowski to stand pat.

He may strike quickly, well before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline. He already acquired Steve Pearce from Toronto for shortstop Santiago Espinal, who was having a career season (.313 average) in advanced Class A Salem.

What other chips does Dombrowski have?

Top pitching prospect Jay Groome recently underwent Tommy John surgery. He’s off the table.

Groome and Sea Dogs third baseman Michael Chavis are Boston’s top two prospects. Is Chavis untouchable? Not completely, but any deal with Chavis would have to be someone who’s more than just a rental (a player who is a free agent after this year). There is a longshot chance that Chavis could help the Red Sox this season.

No other prospect seems untouchable.

Jalen Beeks and Mike Shawaryn are the cream of the starters at the upper levels. Beeks, a lefty, has 100 strikeouts in Triple-A. But his stock dropped with two major league appearances in which he allowed nine earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. If Boston does not trade Beeks, a short-term transition to the bullpen may help the Red Sox this year.

Shawaryn, with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP, has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the system. Two questions: How valuable is he in Dombrowski’s eyes? What could Boston get for him?

One intriguing upper-level arm is Pawtucket reliever Ty Buttrey (high 90s fastball, 1.93 ERA, 62 strikeouts, 13 walks). It is curious why he has not been part of the Pawtucket-Boston shuttle this year.

Dombrowski often deals pitchers from the lower levels. Salem has a group of starters with potential – Tanner Houck (first-round pick in 2017), Bryan Mata (named to the Futures Games), lefty Darwinzon Hernandez and Jake Thompson (fourth-round pick in 2017). That’s a lot of promise, and Dombrowski usually deals from abundance.

Greenville’s best starter, Denyi Reyes, 21, is dominating (1.91 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 105 strikeouts, 13 walks). It’s curious why Reyes has not been promoted to Salem.

Among position players, Chavis is the most valuable. Sea Dogs teammate Josh Ockimey, a power-hitting first baseman, is full of promise. Salem infielders Bobby Dalbec (21 home runs) and C.J. Chatham (.326) are finally healthy and producing. It would be a surprise to see any of them dealt.

Greenville outfielder Marino Campana (14 home runs) is only 20 and has raw power. Sell high?

BEFORE BOSTON makes any deals, it does have internal options to bolster its bullpen, which has been strengthened by recently promoted reliever Ryan Brasier (no hits or runs in four innings) and a healthy Brandon Workman (1.76 ERA, 0.91 WHIP). Moving Beeks to the pen might help, as could promoting Buttery. Even Tyler Thornburg may contribute. The biggest longshot is 2018 third-round draft pick Durbin Feltman. He made his professional debut just two weeks ago but could zoom through the system with his 97 mph fastball and killer slider.

Boston may want a second-base upgrade with Dustin Pedroia’s status murky. Recently signed veteran Brandon Phillips, who batted .285 last year for the Braves and Angels, reported to Pawtucket on Saturday after playing six games for short-season Lowell. And we will keep an eye on what positions Chavis plays.

WHO MIGHT THE Red Sox trade for? While Manny Machado rumors are made for headlines, I don’t see the Red Sox going there. Other teams have more to offer in a deal.

The No. 1 priority is the bullpen, and the search is on for a lockdown set-up man. Here are several options.

• Zach Britton, Baltimore left-hander. The veteran is coming off surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon. He looks like he is getting stronger (two hits, one walks and no runs in his last five outings). He is a rental, which may bring the price down a little.

• Adam Conley, Miami left-hander. The “other” Marlins reliever mentioned in trade rumors, behind Kyle Barraclough (1.31 ERA, 0.94 WHIP), Conley (3.04 ERA, 0.89 WHIP) has a 95 mph fastball. Both relievers will be arbitration eligible next year but not eligible for free agency until 2022.

• Kirby Yates, San Diego right-hander. Yates is one of three Padres relievers who could be available, along with closer Brad Hand and Craig Stammen. Yates (1.47 ERA, 0.90 WHIP) throws a 94 mph fastball along with a split-finger fastball. He will be eligible for arbitration next year.

* RedSox.com

Bogaerts' slam lifts Red Sox in 10th inning

Blake Richardson

BOSTON -- One swing. It was the difference between winning and losing, between being lost among a lineup of titans and standing out as one himself.

Xander Bogaerts chose the latter on Saturday, belting a walk-off grand slam to give the Red Sox a 6-2 victory over the Blue Jays in the 10th inning at Fenway Park.

It was the Red Sox's first walk-off grand slam since Rico Brogna on Aug. 14, 2000, against Tampa Bay.

"First?" Bogaerts asked.

Yes, first. And his third grand slam of the season -- two days after Mookie Betts launched one against the Blue Jays. As the ball soared into the outfield, Bogaerts admitted he thought the knock would be a sacrifice fly. He was content with that: All he wanted was the win. Such a grand display had not entered his mind.

"When I saw it go out, it was even better," he said.

After the game, the media scrum that surrounded Bogaerts was so all-encompassing it was hard to see Bogaerts in the center. And just a few hours earlier, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he felt Bogaerts was being overlooked.

"We're talking a lot about Mookie and J.D. [Martinez] and all that stuff, but if you start looking at Xander's numbers, he probably deserved to be an All-Star, too," Cora said before Saturday's game.

At first, it looked like Martinez would take center stage in yet another game. The slugger put the Red Sox ahead in the fourth inning with a solo home run over the Green Monster -- his 29th, tied with Cleveland's Jose Ramirez for most in baseball. It was also Martinez's 19th round-tripper at Fenway and, because of a strong start from Eduardo Rodriguez, it was enough to keep Boston in the game early.

The tide changed when Rodriguez left with a right ankle sprain following a collision at first base with a scoreless outing intact through 5 1/3 frames. He had five strikeouts, four hits and no walks. Heath Hembree replaced Rodriguez on the mound with the Red Sox leading 1-0.

Hembree held the Blue Jays scoreless through the sixth, then Joe Kelly entered the game in the seventh and allowed two runs. Even trailing, the Red Sox remained determined.

"Just knowing to stay within ourselves, and we can put up runs just as well as they can," Jackie Bradley Jr. said. "So this is our time. We had been struggling early on, but it's hard to hold a good team down."

Back-to-back doubles from Bogaerts and Bradley tied the game in the ninth. Then, with the bases loaded in the 10th and one out, Bogaerts stole the spotlight.

"Running the bases, I wasn't even ... I didn't even remember hitting a homer, to be honest," Bogaerts said.

He didn't even remove his helmet until he rounded home plate, meeting the huddle of his teammates showering him with cheers and sprays of water. Bogaerts and Brock Holt shared their signature handshake, a swap of swift hands followed by dabbing. Has anyone seen Bogaerts beaming this much?

"Yeah, I have," Bradley said.

Maybe it's just that now, others are finally taking notice.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED With the Red Sox trailing, 2-1, in the bottom of the ninth inning, Bogaerts drove a leadoff double to the corner in left field. Bradley echoed the momentum Bogaerts sparked by drilling a double to right field that allowed Bogaerts to score and tie the game at 2, where it would stay until the 10th.

SOUND SMART The walk-off grand slam was the first in Bogaerts' career and fourth walk-off hit. His third grand slam of 2018 also marked the second most in Boston history. Jim Rice hit the last walk-off grand slam in extra innings for the Red Sox -- against the A's on July 4, 1984.

HE SAID IT "Just continue to grind. We might have been down a run, but we've been a team that's been very relentless. We felt like we could push across at least one run, and we were able to get that in the ninth and kind of continue playing and got even more." -- Bradley, on the Red Sox's dugout atmosphere while trailing

UP NEXT In his return from the DL, Brian Johnson (1-2, 4.23 ERA) will make his fourth start for the Red Sox in their final game of the series against the Blue Jays on Sunday. In his last outing, against the Nationals, he totaled two strikeouts, two runs and two walks through 4 2/3 innings. Boston will counter with Marcus Stroman (2- 6, 5.90), with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.

E-Rod sustains sprained ankle after collision

Blake Richardson

BOSTON -- Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez exited Saturday' game against the Blue Jays after spraining his right ankle in a collision with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. at first base.

"It looks bad," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Boston won, 6-2, on a Xander Bogaerts grand slam in the 10th inning. "But he's moving around, which is encouraging. Obviously, we've got to go through tests and all that and then see what happens."

Rodriguez and Gurriel were racing to the bag when the two crashed into each other. It appeared that Rodriguez tripped over a sliding Gurriel, and both players went down on the field.

Both received medical attention, and while Gurriel remained on first, Rodriguez slowly walked back to the mound with Red Sox staff before leaving the game.

"He's a big guy," Bogaerts said. "And covering first base is not the best thing for him. But he went down, and I went over right away, because he's one of my close buddies on the team. And to see him go down and get out of the game, it was a little bit worrying."

Rodriguez left with a scoreless outing through 5 1/3 innings, allowing four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Heath Hembree replaced him on the mound with the Red Sox leading, 1-0.

Before the injury, it looked like Rodriguez could work deeper into the game -- he had only thrown 67 pitches. And he extended his scoreless streak to 19 innings -- the longest active streak in the Majors.

Now the Red Sox will go into the All-Star break facing the prospect of yet another injury to a pitcher.

"It's funny, because today was probably his best one," Cora said. "Throwing strikes, great tempo, pitching to good contact."

The Red Sox bullpen is already stretched thin, with Steven Wright and Drew Pomeranz recovering from injuries while Joe Kelly has battled consistency on the mound. After Hembree held the Blue Jays scoreless through the sixth inning, Kelly entered in the seventh and gave up two runs and the lead.

The 10-inning game Saturday and another blow to their depth could hurt the Red Sox in their series finale with the Blue Jays on Sunday, once the dust settles from Bogaerts' walk-off grand slam.

While Rodriguez's injury leaves little room for optimism, one thing is certain -- the All-Star break could not come at a better time for the Red Sox's bullpen. But that doesn't take away the sting of losing a front-line starter.

"I don't want to get ahead of myself," Cora said. "But I do feel that [Rodriguez] was making strides, he was throwing more offspeed pitches the last two. And hopefully, he'll be OK."

J.D. ties for MLB lead with 29th home run

Blake Richardson

BOSTON -- One solo home run, and J.D. Martinez slipped away unnoticed from the media after the Red Sox defeated the Blue Jays, 6-2, in the 10th inning on Saturday at Fenway Park.

That's what happens when Xander Bogaerts hits a walk off grand slam -- and when Martinez homers as often as he does.

Martinez crushed his 29th home run against the Blue Jays on Saturday, tied with Cleveland's Jose Ramirez for the most in baseball.

"I think everyone expects [Martinez] to hit one every single game," second baseman Brock Holt said. "Obviously that's not going to happen, but it feels like more times than not, he's doing it."

• Lupica: Once a castoff, J.D.'s star shining brightest

"J.D., he can pretty much book a homer," Bogaerts said. "It's been amazing to see, to be a part of. I mean, [Martinez and Mookie Betts] are having two historic seasons."

With the game scoreless in the fourth inning, Martinez drilled the payoff pitch from Sam Gaviglio over the Green Monster to give Boston a lead that lasted until the seventh inning.

The hit had a 101-mph exit velocity and traveled 389 feet, according to Statcast™. It was Martinez's 19th home run at Fenway Park this season.

Martinez had just 14 home runs at this time last year, and he finished 2017 with a career-high 45. He has attributed his use of analytics to his success, and his meticulous preparation has been a source of inspiration for the rest of the Red Sox's lineup.

"He's pretty special to have in the middle of the order, in the middle of the lineup," Holt said. "He makes everyone around him better, and to have that presence in the middle of the lineup, knowing that he's coming up, it kind of relieves some pressure off a lot of guys."

Cora eager to root for many familiar ASG faces

Blake Richardson

BOSTON -- Of course Red Sox manager Alex Cora will watch the All-Star Game. When he knows so many Red Sox and Astros who will be there, how could he not?

"I feel like I was part of it," Cora said. "I texted Jose [Altuve] the other day, you know, I'm proud of him. And to see Charlie [Morton] ... that was cool. Here's a guy that, he's still thinking about retirement, and he gets a shot to pitch in the All-Star Game. Alex [Bregman], pulling for him. That's my go-to guy in the Home Run Derby."

Not to mention AJ Hinch and the rest of the Astros' coaching staff -- Alex Cintron, Rich Dauer and others. Cora said he spoke with Hinch -- who will manage the American League team at the 2018 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard -- about the difficulty in setting a lineup stacked with All-Star hitters.

As Cora prepares to watch the game, his head racing with questions -- could Bregman really win the Home Run Derby? Will Mookie Betts swing on the first pitch? -- one can't help but look for an edge of longing in his excitement. Doesn't he wish he could be there?

"Honestly, yes," Cora said. "But like my daughter Camilla said, 'Next year.' There's always next year."

Adjustments in the bullpen Bobby Poyner was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket for the matchup against the Blue Jays, and Boston optioned Robby Scott to Pawtucket to make room on the roster.

The move comes after Scott threw two innings against the Blue Jays on Friday. Cora said he trusts Poyner, but more importantly, his bullpen needed a fresh arm. Scott was stretched on Friday after Joe Kelly struggled to contain the Blue Jays' offense, allowing three runs in less than an inning.

Cora said Kelly is overusing the fastball and needs to rely on his changeup -- a pitch he threw with considerable success in April and May. But Cora is still confident in his reliever.

"His stuff is still there, it's just a matter of reset his stuff," Cora said. "He did it in Kansas City… he did it against the Rangers. Yesterday, it didn't work out."

Drew Pomeranz is also striving to return to form, as he has failed to find a groove in his pitching. Whether residual injury or over-adjusting his throw, the solution is still unclear, but Cora is not concerned that it is taking Pomeranz a while to break his funk.

"I think with Drew, it's all about timing and mechanics," Cora said. "That's why he's gonna go out there and pitch on Wednesday. And he knows it. He knows he has to get it right before he gets here. It's very important. We saw what he did last year with this team. And we need the good Drew Pomeranz -- the guy that can repeat his delivery and can be consistent with his breaking ball."

Meanwhile, Steven Wright's recovery from left knee soreness is taking longer than expected.

Wright has thrown some but remains sore, and Cora is still trying to decide whether Wright should remain in Boston to continue his rehab, or join the Red Sox on the road after the All-Star Game.

"He'll have good days," Cora said, "and then he takes a few steps back."

Once a castoff, J.D.'s star shining brightest

Mike Lupica

The most valuable player in baseball this season is J.D. Martinez, even if he might not be the best hitter on his team at the moment, because Mookie Betts holds that distinction. Still: The best hitter in baseball, from last year's All-Star Game to this year's Midsummer Classic is Martinez, a guy who didn't have a job in the middle of February.

Martinez has mashed 60 home runs since last year's All-Star Game, with 152 RBIs and an OPS of 1.074, better than anybody in that time on that stat line. The only person with a higher batting average over the same timespan is Jose Altuve, the reigning American League MVP Award winner. The Red Sox are 67-30, the best record in baseball. The only change in Boston's batting order from last season to this year is putting Martinez in the middle of it, a spot that used to be occupied by David Ortiz.

Ortiz hit 20 homers with the Twins in 2002, but after he was released on Dec. 16, 2002, he signed with the Red Sox just a month later. The Astros released Martinez during Spring Training in 2014. So Ortiz and Martinez have that in common, in addition to all the stick Ortiz once brought to the middle of the Red Sox order and what Martinez is bringing now.

Ortiz was 27 when he got to Fenway from Minnesota, with very little fanfare. Martinez is 30, and he showed up to great fanfare when he finally arrived in Fort Myers, Fla., after hitting a lot of home runs in Detroit and Phoenix once the Tigers signed him in March of 2014, after he couldn't get on the field with an Astros team being managed by Bo Porter at the time. Martinez, who told Astros management that he had made some changes to his swing the previous winter, had just 18 at-bats that spring. It didn't matter. If Martinez stayed with the Astros, he was on his way to Triple-A. Two days after getting released by Houston, he signed with the Tigers.

Now, Martinez is the right-handed hitter doing for the Red Sox what the left-handed-hitting Big Papi once did. But they are the same this way: They both had plenty to prove to baseball. They then set about proving it.

It is worth mentioning again that Jeff Luhnow, a brilliant baseball guy who runs the Astros, sent out emails to 29 other teams four years ago before he released the guy who is currently the most productive hitter in the whole sport and said they could have Martinez for little or no compensation.

The response?

"Crickets," Luhnow said.

As Major League Baseball heads to Washington for this year's All-Star Game, there is no better story in baseball than Martinez. Not Mike Trout, not Altuve, not Aaron Judge, not Giancarlo Stanton, not even Betts, who thrilled Fenway on Thursday night with a grand slam after a 13-pitch at-bat.

Martinez was out of a job not long ago. He hit 45 homers in 119 games last season for the Tigers and the D-backs. There have been other stories about players who went from being out of a job to doing this kind of job at the plate. Ortiz is one. Now, Martinez is another. It's like Roy Hobbs said in the movie "The Natural:"

"My life didn't turn out the way I expected."

I asked Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, another brilliant baseball man -- if you don't think so, look at the way he has reimagined the Yankees over the past two years -- if the Yankees even considered signing Martinez in the spring of 2014 after the Astros let him go.

"Don't recall off the top of my head," said Cashman.

The biggest splash about a home run guy in the offseason was supposed to be Cashman acquiring Stanton when the Marlins began their fire sale. Martinez has been far more important, at least so far, to the Red Sox than Stanton has been to the Yankees, even if Stanton has picked up the pace the past month or so. The Red Sox's 168 homers last season ranked 27th in the Majors. Now they rank second with 133 in 2018. Manager Alex Cora's batting order has organized around the hitter he didn't officially have when pitchers and catchers reported.

It means that big things are still happening to Martinez in Spring Training, good and bad and even great. Five months after the Red Sox signed him, he has a .330 average, .392 on-base percentage, 1.040 OPS, 29 homers, 80 RBIs and a .648 slugging percentage.

This is what he said to the media when he was packing up his things in Kissimmee, Fla., where the Astros were still training in 2014, when the team released him.

"It's all right," Martinez said. "I'm not really down about it. It is what it is. Obviously, Houston is the team that brought me up and where I want to be. Everything happens for a reason."

That's where he was, at the lowest point in his professional career. Look at where he is now. Just about all of the other guys, even a splendid little big man like Altuve, we saw them coming. Nobody saw Martinez coming. Now, everybody will see him in Washington on Tuesday night. Lot of stars will be there, but none bigger than him this season. A baseball life that didn't turn out as expected.

* WEEI.com

Clippard's pivotal pitch leads to another classic Eck line

Rob Bradford

Tyler Clippard has had a nice career, and he can partially thank his discovery of a split-fingered fastball for a good chunk of it. (For more on that evolution, including some Koji Uehara comparisons, click here.)

But Saturday that pitch did him no favors. A reality that Dennis Eckersley -- along with others watching the Blue Jays' reliever blow his team's lead in the ninth inning Saturday -- astutely pointed out the moment Jackie Bradley Jr. tied the game for the Red Sox with his RBI double.

Clippard's first batter in the ninth, Xander Bogaerts, saw three splitters, the first two being balls and the last one resulting in a leadoff double. That led to Eckersley's initial reaction to the pitch, exclaiming, "Throw another splitter!"

He got his wish.

After beginning Bradley Jr.'s at-bat with a changeup, the righty came back with another splitter. Cue the classic reaction from Eck.

As obviously ineffective as the pitch was for Clippard out of the shoot, there was a method to his madness. Coming into the outing he has thrown the pitch -- which he developed during the 2013 season -- 26 percent of the time, getting more swings and misses than either his fastball or changeup. Hitters were also batting just .200 against the pitch, having notched only two extra-base hits.

The pitch wasn't there for Clippard this time, and because of it the Red Sox got a win and we got a great sound byte.

Red Sox need 'the good Drew Pomeranz' more than ever

Rob Bradford

More than five hours before Xander Bogaerts walked-off the Blue Jays with a ninth-inning grand slam, Alex Cora was forced to put on his honesty hat and offer the latest on Drew Pomeranz.

"The reports, he was OK," said the Red Sox manager when asked about Pomeranz's Friday night start for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox.

"Velocity is not up. It’s been 89, 90, I think. Inconsistent with the breaking stuff. I read something yesterday about, 3-0 count somebody swung and hit a home run. Well, they swing at 3-0 counts here, too. I think with Drew, it’s a lot of timing and mechanics, honestly. That’s why he’s going to go out there and pitch on Wednesday. And he knows it. He knows he has to get it right before he gets here. It’s very important. It’s very important. We saw what he did last year with this team, and we need the good Drew Pomeranz, you know? The guy that can repeat his delivery and he can be consistent with his breaking ball."

And of all the truth-telling, the one line uttered by Cora that rang truest: "... we need the good Drew Pomeranz ..."

It was a reality that some might have shrugged their shoulders at the proclamation prior to the Red Sox' 6-2 win. There was the news that Steven Wright's comeback from his PRP shot in New York hadn't been going swimmingly. "Not having great days," Cora noted. "He’s been throwing and all that but he’s still sore, we have to see what we’re going to do next week. ... I’m not sure if he’s going to stay here rehabbing with Jamie or if he’s going to come with us on the road, but it’s taking longer than expected. ... He’ll have good days then takes a few steps back."

But the Red Sox still had Brian Johnson. They still had Hector Velazquez. And, of course, they had Saturday's starter, Eduardo Rodriguez.

Then came Rodriguez's sprained ankle. (For more on that, click here.)

"It looks bad, so we’ll see. It looks bad, but he’s moving it around, which is encouraging," Cora said. "We have to go through the tests and all that and see what happens."

So, now we turn back to Pomeranz.

In his three rehab starts with the PawSox since coming back from biceps tendinitis, Pomeranz has allowed nine earned runs in 9 1/3 innings, including three in his 3 2/3-inning stint Friday night. While Cora has been repeatedly saying the Red Sox are going to have to see results before a promotion is warranted, the pitcher suggested with a small adjustment those are right around the corner.

"I’m still struggling with my direction a little bit," he told WEEI.com prior to Saturday's game. "The first few I was just trying to get back out there, and now this last one I was locating better but I’m still not where I want to be. I made some good pitches. They hit one ball hard, the homer on a 3-0 count. I got some big strikeouts when I needed to. Now I’m just trying to refine. I think I’m back to the point now where I was before. I’m still missing that little thing right now, that one little thing."

After looking at video Saturday, Pomeranz truly believes he has identified what that "one little thing" might be, drawing on a start last year for a piece of evidence.

"I’m just kind of drifting toward the left side of the plate instead of going right at the plate. That’s what I struggled with some last year. I remember that Milwaukee game (6 runs in 4 1/2 innings) I pitched last year and pitched like crap, that was one of the big thing I pointed to," he said. "Within a couple of starts, I figured how to get all that momentum toward the plate and now all of a sudden instead of releasing (the right way) and releasing (the wrong way). ... I can feel something is a little off."

Pomeranz will now spend his All-Star break trying to see if that fix is around the corner, with his next scheduled outing for the PawSox coming Wednesday. Considering where the Red Sox have found themselves, it seems like the outing might be one to pay attention to.

"I’m not concerned, but sometimes we talk about him making adjustments. Sometimes maybe that’s what’s going on," Cora said. "I haven’t talked to him today, and I don’t know how he felt about his delivery. I just read the report. But like I said, it’s very important for him to find it. Important for us, obviously."

Eduardo Rodriguez leaves start against Blue Jays with sprained ankle after collision at 1B

John Tomase

Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez left Saturday's start against the Blue Jays after colliding with a runner at first base, ending what had been his most efficient outing of the season.

The team announced that he suffered a sprained right ankle. X-rays were negative, but he'll undergo further evaluation.

Rodriguez had been dealing to that point with one out in the sixth. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. then rolled one to first base, where fill-in Blake Swihart tossed errantly while trying to lead Rodriguez to the bag.

Gurriel dove and Rodriguez tripped over him, clipping his helmet with his left cleat. Both players stayed down momentarily, with E-Rod on his hands and knees and Gurriel sprawled next to the bag.

Rodriguez tentatively took his feet before throwing a series of warmup pitches. At that point, he was removed from the game, favoring what looked like his right leg.

Rodriguez remained on track for his 12th victory, however, leaving with a 1-0 lead after striking out five and allowing four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Brandon Phillips promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket by Red Sox, inches closer to big-league return

John Tomase

Brandon Phillips is getting closer to the big leagues.

The Pawtucket Red Sox on Saturday announced that the former All-Star has been promoted to Triple-A.

With Dustin Pedroia sidelined for possibly the rest of the season, and Eduardo Nunez pressed into duty at third base because of a Rafael Devers injury, the Red Sox could use a right-handed complement to Brock Holt at second base.

Enter Phillips?

He hit .285 with 13 homers and 11 steals between the Braves and Angels last year. The 37-year-old was an All-Star in 2010, 2011 and 2013. He won Gold Gloves in each of those seasons, as well as in 2008. He also reached 30 homers (2007) and 100 RBIs (2013) during his career.

* NBCSportsBoston.com

Red Sox sizzling start owed to stars staying healthy

Evan Drellich

BOSTON — At a quick glance, the Red Sox do not seem the healthiest club.

Dustin Pedroia’s knee rehab has left his 2018 season in doubt. Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright are both on the disabled list, and so too now is Christian Vazquez, who is to miss six to eight weeks because of a fractured finger. Tyler Thornburg’s return from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery took two minor league rehab stints: his clock had to be reset. Rafael Devers just landed on the DL, and Carson Smith slammed his glove down and may never pitch for the Sox again.

Nonetheless, as the Sox have compiled baseball’s best record overall — as well as a .704 win percentage in their past 54 games (38-16) entering Saturday — their core players and star performers have been able to avoid any serious injuries or long trips to the disabled list.

Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel, Rick Porcello, and David Price have two trips to the DL among them. Betts and Bogaerts both missed a little more than two weeks with injuries (including some time Betts missed before technically landing on the DL).

Bogaerts had a left ankle injury in early April, and the Sox rolled on without him, going 11-4. After a 2017 in which he should not have played through injury, Bogaerts has rebounded well. His .872 OPS is right in line with the .863 mark he posted in 2016 when he was an All-Star.

“We know that Xander can hit .300,” manager Alex Cora said Friday. “He can go the other way whenever he feels like it, but now he's trying to do damage. That's the most important thing.”

Well, maybe the second most important, when we remember how Bogaerts played hurt in 2017.

Feels like forever ago there was worry about Betts’ health, doesn’t it? As the calendar flipped to June, he went to the disabled list with an abdominal strain, and it was unclear just how long he would need to be out. He came back June 11 and has continued to rake.

Until suffering a right ankle sprain Saturday in a first-base collision with the Blue Jays' Lourdes Gurriel, Eduardo Rodriguez probably deserved to be on that list of “core” players as well. E-Rod, in particular, is a success story, given where he was this time a year ago: coming back from his most recent knee subluxation. Technically, he began the year on the DL and had been great since. We'll have to see how he progresses from this latest injury after the All-Star break.

There’s been a lot of recent talk about the success of Chris Sale’s build-up program, one that applied to other starting pitchers as well. The proof might not really come until September or August, but Sale is dominating while also pitching 12 1/3 fewer innings through 20 starts than he had a year ago: 129 compared to 141 1/3. He’s an All-Star both times.

There was talk in spring training and early in the regular season about how much Cora wanted to rest guys. What, exactly, allows someone to stay healthy can be hard to pinpoint. Everyone’s body is different, and injuries can just be a matter of luck.

Pedroia, Wright and Thornburg were all dealing with pre-existing medical situations. Infielder Marco Hernandez, out of sight for a long time, went for his third shoulder surgery in roughly 14 months. Pedroia may wind up with three games played in 2018.

“I’m learning throughout the process, obviously,” Cora said when asked if the Sox review situations like Hernandez’s and Pedroia’s after the dust settles. “This is my first time as you guys know, doing this. So you know with Marco, it was one of those that we thought the whole time that he was going to be fine. And then it just didn’t work and didn’t work, didn’t work. He had to do it. But for me, I listen a lot throughout the process and obviously, they’ve been around this process and stuff like that for a longer period of time.”

Overall, the Sox have kept their most important players on the field, and whether that’s a product of randomness or something larger at play, it’s been essential.

* NESN.com

Red Sox Wrap: Xander Bogaerts Hits Walk-Off Grand Slam In 10-Inning Win Vs. Blue Jays

Logan Mullen

The Boston Red Sox don’t like losing.

After seeing their 10-game winning streak snapped Friday night they responded in a big way, with a walk- off grand slam in the 10th inning courtesy of Xander Bogaerts giving the Sox a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday at Fenway Park.

Trailing 2-1 in the ninth, Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. posted back-to-back doubles to tie the game, forcing extras. And with the bases loaded in the 10th, Bogaerts finished the deal with a grand slam to straightaway center.

With the win, the Red Sox climb to 67-30, while the Blue Jays fall to 43-51.

Here’s how it all went down:

GAME IN A WORD Thrilling.

Not only did the Red Sox come from behind in the ninth, but they finished it in tremendously exciting fashion.

ON THE BUMP — Eduardo Rodriguez was in the midst of one of his best starts of the season when it came to an abrupt end after he tripped trying to jump over Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a play at first. He was diagnosed with a right ankle sprain, with the X-rays coming back negative.

In total, the left-hander pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just four hits while striking out five.

After allowing runners to reach in the first two innings, Rodriguez really settled in and started cruising, posting 1-2-3 frames in the third, fourth and fifth. All the while, he kept his pitch count in check, something he has struggled with that impeded him from going deep into games. When he exited Saturday’s game, he had thrown just 67 pitches, 47 for strikes.

— Heath Hembree entered after Rodriguez left, inheriting a runner on first with one out and a one-run lead.

The reliever immediately got a groundout to get the second out but it moved the runner to second. He then walked Teoscar Hernandez, bringing up Justin Smoak. With two runners on base, Hembree got him to fly out to end the inning without any damage.

— Joe Kelly came out for the seventh and had another rough outing. He allowed a single and double to begin the stanza, putting runners in scoring position with no outs. After getting a groundout, Kelly allowed the tying run to score on an Aldemys Diaz groundout. With a runner on third and two down, Kelly walked Luke Maile, putting runners on the corners and ending his day.

— Matt Barnes replaced Kelly and allowed Gurriel to single in a run, making it 2-1 Toronto. He then struck out Yangervis Solarte to end the inning.

Barnes came back out for the eighth, walking two and striking out two in a hitless, scoreless inning.

— Brandon Workman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out a pair.

— Craig Kimbrel struck out two in a hitless, scoreless 10th.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX

— In the fourth inning, J.D. Martinez did what he so often does. With the bases empty, the Sox slugger reclaimed the league’s home run lead as he put his 29th dinger of the season into the seats to put Boston up 1-0.

— Bogaerts led off the ninth with a double, and was brought in the next at-bat on a double from Bradley to tie the game. But Bradley was stranded at second after Eduardo Nunez struck out, Blake Swihart flew out and Sandy Leon grounded out.

— The Red Sox caught a break in the 10th, with Mookie Betts hitting a grounder to short that was misplayed and got through the legs of Gurriel. Brock Holt followed that up with a single that moved Betts to third, and the Jays then decided to intentionally walk Martinez to load the bases and get to Bogaerts.

The Sox shortstop then sent everyone home happy.

— Betts led the Red Sox with three hits, while Bogaerts had two.

— Holt, Martinez, Bradley, Nunez, Swihart and Tzu-Wei Lin all had one apiece.

— All other Red Sox went hitless.

TWEET OF THE DAY Incredible.

UP NEXT The Sox and Jays will finish up their four-game set Sunday afternoon. Brian Johnson is expected to get the ball for Boston and will be opposed by Marcus Stroman. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.

* BostonSportsJournal.com

MLB Notebook: Cupboard somewhat bare for Red Sox; favorable comp for Betts; and more

Sean McAdam

Across the game, it’s hardly a secret that the Red Sox farm system has been significantly thinned out in recent seasons, the result of a handful of trades for established players (Chris Sale, Craig Kimbrel, Tyler Thornburg and Drew Pomeranz) and the graduation of some homegrown position players (Rafael Devers, Andrew Benintendi) who, chronologically speaking, would hardly be out of place now in the minors.

Naturally, that’s reduced the Red Sox’ bargaining power for the upcoming non-waiver trade deadline. Prospects — even for organizations like the Red Sox, who have done a nice job in regularly producing homegrown position players, if not pitchers — are not limitless, and the Sox are now paying the price for having dipped into their inventory as much as they have in recent years.

While the Sox have the best record in the big leagues — thanks in no small part to their development system, which provided reinforcements or prospects to obtain veterans players — they’re undergoing a rebuild at the minor league level.

And, as if the case with players when they reach the big leagues, prospects don’t always develop in a linear fashion. There are injuries, adjustments that need to be made, and progress can be sidetracked. (It should be noted that some of the prospects dealt away by the Red Sox — including Michael Kopech and Anderson Espinosa — have been slower to mature than expected, despite undeniable physical tools).

That’s especially the case at Single-A Salem, where the Red Sox had privately expressed hope this past winter and spring, that their harvest of highly-regarded prospects would yield significant progress this season. Instead, nearly every one of their top young players at that level has either been stagnant, or in some cases, experienced regression.

“They had a lot of hope for that group,” said a major league talent evaluator for another club who has seen the Red Sox’ system extensively. “But right now, I’m not sure how much value there is there. It doesn’t mean they’re all considered busts; there’s still plenty of time for them to develop. But any deal (the Red Sox) make involving those kids would mean moving them when their value is down.”

In player development circles, Double-A is regarded as the best prospect level. But at Portland of the Eastern League, the Sox have a number of early-round picks who have been major disappointments, like former first-rounder Trey Ball, a lefty starter who’s been shifted to the bullpen. First baseman Josh Ockimey intrigues some scouts with his raw power, but needs more consistency.

That leads us to Salem, where a number of pitching prospects have stalled.

Righthander Tanner Houck, generally regarded as the second-best starting pitching prospect in the organization and last year’s first-round draft pick, has walked (54) nearly as many hitters as he’s struck out (70) as the Red Sox have attempted to retool his delivery.

Bryan Mata, who’s scheduled to pitch in Sunday’s Future’s Game in Washington, D.C. very nearly has walked as many as he’s fanned (57 passes, 60 strikeouts in 71 innings).

Even power-hitting third baseman Bobby Dalbec, who’s been on a tear of late, started poorly and experienced difficulty achieving regular contact.

It’s widely acknowledged that the Sox lack any of the near major-league-ready prospects that rival organizations like the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers and Phillies possess. That makes bidding for big-name talent virtually impossible.

But the lack of depth in the lower minors constricts the Sox, too. While some rebuilding organizations might be willing to trade for multiple young players at Single-A and patient enough to wait for their continued development, that gets harder to do when current scouting reports aren’t favorable.

Projection is everything when it comes to evaluating prospects for inclusion in a deal, and this summer, the Red Sox are dealing from a weakened position. Not only do they not have players close to contributing[, but even their long-term projects are considered question marks by rival organizations.

To put Mookie Betts and his first few seasons into context, consider: his numbers to date are nearly identical to those of Ken Griffey Jr. at the same point in their respective careers.

Entering play Friday, @BostonSportsInf compared them after their first 2,372 at-bats. Betts had 101 homers to 99 for Griffey. Betts had 359 RBI compared to 379. Betts had 285 extra-base hits compared to Griffey’s 258.

The slash lines were also eerily similar: Betts was at .299/.363/.511 for an 874 OPS, while Griffey’s line was .301/.368/.498 for an .866 OPS.

Keep in mind, Griffey got a significant head start in terms of his major league debut. He was just 19 years and 133 days old when he played his first game with Seattle, while Betts was slightly more than two years older (21 years, 265 days). That could be a factor when it comes to the counting stats (hits, homers, RBI etc).

But roughly four full seasons into his major league career — he made his debut June 29, 2014 — Betts has enjoyed a career very similar to that of a first-ballot, no-questions-asked Hall of Famer.

Betts has a long way to go before reaching such lofty heights, and his brilliant play and favorable comps with Griffey don’t guarantee that he’ll finish with 630 homers or a plaque in Cooperstown. But it’s clear he’s established himself as one of the handful of best overall players in the sport, capable of impacting games in the field, on the bases and at the plate.

It was exactly 30 years Saturday that the Red Sox kicked off the second half of their season by firing John McNamara and replacing him with “interim” choice, Joe Morgan.

What followed: three weeks of improbable wins, crazy comebacks and a sustained run that put the Red Sox on the path to a division crown, the first of two they would win under Morgan.

It’s almost inconceivable that someone like Morgan — a minor-league manager who had been added to the big league coaching staff the previous year, then getting his first crack at a major league managerial post at the age of 57 — would get the same opportunity today.

Even for the time, Morgan was far from a conventional selection. With his plain-spoken ways and uncharacteristic candor, he was, in many ways, the direct opposite of his predecessor, who was crusty and traditional in the worst sense of the word.

Morgan didn’t change a lot in terms of player usage or lineup construction, but he set a far more relaxed tone, which was precisely what that group needed. Soon, baseball fans all over New England would mimic his trademark — if nonsensical — “six-two-and-even” phrase.

He managed with his gut, and often stood conventional wisdom on its head with his strategy and lineup choices. He freely admitted to once confusing Shawn Hillegas, who was righthanded, and Paul Kilgus, who was a lefty, in putting together a lineup in Chicago — an acknowledgment that surely would have gone undetected had he not told the tale on himself.

He established his authority when he pinch-hit light-hitting Spike Owen for aging slugger Jim Rice in order for Owen to bunt. An enraged Rice confronted Morgan, who reminded him, in no uncertain terms, “I’m the manager of this nine!”

It was that sort of attitude that endeared him to a fan base that had never warmed to McNamara, perhaps dating back to the events surrounding Game 6 in the 1986 World Series.

Morgan’s time in the managerial chair was relatively brief. After leading the Sox to the postseason twice in the span of three years — where they were easily dismissed both times by a far more talented Oakland team — Morgan was fired after the 1991 season.

For someone who never won a playoff round, Morgan was nonetheless a popular figure who never took himself too seriously. Through his entire tenure as Red Sox manager, his home telephone number in Walpole was listed for all to see in the phone book.

One of the underappreciated improvements made to the Red Sox offense this season has been the decline in strikeouts.

Entering the weekend, the Sox had fanned in just 19.6 of their at-bats, at a time when the average in the game is hovering around 23 percent.

Heading into Saturday’s action, Mookie Betts had somehow managed to draw more walks (44) than strikeouts (41), a remarkable feat, given his power numbers and cartoonish .697 slugging percentage. A number of other heavy hitters on the team (Xander Bogaerts, Mitch Moreland and Andrew Benintendi) were all averaging well under a strikeout per game.

In fact, among the regulars, only J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers are on pace to fan more than 150 times this season, and Martinez, at least, balances that with a .392 on-base percentage.

The importance of putting the ball in play was something Cora came to appreciate last season while with Houston, where the Astros managed to employ an aggressive approach while at the same time, making enough contact to move runners along with “productive outs” — fly balls deep enough to the outfield, or ground balls to the other side of the infield.

Conversely, runners are static on strikeouts. Barring a passed ball or wild pitch on strike three, baserunners don’t get to advance on strikeouts. Meanwhile, with a runner on third with less two out, a routine flyout may be enough to produce a run.

“The two teams I’ve been around the last two years as a coach and manager, they put the ball in play,” Cora said, “so I do feel that’s important.”

It’s not just the Astros (last year’s world champions), or the Red Sox (who sport the game’s best record) who’ve realized success by making more consistent contact than average. The Chicago Cubs made it a project to cut back on strikeouts in 2016 and did well enough that they won the World Series. Before that, the Kansas City Royals, a team largely devoid of power in an era when home runs are the most sought-after offensive weapon, won the title in 2015 by putting the ball in play with consistency.

One major league coach had this succinct appraisal of the Red Sox outfield trio of Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts: “In the field, they turn doubles into singles; at the plate, they turn singles into doubles.”

TOP 5

1. Red Sox: Three-straight sweeps en route to a 10-game streak.

2. Astros: Starting to achieve some separation in the West.

3. Yankees: Second-best record in the game, but two losses to the Orioles don’t look good.

4. Cubs: You get the distinct feeling that they’re just now revving up, especially after dramatic wins like the one they had in San Diego on Friday night.

5. A’s: Maybe the A.L. playoff field isn’t all set after all. The A’s are making things interesting, and gaining on slumping Seattle.

Rotation injuries catching up to Red Sox

Sean McAdam

For a few minutes, as the bases filled, the excitement ratcheted up, and then, Xander Bogaerts connected on the ultimate walkoff hit — a grand slam which cleared the bases and sent Fenway into delirium — it was easy, inviting even, to ignore what had taken place just four innings earlier.

The euphoria of the 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays — forged first on a ninth-inning rally, which saw Bogaerts double and score the tying run — was enough to temporarily forget the more sobering development that had taken place just beyond the first base bag.

It was there that starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez, intent on avoiding a collision with Blue Jays infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., hopped and landed awkwardly on his right ankle, then, after crumbling in a heap, had Gurriel roll over the leg, too. Initially, the fear was that Rodriguez had suffered an injury to his right knee, the source of chronic trouble over the previous three seasons, resulting, finally, in surgery last fall which had, in turn, slowed his preparation this spring.

Rodriguez attempted a warmup pitch or two before it was decided to remove him from the game. He walked gingerly off the mound and the team soon announced that he had, indeed, suffered a right ankle sprain, though x-rays detected no breaks. He’ll continue to be evaluated Sunday.

“I think there’s a lot (of concern) from me,” said Bogaerts, the day’s hero. “He’s a big guy, man, and to see him go down…Covering first base is not the best thing for him. I went down and I went over there right away. He’s one of my closest buddies on the team. To see him go down and go out of the game, it was a little bit worrying.”

In one sense, the timing isn’t bad for Rodriguez and the Red Sox. Following Sunday’s series finale with the Blue Jays, the Red Sox will enter the All-Star break and Rodriguez will get four days to rest up. He’d been slotted into the fifth spot in the rotation, meaning he’s not scheduled to pitch until July 24 in Baltimore, a week from Tuesday.

Still, there’s no assurance that Rodriguez won’t need a DL stint first. Ankle sprains are tricky for pitchers, especially for the landing foot. If Rodriguez doesn’t completely trust the ankle which supports his frame as he completes his delivery, it could throw him off mechanically and lead to other issues.

Worse, the injury comes at a time when the Red Sox’ rotation depth is already being tested. Brian Johnson (hip) will come off the DL Sunday to make his first start since July 3 in Washington.

Further, two other starters remain out of the rotation, working through either physical or mechanical issues. Steven Wright (knee) is enduring some soreness and inflammation, and while he’s thrown some on flat ground, isn’t yet ready to throw off a mound yet. He received a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection almost two weeks ago. His return is not near.

“It’s taking longer than expected,” acknowledged Alex Cora of his knuckleballer’s return to health.

Drew Pomeranz, who’s been on the DL with biceps tendinitis since June 5, and while he’s physically recovered from that setback, has been ineffective in three rehab assignment starts for Pawtucket, the latest of which took place Friday and saw him knocked around for three runs on four hits in just 3.2 innings.

“Velocity is not up,” said Cora. “It’s been 89-90, I think (and he’s been) inconsistent with the breaking stuff. It’s very important for him to find (his delivery). Important for us, obviously. He knows he needs to get it right before he gets here.”

Injury concern aside, Pomeranz hasn’t been right all season, and as far back as late May, was confident that he had discovered the solution to his mechanical woes. Two months later, he has yet to find it.

That means the Red Sox rotation currently consists of Chris Sale, David Price, and Rick Porcello, the latter of whom has racked up an ERA of 5.38 since May 9. Then there’s Johnson and tag-team swingman Hector Velazquez.

At this point, there are as many starters with physical and or performance issues (Pomeranz, Wright and Rodriguez) as there established starters.

Before the game, Cora professed to be satisfied with his starting pitching depth, citing how reliable and versatile Johnson and Velazquez have been in contributing spot starts. To be sure, the Sox are 6-0 in games started by that duo.

But that was before the mishap with Rodriguez, further thinning the rotation.

The Sox had already targeted the bullpen as their major area for improvement with the deadline looming. But if they determine they need reinforcements for the rotation, their already shallow pool of tradeable assets may not be enough to fix both problems.

BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 2 (10) – Third grand slam of season for Bogaerts settles it

Sean McAdam

HEADLINES

Bogaerts walks it off in ‘grand’ style: Shortstop Xander Bogaerts has become something of a grand slam specialist. When he came to the plate in the bottom of the 10th inning, all the Red Sox needed was a fly ball deep enough to score the winning run from third. But Bogaerts did better than that, belting his third grand slam of the season and posting the first walk-off grand slam for the Sox since 2000 and the first in extra- innings since 1984. He’s now third on the team in homers (15) and second in RBI (62). “He’s driving the ball,” said Alex Cora. “I love the fact that he’s actually trying to do damage.” At Cora’s urging, Bogaerts taken a decidedly more aggressive approach at the plate this season, and it’s paid off, but he demonstrated some patience in the game-winning at-bat, laying off two inside pitches designed to get him pull the ball and hit into a double play. Finally, on 2-and-0, he swung away. “I still feel I take too many pitches sometimes,” he said. “I guess it’s just who I am. But in certain counts, I think I’ve been doing more damage.”

Rodriguez leaves with sprained ankle: Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez was sailing along through the first five innings, allowing just three singles and extending his scoreless streak to 18 innings. He was both effective and inefficient, needing just 26 pitches to get through the third, fourth and fifth innings, and was pitching at a far quicker pace than usual, seemingly headed for his 12th win of the season. But in the sixth inning, Rodriguez went to cover first on a ball hit to the right side, and as he took a throw — slightly behind him — at the bag, collided with Blue Jays infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., twisting his ankle as he fell and having Gurriel land on him. Rodriguez went back to the mound, but after a warmup toss, he was removed from the game, diagnosed later with a sprained ankle. X-rays were negative, but it’s not hard to imagine Rodriguez going on the DL and missing at least a turn or two. “(The ankle) looks bad,” said Cora. “But he’s moving around, which is encouraging. Today was probably his best (start) — throwing strikes, great tempo, pitching to contact — and then that happens. We’ll see. I don’t know what to get ahead of myself. Hopefully, he’ll be OK.”

Kelly stumbles yet again: It’s gone from bad to worse for reliever Joe Kelly, who, for the second straight game, gave up runs in the late innings. On Friday night, that allowed the Blue Jays to tack onto their lead. On Saturday, it helped them overtake a 1-0 lead in the seventh. And his struggles aren’t limited to the last few games. Since June 27, he’s compiled a 10.80 ERA and 2.10 WHIP in his last nine outings. And since June 13, he’s posted a 9.22 ERA and a 1.90 WHIP in 18 appearances. He yielded consecutive hits to open the seventh Saturday, then, after getting two outs, issued a walk to Luke Maile, Toronto’s No. 9 hitter. “Another bad one,” said Cora. “It seems like his breaking stuff is not as sharp as (it was earlier). It’s either a ball out of the hand or it hangs in the zone. It’s not sharp. He’ll be the first one to tell you that he didn’t do his job.” Until Kelly gets things straightened out, it’s unlikely you’ll see him in high-leverage spots for the Red Sox.

TURNING POINT

As dramatic as the heroics by Bogaerts in the ninth were, the game’s biggest hit before that came an inning earlier. Jackie Bradley Jr. first squared and attempted a bunt. But as the at-bat wore on, he was given the green light to swing away and roped a double to right, scoring Bogaerts (double) with the tying run.

TWO UP

Mookie Betts: The hit machine keeps rolling, with three singles. He also was intentionally walked once and reached on an error, meaning that he was on base all five times. He has multiple-hit games in each of his last and is up to .362 for the season.

Craig Kimbrel: After the Red Sox had rallied to tie the game in the ninth, Kimbrel came in for the 10th inning to face the heart of the Toronto order, and other than a two-out walk, was dominant with two strikeouts.

TWO DOWN

Brock Holt: Though he finally contributed a single in the winning 10th inning rally, Holt hit into a double play in the first, ended the third, struck out with two runners on in the fifth and couldn’t get the run in with one out and a runner on third in the eighth.

Blake Swihart: In addition to a boneheaded baserunning blunder that resulted in a double play in the seventh, he failed to come through in two other big spots at the plate and made a poor throw to first on the play on which Rodriguez was injured.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“I hit it real good, but I didn’t expect it to go out. But I knew it was at least a sacrifice fly and we would have won (either way).” Xander Bogaerts on his game-winning grand slam.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

The walk-off win was the Red Sox’ second this season The Red Sox improved to 31-13 against A.L. East teams The Sox have nine grand slams this season, their most since hitting nine in 2013. They had none last year. Jackie Bradley Jr. has six RBI in the ninth inning or later this season. J.D. Martinez is the first Red Sox hitter to collect 80 RBI in the first half since Manny Ramirez in 2005. The Sox are 16-3 in Eduardo Rodriguez’s starts. Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox play their final game of the first half of their season Sunday when they send LHP Brian Johnson (1-2, 4.23) against RHP Marcus Stroman (2-6, 5.90) at 1:05 p.m.

Final: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 2 (10th) – Sox walk-off on grand slam by Bogaerts

Sean McAdam

For the second time in the last three games, the Red Sox got a huge grand slam.

Unlike Thursday night, however, this one decided the game immediately. Xander Bogaerts drilled the Red Sox’ first walkoff grand slam since 2000, handing the Sox a 6-2 win over Toronto in 10 innings.

The Sox had rallied to tie the game in the ninth on consecutive doubles by Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr.

Boston had blown a 1-0 lead in the seventh when the Jays ganged up on Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes.

Starter Eduardo Rodriguez, who carried a shutout into the sixth, left the game after colliding with the Blue Jays baserunner, resulting in a sprained ankle for the lefty.

IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS

3:50 Poor situational hitting for the Sox in the eighth. After Mookie Betts steals third, they had the potential tying run at third with one out, but with Toronto playing the infield in, Brock Holt couldn’t get the ball in the air into the outfield and instead grounds out to second. Then, Martinez swings at a pitch out of the strike zone for strike three, stranding Betts.

3:24 Brutal baserunning error by Blake Swihart, who appeared to have lost track of the outs, and was easily doubled off first on a routine flyout to left by Sandy Leon

3:13 Another poor outing from Joe Kelly, who has now allowed runs in four of his last nine outings. Allowed two hits, and was charged with two runs. Before being lifted, he walked the Jays’ No. 9 hitter. He has a 9.22 ERA since June.

2:43 Rodriguez collided with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a play at first and both went tumbling. Rodriguez got up, walked gingerly to the mound, and after a warmup toss or two, during which time he was flexing the leg repeatedly, he walked off the mound and out of the game. No telling if this was precautionary or not, nor what the exactly nature or location of the injury is. But Rodriguez underwent surgery on the knee last fall, and while replays appeared to show he rolled his ankle, the fact that was flexing his entire leg afterward is somewhat worrisome.

2:21 Rodriguez is pitching with both effectiveness and a rare efficiency this afternoon. He’s retired the last 10 in a row and now has a scoreless streak of 18.2 innings. Over the last three innings, he’s needed just 26 pitches to record the last nine outs.

2:07 J.D. Martinez homers to left on a sinker left up a bit. With another homer today or tomorrow, Martinez could reach the 30-homer mark by the All-Star break. Remember, last year, the Sox didn’t have any reach the 25-homer plateau for the entire season.

1:45 Eduardo Rodriguez is through three scoreless innings and appears to be working at a much quicker pace this afternoon — which is good for everyone.

1:33 Red Sox challenge the safe call on Randal Grichuk at second base and get it overturned. Alex Cora is 11-for-24 in replay challenges this season.

WHO: Red Sox vs. Toronto Blue Jays WHEN: 1:05 p.m. WHERE: Fenway Park WHAT’S UP: The Red Sox had their 10-game winning streak snapped in a slugfest Friday night that saw the Sox allowed eight runs in the first three innings and five more in the final two. That overshadowed another good night for the Sox’ offense, led by Mookie Betts who reached base four times including two triples. Eduardo Rodriguez carries a scoreless streak of 13.2 innings into today, the second-longest of his career. Even before the All-Star break, Rodriguez has already set a career high in wins (11). Toronto, meanwhile, won for the first time in the last seven head-to-head meetings. Friday night marked the fifth time the Jays had scored at least 13 runs in a game this season, tied for the second most such games in the big leagues this season. STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-3, 3.62) vs. RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-3, 4.70). TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Betts RF Holt 2B Martinez LF Bogaerts SS Bradley CF Nunez DH Swihart 1B Leon C Lin 3B

BLUE JAYS

Gurriel 2B Solarte 3B Hernandez LF Smoak 1B Morales DH Pillar CF Grichuk RF Diaz SS Maile C

NEWS AND NOTES

The Sox made a roster move this morning, optioning LHP Robby Scott and recalling LHP Bobby Poyner. Scott pitched two innings Friday night and the Red Sox, already a bit short in the bullpen, needed a fresh arm.

LHP Drew Pomeranz was again not sharp in a rehab outing for Pawtucket Friday night, and is scheduled to make another start Wednesday for the Pawsox. His velocity, according to reports given to Alex Cora, was 89-90 mph and his mechanics were still off.

Steve Pearce, hit in the shin in the series opener Thursday, is not in the starting lineup, but is available off the bench.

RHP Steven Wright is still experiencing soreness in his left knee and has yet to throw off a mound.

* The Athletic

Red Sox’ bullpen taxi squad has been on overdrive this season

Chad Jennings

Bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, Saturday’s end of the line was coming one way or the other for the Red Sox. Either Xander Bogaerts was going to play the role of hero, or the home teams was going to all but concede. The Red Sox just didn’t have the pitching to go much farther.

“We were there,” manager Alex Cora said. “Yeah, we were there.”

Call it the cost of doing business after back-to-back two-run wins Wednesday and Thursday, a short start from Rick Porcello on Friday, and an untimely injury to Eduardo Rodriguez on Saturday. By the time Bogaerts came to the plate in the 10th, the Red Sox had one rested pitcher in their bullpen, and he was the guy who’d been on the Triple-A roster the day before.

Bogaerts hit his grand slam, the Red Sox walked off with a 6-2 win, and the bullpen lived to pitch another day.

“You go through streaks like that,” Cora said. “A few close games, and you keep winning – and I’m not going to complain about it – but you keep using those (top relievers). And then (Friday) happened, and today we felt Eddy was going to go deep. And then that (ankle injury) happened, so we have to go through those guys. But, we got (30 outs), which is important.”

The Red Sox have gotten used to piecing it together like that. In the past week and a half, they have added six different pitchers to their major league roster. They’ve recalled prospects from minor-league assignments, activated a reliever from the disabled list, and purchased the contract of a Triple-A journeymen who was nowhere near the big-league radar when the season began.

And still, they might not have enough pitching to finish the first half. After making 50 different pitching moves involving 18 different pitchers already this season, they’ll make at least one more before Sunday’s first-half finale when Brian Johnson is scheduled to be activated from the disabled list to the start the game. After using five different relievers on Saturday, it’s entirely possible – if not likely – that an additional reliever will be recalled to supplement the taxed bullpen.

That up-and-down flexibility has been one of the understated advantages of the team’s roster. The Red Sox’ bullpen taxi squad runs eight players deep, and its captain is Bobby Poyner, who was brought up before Saturday’s game for his fourth call-up of the year. He’s pitched to a 1.69 ERA in 10 major league appearances, while racking up an untold number of frequent flier miles. Here are Poyner’s roster moves for the past four months:

March 29: Selected to the Opening Day roster April 12: Placed on the disabled list April 22: Activated from the disabled list, optioned to Triple-A May 4: Recalled from Triple-A May 5: Optioned to Triple-A May 15: Recalled from Triple-A May 24: Optioned to Triple-A June 2: Recalled from Triple-A June 7: Optioned to Triple-A July 14: Recalled from Triple-A Notice the back-to-back transactions May 4 and 5, a roller coaster that had more to do with David Price than with Poyner. May 3 was the Price start in Texas when he lasted just 3 2/3 innings, and that brief outing forced long man Marcus Walden – who had been recalled from Triple-A just one day before – to throw 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. It was the best outing of Walden’s career, but it also rendered him useless the next day, so Walden was sent back to Triple-A, and Poyner was called up to provide a fresh arm.

Poyner pitched a scoreless inning that night and was promptly sent back to the minor leagues to open a roster spot for Rodriguez to be activated from family medical leave.

“I think it’s part of the process,” Poyner said. “I just think it’s part of what you go through as a rookie, and maybe your first couple of years. I’m very happy with my year, you know? Nothing to complain about, so I’m enjoying it and trying to take advantage of every opportunity.”

Since Opening Day, the Red Sox have completed 72 major league transactions, and more than two-thirds of them have involved pitchers. Six pitchers have gone on the disabled list (not counting the five who were already there when the season started), two have served suspensions, one was traded off the 40-man roster, and another – Rodriguez — took family leave for three days. Eight pitchers have ridden the shuttle from Pawtucket to Boston (for comparison, only two position players have been called up from Triple-A this season).

If Poyner is the taxi squad’s most experienced traveler, Brandon Workman is its greatest success story. After not making the Opening Day roster, Workman was recalled on June 5, and he’s stuck around ever since. Minor league free agent Ryan Brasier has also so far avoided being sent back down, having not allowed a run in three appearances since his call-up a week ago.

Opening Day reliever Walden, lefty prospect Jalen Beeks, experienced reliever Robby Scott, Triple-A starter Justin Haley, and unheralded William Cuevas round out the taxi squad journeying back and forth as needed, knowing at any moment could be their next turn in the majors.

All but Workman and Brasier have, at one point or another, been optioned back to the minor leagues the day after a big league appearance. They provide some much-needed innings, and then hit the road to make room for the next guy.

“You definitely think about it,” Poyner said. “But there’s a lot of factors that play into it. You obviously have to be performing well in Triple-A. It’s really: perform your best in Triple-A, work on your strengths, keep developing your strengths, try and improve your weaknesses where you can, and be ready at any moment.”

The next opportunity comes on Sunday, because Bogaerts’ grand slam came just in time Saturday.

* The Toronto Sun

Bogaerts' big blast gives Bosox extra-inning win over Blue Jays

Steve Buffery

BOSTON — Blue Jays pitcher Chris Rowley was thrown into the fire on Saturday afternoon and got burned.

Badly.

The Jays didn’t exactly play stellar defence behind Rowley. With one out, Boston outfielder Mookie Betts hit a routine grounder to shortstop, which rookie infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. missed. Gurriel was slapped with an error.

The next batter, Brock Holt, hit another grounder to short, but this time Gurriel was on his way to second base, thinking Betts may be on the move. Betts went to third on the play. After Rowley intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to load the bases, Xander Bogaerts hit a grand slam (Boston’s second of the series) to left centre, giving Boston the 6-2 victory.

“They’re tough, they got different ways they can beat you,” said Jays manager John Gibbons. “They got a little bit of everything.”

The Jays led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth before Boston forced an extra inning.

“I don’t care what time of the year it is. (Games like that) are tough because you got it right there and it gets away,” Gibbons, who looked beaten down afterwards. “But it’s not for a lack of effort. They’re battling out there, that’s for sure.”

To make matters worse, the Jays also lost centre fielder Kevin Pillar to an injury. The mishap occurred in the third.

The Red Sox threatened to get on the board first, putting men on first and second with one out. But Pillar made a sensational diving catch on a Holt fly to shallow centre. Pillar then doubled up Tzu-Wei Lin at second to end the inning, and the threat.

However, Pillar was taken out of the game because of a right sternoclavicular joint injury and underwent imaging and will be evaluated further.

Martinez, the MLB home run leader, led off the fourth with a massive smash over the Green Monster to give Boston a 1-0 lead, his 29th dinger of the season. Martinez becomes the fifth player in the last 10 seasons to record 80-plus RBIs before the All-Star break.

Toronto starter Sam Gaviglio was pulled one batter later for Tim Mayza.

Gaviglio started on Wednesday in Atlanta and lasted only 1.2 innings, and was rocked for six runs. So giving up just one run on two days rest was a good bounce back for him.

Gurriel was kicked in the back of the neck when he slid head first into first base in the sixth by Boston starter Eduardo Rodriquez, who was attempting to catch a throw from second. Gurriel stayed in the game. Rodriquez, whose leg came down on Gurriel’s neck, left with a right ankle sprain and was replaced by Heath Hembree.

The Jays tied it in the seventh when Aledmys Diaz grounded out to short to bring Kendrys Morales home from third. Toronto then took a 2-1 lead when Gurriel hit a single on a hit and run, scoring Dwight Smith Jr.

The Sox almost tied it in the eighth when Betts, hit a grounder to third, which Yangervis Solarte threw away. Betts then stole third. However, reliever Joe Biagini shut the Sox down to end the inning.

With the Jays leading 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, reliever Tyler Clippard gave up back-to-back doubles to lead-off hitters Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. as the Sox tied the game 2-2. Clippard got the next three hitters in order to send the game into extra innings but picked up the blown save.

Betts finished the game with three hits, a walk and also reached base on an error.

Gurriel also had three hits while Morales picked up two hits and walked.

“We’ll show up (Sunday) and then take a nice four days off (during the All-Star break), I guarantee that,” said Gibbons, adding that his guys are running on fumes at this point.

MOVES APLENTY

LHP Ryan Borucki was sent down to the team’s minor league complex in Dunedin for 10 days, though he won’t throw. Pitching coach Pete Walker said the rotation will go as follows when the Jays return from the All-Star break on Friday: Gaviglio, Marcus Stroman, J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada and Borucki. Borucki will remain in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Righthander Aaron Sanchez, who went on the DL on June 22 with a right index finger contusion, is not ready to come back. Reliever Ryan Tepera (right elbow inflammation) is getting close to returning and will throw in double-A New Hampshire. Gibbons said he isn’t sure if another right-handed reliever, Danny Barnes, will return after the all-star break. Barnes has left knee tendinitis. Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez returned to the lineup on Saturday after not playing Friday. Gibbons said he knee has been giving him some trouble recently.

* The Toronto Star

Gaviglio’s Blue Jays future swings in the balance

Richard Griffin

The Blue Jays rolled the dice at Fenway Park on Saturday by asking right-hander Sam Gaviglio to start a game for the second time in four days.

After recording just five outs in his previous outing against the Braves, Gaviglio responded well in Boston, carrying the game for 10 outs and allowing just a leadoff homer in the fourth by J.D. Martinez before handing off to a busy Blue Jays bullpen again. But these Sox are good, and the end result was a 6-2 Boston win on a 10th-inning walk-off grand slam by shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

The fourth-inning Martinez homer stood up until the Jays tied the game on a ground ball by Aledmys Diaz, scoring Kendrys Morales in the seventh, followed in the same inning by a Lourdes Gurriel Jr. single against Joe Kelly to score Dwight Smith Jr., who had doubled off the Green Monster.

The door was opened for the Red Sox in the 10th by the Jays’ star of the day, Gurriel. He booted a routine one-out ground ball by Mookie Betts and it was too much for that overworked ’pen to handle. The Sox walked it off against Chris Rowley, added to the roster just prior to the game.

Saturday was the closest the Jays and manager John Gibbons have come in 2018 to replicating the Rays’ completely outside-the-box concept of starting a reliever (Rays call him the opener) and building from there, expecting to go four or five pitchers deep in order to wend their way through nine innings and hopefully a victory.

The question remains: Is there a significant role for Gaviglio with the Jays in 2019? The issue he has had is becoming less effective the second and third times through the order, even though it’s only an 11-start sample size. Once through the order as a starter may work in the Rays’ rotation-by-committee concept, but the Jays and most other teams aren’t going there.

The first time through the order on Saturday, Gaviglio allowed two hits and a walk. The second time, he allowed two hits in four at-bats, including the Martinez homer. For his MLB career, the differences are clear and present. The first time through an opposing lineup they have hit .224 (48 for 214) with 24 walks and 39 strikeouts. The second time, opponents hit .289 (57 for 197 with 12 walks and 46 strikeouts. The third time and beyond, opponents hit .304.

While the Jays’ recent roster manipulations — some artificial, some legitimate — have mostly revolved around pitching, there are some concerns about the health of two key position players.

In the third inning, Boston’s Brock Holt looped a soft line drive toward centre with two runners on base. Kevin Pillar raced in and caught the ball just above the grass before rolling over and turning it into a double play at second base. That effort saved Gaviglio from a big inning, but Pillar was forced from the game with what was diagnosed as a right clavicle sprain. In the top of the sixth with one out, Gurriel dived into first on an infield hit and was kicked in the back of the neck by Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez, who was covering. Gurriel remained in the game, Rodriguez didn’t.

As for the future of the Jays’ starter, it’s a question of whether the Jays have any choice but to fall back, regroup and include him in a rotation that may be at the front of a rebuilding year. Not ideal.

Upon further review, it’s possible they will need to replace three pitchers, or 60 per cent of the highly- touted rotation that broke with the team from spring training. Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ will become free agents and may not even last as Jays until the end of July. Fifth starter Jaime Garcia has a club option that requires a $2-million U.S. buyout and, at 31 years old with a disappointing 2-6 record and 6.16 ERA in 13 starts, the buyout is likely.

That leaves Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez at the top of the rotation. Add to that a pleasant surprise, rookie left-hander Ryan Borucki — who, incidentally, was optioned to the minors on Saturday in order to bring up a fresh arm in Rowley. Borucki will remain in the minors for the minimum 10 days and is scheduled to start again against the Twins on July 24. Estrada is already on the 10-day DL and can be activated in time for next Saturday’s start against the O’s. Gaviglio will start Friday.

So, is it at all possible for Gaviglio to be considered for a 2019 rotation spot behind Stroman, Sanchez and Borucki? Yes, but not likely. Gibbons prefers him as a major-league swingman who can get more than three outs in relief and then come back and do it again a couple of days later, and spot start when needed.

Ahead of Gaviglio, the front office is high on some of the other kid starters, especially right-handers Sean Reid-Foley and T.J. Zeuch. Then there’s the possibility of re-signing Happ as a free agent or going after any number of veteran arms to fill out the starting five.

The Jays have had a rich recent history of swingmen in the role they hope Gaviglio can fill. The list over the past 10 years with at least 20 relief appearances and five starts in a season includes Joe Biagini (2017), Sanchez (2015), Dustin McGowan (2014), Esmil Rogers (2013), Carlos Villanueva (2011-12), Jesse Litsch (2011) and Brian Tallet (2010).

Coincidentally, Jays pitching coach Pete Walker could tell Gaviglio everything he needs to know about the swingman role. From 2002-05, Walker made 101 appearances for the Jays, including 31 starts.

* Associated Press

Red Sox beat Blue Jays 6-2 on Bogaerts' walkoff slam in 10th

BOSTON -- Xander Bogaerts relaxed to the beat of his favorite walk-up song. Three pitchers later, he was stunned by excitement rounding the bases.

Bogaerts hit a game-ending grand slam with one out in 10th inning, and J.D. Martinez hit his major league- leading 29th homer to carry the Boston Red Sox to a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday.

Mookie Betts opened the winning rally by reaching on an error against Chris Rowley (0-1) when shortstop Gurriel, who moved there in the beginning of the inning, had his grounder go right through his legs. Brock Holt had a hit-and-run single and Martinez was intentionally walked before Bogaerts hit his shot to left- center that caromed around the edge of the bleachers.

Before he came up, Bogaerts heard `X Gon' Give It To Ya' by DMX.

"The music. I'm going to be honest," he said, smiling. "It was a good time for it. I have certain spots where I like to hear that. It really helped me. I kind of smiled going up there."

He said he barely recalled running the bases.

"A walk-off homer is different, a walk-off grand slam even more," he said. "Running the bases, I didn't even remember I hit a homer to be honest."

It was Boston's first game-ending slam in extra innings since Hall of Famer since Jim Rice on July 4, 1984, and Bogaerts' third slam of the season.

Martinez increased his major league-leading RBI total to 80 with a solo shot and red-hot Betts extended his hitting streak to 12 games with three singles to raise his majors' best average to .362 for Boston.

"They're tough, man," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "They got different ways they can beat you. They got a little bit of everything."

The AL East-leading Red Sox had their 10-game winning streak halted Friday. They haven't lost two straight since June 19 and 20.

Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez had to leave the game with a sprained right ankle after stumbling to the ground when his left foot hit the helmet of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who was diving into the bag on his infield hit.

"It looks bad, but we'll see," manager Alex Cora said. "He's moving around which is encouraging."

The Red Sox had tied it in the ninth when Jackie Bradley Jr. had an RBI double after Bogaerts opened the inning with a double.

Craig Kimbrel (2-1) pitched a hitless 10th for the victory.

Rodriguez, who gave up four hits with five strikeouts and no walks in 5 1/3 shutout innings, arrived nearly the same time as Gurriel and reached for a wild throw by first baseman Blake Swihart. The left-hander was on a run with three straight scoreless starts, covering 19 innings.

Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar left the game with a right clavicle injury after making a diving catch on Holt's shallow fly when he rolled before throwing to second for an inning-ending double play.

"He's at the hospital getting checked right now," Gibbons said.

Martinez homered over the Green Monster in the fourth off starter Sam Gaviglio, who worked on two days rest after getting tagged for six runs in 1 2/3 innings in his last start at Atlanta.

In the seventh, Toronto scored twice off reliever Joe Kelly. Kendrys Morales singled and advanced on Dwight Smith Jr.'s double. Aledmys Diaz's run-scoring ground out into the shortstop hole tied it.

Matt Barnes then relieved and Gurriel grounded a hit-and-run single through the vacated second-base position.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Blue Jays: Closer Roberto Osuna, currently serving a 75-game suspension for violating major league baseball's domestic violence policy, started a rehab assignment with their Gulf Coast League team Saturday and gave up one hit and struck out one in an inning. . Highly-touted prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (left knee injury) played defense for the first time with the GCL team, getting in five innings at third and going 1 for 3 with a double.

Red Sox: Cora said LHP Drew Pomeranz (10-day DL, left biceps tendinitis) would make another rehab start with Triple-A Pawtucket on Wednesday. "We need the good Drew Pomeranz, the guy that can be good consistently and with his breaking ball," Cora said. . Cora also said that knuckleballer Steven Wright (DL, left knee inflammation) is "not having great days. He's still throwing and all that, but he's still sore."

RESPECT

Gibbons elected to walk Betts intentionally with a 3-0 count and a runner on first with two outs in the fifth.

ROSTER MOVES

The Red Sox recalled LHP Bobby Poyner from Pawtucket to add depth to their tired bullpen and optioned LHP Robby Scott back after he threw two innings Friday.

The Blue Jays made changes, too, recalling RHP Rowley from Triple-A Buffalo and sending down LHP Ryan Borucki, who gave up seven runs, four earned, in three innings in Friday's win.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (2-6, 5.90 ERA) looks to win his second straight.

Red Sox: LHP Brian Johnson (1-2, 4.23) is set to go in the series finale.