The Saturday, May 15, 2021

* The Boston Globe

Bobby Dalbec has his moment, lifts Red Sox over Angels

Julian McWilliams

For almost a year, the fans saw the light-tower power of , but never this close. For almost a year, they felt his game-changing talent, but again, never this close. The 2020 season plagued by COVID- 19 offered Dalbec’s silhouette but never his entire image. Dalbec’s 2021 season brought its struggles and as the frustrations mounted for Dalbec, equally, the fans’ frustration with Dalbec mounted, too.

But as spring decided to blossom Friday on a 71 degree night, so did Bobby Dalbec.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Dalbec finally got his moment. In a game that the Red Sox led for nearly its entirety, the contest quickly became 3-2 in favor of the Angels.

That’s when Dalbec stepped to the plate. He struck out in his previous at-bat but that comes with who he is. A short-term memory is a key to his survival, moreover, his success. With on first, having reached on a , Dalbec barreled a 1-2 from Angels southpaw for a two- shot to left-center, delivering an eventual 4-3 Sox win.

“It was a crazy moment,” Dalbec said afterward. “Special moment. It’s something that you dream of as a kid.”

The crowd’s cheers simply were their affirmation. What they read about him, what they saw from afar suddenly had a feeling to it with one swing of the bat. It was Dalbec’s moment that breathed life into Fenway despite its 25 percent capacity.

“It was a cool Friday night at Fenway,” manager said. “It was great to see. The vibe was outstanding. The fans were into it.”

The situation was tailor-made for Dalbec, who has feasted against lefties this season. He’s hitting just .206 overall, but prior to that at-bat, Dalbec .351 with two homers in 38 plate appearances.

“I was just trying to get my timing, [Watson’s] kind of got that little funky hitch,” Dalbec said. “He threw me a couple of good pitches to hit early, some of those fastballs.”

The Red Sox blew the lead in the seventh after allowed a single to and reliever took over. Andriese yielded a one-out José Iglesias go-ahead that plated two.

Still, Pivetta was arguably at his best during this outing and did it against a lineup that featured not only Rendon, but and . Ohtani tagged Pivetta with an opposite-field homer in the sixth. Ohtani’s double off Pivetta in the first was one of the four hits the Angels tallied against the righthander. Trout, meanwhile, was 0 for 3 with a vs. Pivetta, while Rendon was 1 for 3 with a strikeout against the starter. Pivetta totaled seven in an outing which amounted to six innings plus a batter.

“I went about my business the right way, commanded the strike zone,” Pivetta said. “I need to continue to pitch, get comfortable and do what I do.”

“Nick was outstanding,” Cora said. “He gave us a chance to win. He had a good fastball and good breaking ball to a good lineup.”

As Dalbec made his way into the dugout, the crowd wanted to cement that connection between the two sides. A select few began chanting his name. Then it was the entire stadium. Christian Vázquez urged his rookie teammate to emerge from the dugout for his well-earned curtain call. So, Dalbec did. He reached the top step of the first base dugout as the crowd still erupted even more and offered a wave before disappearing as quickly as his homer did in that frame.

“It always feels great to be able to come up in a big spot like that,” Dalbec said. “And put the team ahead, especially late in the innings.”

‘Thinker’ Bobby Dalbec trusting talent, approach at the plate for Red Sox

Julian McWilliams

Bobby Dalbec knows he isn’t J.D. Martinez. He doesn’t have the years of experience, nor the impressive resume which has made Martinez among the game’s most elite hitters for the past few years.

There’s a process that comes with Martinez’s greatness, one that is rooted in his ability to make adjustments from at-bat to at-bat. Dalbec understands that’s not a part of his game yet either.

“That’s why J.D. is so good, because he knows how to attack those [areas of weakness] all the time,” Dalbec said prior to the Red Sox’ series opener against the Angels. “He’s mastered being able to fix things right after an at-bat and I’m just not there yet. So I have to be okay with the feel versus the real, and just know that trust is a big thing.”

Dalbec is a thinker, but if he’s thinking about mechanics in the batter’s box, it could freeze him. In the words of many hitting coaches — and in this case, Dalbec — analysis causes paralysis.

Similarly, if Dalbec takes the Martinez approach and delves deep into the mechanics of his setup, load, or swing, he can struggle. As Dalbec mentioned, this is when trust in his talent comes into play. The work, too.

“I have to make sure that my work feels like it’s harder than the game,” Dalbec said. “Whether it’s the velo machine and scooting up 20 feet from it, just to make sure that ball is getting on me, so I can keep things tight.”

Dalbec entered Friday hitting .316 in his last 20 plate appearances. He’s homered twice in that five-game span, including one against Athletics lefthander Sean Manaea Thursday evening. His lefty-righty splits are pretty drastic this year — Dalbec was hitting .351 vs lefthanders this year versus just .118 against righthanders entering the weekend. Dalbec noted that some of those struggles are because of vision and timing, not seeing it out of the righty’s hand in time before the pitch is on him.

Nonetheless, Dalbec has learned in his rookie season not to dwell too much on something he feels will eventually even out.

“I want it so bad all the time that I’ll try to do too much or fix things that don’t need to be fixed,” Dalbec said. “I’m trying to always stay ahead of it. So I just got to be okay with things not looking exactly how they feel in my head.”

Rarely one to stifle his frustration after a bad plate appearance, let his bat have it after striking out in the eighth inning on Friday. Rarely one to stifle his frustration after a bad plate appearance, Rafael Devers let his bat have it after striking out in the eighth inning on Friday.JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF Transcendent Trout Angels outfielder Mike Trout is a generational talent, a future Hall of Famer who will arguably go down as one of the greatest baseball players of all time once his career is over.

At just 29, Trout already has three MVP awards to his name and is eyeing a fourth. Before Friday, Trout was hitting an absurd .355/.477/.673 with a 1.150 OPS and eight homers. The game has been rooted in homers, strikeouts, and walks, and as offenses across the majors struggle against dominant pitching (hitting just .234 league-wide as of Friday) Trout is having, perhaps, the best offensive showing of a career that’s already etched in Cooperstown.

“Those guys, they want to be great,” manager Alex Cora said. “And they want to keep improving. There’s no stop, right? They always find something that they need to work on. I’m talking about superstars. They try to find ways to keep improving.”

Cora noted that Trout is doing it without necessarily implementing launch angle, a swing trend that has overtaken the league as continue to increase their velocity. Trout has cut the launch in his swing more than half, from a 23.1 degree launch angle in 2020 down to just 10.9 degrees this year.

“There’s a reason he’s doing that,” Cora said. “He’s the only one that knows, but it seems like it’s working. I’m happy that those numbers are out there for the viewer or for the baseball fans, just to let them understand that there’s not only one way to hit.”

Renfroe doing it all

Hunter Renfroe has been one of the best defensive right fielders in baseball. He’s been a linchpin for the Sox outfield that has looked average, at best, in both left and right field. Recently, Renfroe has also brought it with the bat, already hitting five homers in the month of May. His fifth came Friday when he laced Angels’ ’s offering for a two-run shot in the bottom of the second.

Despite that, the Red Sox like their ability to mix and match, particularly when Kiké Hernández (right hamstring) and (left hand contusion) return from the .

“That’s the beauty of a roster,” Cora said. “You know, here you don’t have to play 155 games to be part of the equation here. But you’re going to see him a lot in right field.”

On the mend

Hernández is set for a rehab assignment in A Worcester this weekend. Arroyo took soft toss Friday. If everything goes well, Cora said that they will have him hit live batting practice Saturday. The team hasn’t mentioned a rehab assignment for Arroyo just yet… The Angels activated Anthony Rendon from the injured list for Friday’s game. To make room, outfielder Jon Jay was designated for assignment.

Jarren Duran is crushing the ball in Worcester ... but don’t expect him to be called up to the Red Sox soon

Alex Speier

Last summer, Jarren Duran offered hope to the Red Sox in a dismal, pandemic-compressed season. While the big league team struggled to a last-place finish, Duran put on a show at McCoy Stadium.

In 2019, he hit .303/.367/.408 with 46 steals in High-A and Double-A. But while he showed incredible athleticism and speed, along with an all-fields line drive stroke to hit for average, he displayed little power, hitting just five homers in 578 plate appearances.

But at the Alt Site last summer, Duran tapped into new reservoirs of power thanks to a swing adjustment. He delivered the farewell fireworks at McCoy, launching eight homers in a couple months of intrasquad games.

But it was unclear how to evaluate the performance. Would his newfound power — the product of a change he made after 2019 to lower his hands in order to create a cleaner path to the ball — translate into games when he wasn’t just facing his own teammates?

Nine games into the inaugural season of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, Duran has provided a compelling start of an answer. In 40 plate appearances, he’s crushed four homers, including two in the opening of Polar Park on Tuesday, and a 440-foot smash off a 95 MPH fastball on Wednesday. The most recent blast was precisely the type that would have been almost impossible in 2019.

“I just think I’m able to get to that pitch now,” said Duran. “Before, it was kind of a struggle for me to get to the inside pitch. Now I have a different path. It’s more clean and fluid to get to those pitches.”

Through nine games, Duran is hitting .314/.400/.686 with those four homers. He also stole his first base of the season on Thursday. After an 0-for-11 start in the season’s first three games, he’s 11-for-24 with a .458/.536/1.000 line in his most recent six games.

His performance since last summer has put him very much on the prospect map, a status with which the 24- year-old — an unheralded seventh-rounder in the 2018 draft — admitted some discomfort.

“I kind of like being a non-prospect. People don’t expect a lot out of you,” said Duran. “Not being a prospect to start, you just work your butt off as much as you can and then things come your way with hard work. I just worked hard, did the right things, play hard, do what I need to do, and things go your way.”

After an 0-for-11 start in the season’s first three games, Jarren Duran is 11-for-24 in his most recent six games. After an 0-for-11 start in the season’s first three games, Jarren Duran is 11-for-24 in his most recent six games.JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF As much as Duran’s performance is generating excitement and anticipation, it seems unlikely that a callup is imminent — even with the Sox outfield having struggled to this point in the season.

He still has work to do defensively, as his outfield play has been uneven. Moreover, the Sox want Duran not just to show he can handle Triple-A pitching but to demonstrate that he can sustain his performance when facing the level for a second and perhaps third time — requiring him to adapt and adjust his approach as pitchers attack him in different ways.

That approach, they hope, will position him not just to reach the big leagues as a fill-in but to stay up whenever he is promoted to the big leagues. It shouldn’t be considered a shock if he remains in the minors past this year’s trade deadline. (In the last decade, the Sox waited until roughly the deadline or after to call up and Andrew Benintendi, while calling up Rafael Devers and Bobby Dalbec just before it.)

Nonetheless, the talent is undeniable. Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has said that Duran will tell the Sox when he’s ready for the big leagues. Duran seems happy to let his play make that statement.

“You don’t have to go out and try to show you’re a well-rounded hitter,” said Duran. “If you just keep playing the game the way you know how, it’ll show itself.

Shohei Ohtani’s two-way stardom is finally being fulfilled

Peter Abraham

The most compelling player in the major leagues returned to Fenway Park on Friday night. With all due respect and admiration for the great Mike Trout, it was Shohei Ohtani.

“It seems like the sport stops to watch him,” Sox manager Alex Cora said.

That’s because there’s so much to watch. Ohtani was 2 for 4 with a and a double as the Red Sox beat the Angels, 4-3.

The home run, off Nick Pivetta in the sixth inning, was flicked into the second row of the Green Monster seats with one hand. The double also was to the opposite field, crashing into the wall in the first inning.

Ohtani is hitting .264 with a .909 OPS, 10 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, six stolen bases and 27 RBIs.

His 23 extra-base hits are one behind for the most in the majors. Only Ronald Acuña Jr., with 12, has more home runs.

“This stadium has a lot of history and tradition, so hitting a home run here is pretty special,” said Ohtani, who homered at Fenway for the first time.

Ohtani also has a 2.10 in five starts with 40 strikeouts and only 11 hits allowed over 25⅔ innings. He has thrown nine pitches of at least 100 miles-per-hour this season, third among starting pitchers.

Ohtani is the first in the modern era with at least 40 strikeouts and 11 or fewer hits in his first five starts of the season. Opponents have hit .126 against him.

“It’s the uniqueness, right?” Cora said. “It has nothing to do with Trout. It’s all about Ohtani.”

Ohtani isn’t scheduled to pitch against the Red Sox this weekend. He went seven innings against Houston on Tuesday, allowing one run while striking out 10. Then Ohtani went to right field to finish out the game so the Angels could keep his bat in the lineup.

The last pitcher to strike out 10 and play a position in the field was Cleveland’s Sam McDowell in 1970.

On two days this season, Ohtani started a game on the mound while leading the majors in home runs. No player had done that since was with the Red Sox in 1919.

This was the dream the Angels had when they signed Ohtani before the 2018 season. But injuries, including Tommy John surgery, limited him to 12 starts over his first three seasons and he was essentially a designated hitter.

Ohtani pitched twice last season and was hit hard. It was just as bad at the plate as he hit .190 while wearing a bulky brace to protect his right arm.

Now healthy — and stronger after a new off-season program — Ohtani told the team he wants to be on the field as often as possible and truly play both ways.

That was his motivation for coming to the majors in the first place, to test himself against the best players in the world.

Manager adopted a “let Ohtani be Ohtani” plan in and the only obstacle since was a blister that cost him two starts.

“It’s good for the sport. He is that good from both sides,” Cora said.

At the All-Star game in Denver, Ohtani could well bat in the top of the first then pitch the bottom of the inning.

Bobby Dalbec, who started at first base for the Red Sox, has a unique understanding of what Ohtani is accomplishing. He was a two-way player at the University of Arizona.

Dalbec was 17-18 with a 2.65 ERA and seven saves in 72 appearances on the mound, and hit .282 with 24 homers and 123 RBIs in 716 plate appearances.

“For me, at least, it was nice. If I wasn’t hitting well that night I could go back out there and help the team win pitching,” Dalbec said. “It gives you more chances in a game to do something good for the team, which is fun. But it’s a lot to handle, too.”

Some teams saw Dalbec as a pitcher. Cora thought that, too, when he saw Dalbec pitch in the 2016 College World Series while he was working for ESPN.

But Dalbec wanted to focus only on being a position player once he was drafted.

“I miss the competitive aspect of pitching. Not necessarily everything that comes along with it,” he said.

Like seemingly everybody else at Fenway on Friday, Dalbec was anxious to get a look at Ohtani in person.

“Special player. Special talent,” Dalbec said. “He seems to be an awesome teammate, awesome guy. It’s pretty cool to see him do what he’s capable of doing.”

Airing some Celtics grievances to Danny Ainge, and other thoughts

Dan Shaughnessy

Picked-up pieces while hoping Ed Davis can crack the case at Churchill Downs …

▪ I had an awkward conversation with Danny Ainge Friday morning. In an effort to represent what I consider a large segment of the Celtics fan base, I started our interview by telling Ainge that I hate the way his team plays. I can’t stand the way they come out flat, fall behind, rally to make it close, then ultimately capitulate.

I told him I don’t believe his players are doing what Brad Stevens asks them to do. Apologizing for my rudeness, I asked him if he felt we’d been too rough on the underachieving 2020-21 Celtics.

“I wish we competed out of the gate more,” the president of basketball operations acknowledged. “I wish our defensive efforts were more consistent. Absolutely. I understand all of those critiques, absolutely. So I think it’s a fair critique.”

What is his level of disappointment in this .500 team that will now have to participate in the “play-in” round just to get into the NBA playoffs?

“A lot of disappointment,” he said. “There’s been so many times this year when we’ve been just a day or two from being whole and fresh, and it’s been disappointing in every one of those cases when something creeps in and happens.

“That’s not an excuse. That’s just a fact. I’m not making an excuse for how poorly we have played at times or how we have not shown up with urgency. And when we have shown up with urgency didn’t have the resolve to fight through the poor start when we were not making shots.”

What is he going to do about it? Every time Ainge is asked about changes, he talks like a man who isn’t going to do anything big in the offseason.

“I never said that,” Ainge countered. “I don’t know. We’ll make some changes. I don’t know what changes we’ll make. That’s what makes the offseason fun.”

OK. Is there any possibility of big changes?

“I won’t comment on that,” Ainge said. “That’s a headline we don’t need. That’s a distraction.”

Are you coming back?

“Of course.”

Is Stevens coming back?

“Of course.”

Are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown coming back?

“Yes.”

Well then, nothing big, I concluded.

“I don’t know what you expect,” said Ainge. “You can’t think that any of those things are the reason for what this year has been.”

Acknowledging that I don’t enjoy the NBA in 2021 compared with the golden 1980s, I explained to Ainge, “I’m fed up with your team and can’t stand watching them. I don’t know how you do it. They just should be better, and it doesn’t feel like it’s going in the right direction. But I’m not out there playing. So what do I know?”

“OK, well, let me ask you a question,” Ainge offered. “Do you think if we had Kemba and Jaylen and Jayson and Fournier and Robert Williams and Marcus Smart — do you think that that team would be more fun to watch?”

Maybe. But nobody in the NBA is at full strength every day anymore.

“Well, all I am saying is that there is hope,” said Ainge. “I can’t dispute anything you said and I’m not trying to defend it. I’m just saying that there are good things that are happening.

“It’s hard to see those things sometimes, and I get it. I’m not expecting anybody else to see them, but that’s my job, to do an autopsy of the whole team and what are the causes and how can we get better?”

“Autopsy” is a good word to use with this group. But brace yourselves, Celtics fans. It sounds like Danny plans to bring the whole band back and give it another try next season.

▪ NESN’s finest moment came before last Monday’s finale in Baltimore when Tom Caron interviewed , Ellis Burks, and regarding what it was like to often be a solo Black star on Red Sox teams of prior decades. Rice and Burks were in studio with Caron while Vaughn joined via Zoom from his Florida home.

After talking about redistricting that enabled him to play at a “white high school” in South Carolina, Rice cited conversations he had with Bill Russell when he first came to Boston. Rice showed Burks the way, and Burks was a mentor for Vaughn. Burks explained what it was like to be a Black athlete in Boston during the horrible Charles Stuart episode.

It was important, great television.

▪ Quiz: Name three Worcester natives who became MLB All-Stars (answer below).

▪ Sometimes the punch lines are just too easy — like when we go back and look at NBC’s pre-Kentucky Derby interview featuring Bill Belichick and disgraced horse trainer Bob Baffert.

“What we have in common,” Baffert said, “is that we do get good players, but we know what to do with them when we get them.”

The only thing missing was, “Did we break a few rules and take a few liberties … ?”

▪ Maybe Kyrie Irving was onto something. And Al Horford. And Gordon Hayward.

▪ Fool’s gold? After 36 games, the Red Sox had the best record in baseball (22-14) and were No. 1 in ESPN’s power rankings. Swell. But 10 of their first 36 games were against the last-place Orioles, while another seven were against the Tigers (worst team in baseball) and the 12-23 Twins. Another eight were against the Mariners and Rangers, who went a combined 49-71 last year.

That’s 25 of 36 games against bottom-feeders. The Red Sox will play 18 games against only the Yankees, Blue Jays, and Rays after the All-Star break.

▪ The are enjoying a great baseball season thus far. Under coach Mike Glavine, NU carried a 28-6 record and an 18-game winning streak into this weekend’s four-game series at Delaware.

▪ Pablo Sandoval has been sneaky good for the Braves, hitting four pinch-hit home runs already. The MLB record for one season is seven.

▪ With the Stanley Cup playoffs getting under way, it’s time to remind everybody that the last team from Canada to win the Cup was the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.

▪ USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that it was ugly for Albert Pujols at the end in Anaheim. According to Nightengale, Pujols “blasted Joe Maddon’s managerial skills” on the way out the door.

▪ Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who could be NBA Coach of the Year, played at Salem State, coached under Peter Roby at Harvard in the 1980s, and won a ring with the Doc Rivers Celtics in 2008.

▪ has taken his tinfoil hat to Tennessee but still haunts New England. When the WooSox opened spanking-new Polar Park Tuesday, Pawtucket mayor Donald Grebien spoke to the Globe, and according to the story, “he acknowledged that it was unwise to have later called for $38 million in taxpayer support for a new stadium, a figure that raised the specter of 38 Studios, Curt Schilling’s ill-fated video game venture that received state backing.”

▪ In case you missed it, J.D. Martinez declined to answer when the Globe’s Peter Abraham asked him if he’d been vaccinated. “That’s one of those personal things for me,” said the DH. True. Meanwhile, the Red Sox are not one of the MLB teams considered fully vaccinated, and according to Abraham’s reporting, they “won’t be for quite some time, if ever.”

▪ Honk your horn if you think Patrice Bergeron should win the Selke Trophy. Honk twice if you think Xander Bogaerts is to the Red Sox what Bergeron has been to the Bruins.

▪ Former Mets ace Matt Harvey, now an Oriole, received multiple standing ovations from the Citi Field crowd when he was battered by the Mets Wednesday. Nice gesture by New York fans who remember Harvey leading the Mets to the World Series in 2015.

▪ The Washington Post’s Tom Boswell announced his retirement May 7 after covering for 52 years. Pound for pound the best and most lyrical baseball writer this side of Roger Angell, Boz never lost his fastball. He was still cranking out gold on deadline when the Nationals won the World Series in Houston in 2019. The Baseball Writers of America need to put this man in Cooperstown.

▪ running for mayor of Stamford, Conn., reminds me of a favorite line from “Back to the Future,” when Marty tells Doc that Ronald Reagan is president in 1985 and Doc says, “Ronald Reagan? The actor? Then who’s vice president — Jerry Lewis?”

▪ Quiz answer: (Tigers, 1976, ’77), Rich Gedman (Red Sox, 1985, ’86), Bryan LaHair (Cubs, 2012).

* The Boston Herald

Bobby Dalbec’s game-winning homer rescues Red Sox against Angels

Steve Hewitt

If there is a roster crunch for playing time coming up in the near future, Bobby Dalbec is starting to make it difficult for the Red Sox to sit him.

Dalbec, who was benched on two consecutive nights this week as he struggled at the plate and other hitters were outperforming him, admitted before Friday night’s opener against the Angels how arduous it’s been to find consistency as the 25-year-old continues to adjust to the big-league level.

“It’s an ongoing process,” Dalbec said. “You never really figure it out.”

It looks like he’s starting to figure something out.

When the Red Sox needed him the most on Friday, Dalbec delivered. Trailing by a run after their bullpen had just coughed up another lead, Dalbec came to the rescue with a go-ahead two-run homer — his second blast in as many nights — as the Sox held off the Angels, 4-3, at Fenway Park.

It was a special moment for Dalbec, who received chants of “Bo-bby! Bo-bby!” from the electric crowd of 9,284 after he returned to the dugout. Christian Vazquez convinced him to oblige as he jumped up to the top step to give the fans a curtain call.

“It was crazy,” Dalbec said. “Crazy moment, special moment, something that you dream of as a kid.”

It had to have felt good for Dalbec, who has been inconsistent since his breakout debut last year. He’s done everything in his power to correct his issues as he continues to develop, from video review to work in the cage all while staying with it mentally through the ups and downs and constant trial and error.

Friday’s game-winning homer may have been his most satisfying yet, given his struggles to start the year — which included an 0-for-27 slump at one point — and the game situation. Dalbec has always hit lefties well, and Angels southpaw Tony Watson threw him a changeup that he absolutely devoured, drilling it deep over the Green Monster seats and into the DraftKings sign high above for his fourth homer of the season.

Watson had a bewildered look on his face as Dalbec trotted around the bases with a bit of pep in his step. He’s certainly feeling good right now, with three homers and nine RBI over his last six games. If he’s been feeling any pressure to perform as playing time and at-bats become more of a premium, the last two nights have probably been a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

“He understands there’s ups and downs during the season,” manager Alex Cora said. “As long as you keep working hard and stay within yourself and are making adjustments, you’re going to be fine. … There are certain times we know he’s going to swing and miss, but the power is there. We know that. It’s just for him to be a little bit more consistent in certain situations. …

“We like the player. We like the person, and we’re going to keep working with him.”

Especially if he can deliver more big moments like he did on Friday.

“He picked us up,” Cora said. “It was a cool Friday night at Fenway, to have a curtain call, it was great to see. The vibe was outstanding. The fans were into it. It was a great night, it was a great night. Hopefully we can get many of those.”

Other takeaways from Friday’s win:

— Nick Pivetta threw another gem, as he pitched six innings and allowed two runs while striking out seven. Most importantly, he walked none for the first time in 10 Red Sox starts. His only real blemish came in the fifth, when he gave up a solo homer to Shohei Ohtani, who somehow flicked an outside pitch to the opposite field and into the second row of the Monster seats.

Pivetta left with a 2-1 lead, but the night was almost ruined by Matt Andriese, who blew the lead in the seventh when he allowed a two-run single to Jose Iglesias. Dalbec’s homer saved the Red Sox bullpen, which has given up 26 earned runs so far in the month of May.

— Hunter Renfroe had made a pair of highlight-reel defensive plays with his arm this week, but before Friday’s game, Cora made a point to mention how well he’s been swinging the bat.

Then, Renfroe went out and proved it. The right fielder, who’s been one of the Red Sox’ best hitters in May, came up with two outs and a man on in the second and hit a 430-foot missile to center to give the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead, his fifth homer of the season. Renfroe now has four homers in May and is hitting .327 with a .942 OPS over his last 13 games.

Alex Cora on Angels’ two-way star Shohei Ohtani: ‘It seems like the sport stops to watch him’

Steve Hewitt

Though the Angels come to Fenway Park with a sub-.500 record this weekend, the Red Sox will have a front-row seat to two of the most exciting talents in the baseball world.

Mike Trout is back in town for the first time since 2019, but the superstar who many consider the best in the game may not even generate the most attention. That would go to two-way star Shohei Ohtani, who’s been lighting up the majors at the plate and on the mound this season. Though he’s not expected to pitch this weekend, the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year will be a must-watch at the top of the Angels’ lineup.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora has had a blast watching Ohtani, who has a fastball that reaches triple digits and a power stroke that had him with 10 home runs going into Friday, tied for second most in the AL.

“What Ohatani’s doing in front of the mound and as a position player is fun to watch from afar and this is good for the sport,” Cora said. “He’s that good, both sides. It seems like the sport stops to watch him. He’s been great. …

“He’s so unique. He can run, he can hit for power, it seems like he’s a great guy. We’ve talked about the market. It seems like it fits him. And he’s very comfortable over there and I think it’s a plus for the game.”

News and notes

J.D. Martinez made his second consecutive start in left field on Friday night, as Rafael Devers was the designated hitter to take a night off from the field. Cora said Martinez, who was making his seventh outfield start, doesn’t mind doing it.

“For some reason when he plays the outfield, he feels looser,” Cora said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes behind closed doors. When he DH’s, there’s a lot of swings during the games so actually it works to our benefit and his benefit and (assistant hitting coach) ’s benefit, too. We’re taking care of not only Raffy today and JD kind of like with the swings, but we’re taking care of Peter today, too.” …

While Kiké Hernández (hamstring) is still on track to return next week, Christian Arroyo (hand) seems to be farther behind. He was expected to take more swings on Friday and then live batting practice on Saturday if it goes well, but the Red Sox haven’t planned a rehab assignment for him yet.

* The Providence Journal

Red Sox match 2020 victory total with Friday win over Angels

Bill Koch

Anyone else think these Red Sox could lose their next 20 consecutive games?

A foolish question, of course. But that’s what it would require for Boston to match its record from the shortened 2020 season.

These are certainly better times. The latest reminder came Friday night, as the Red Sox opened their weekend series with the Angels by rallying for a 4-3 victory.

Nick Pivetta was strong yet again. continues to be a human eraser at the back end of the bullpen. Hunter Renfroe and Bobby Dalbec are beginning to find the range with their powerful swings.

And, in the bottom of the seventh inning, we had a curtain call. The 25% capacity in the grandstands unleashed a roar after Dalbec launched the winning two-run homer. Empty ballparks and COVID-19 quarantines are steadily being replaced by those sweet sounds of joy.

“It was a cool Friday night at Fenway,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “To have a curtain call, it was great to see. The vibe was outstanding.

“The fans were into it. It was a great night. Hopefully we can get many of those.”

Boston stubbed its collective toe in the top of the seventh only to rally immediately. The Red Sox secured their 16th come-from-behind victory when Dalbec blasted a Tony Watson changeup high above the Green Monster. It was the third home run in six games for the rookie, and Christian Vazquez forced him to the home dugout’s top step for some extra recognition.

“Crazy moment,” Dalbec said. “Special moment. Something you dream of as a kid.”

Matt Andriese’s stumble was relegated to footnote status for the 9,284 in attendance. He was gifted the win in a generous official scorer’s decision after being surrounded by strong outings from Pivetta, and Barnes. The other three right-handers combined to strike out 12 against no walks in eight innings. Ottavino and Barnes retired all six men they faced, fanning five.

“We battled really, really hard late,” Pivetta said. “Some guys came through.”

Pivetta faced one batter in the top of the seventh and was credited with a no decision. He allowed a pair of earned runs and retired 12 straight until Shohei Ohtani nicked him for a solo homer to the Monster Seats. Pedro Martinez (1998) and Matt Clement (2005) are the two most recent starting pitchers to help Boston to victory in each of their first 10 outings with the team.

“Nick was outstanding,” Cora said. “He gave us a chance to win. Good fastball, good breaking ball against a good lineup.”

Ottavino turned in his first 1-2-3 inning since an April 28 outing against the Mets. This was his seventh appearance in May, and it included back-to-back punchouts of Ohtani and Mike Trout. Ottavino buried a down to get a swinging Ohtani and received some help from plate umpire Ron Kulpa on a fastball away for a called third strike against Trout.

“That’s what we envisioned when we got Adam here – for him and Barnes to get the last six outs of the game,” Cora said. “Obviously it didn’t go perfectly in the seventh. Everything starts with starting pitching.”

Barnes was the American League Reliever of the Month in April. All he’s done this month is work five scoreless innings and compile a 0.20 WHIP. Barnes has allowed one hit, struck out eight and picked up three of his nine saves.

“He has a role and he does a great job at it,” Pivetta said. “When he comes in the game we know he’s closing the door.”

Dalbec’s home run was the second two-run shot of the night. The first came from Renfroe in the bottom of the second, a rocket to the bleachers in dead center. Griffin Canning left a 3-and-1 fastball out of the plate and Renfroe drilled it 430 feet.

“One thing I’ve been impressed with from Hunter is he’s putting the ball in play,” Cora said. “He’s going the other way. He’s not pulling too many pitches.”

Boston improved to 24-16 overall and continues to lead the A.L. East. The Red Sox finished at the opposite end of the standings a year ago, compiling a brutal 24-36 mark. It seems unlikely this particular club will threaten anything approaching 12 games under .500 by October.

“We'll see where things go after this,” Pivetta said. “But having them here and having them show up every single night, it’s good vibes all around.”

RED SOX JOURNAL: Pivetta returns from COVID protocol

Bill Koch

Nick Pivetta made his scheduled start for the Red Sox on Friday night.

The right-hander spent Wednesday on the COVID-19 list after suffering some ill effects from his second shot. Pivetta was feeling well enough to do some pregame work on the field on Thursday at Fenway Park and was in the lineup for the series opener against the Angels.

“We’ll keep talking to him during the start, but we do believe he’s at full strength,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday afternoon. “He should be good for the outing.”

Boston recalled from Triple-A Worcester, and he threw two scoreless innings against the Athletics on Wednesday. Pivetta was attempting to become the first American League pitcher to win six games — he entered 5-0 with a 3.19 ERA.

The Red Sox plan to stay on turn through scheduled off days on each of the next two Mondays and May 27. Martin Perez is Saturday’s scheduled starter while will close the series against Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon.

“We’re in good shape,” Cora said. “The other guys are throwing the ball. They’re going deep into games, too.”

Chavis in, Cordero out

Franchy Cordero was a notable absence from the lineup against right-handed Angels starter Griffin Canning.

J.D. Martinez played left field while Rafael Devers enjoyed a day off his feet as the designated hitter. Marwin Gonzalez slid to third base while returned at second base. Chavis doubled twice in Thursday’s 8-1 victory over the Athletics and is 5-for-18 with three extra-base hits since his recall from Triple-A Worcester.

“We’re going to go with the lineups we do believe maximizes this personnel,” Cora said. “Today I felt like this was the lineup we should go with.”

Cordero is in a 4-for-58 funk dating to the second game of a doubleheader sweep at Minnesota on April 14. Three of those hits came in a May 6 victory against Detroit, as Cordero came off the bench early as an injury replacement. He’s totaled just three doubles in 87 plate appearances.

Jarren Duran turned some heads with one swing on Thursday night at Polar Park.

Boston’s outfield prospect smashed a 440-foot home run to right field as part of an 8-5 victory over Syracuse. Duran unloaded on a 95-mph fastball up in the zone and crushed it over the fan pavilion topping the Worcester Wall in deep right.

“He’s that strong,” Cora said. “He’s a big kid. It just so happens that he’s very fast.”

Duran is riding a three-game hitting streak and a six-game on-base streak. His 24 , four home runs and five walks are all team-highs through nine games, and Duran is slashing .314/.400/.686. He impressed at the alternate site last summer and in the Winter Ball playoffs with Caguas Criollos — Cora and the father of his fiancée, Angelica Feliciano, were looking on live in Puerto Rico.

“He was like, ‘Well, if he runs, he should be bunting,’ ” Cora said. “I was like, ‘No, no, no. We don’t want him to be bunting right now.’ ”

Kiké making progress

Kiké Hernandez (right hamstring) is set to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday at Triple-A Worcester.

Hernandez suffered his injury early in a May 6 with over the Tigers, doubling off the Green Monster and eventually asking to be removed. He’s expected to play on Saturday and Sunday for the WooSox against the Syracuse Mets.

Christian Arroyo (left hand contusion) is a few days behind Hernandez. The infielder hit soft toss on Friday and is expected to take batting practice on Saturday. Arroyo could begin his own rehab assignment next week.

“It’s part of the progression,” Cora said. “He was OK yesterday. They felt like today should be soft toss only.”

Red Sox's Dalbec starting to figure things out

Bill Koch

Watching Bobby Dalbec make his way through his first full season in the big leagues is to observe growth in real time.

It’s not a linear concept. His work on Day X isn’t going to guarantee results on Day Y. That’s the mental side of the Red Sox has been forced to accept through the first 39 games.

It all looked so easy for Dalbec when he bashed eight home runs in just 92 plate appearances during his 2020 cameo. He had just one to show for the same number of trips through his first 26 games this season. The last five nights have featured something of a breakout, including a 2-for-4 effort in Thursday’s 8-1 shelling of the Athletics.

“It’s a little bit different this year as opposed to last year,” Dalbec said. “I’m just trying to figure out what works for me, what I need to do, the things I need to say to myself and think about to put me in the best spot to compete and help contribute.”

Dalbec is 6-for-19 since a 6-2 win at Baltimore a week ago, including a pair of two-hit games. His 1.034 OPS in that span is more than double the .507 OPS he posted through a 12-9 victory over Detroit on May 6. Dalbec managed just one hit in a 10-game drought beginning April 24 against Seattle.

“If you’ve got too much going through your head, sometimes you forget about the important things,” Dalbec said. “That’s seeing the ball and being on time and positive self-talk. You’re worried about what (the pitcher is) doing instead of what makes you good.

“I think that’s something I’m starting to realize and focus on more.”

Dalbec received input from no shortage of veterans in the Boston clubhouse during his struggles. Manager Alex Cora, game planning coordinator , 10-year utilityman Marwin Gonzalez and a pair of hitting coaches — and Peter Fatse — have made themselves readily available. Unlocking the player who slugged a combined 59 home runs during his last two seasons in the minor leagues would give the bottom of the Red Sox lineup some needed punch.

“Everyone has been here before,” Dalbec said. “They’ve been through it or watched people go through it on a year-to-year basis. You’ve just got to keep learning.”

COVID-19 restrictions have yet to fully ease around the team, but there is more normalcy than what existed during a 60-game sprint through last year. The Red Sox have more freedom in their pregame schedule, allowing for additional time watching video, team meetings and more. It’s given Dalbec a chance to learn more about himself than he might have at Class-A Salem in 2018 or Double-A Portland in 2019.

The Red Sox's Bobby Dalbec, left, is congratulated by teammate Hunter Renfroe after hitting a two-run home run against the on Thursday night. “I’ve got to be OK with things not looking exactly how they feel in my head,” Dalbec said. “That’s the disconnect, I think, in a lot of guys.

“That’s why J.D. (Martinez) is so good. He knows how to attack those all the time. He’s mastered that — being able to fix things right after an at-bat. I’m just not there yet.”

Dalbec’s splits have been extreme thus far in 2021 — a .990 OPS against left-handed pitching, a .395 OPS against right-handed pitching. Those numbers were .903 and 1.062, respectively, in a smaller sample last season. Jose Quintana is Sunday’s scheduled starter for the Angels, the next possible southpaw Dalbec could face.

“I’ve never really felt like righties have given me a lot of trouble,” Dalbec said. “Obviously the splits would say differently this year, but it’s all part of the same puzzle for me in my head.”

Dalbec’s home run against Sean Manaea on Thursday showed the best of his potential. The left-hander grooved a fastball and Dalbec uncoiled with a compact, powerful stroke. He sent a drive to deep left-center at Fenway Park that wrapped its way around the foul pole.

“Got to try to be on time, take easy swings, swing at good pitches and put the ball in play with authority,” Dalbec said. “Not selling out for contact, but just try to be in a good spot where it’s a controllable, repeatable swing.”

Two of baseball's best at Fenway Park this weekend

Bill Koch

Two of baseball’s brightest stars will call Fenway Park home this weekend.

Mike Trout is generally considered the game’s best player and Shohei Ohtani is certainly its most unique. The Angels started their lone visit of the regular season on Friday night with both in the lineup.

Trout is off to a sizzling start at the plate, with his slash line of .355/.477/.673 all representing career-highs if the season ended today. Keep in mind Trout is a three-time American League Most Valuable Player who has never finished outside the top five in the voting since his first full season in 2012. Any time he approaches a new personal best is worthy of headlines.

“He's a role model for all those kids that want to play the sport and for those minor leaguers who want to get to the big leagues,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Forget the tools — obviously he’s above everybody else. But the way he plays the game is impressive.

“It’s eye-opening. He’s a joy to watch.”

Trout celebrates his 30th birthday in August and is still working to improve. He went from minus-11 defensive runs saved in 2014 per FanGraphs to plus-7 in 2015. Trout has also cut down the launch angle in his swing from 2020 to this season, resulting in an early batting average jump from .300 to .484 on balls in play.

“He keeps working to be better,” Cora said. “I’ll take that right now — I'll take that package. But the fact that he’s willing to put the work in to get better is amazing.”

Ohtani leads the A.L. with his 21 extra-base hits, including 10 home runs in just 145 plate appearances. The right-hander has also posted a 2.10 ERA in five starts on the mound, covering 25 2/3 innings. Ohtani has surrendered just 11 hits, struck out 40 and averages 96.6 mph on his four-seam fastball.

“He is that good both sides,” Cora said. “It feels like the sport stops to watch him. He’s been great.”

Boston was among the teams scouting Ohtani prior to his 2012 signing with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The Red Sox took another swing when Ohtani announced his intended move to Major League Baseball for the 2018 season. Boston made a detailed presentation to Ohtani’s representatives before he ultimately agreed to join the Angels for a posting fee of $20-million and a multi-year personal contract.

“He can run,” Cora said. “He can hit for power. It seems like he’s a great guy.

“You talk about the market — it seems like it fits him. He’s very comfortable over there. It’s a plus for the game.”

Bobby Dalbec was a two-way player at a high level prior to being selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2016 draft. He helped lead Arizona to the College World Series thanks to an .818 OPS at the plate and a 2.50 ERA on the mound. Dalbec struggles to comprehend how talented Ohtani must be to do this in the big leagues.

“I think he’s hitting in the middle of the lineup and trying to go six, seven innings every night in the major leagues,” Dalbec said. “That’s pretty crazy, honestly.”

* MassLive.com

Bobby Dalbec bashes go-ahead homer, takes curtain call in Boston Red Sox’s win over Angels; Nick Pivetta K’s 7

Christopher Smith

Bobby Dalbec’s second home run in two days put the Red Sox back ahead during the bottom of the seventh inning after Boston gave up the lead in the top half.

Dalbec crushed a 419-foot two-run homer over the Green Monster. The Red Sox won 4-3 at Fenway Park.

Boston improved to 24-16 overall and 12-11 at Fenway Park.

Dalbec connected on an 84.4 mph changeup from Angels left-handed reliever Tony Watson. The slugger is 14-for-38 (.368) with three home runs.

Pivetta’s ERA drops to 3.16

Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta pitched 6-plus innings. He allowed two runs, four hits and no walks while striking out seven.

The righty threw 50 four-seam fastballs, averaging 95.3 mph and topping out at 97.4 mph, per Baseball Savant. He mixed in 22 sliders, 19 curveballs and one changeup.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora replaced him with Matt Andriese after Anthony Rendon led off the seventh with a single off the Green Monster.

Andriese allowed a single to . Both Rendon and Walsh advanced to second and third on ’s deep fly to right field.

José Iglesias followed with a two-run double to right field to put the Angels ahead 3-2.

Renfroe homers

Hunter Renfroe put the Red Sox ahead 2-0 in the second inning with a 430-foot, 108.6-mph two-run homer to center field. He connected on a 94 mph four-seam fastball from Angels starter Griffin Canning.

Martinez’s catch

J.D. Martinez made a sliding catch in the first inning in his third start of the season in left field.

“J.D., for some reason, when he plays the outfield, he feels more looser,” Red Sox manger Alex Cora said before the game. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes on behind closed doors when he (is the) DH. There’s a lot of swings during the game. It works to our benefit and his benefit, and (assistant hitting coach) Peter Fatse’s benefit, too. We’re taking care of not one Raffy today and J.D., kind of with the swings, but we’re taking care of Peter today, too.”

Boston Red Sox notebook: J.D. Martinez makes sliding catch, Hunter Renfroe hits fourth homer this month, slugging .615 in May

Chris Cotillo and Christopher Smith

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora mentioned before Friday’s game that DH J.D. Martinez enjoys playing the outfield.

“J.D., for some reason, when he plays the outfield, he feels more looser,” Cora said.

Martinez made his seventh outfield start this season Friday. It also marked his second start in left field in the past two days.

The 33-year-old slugger made a sliding/diving catch to record the first out of the second inning on Jared Walsh’s 231-foot bloop to left. The Red Sox won 4-3 over the Angels at Fenway Park.

“I know he’s primarily a DH, but he cares about what he does on the field when he has the opportunity to play left field,” Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta said. “He goes out there and he wants to win baseball games. ... He works hard every day. He’s an incredible athlete. He’s a great hitter.”

Renfroe blasts fourth homer this month

Hunter Renfroe put the Red Sox ahead 2-0 in the second inning with a 430-foot, 108.6-mph two-run homer to center field. He connected on a 94 mph four-seam fastball from Angels starter Griffin Canning.

Renfroe is 17-for-52 (.327) with a .615 , four homers, three doubles, 11 RBIs and 10 runs in 13 games during May.

“He’s putting the ball in play,” Cora said. “He’s going the other way. He’s not pulling too many pitches. When we went to Arlington (to play the Rangers), he hit that big home run to the pull side and then after that, he’s been staying on pitches up the middle the other way. He’s been playing a lot against righties, putting good at-bats.”

Renfroe has taken on a full-time role in right field since since Kiké Hernández went down late last week. He has delivered, playing strong defense while showing a stark improvement at the plate.

“We’re very pleased with the way his at-bats are going,” Cora said. “We’ll be versatile, we’ll take care of people. That’s the beauty of our roster. Here, you don’t have to play 155 games to be part of the equation. You’ve got Marwin (Gonzalez), Enrique (Hernández) and Alex (Verdugo) and you can move them around, so that’s a plus for us. We’ll give him off days like everybody else, but you’re going to see him a lot in right field.”

Pivetta issues no walks

Nick Pivetta entered his start Friday averaging 5.4 walks per nine innings. But he didn’t walk anyone in 6- plus innings against the Angels.

He allowed two runs and four hits while striking out seven.

The righty threw 50 four-seam fastballs, averaging 95.3 mph and topping out at 97.4 mph, per Baseball Savant. He mixed in 22 sliders, 19 curveballs and one changeup.

“Commanded the strike zone really well tonight,” Pivetta said. “Didn’t give up any walks, which is a really huge plus. And just attacked the hitters.”

Dalbec’s splits

Bobby Dalbec homered Friday against left-handed reliever Tony Watson.

He has crushed lefties this year, going 14-for-38 (.368) with three home runs against them. He has not fared as well vs. righties (8-for-69, .116 average).

Dalbec hit righties well (.903 OPS) after making his debut last summer but has not been able to solve them so far this year. Earlier this week, Cora started Michael Chavis over him on back-to-back nights against righty starters Chris Bassitt and James Kaprielian.

“I do believe that he can hit righties,” Cora said. “It’s just a matter of getting there on time and putting good swings.”

In Dalbec’s final minor league season in 2019, he had a better OPS against lefties than righties (.910 to .785). But in both 2017 and 2018, he hit right-handers better. He said Friday that he approaches all pitchers the same way.

“To me, it’s the same puzzle,” Dalbec said. “I’ve never really felt like righties have given me a lot of trouble. Obviously, the splits would say differently this year. It’s always part of the same puzzle for me in my head.”

Dalbec said he believes vision, timing and where righties are pitching him are contributing to the struggles and that he’s not getting to some pitches that he has in the past. He’s working hard before games to get back on track.

“I watch my video but I try not to nitpick too much because I’ll get into that mode where it’s a paralysis by analysis kind of thing,” he said. “It will hurt me sometimes. I try to keep up with my video and make sure I’m getting to certain checkpoints that I know I need to.”

Arroyo behind Hernández on comeback trail

Second baseman Christian Arroyo (left hand contusion) might not be ready to be activated off the injured list after the minimum 10 days are up Wednesday, Cora said. Arroyo participated in soft toss drills Friday. He is expected to take batting practice Saturday. The club has not yet mapped out a schedule for him to participate in rehab games at Triple-A Worcester.

“He did soft toss only,” Cora said. “It’s part of the progression. He was okay yesterday. They felt like today should be soft toss only. Tomorrow, if everything goes well, he’ll hit BP and then we’ll go from there.”

Kiké Hernández (right hamstring strain) is slated to play in Worcester on Saturday and Sunday and is expected to be activated Tuesday before Boston’s game against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.

Cora praises Trout

The weekend series against the Angels will give Red Sox fans a rare chance to see superstar Mike Trout play at Fenway Park. Cora is excited to see Trout play again but wouldn’t go as far as to say he thinks he’s the best ever.

“He’s a complete player,” Cora said. “I hate to compare him with other players. I saw Barry Bonds, I saw , I saw Manny (Ramirez) hitting from the right side, (Albert) Pujols early in his career. But this kid, he’s that good. It’s just amazing, the plate discipline. When the stuff is this good and he has been able to control the strike zone, barrel pitches in the strike zone and be very disciplined outside of it, it’s amazing. He is that good offensively. He is that good.”

Entering Friday, Trout was hitting .355 with eight homers in 32 games. His 1.150 OPS -- if he keeps it up -- would be the best of his storied career.

“I know he works hard on his defense,” Cora said. “He wants to be better. He wants to get better jumps, he wants to be more accurate with his throws. He keeps working to be better. I’ll take that ‘better’ right now. I’d take that… I’d take that package. But the fact he’s willing to put the work to get better is amazing. Everything I hear from people who worked with him and are working with him right now, he gets it and he wants to win, too, which is very important.”

Dalbec, who has never played against Trout before, was hoping to meet him.

“It’s Mike Trout,” Dalbec said, pausing. “He’s Mike Trout. It’s pretty cool.”

Rotation will stay in line

Despite the Red Sox having three off days in an 11-day span starting Monday, they plan to keep their rotation in order. Cora had previously expressed a desire to separate Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez -- who have been pitching on back-to-back days -- but doesn’t think that’s necessary now that , Nick Pivetta and Martín Pérez are going deeper into games.

“We’re in good shape. The other guys are throwing the ball, they’re going deep into games, too,” Cora said. “That was the only reason. We felt like the other guys were just going five, but now they’ve found their groove and they’re going actually deeper than the other guys. Maybe we have to split the other guys so we can reset our bullpen. All joking aside, we’re in a good spot right now. I think those two guys, they need their days, too. We’ll keep it as it is right now.”

Bobby Dalbec on curtain call from Boston Red Sox fans: ‘Crazy moment. Special moment. Something that you dream of as a kid’

Christopher Smith

Red Sox fans called Bobby Dalbec’s name when he returned to the dugout after his go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday.

Christian Vázquez urged the rookie first baseman to go back out and take a curtain call.

“He made me run out there,” Dalbec said with a laugh.

Dalbec’s 419-foot two-run homer over the Green Monster put the Red Sox back ahead after they had lost the lead in the top half of the seventh. The Red Sox won 4-3 over the Angels at Fenway Park.

“It was crazy,” Dalbec said about the curtain call. “Crazy moment. Special moment. Something that you dream of as a kid.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora added, “It was a cool Friday night at Fenway. To have a curtain call, it was great to see. The vibe was outstanding. The fans were into it. It was a great night.”

The Red Sox increased capacity at Fenway Park from 12% to 25% for this homestand.

“For the boys, it’s very important,” Cora said. “It was cool to see Fenway this way.”

Dalbec connected on an 84.4 mph changeup low and inside from left-handed reliever Tony Watson.

“First, I was just trying to get my timing,” Dalbec said. “He’s got kind of that little, funky hitch arm thing so I was just trying to find the ball, find the release point. He threw me a couple of good pitches to hit early, those fastballs. But I was really trying to force it to right-center there.”

Dalbec is 14-for-38 (.368) with three home runs against left-handed pitchers this year.

“It always feel great to be able to come up in a big spot like that and put the team ahead, especially late,” Dalbec said.

Dalbec is 7-for-21 with three homers, one double and nine RBIs in his past six games.

“He understands there’s up and downs during the season,” Cora said. “As long as you keep working hard and stay within yourself and make adjustments, you’re going to be fine. It started with the walk right away in the (second) inning. Then he stole second, which was good. There’s certain times we know he’s going to swing and miss. But the power is there. We know that. It’s just for him to be a little more consistent in certain situations.”

Shohei Ohtani vs. Boston Red Sox: Angels’ two-way star batting second Friday and is ‘good for the sport,’ Alex Cora says

Christopher Smith

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani unfortunately will not pitch against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park this weekend.

But he is in the lineup Friday vs. Boston. He will be the designated hitter and bat second. Mike Trout will bat third.

The two-way star from Japan is 6-for-17 (.353) with two doubles, four RBIs and two runs in four career games at Fenway Park.

“What Ohtani’s doing from the mound and as a position player, it’s fun to watch from afar,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before Friday’s game. “It’s good for the sport. He is that good from both sides. It seems like the sport stops to watch him.”

Ohtani has a 2.10 ERA (25 ⅔ innings, six earned runs) and 40 strikeouts in five starts for the Angels in 2021. He’s averaging 14.0 strikeouts per nine innings but also 7.0 walks.

Meanwhile, he has posted a .257/.303/.574/.877 slash line with 10 home runs, nine doubles, two triples, 26 RBIs and 26 runs in 34 games (145 plate appearances). He even has six stolen bases.

His 21 extra-base hits lead the AL.

He has the second hardest hit ball in the major leagues this season, per Baseball Savant. He hit a double with a 119 mph exit velocity April 12 against the Royals. Only Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton has hit a ball harder (120.1 mph).

He’s receiving more attention than Trout, arguably the best player of this generation who is having another dominant season.

“The uniqueness, right?” Cora said about Ohtani. “The ability to throw 100 (mph) off the mound and hit the ball 100 mph, it’s just unique. It has nothing to do with Trout. It’s all about Ohtani.”

Ohtani’s four-seam fastball has averaged 96.6 mph, per Baseball Savant.

“The dude is a special player,” Red Sox’s Bobby Dalbec said. “A special talent. He seems to be an awesome teammate, awesome guy. It’s pretty cool to see him doing what he’s capable of doing.”

Dalbec both pitched and played third base at the University of Arizona.

“For me it was nice. If I wasn’t hitting well that night, I could go back out there and help the team win pitching,” Dalbec said. “So it kind of gives you more chances in the game to do something good for the team, which is fun. But it’s a lot to handle, too. I think he’s hitting in the middle of the lineup and trying to go six, seven innings every night (he starts) in the major leagues. That’s pretty crazy, honestly.”

Boston Red Sox lineup: Michael Chavis leading off Friday against Angels; J.D. Martinez in left, sitting

Christopher Smith

Michael Chavis will lead off for the Boston Red Sox on Friday against the .

He went 2-for-5 with two doubles as the leadoff hitter in a win Thursday against the Athletics.

Left-handed hitting Franchy Cordero is not in Boston’s lineup despite the team facing a right-hander, Griffin Canning (3-2, 5.19 ERA).

J.D. Martinez will play left field. Rafael Devers is the DH and Marwin Gonzalez will play third base.

“Keep working with him (Cordero),” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Just keep grinding with him. He’s working hard with (hitting coach) Timmy (Hyers). But like I said yesterday, we’re going to go with the lineups that we do believe are going to maximize this personnel. And today I felt like this was the lineup we should go with. Michael had a good game yesterday. ... And J.D. loves playing left field.

Only one Red Sox hitter has ever faced Canning. is 0-for-2 against him.

Nick Pivetta starts for Boston. He is 7-0 with a 2.89 ERA (46 ⅔ innings, 15 earned runs) in nine starts since Boston acquired him last August from the Phillies. The opposition is batting just .196 against him.

Boston Red Sox lineup:

1. Michael Chavis 2B

2. Alex Verdugo CF

3. J.D. Martinez LF

4. Xander Bogaerts SS

5. Rafael Devers DH

6. Christian Vázquez C

7. Marwin Gonzalez 3B

8. Hunter Renfroe RF

9. Bobby Dalbec 1B

Pitching matchup: RHP Nick Pivetta (5-0, 3.19) vs. RHP Griffin Canning (3-2, 5.19)

Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angels Angels preview: TV schedule, pitching probables, key stories (May 14-16)

Christopher Smith

BOSTON — Two-way star Shohei Ohtani unfortunately will not pitch against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park this series. But Red Sox fans will see him hit.

The Angels and Red Sox play a three-game series, starting Friday.

Ohtani has a .574 slugging percentage. He leads the American League in extra-base hits with 21. He has 10 homers, nine doubles, two triples, 26 RBIs and 26 runs.

Mike Trout, arguably this generation’s best player, is enjoying another Mike Trout-type of season. He’s batting .355 with a .477 on-base percentage, .673 slugging percentage, 1.150 OPS, eight homers, eight doubles, one triple, 22 runs and 18 RBIs in 32 games.

Boston Red Sox (23-16) vs. Los Angeles Angels (16-20) · Fenway Park · Boston, Mass. SERIES SCHEDULE (and TV information):

Friday, May 14, 7:10 p.m. ET — NESN / MLB Network (out of market)

Saturday, May 15, 4:10 p.m. ET — NESN

Sunday, May 16, 1:10 p.m. ET — NESN / MLB Network (out of market)

HOW TO WATCH:

Friday, May 14, 7:10 p.m. ET — NESN (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market)

Saturday, May 15, 4:10 p.m. ET — NESN (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market)

Sunday. May 16, 1:10 p.m. ET — NESN / MLB Network (Channel finder: Comcast Xfinity, Verizon Fios, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV, Dish, AT&T U verse, fuboTV and Sling) · Live stream: fuboTV, MLB.tv (out of market)

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT:

Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA preseason standings projected the Angels (16-20) to finish third in the AL West with 83.9 wins. But they are on a 72-win pace right now

The Angels rank 11th in the majors in runs (164). They are fourth in batting average (.254), 12th in on-base percentage (.313) and fifth in slugging percentage (.419).

Los Angeles ranks last in the majors in starter ERA (5.20) and 27th in reliever ERA (5.27).

PITCHING PROBABLES:

Friday, 7:10 p.m. — RHP Nick Pivetta (5-0, 3.19 ERA) vs. RHP Griffin Canning (3-2, 5.19 ERA)

Saturday, 4:10 p.m. — LHP Martín Pérez (0-2, 4.01 ERA) vs. RHP (0-4, 5.03 ERA)

Sunday, 1:10 p.m. — RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.20 ERA) vs. LHP José Quintana (0-3, 9.00 ERA)

THREE SOX TO WATCH:

Franchy Cordero

It feels like it is nearing the time when the Red Sox will option Cordero to Triple-A Worcester. He could benefit from some time there. He has a .397 OPS. He broke an 0-for-25 slump with three hits last Thursday. Since then, he has gone 0-for-16.

Nick Pivetta

Pivetta is 7-0 with a 2.89 ERA (46 ⅔ innings, 15 earned runs) in nine starts since Boston acquired him last August from the Phillies. He will pitch Friday.

Michael Chavis

Chavis and Jonathan Araúz are with the big league team because both Kiké Hernández are Christian Arroyo are on the IL. Hernández (right hamstring strain) will rehab in Worcester for two days this weekend. He’s eligible to return this coming Tuesday. Arroyo (hand contusion) isn’t far behind. Araúz will return to Worcester once Hernández is activated. Chavis has a chance to remain with the big league team once Arroyo returns. Cordero could be sent down instead. Chavis is 5-for-18 (.278) with a homer, two doubles and .556 slugging percentage in four games since being promoted.

SERIES NOTES:

Angels’ Shohei Ohtani leads the American League with 21 extra-base hits. Red Sox sluggers Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers each have 20.

Reliever of Falmouth, Mass., pitches for the Angels. He has a 6.00 ERA in 12 innings.

Former Red Sox shortstop José Iglesias is slashing .279/.296/.352/.648 with two homers, three doubles, 14 runs and eight RBIs in 33 games for the Angels.

The Red Sox (23-16) are tied for the fifth best record in the majors. They rank fourth in the majors in run differential (36).

Red Sox rank fourth in the majors starter FIP (3.29).

Nick Pivetta, who starts Friday, leads the Red Sox starting pitchers in ERA (3.19) and opponent batting average (.190). He’s second on the team with 35 strikeouts.

Nathan Eovaldi, who pitches Sunday, has a 4.20 ERA but his FIP is 2.14. He hasn’t allowed a home run in 45 innings.

UP NEXT:

Tuesday, 5/18 - Thursday, 5/20 at Blue Jays

Friday 5/21 - Sunday 5/23 at Phillies

Tuesday 5/25 - Wednesday, 5/26 vs. Braves

Friday 5/28 - Sunday 5/30 vs. Marlins

Jarren Duran’s power: Boston Red Sox prospect who has four homers in past five games is ‘that strong,’ Alex Cora says

Christopher Smith

Red Sox center field prospect Jarren Duran has four home runs in nine games for Triple-A Worcester. All four of those homers have come in his past five games after a slow start to the season.

Duran’s offensive game previously was centered on his speed. He slugged only .377 with three home runs in 169 games (663 at-bats) at Long Beach State.

But the 24-year-old left-handed hitter has made adjustments to his swing, leading to more power. He belted seven homers in two months at the alternate site last summer, then two homers in four games for Criollos de Caguas to win the MVP of the 2020-21 Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente Final Series. He hit three homers in 47 spring training at-bats.

“He’s a strong individual,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before Friday’s game against the Angels. “He’s that strong. ... He’s a big kid. It just happens he is very fast. He’s doing a good job down there. There’s a few things that he keeps improving. Catching up with fastballs is very important. Catching up with fastballs up in the zone is very important. Being disciplined with breaking balls down in the zone is important. I know a lot of people are excited about what he’s doing. We are, too. But obviously there’s an advantage of him getting at-bats and playing every day and going out there and playing defense. So far it’s been great and we’re very happy for him.”

The Red Sox want Duran to continue to develop both as a hitter and center field at Worcester. So don’t expect him to be promoted to Boston soon.

Left fielder Franchy Cordero has struggled with a .397 OPS. But the Red Sox have other options to replace him if they were to option him to Worcester. Yairo Muñoz is a potential candidate to replace Cordero. Veteran is rehabbing in Worcester but still likely needs a couple of weeks before he’s ready to join Boston.

Grading MLB’s rule changes, from 7-inning doubleheaders to the 3-batter minimum | Chris Cotillo (MLB Notebook)

Chris Cotillo

Major League Baseball has experimented with plenty of rule changes in the last two seasons, introducing some concepts that would have only taken place in fans’ wildest dreams about a decade ago. Some, forced by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be temporary. Others are here to stay. All of them have caused spirited debates in press boxes, grandstands and living rooms across America.

Now, it’s time to grade them.

Extra-inning rule (runner on second base to start each half-inning)

This rule -- perhaps the most drastic of all -- unquestionably pushes the action and adds excitement. But it does frequently lead to teams just trading runs on an inning-by-inning basis, which doesn’t fix the problem the change aimed to quell.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora had some interesting ideas on how to remedy this issue, and I agree that putting runners on first and second in the 11th inning would cause some games to end more quickly. I’m not sure what the exact right path is, but doing something other than the way they have been doing it is necessary. Grade: C

Seven-inning doubleheaders

I have yet to meet someone who says they don’t like this one, though fans who bought tickets for a nine- inning game and lose two innings probably aren’t too happy. I’m not sure what the answer is there, but MLB and the teams should work on a fix. Maybe a partial refund? Probably easier said than done.

These games have more urgency than regular games and are fun to watch and cover. They get late early, as Yogi Berra would say. Anything to push the action and keep things moving is good in my book. Grade: A

Universal DH

Growing up, it was always very fun to watch American League pitchers go into National League parks and try to hit. Over the course of a long season, it was something different to look forward to -- and always pretty funny to see. But the game has changed and it is patently ridiculous that the two leagues play under different rules.

The universal DH is a must moving forward and all indications are that it will happen in 2022. No more fluky pitcher injuries, incomparable stats between leagues or double switches. Where do I sign? Grade: A

Three-batter minimum

This was implemented to speed up the game, but it really doesn’t. In practice, it gives offensive teams a significant advantage while handcuffing managers who can’t set up their bullpens. Some nights, relievers just don’t have it, yet they have to stay out there and get shelled anyway. In my mind, that’s asking for bad baseball.

A potential fix here is modifying the rule so that each team can be exempt from the three-batter minimum once per game. This way, one reliever wouldn’t have to get all three outs and platoon swapping could make a bit of a comeback. Trust me -- it wouldn’t extend the game too much. Grade: C-

Expanded postseason format

I guess it was cool seeing more than half the league make the postseason in a shortened season, but I hope that rule isn’t here to say. This might be an old-timey take, but playoff spots should be sacred and the fewer of them, the better.

I could see 12 teams, maybe, but 16 is too many. A big part of my reasoning here is that having too many postseason teams ruins the trade deadline, which is one of the most exciting dates of the season. If there are too many buyers and not enough sellers, the market ends up being disappointing. I also don’t like the potential for a dominant regular season team to lead the league for 162 games and potentially lose a best- of-three to start the postseason. Grade: D

Expanded roster rules (26-man roster, 28-man roster in September)

There’s nothing wrong with adding a 26th man to the active roster, as it gives managers more room to be creative during games and creates an additional 30 jobs for players across baseball. It’s not very noticeable, though there are times -- especially with the Red Sox, who have carried 14 pitchers and 12 position players all year -- that it feels like there are too many pitchers. The original plan was to limit teams to a maximum of 13 pitchers, which makes some sense. That piece of the rule was cut out for 2020 and 2021.

Where this rule change really makes a difference is in September, when an additional two players can be added and teams can max out at 28 players. This, of course, is a stark difference from the 40-man expansion we previously saw in September, and it’s great for the game. That was always an insane rule that promoted bad baseball and longer games, even if it did give fans a chance to see some players they previously hadn’t. It would like if the NFL allowed 73 active players in December. Grade: B+

***

10 observations from the last week in baseball:

1. It was great to see Fenway Park at 25% capacity this week, and it sounds like it won’t be long before it’s a full house once again.

2. Remember when people wanted Garrett Richards cut? Well patience is a virtue, and a virtue cannot hurt you.

3. Hunter Renfroe might be inconsistent at the plate, but his defense is turning heads. The Red Sox believe he’s one of the best outfielders in baseball.

4. Crazy to see how good Jarren Duran and Triston Casas have been this week.

5. MassLive had unmatched coverage of the inaugural game at Polar Park on Tuesday. Check out our WooSox page to see all of it.

6. Our Chris Smith caught up with Sox GM Brian O’Halloran, who shed some light on the club’s trade deadline plans this summer.

7. The stars really came out for the Polar Park opening, huh? Wow.

8. Smith also caught up with Nick Pivetta last weekend. Check this out if you want to learn about the guy who has been Boston’s best starter so far this season.

9. A quick standings check reveals the Angels are -- once again -- not good. Have to feel for Mike Trout at this point.

10. Next weekend represents a reunion between Alex Cora and Dave Domborwski, as the Red Sox are traveling to Philadelphia for a three-game set. The two men remain close.

* The Worcester Telegram

Veteran catcher Jett Bandy keeps things fun for WooSox

Joe McDonald

WORCESTER — Besides baseball, Jett Bandy’s favorite pastime is driving his personally restored 1969 Chevelle and doing doughnuts in empty parking lots.

“I love cars. I’m a car enthusiast,” said the Worcester Red Sox catcher. “Every time I take it out I let it get to temperature, find an empty parking lot and do some figure-8s, for sure. It’s great.”

Bandy and his father, John, spent two years restoring the car he purchased for $3,000. He’s had it for 16 years and believes his love for cars comes from the fact that his dad is from Detroit.

“I wanted something fast when I was younger,” Bandy said.

He once saw a ’71 Chevelle parked in front of a pizza shop and when the owner started it up, the sound it made convinced Bandy to look for a muscle car. He found a ’69 Chevelle in Northern California and drove seven hours to buy it.

His parents made him a deal. However much money he earned and saved, his parents would match it. So, he sold his toy collection and saved $1,500.

“My dad is super handy, so he can fix and build anything,” Bandy said. “I know if I started a project, he was going to finish it.”

The project was a complete tear down. He and his dad would work on it nearly every day.

“I touched every single nut and bolt in the thing,” Bandy said. “I still have it to this day and I’m so happy. I have two sons now, so hopefully as time goes on I can do something like that with them. It’s special. A lot of blood, sweat and tears.”

The car is parked in his garage at home in Scottsdale, Arizona.

When he’s not a grease monkey, Bandy is focused on his baseball career. This is his 11th pro season and second with the Red Sox organization. He’s played in 156 big league games, during time with the Angels (2015-2016) and Brewers (2017-2018).

It was with the Angels when he experienced one of his favorite moments of his career. During spring training in 2016, teammate Albert Pujols asked Bandy, then 26, to pick out a couple of Marucci bats with a black barrel and white handle, and tape them up.

At that point, Bandy didn’t even think Pujols knew his name. Anyway, Bandy did what he was asked. When he went to return the bats to his teammate, Pujols was hitting in the cage right before a game. Bandy interrupted the session to give Pujols the bats.

Bandy also noticed Pujols wasn’t happy that he was interrupted, so the rookie had to think quick on his feet.

“I pick up one of the bats I tapped, and I’m feeling it,” recalls Bandy. “Mid-swing I say, ‘Hey, Albert.’ He looks at me and gives me a death stare. I said, ‘Hey, man, this bat feels really good. I think you should use this one.’ He looked at me and said, ‘Fine. Give it to me.’ Now I’m panicked, and I hope he gets a hit.”

It was early in spring training, and Pujols was struggling because he hadn’t yet figured out his timing.

“In his first at-bat, the first pitch was over his head. He swings and misses. I’m thinking he’s never going to talk to me again. Next pitch is in the grass, and he swings through it. Next pitch, the guy hands a slider, boom, homer. He hit it over the berm. He stands at home plate and points at me. I was going nuts. It awesome.”

It gets better.

“Next at-bat, first pitch — homer. He loves it,” Bandy recalls.

At one point during the regular season, Pujols was struggling a bit when he summoned Bandy’s services again. The Angels were down a run against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Pujols was hitting second in eighth inning.

“He looks at me and says, ‘Hey, Jett, remember what you did in spring training? Go to my locker and find me a bat.’ I run up to the clubhouse, and he has four bags of bats. I’m taking these things, ‘Nope. Nope. Not this one.’ The clubhouse was scattered with his bats. I finally grabbed one and knew it was the one.”

Bandy quickly tapped the handle, sprinted back to the dugout as Pujols was walking to the plate. Bandy handed his teammate the bat.

“The leadoff guys walks, he goes up and hits the go-ahead homer. He stood at the plate and double points at me. I was going nuts,” Bandy said. “He will definitely remember that story. It was pretty cool. He kept doing it, and he started to rake, and eventually it kind of wore off. I was hot and good for at least three homers for him.”

The Red Sox invited Bandy to spring training as a non-roster player after signing a minor league deal in November 2019. He spent the entire 2020 season at the alternate sight in Pawtucket.

“It’s an awesome organization. It’s first-class and very professional,” he said. “They take pride in everything they do, and I’ve learned a lot here. Great coaching staff, great teammates, and I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve gotten a lot better since being with Boston.”

It’s evident this season’s version of the Red Sox is a tight, energetic group with solid chemistry. So having a personality like Bandy’s in the mix will only help when he’s needed either on or off the field.

“They’re super loose, and Cora does a great job,” Bandy said. “He knows how hard the game is, and he keeps it super loose. They’re playing well, and they’re not too hard on themselves. They’re consistent and trying to win games, whatever it takes. It’s really awesome.”

While he’s in Worcester, Bandy is doing the same in the WooSox clubhouse. Talk to anyone involved with the team, and the scouting report on Bandy is a good one. Even former teammates credit him to keep the clubhouse a fun environment during a long season.

“It is a long season and your mind can go in so many different places. You need to look at things in a big picture,” Bandy said. “You’re really fortunate to have a jersey on. There are a lot of good baseball players sitting at home right now. It’s like, ‘Hey, guys, you got to go out there and have fun. You’re only going to play this game for X amount of time; go out there and enjoy it.’ Obviously you want to compete and do the best you can, but have fun doing it, and you’ll see yourself winning more games and seeing your numbers improve.”

On the field, Bandy, along with fellow veteran catcher Chris Herrmann, have become mentors for prospect .

“He’s a super-talented player,” Bandy said. “Being a catcher, there are a lot of responsibilities; it’s not just go out there and throw some fingers down and get a couple of knocks. There are a lot of other things that go into it,and as the season goes on, it wears on you.

"You have to be mentally tough and mentally prepared and show those pitchers you’re prepared and ready to go, and you know what you’re doing back there. It gives them a sense of security. It comes with time, but the faster he learns that the more comfortable everyone’s going to be.”

* RedSox.com

Dalbec's go-ahead homer: 'Dream' moment

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- The chants of “Bobby, Bobby, Bobby” echoed around Fenway Park, making it sound as if the ballpark had a lot more than 25 percent seating capacity.

The Bobby who was the target of all those cheers came out for a curtain call. Then they cheered even louder.

For the better part of the season, rookie slugger Bobby Dalbec has been trying to find his hitting stroke.

When the game was on the line on Friday night, the right-handed-hitting slugger bashed a go-ahead two- run homer to left-center that powered the Red Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Angels.

“It felt great,” said Dalbec. “It always feels great to be able to come up big in a big spot like that and put the team ahead, especially in the late innings.”

Dalbec took aim at a changeup from lefty Tony Watson that caught a little too much plate on the inner half and scorched it off of a sign behind the Monster Seats.

“Bobby got a changeup down in the zone and he put a great swing on it. He picked us up,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “It was a cool Friday night at Fenway, to have a curtain call, it was great to see. The vibe was outstanding. The fans were into it. It was a great night. Hopefully we can get many of those.”

If not for that sign that got in the way, the baseball that Dalbec belted would have found a piece of pavement on Lansdowne Street. Per Statcast, the drive was hit a projected distance of 419 feet and had a launch angle of 35 degrees.

It didn’t take long for the crowd to let Dalbec know what they felt about the homer. It was catcher Christian Vázquez who pushed Dalbec out of the dugout to take in the reception.

“Yeah, it was crazy,” said Dalbec. “Crazy moment, special moment, something that you dream of as a kid.”

It was the second towering shot for Dalbec in as many nights. In Thursday’s 8-1 win over Oakland, he mashed one 432 feet to center.

Dalbec has hit half of his four homers for the season in the last two games, perhaps a sign that he’s ready to go on a run reminiscent of 2020, when he roped eight homers in his first 80 Major League at-bats.

Given the high-impact hitters the Red Sox have in the middle of their lineup, the emergence of Dalbec and Hunter Renfroe, who has been on fire of late, could mean big things in the bottom two spots in the order.

“I think we talked about it in Spring Training,” said Dalbec. “It has the potential to be a really dangerous lineup. If everyone’s clicking, it’s an extremely dangerous lineup. We just have to stick with the process, just have good at-bats and see the ball and be patient, take our time with everything and just get it rolling.”

Friday night’s shot by Dalbec came at a particularly opportune time. The Red Sox had squandered Nick Pivetta’s 2-0 lead in the top of the seventh when Matt Andriese had a rough inning that allowed the Angels to take a 3-2 edge.

Once Dalbec put the Red Sox in front, Adam Ottavino turned in one of his sharpest outings of the season, mowing through the dangerous tandem of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout as part of a 1-2-3 eighth.

In the ninth, Matt Barnes was dominant yet again, striking out the side swinging on just 11 pitches.

“That's what we envisioned when we got Adam here, for him and Barnes to get the last six outs of the game,” said Cora. “Obviously it didn't go perfectly in the seventh, but everything starts with starting pitching and Nick was outstanding, he gave us a chance to win. Good fastball, good breaking ball to a good lineup and then those two, they did what they did. It was a fun win. It was cool to see those two guys going after it.”

After a disappointing 2019 and a last-place finish with no fans in the stands in ’20, the excitement is back at Fenway Park.

“Having them here, having them show up every single night, it’s good vibes all around,” said Pivetta. “These [fans], they get done with their days of work and whatever they’re doing, they come to Fenway and when we put up a win, that’s what’s most important. Do it for the fans.”

For those fans, the most gratifying part of a fun Friday night was one mighty swing by Dalbec.

Duran generating more hype after latest HR

Ian Browne

Jarren Duran didn’t just hit another home run for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox on Thursday. No, this was more like a majestic missile that has Boston fans salivating even more than they were already about Duran’s pending arrival to the Major Leagues.

Unlike the home run, on which Duran turned on a high and inside, 95-mph fastball and hammered at an exit velocity of 112 mph and a projected distance of 440 feet, the 24-year-old outfielder’s promotion to Boston will not be fast tracked.

It won’t be slow-played either.

The Red Sox just want to make sure the development of the club's No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline is complete before he plays at the highest level.

“He’s doing a good job down there,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “There’s a few things that he keeps improving on. Catching up with fastballs is very important, catching up with fastballs up in the zone is very important. Being disciplined with breaking balls down in the zone is important.

“I know a lot of people are excited about what he’s doing. We are, too, but obviously there’s an advantage of him getting at-bats and playing every day [at Triple-A] and going out there and playing defense. So far, he’s been great. We’re very happy with the progress.”

As the homer at brand new Polar Park in Worcester, Mass., soared off of Duran’s bat, he stood and admired it for a second. It was hard not to. Then he trotted around the bases, and strobe lights went off.

Yes, he is in the spotlight as the most talked about prospect for a prominent team. But Duran recalls that being under the radar was what got him to where he is now.

“I kind of liked being a non-prospect, you know, because people always expect a lot out of you [as a prospect],” Duran said. “But not being a prospect to start, you work your butt off as much as you can, then things come your way with hard work. I just worked hard, did the right things and played hard.”

While Duran has made major strides being able to turn on inner-half fastballs like he did on Thursday, it is a work in progress.

“It still feels like I'm working. Some days I feel good on the inside [pitches], some days I don't feel good, so it's a daily battle,” Duran said. “It’s baseball, so I’m working on my swing every day ... but it does feel better. Just working with [Double-A Portland hitting coach] Lance Zawadzki and [private hitting coach] Doug Latta and taking BP, I realized I could hit inside pitches more true and kind of showed that. Since that, it’s cleared up.”

Always known for his blazing speed as he came through the ranks, Duran is now earning a reputation for his power. He crushed two homers in the home opener for the WooSox on Tuesday.

“I remember watching one of the games in the offseason and [my partner] Angelica’s dad is watching the game with me and he saw the swing, he’s like, ‘Well, if he runs, he should be bunting.’ I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no. We don’t want him to be bunting right now.’ So, he’s that strong,” said Cora. “He’s a big kid. It just happens that he’s very fast.”

Dalbec can relate to Ohtani

With the Angels at Fenway Park this weekend, Boston fans get their first look of the season at Shohei Ohtani, the Angels’ two-way sensation. There aren’t many people who can relate to Ohtani’s ability to hit and pitch in the Major Leagues, but Red Sox rookie first baseman Bobby Dalbec understands what it must be like.

While playing his college ball for Arizona, Dalbec was a stud pitcher and hitter and Major League scouts kept their options open leading up to the Draft. In fact, Cora was doing the College World Series for ESPN when Dalbec was a junior and thought he would wind up as a pitcher.

“For me at least, if I wasn’t hitting well that night I could go back out there and help the team win by pitching,” said Dalbec. “So it kind of gives you more chances in the game to do something good for the team, which is fun but it’s a lot to handle. I think he’s hitting middle of the lineup and trying to go six, seven innings every [start] in the Major Leagues and that’s pretty crazy honestly.”

Does Dalbec miss pitching?

“I miss the competitive aspect of pitching but not necessarily everything that comes along with it, I would say,” said Dalbec.

* WEEI.com

This was the Friday night at Fenway fans had been yearning for

Rob Bradford

Seventy-one beautiful degrees.

That was the temperature on this night that included a beautiful sunset seemingly just down the street from Fenway Park, along with the presence of baseball's best player.

If nothing else, 9,284 fans had the Mike Trout Ticket on the kind of Friday night we have yearned for for far too long.

But the feel-good Red Sox weren't stopping there. This was going to be a night -- perhaps THE night -- we proclaimed baseball was back.

Instead of a sea of empty seats and piped-in crowd noise accompanying a roster that was built on promises and projections, there was definition this time around. And it came in the form of the Red Sox' 4-3 win over the Angels.

"It was a cool Friday night at Fenway, to have a curtain call, it was great to see," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "The vibe was outstanding. The fans were into it. It was a great night, it was a great night. Hopefully we can get many of those."

For many, it was a perfect night.

You had two of the game's most dynamic players -- Trout and Shohei Ohtani -- showing their stuff, but not to the point of actually handing the home team a loss. (Although opposite field Ohtani's homer off a Nick Pivetta curveball did make life uncomfortable for the Red Sox.)

There was the kind of pitching presence that typically fans only bank on with bigger names -- like Pedro Martinez, or Craig Kimbrel -- on the mound. That's how good the likes of Pivetta and closer Matt Barnes were. The Red Sox starter dominated for the majority of his six innings, ultimately allowing two runs. Barnes? He struck out the side to finish things off ... again.

"We felt coming into the season that the five guys we have in the rotation and the other guys in case we needed them, we were going to be fine," said Cora after Pivetta's ERA landed at 3.16 for the season. "They're going to compete, they're going to give you quality innings, they're going to keep the game in check. We felt that way coming into it. You see the names, some of them have upside and some of them have history in the league, Eduardo (Rodriguez), Nate (Eovaldi), Garrett (Richards), the upside, Nick, the upside. Martin, he's done it before. We only had one bad one, it was the third game of the season. I don't know what game this is, 40, 41 games, but you guys see it on a daily basis. We can count on five from them and it looks like now it's a little bit more from those guys. That's when things are going to start trending better, because you take care of the bullpen, you don't have to go through the same guys all the time. That's when you start putting wins pitching-wise. We know we're going to hit, we know we have a chance always offensively, but if they keep doing this and going deeper into the game, that's great news. We'll take it."

And to top things off, there was the ultimate image of better things ahead -- rookie Bobby Dalbec completing the Red Sox' MLB-best 16th come-from-behind win with a two-run, seventh inning homer.

And then came to the punctuation for the entire almost-Summer scene: A curtain call.

"It was crazy," said Dalbec of the home run celebration, which was urged on by Christian Vazquez. "Crazy moment, special moment, something that you dream of as a kid.”

There will be more games like this, with more fans, and bigger moments. But considering what we've had to deal with over the past year-plus, it's OK to soak in the night having the Mike Trout ticket truly paid off.

"That was a cool Friday night," Cora said. "That was something that obviously I haven't seen in a while and for the boys, it's very important. In the beginning it was like 4,000 people and they were loud. Now there's more and they were louder, so it was cool to see Fenway this way."

* NBC Sports Boston

These Sox prospects are making serious cases for promotion

John Tomase

The question facing the two most exciting prospects in the Red Sox system was straightforward -- how would Jarren Duran and Triston Casas adjust to the best level of competition either had ever seen?

Feel free to duck -- just to be safe -- because they've answered by unleashing an assault on the parts of New England that lead directly to Boston.

There are hot starts and then there's what Duran is doing at Triple-A Worcester and Casas at Double-A Portland. Duran has homered four times in his last five games, including a 440-foot bomb in Thursday's win over Syracuse. Since an 0-for-11 start, Duran is batting .458 with four home runs, raising his season average to .314 with a 1.086 OPS.

Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Casas also homered on Thursday, one day after launching a pair of long balls and driving in six. He's hitting .313 with a .996 OPS.

If you're a Red Sox fan following the team's unlikely run to first place, the performances on the farm may not be front of mind. But even if Duran remains weeks or months away from helping the big league club, and even if Casas probably won't arrive until next season, they're providing real hope for the future.

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom discussed Duran on the eve of the minor league season, but his words equally applied to Casas.

"We're going to learn a lot pretty quickly, but at the end of the day, it's up to the player," he said. "We have every confidence that Jarren is going to go out there and knock that door down, but he'll tell us when he's ready."

Duran arrived as an unheralded seventh-rounder in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Long Beach State and promptly hit .357 in his debut between short-season Lowell and Low-A Greenville. He moved to High-A Salem in 2019 and hit over .400 for nearly two months before being promoted to Double A, where he initially struggled against advanced competition. His game was built on slapping the ball and relying on plus-plus speed. His ceiling seemed fuzzy.

"I kind of like being a non-prospect," Duran said. "People don't expect a lot out of you. Not being a prospect to start, you just work your butt off as hard as you can. Things come your way with hard work."

Everything changed last year when Duran altered his swing path to take advantage of his muscular 6-foot- 2, 212-pound frame. He started hitting the ball with authority at the alternate site in Pawtucket and then carried it over to winter ball, where he was named MVP of the Puerto Rican World Series. He continued swinging for the fences in spring training, where he hit .340 with three homers, and now he's doing it at Triple -A.

Thursday's home run came off a 95 mph inside fastball that he turned on effortlessly. It left the bat at over 112 mph. Duran described the process as learning to get out of his own way.

"I just think I'm able to get to that pitch now," Duran said. "Before, it was kind of a struggle for me to get to the inside pitch. Now I have a different path. It's more clean and fluid to get to those pitches."

As for Casas, he's never been a non-prospect. The Red Sox drafted him in the first round of that same 2018 draft out of American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida, and he has lived up to the hype since. He slammed 20 homers as a teenager in 2019, and now the 6-foot-4, 252-pounder looks like a man.

"He's a good hitter," said manager Alex Cora. "He hasn't played much baseball since he signed, but it's good to see him putting good swings. He knows the game. He knows his swing, he knows what to do with his swing, and this is a guy that, the future's bright, the way we see it, and he's a very important piece of this organization."

When they arrive is up to them, but clearly each has a future in the big leagues. Duran perhaps spoke for them both.

"Playing your game, it will show," he said. "You don't have to go out trying to show you're a well-rounded hitter. If you just keep playing the game you know how, it will show itself."

* BostonSportsJournal.com

Final: Red Sox 4, Angels 3

Sean McAdam

Bobby Dalbec's two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh helped erase a one-run deficit and drove the Red Sox to a 4-3 comeback win over the Los Angeles Angels Friday night.

The Angels had jumped on reliever Matt Andriese for two runs in the seventh to grab the lead for the first time, but Dalbec responded with his second homer in as many nights.

Nick Pivetta pitched into the seventh and allowed just one run - a solo homer by Shohei Ohtani.

Hunter Renfroe's two-run homer in the second provided an early lead.

WHO: Red Sox (23-16) vs. Los Angeles Angels (16-20) WHEN: 7:10 p.m. WHERE: Fenway Park STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta (5-0, 3.19) vs. RHP Griffin Canning (3-2, 5.19) TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7

LINEUPS

ANGELS

Fletcher 2B Ohtani DH Trout CF Rendon 3B Walsh 1B Upton LF Iglesias SS Ward RF Butera C

RED SOX

Chavis 2B Verdugo CF Martinez LF Bogaerts SS Devers 3B Vazquez C Gonzalez 3B Renfroe RF Dalbec 1B

IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:

B7: Bobby Dalbec, who has hit lefties well all years, positively mashes a changeup from southpaw Tony Watson off one of the billboards in the Monster Seats, grabbing the lead back for the Sox.

T7: Andriese has become a concern in the bullpen. After a great April, he's hit a rut. In his last five appearances, he's allowed eight earned runs.

T7: Andriese leaves a fastball up in the top of the zone and Jose Iglesias rips into the right field corner, scoring two baserunners and giving the Angels their first lead.

T7: Pivetta came out to start the seventh, but he didn't stay for long -- on his second pitch, he allows a Wall single to Anthony Rendon and is removed for Matt Andriese. Rendon missed reaching the Monster Seats and tying the game by less than three feet.

T6: Not a bad pitch from Pivetta -- a curveball low and on the outer half -- but Ohtani swats it into the Monster Seats to cut the Sox' lead in half. No,. 11 for Ohtani.

B5: Somewhat quietly, Alex Verdugo is slumping. He's 0-for-3 tonight, 0-for-13 overall and just 12-for-52 (.230) since May 1. With the issues at the bottom of the lineup, his issues have gone pretty much unnoticed.

T4: Nick Pivetta is cruising now. Through four innings, he's allowed just two hits while fanning six. He's retired 11-of-12 since Ohtani's one-out double in the first.

T4: With his power and hit tool, it's easy to forget just how fast Mike Trout is. And then you see him hit a routine grounder to short and watch as he comes within a half-step of beating the throw to first.

B2: Hunter Renfroe gets a four-seamer up and over the middle of the plate and drills it into the CF bleachers. Fifth homer of the season and fourth in the month of May.

T1 Nice inside-out swing by Shohei Ohtani, who lofts a one-out double down the left field line.

WHAT'S UP:. In snapping their three-game losing streak Thursday night, the Red Sox join the White Sox as the only AL teams without a losing streak of four or more games this season. Five NL teams are on that list.. At 23-16 (.590), the Sox are tied for the fifth-best record in the majors (tied for third in AL)....The Sox moved into sole possession of first place in the AL East on April 10 and have held it ever since...Their largest lead of the season is 3.5 games. The AL East is the only division featuring four or more teams with a winning record...The Red Sox scored eight Thursday night, after totaling four runs in their previous three games. The Sox lead MLB in runs (199), doubles (87), extra-base hits (136), slugging percentage .436), and OPS (.761)....The Sox have 19 HR in their last 13 games, third-most in the majors during that time.... The Sox are the only team with multiple qualifying batters with an OPS of at least 1.000, and the only AL team with 3 qualified players with an OPS of at least .900: J.D. Martinez (1.044), Xander Bogaerts (1.009), and Rafael Devers (.905),, Bogaerts (49) and Martinez (48) are first and second in the majors in hits...Martinez (88) and Bogaerts (85) also rank first and second in total bases. Bogaerts, Devers, and Martinez each have 20 extra-base hits...The only other AL player with 20 or more extra-base hits is the Angels' Shohei Ohtani (21).....Martinez leads the majors in RBI (33) and total bases (88), while leading the AL in runs scored (32)...He ranks fifth in the majors in slugging (.624) and OPS (1.044). Bogaerts has eight homers in his last 22 games, most in the AL in that time. Bogaerts leads MLB in hits (49) and ranks fifth in AVG (.348)...He also leads MLB shortstops in AVG, OBP (.406), SLG (.603), OPS (1.009), doubles (12), and extra -base hits (20)... He is tied for the HR lead among AL shortstops (eight). ...The Red Sox went 10- 3 against the Angels in 2018 (6-0) and 2019 (4-3)...The teams didn't play last year...Since being acquired by the Red Sox, Nick Pivetta is 7-0 with a 2.89 ERA and a.196 opponent AVG in nine starts....the last pitchers to go unbeaten in their first 10 or more starts with the Red Sox were Matt Clement (2005) and Pedro Martinez (1998). Pivetta is one of only four starters to begin a Red Sox career with seven or more wins before their first loss, joining Dave "Boo'' Ferriss (8-0, 1945), George Winter (7-0, 1901), and John Burkett (7-0, 2002)...Winter (8-2) is the only pitcher to win as many as eight of his first 10 starts with the Sox. Only once have the Sox won as many as nine of a pitcher’s first 10 starts with the club -- 9-1 with Burkett in 2002...Red Sox starters have thrown five or more innings in 32 games this season, tied with the Dodgers for most in the majors...The Sox have received five or more innings from their starters in 17 of the last 18 games; in that time, starters have a 3.54 ERA...The Sox lead the majors in OF assists this season (11), after leading MLB in 2020 (18). According to FanGraphs, Red Sox outfielders rank tied for first in the majors with eight defensive runs saved, as well as fourth with a 5.3 ultimate zone rating. Hunter Renfroe is tied for the lead among OF in defensive runs saved (eight) and assists (five), both most in the AL.

NOTES:

* Competitive reasons aside, Alex Cora saluted Mike Trout. "Forget the tools,'' said Cora. "Obviously, he's above everybody else. But the way he plays the game is impressive. It's eye-opening. He's a joy to watch. (Guys like that) want to be great. They want to keep improving. They're always finding things to work on.''

* With a right on the mound for the Angels, Franchy Cordero was still out of the lineup as he battles another hitless (0-for-17) slump. Cora had J.D. Martinez in left again, with Rafael Devers serving as the DH and Marwin Gonzalez at third base,."That's where we are right now,'' said Cora. "(We'll) keep working with (Cordero) and keep grinding him. He's working hard with Timmy (Hyers, hitting instructor). But we have to maximize our personnel. And today, I felt like this is the lineup we should go with.''

* While Bobby Dalbec has cleaned up against lefties (.351), he's struggled mightily against righties (8-for- 68, .118). Still, Cora is trying to be patient and Dalbec was in the lineup against a righty starter Friday. "We've got to get him going vs. righties,'' said Cora. "This weekend, most likely, he'll play the three games. I do believe that he can hit righties. It's just a matter of getting there on time and putting good swings on (them).''

*Cora reiterated that Kike Hernandez (hamstring), scheduled to play two games for Worcester over the weekend, will be ready to rejoin the major league team when it starts a road trip Tuesday. However, Christian Arroyo (hand contusion) who swung at some soft tosses Thursday and was scheduled to hit in the cage Friday, is running a couple of days behind Hernandez's rehab pace.

BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 4, Angels 3 - Dalbec's two-run shot bails out Sox

Sean McAdam

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' win over the Angels, complete with BSJ analysis and insight.

HEADLINES

Power supplied from bottom: As far back as spring training. Alex Cora predicted that, while there would be strikeouts, the Red Sox would have the luxury of some quick-strike longball ability in the lower third of their lineup. Sure enough, Friday served as a textbook example of what he had forecast. In the second inning, Hunter Renfroe connected for a mammoth shot into the center field bleachers, scoring Rafael Devers in front of him. The Sox didn't score again until the seventh, but when it came, it was dramatic and impressive. After the Sox had surrendered the lead in the top of the inning, Bobby Dalbec went down a got a changeup at the bottom of the zone and walloped it into the Monster Seats, banging the ball off one of the signs in the back row. It was the second homer in as many nights for Dalbec, and it came off a lefty. He continues to have a tough time against right-handed pitching, but his homer couldn't have been better timed for the Sox.

Pivetta strong: Although he didn't factor in the decision, Nick Pivetta turned in one of his best outings of the season. Through the first six innings, the only run he allowed was on a solo homer by Shohei Ohtani, who flicked his bat and reached the Monster Seats in the sixth. Before that homer, Pivetta had retired the previous 11 Angels in a row, having allowed just two baserunners through the first five frames. He didn't allow a walk all night, and though he was lifted after yielding a leadoff single by Anthony Rendon in the seventh, was pleased with his performance. He credited his ability to attack the strike zone for his success. Pivetta has started eight games this season and the Sox are 7-1 in his starts.

TURNING POINT

The Sox had just re-taken the lead in the bottom of the seventh, but one run didn't seem like much with the top of the order due for the Angels. But Adam Ottavino attacked the LA lineup, getting David Fletcher on a groundout before getting Ohtani swinging and finishing up by getting Mike Trout on a called third strike. That was a dangerous part of the order, but Ottavino, whose performance has been up-and-down, had a dominant inning and kept the momentum on the Sox' side.

ONE UP

Hunter Renfroe: More and more, Renfroe is getting comfortable at the plate, and as Cora noted, isn't being pull happy. It's worth noting his homer in the second was to dead center and his single in the seventh was up the middle, too.

TWO DOWN

Matt Andriese: In the first month of the season, Andriese was superb out of the bullpen. But he's allowed eight runs in his last five appearances. Cora said fastball usage has been an issue.

Alex Verdugo: Somewhat quietly, Verdugo has hit a major slump. He was 0-for-4 Friday night, making him 0-for-14 overall. He's also hitting under .240 for the month.

QUOTE OF NOTE

"That was a cool Friday night at Fenway. There was a curtain call. The vibe was outstanding. The fans were into it. It was a great night.'' - Alex Cora.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

* The win was the Red Sox' 16th come-from-behind victory of the season.

* The Sox have hit 21 homers in the last 14 games.

* Matt Barnes needed just 11 pitches to strike out the side in the ninth.

* Barnes has struck out 50.3 percent of the batters he's faced this season.

UP NEXT

The series continues at 4:10 p.m. with LHP Martin Perez (0-2, 4.01) vs. RHP Dylan Bundy (0-4, 5.03)

Ohtani's rare Fenway visit a chance to witness history

Sean McAdam

When you can play on the same team as Mike Trout, widely acknowledged as the best player of his generation, and can still be the most-talked-about member of the Los Angeles Angels...that's real star power.

That's also Shohei Ohtani, the lone player in the modern era who splits time between pitching and being a position player. And not just any old position player -- one who ranked third in the majors in homers (10) and tied for second in extra-base hits (21), tied for fifth in total bases (78), sixth in runs scored (26) and 10th in stolen bases (six) -- coming into the start of the Angels series at Fenway.

Wherever he goes, Ohtani attracts attention and media coverage. The Fenway press box was as full as its been for any game since the start of the pandemic Friday night, with a regular traveling party of nearly a dozen Japanese reporters chronicling Ohtani's every move.

Understand, though, that this is no curiosity or sideshow -- Ohtani is the real thing, capable of throwing a fastball 100 mph in one inning and the next, capable of blasting a 420-foot homer with an exit velocity of 110 mph. In the last five or six seasons, it's become almost commonplace to see a position player take the mound in a blowout to the rest of the pitching staff. But there's a mammoth difference between throwing a novelty pitch like a knuckler at 58 mph for one inning and taking a regular turn in a team's rotation -- all the while establishing yourself as one of the game's most dangerous hitters.

Ted Williams once famously said that hitting a baseball is the single-hardest thing to do in sports. Ohtani does that, then takes the mound to demonstrate to opposing hitters just how difficult it is.

Bobby Dalbec was a successful pitcher/third baseman at the University of Arizona, but of course, that's not terribly uncommon at the college level. If there's anyone who can appreciate those same dual skills at the major league level, it's Dalbec.

"The dude's special. Special player,' gushed Dalbec. "Special talent. Seems to be an awesome teammate, so it's pretty cool to see what he's doing.''

Dalbec recalls his two-position time fondly, but noted: "It's a lot to handle, too. I think he's hitting in the middle of the lineup and trying to go six or seven innings every (time) in the major leagues. That's pretty crazy, honestly.''

To date, Ohtani has had mixed success on the mound. While his fastball is indeed elite and his splitter a dominant pitch, his command often prevents him from going deep into games. Over five starts, he's averaging a tick over five innings per outing. His starts sometime involve long at-bats with endless foul balls, and his control remains an issue, with 20 walks in 25.1 innings.

But there are hints that Ohtani is beginning to figure things out. His last start, earlier this week, was perhaps the best of his nascent MLB career: one run on just four hits allowed over seven innings with just one walk to go with 10 strikeouts. And what Ohtani lacks in length, he makes up for in dominance. He sports a 2.10 ERA and the hitters are batting just .126 against him.

That outing, in Houston, precludes Ohtani from pitching this weekend at Fenway, denying Red Sox fans a chance to see him on the mound as well as the batter's box. The mere knowledge, however, that's he's doing that, and at the highest level in the world, is enough to fill one with awe.

In the meantime, Ohtani is good enough to hit second -- where some of the game's best hitters are often placed -- while brandishing a smooth swing that could be confused with an elite backhand stroke. Powerful enough to send homers to the deepest reaches of any ballpark, he's also artful enough to go with the pitch when necessary. As if he were calmly returning serve in a weekend match, he stroked a double down the left-field line for the first hit in Friday's game.

Later, with two out in the sixth, he flicked his bat and somehow sent a curve, low and outside, into the second row of the Monster Seats.

"He's fun to watch from afar,'' said Alex Cora before the game. "It's good for the sport. He's that good on both sides. It seems like the sport stops to watch him.''

While some complain that Trout isn't marketed well enough by MLB, Ohtani represents another -- perhaps bigger -- opportunity. Not only is he doing something without precedent, but he has obvious appeal to the global stage, with his roots firmly in a baseball-crazed country.

That discussion is for another time, however. This weekend offers a glimpse at someone achieving what hasn't been done i-- this well, at this level -- in more than a century. That alone is more than worth your attention.

Filling in at leadoff for the night, Chavis helps set the tone

Sean McAdam

In a game that featured 13 hits - including two homers -- and six innings from their starter, it might be difficult to pinpoint the first hit of the night as the key to the Red Sox snapping their three-game losing streak.

But for a team that seemed incapable of generating either runs or energy the last few nights, a leadoff double from Michael Chavis more than served its purpose.

Playing second base and hitting first against Oakland, Chavis hit a sinking liner to center that Oakland A's outfielder Ramon Laureano raced in and attempted to snare. But diving forward, Laureano couldn't grab the ball and hold on. Running hard out of the box, Chavis sensed an opportunity.

"When I saw him dive, I knew it was going to take him a second to get up,'' recalled Chavis after the Sox had thumped the A's convincingly 8-1. "So, off the bat, I'm just trying to take a hard turn around first. Then, it was just a read, waiting to see what happened, see it unfold. He didn't hop up quite as quick as I anticipated, so once I saw that, I thought had a chance. He does have an incredible arm, so that was definitely something to take into account. But good thing it turned out well.''

Chavis slid in head-first safely into second, and in an instant, Fenway was electrified. Chavis waved to his teammates in the dugout, each of whom was energized by his opening statement. A few pitches later J.D. Martinez lined a single to left, scoring Chavis with the game's first run. And on the very first pitch he saw from A's starter Xander Bogaerts drilled a ball right down the left field line and out.

Nine pitches, three runs. And suddenly the slump was a distant memory and the Red Sox were recharged. Three more runs would follow in the second, and a solo run was tacked on in the third.

The rest was mere window dressing. But the point had already been made. No, the Red Sox wouldn't be swept by the A's, and no, they wouldn't be quiet.

Chavis can be something of a polarizing figure on the Sox. It could be easy to find his exuberance off- putting and his enthusiasm -- in the dugout, in media interviews -- a little over-the-top.

What's more, it's hard to see where he fits in long-term. The Sox clearly are willing to give Bobby Dalbec time to overcome his penchant for strikeouts, confident that the power will be well worth waiting for. At second, with Kike Hernandez, Marwin Gonzalez and Christian Arroyo are well ahead of him on the depth chart. Chavis is, in fact, only here because both Hernandez and Arroyo are currently on the IL.

As for the outfield, despite a large "Help Wanted'' sign in left field, the Red Sox are seemingly not interested in having Chavis contribute there. He got no work there in spring training, or at the alternate site in Worcester over the last month.

There remains, too, questions about Chavis's swing decisions. Since he arrived in the big leagues, he's shown himself too often incapable of either making contact or staying away from fastballs up in the zone, a weakness that opposing teams are only too happy to exploit time and again.

But when he gets hot at the plate, Chavis possesses undeniable power with the bat. And having committed himself to dropping weight over last winter, he's more athletic. That speed came in handy as he tried to outrace Laureano's arm in the first inning.

"In regards to performance, obviously it helps because I'm definitely faster and able to be a little bit more athletic'' said Chavis of his reshaped physique. "But in terms of mentality, I'm also more willing to take a few chances on riskier plays like that and know that I have a good shot of making it. That's potentially one of those plays, or one of those risks that I would have taken in 2020.''

His stay could be brief. It's possible that when the Sox begin a road trip Tuesday to play Toronto, both Hernandez and Arroyo could again be active and Chavis could find himself back in Worcester, forced to wait for another opportunity.

But for one night, when his team was in search of something to snap them from their offensive doldrums, let the record show that Chavis supplied them with a jolt.

Right from the start.

* The Athletic

Red Sox’ Bobby Dalbec honing his mental approach, heating up with another big homer

Jen McCaffrey

When Bobby Dalbec studied ’ book on hitting as a college kid in the , he had no idea just a few years later, he’d be matching Red Sox franchise feats set by Williams.

With eight homers in his first 23 games last season, including a stretch of homering in five straight games to tie a Red Sox record first set by Williams and , Dalbec’s power potential seemed limitless.

In spring training, he did nothing to abate those expectations with another seven homers in 19 games and a 1.165 OPS as his first full season in Boston awaited.

And by the time preseason predictions arrived, a 30-homer season for Dalbec appeared easily within reach. Never mind it was something only three Red Sox rookies had ever done — Walt Dropo, 34 (1950); Williams, 31 (1939) and , 30 (1997).

But Dalbec, like so many before him, learned that big-league success is fickle. The first six weeks of the season have not been easy for the 25-year-old. By the end of April, Dalbec was hitting .214 with a .343 slugging percentage, one homer, four doubles and a triple in 76 plate appearances.

Did he need a minor-league demotion? Was last year an aberration?

It was all eating at him.

“I want it so bad all the time that I’ll try to do too much or fix things that don’t need to be fixed or I’m trying to always stay ahead of it,” Dalbec said. “I’ve just got to be OK with things not looking exactly how they feel in my head. I have to be OK with the feel versus the real and that whole thing and just trust, that’s a big trust thing.”

As much as Dalbec needed to trust himself, he also needed his manager’s support and Alex Cora has been unwavering in that department, giving Dalbec days off here and there, but largely sticking with the first baseman to figure it out.

“We’re going to keep pushing him and keep grinding,” Cora said. “There’s a lot of work to do and he’s put in the work.”

For as much as baseball is a team sport, there’s no lonelier feeling than leaving the batter’s box after yet another strikeout. Dalbec has struck out in 33 percent of his plate appearances. Harnessing the mental game has been as much a challenge this year as the at-bats for Dalbec.

“I think that’s the biggest thing, the biggest thing I’m starting to get used to,” he said. “It’s a little different this year as opposed to last year, so I’m just trying to figure out what works for me, the things I need to do and the things I need to say to myself and think about to put me in the best spot to compete and help contribute.”

So when Dalbec crushed a 2-1 changeup from Angels reliever Tony Watson into the Monster seats in the seventh inning Friday to give the Red Sox a lead they’d just lost in the top of the inning, Dalbec nearly floated around the bases. It was his second homer in as many nights and third of the week. He’s in the midst of a six-game stretch where he’s gone 7-for-21 (.333) and driven in nine runs.

When he returned to the dugout and took the mandatory laundry cart ride that’s become Red Sox tradition, he was mobbed by his teammates, who knew how much the past month had weighed on him. The crowd of 9,284 chanted his name, echoing throughout the park, and catcher Christian Vázquez pushed the ever humble Dalbec to the top step to make sure he took his curtain call.

“It was crazy,” said Dalbec, whose historic homer streak last season happened in an empty ballpark, his teammates and coaches the only in-person witnesses. Even a 25 percent capacity crowd at Fenway could make Dalbec feel the moment.

“Something that you dream of as a kid,” he said of the ovation.

The first 40 games of the season have not been easy, but this current stretch is the kind that gives a struggling rookie confidence. He might not reel off homers in five straight games, but he knows the power is still there. All of this has not been for lack of effort.

“I have to make sure my work feels harder than the game,” he said. “Whether it’s velo machine or scooting up 20 feet from it to make sure that ball is getting on me so I can keep things tight. All that stuff. I watch my video but I try not to nitpick too much because I’ll get into that mode of paralysis by analysis and it’ll hurt me sometimes.”

Whatever he’s doing right now, he’ll surely try to stick with it.

“It was a cool Friday night at Fenway,” Cora said. “To have a curtain call, it was great to see.”

* Associated Press

Dalbec hits 2-run shot as Red Sox rally past Angels 4-3

BOSTON (AP) — Hunter Renfroe and Bobby Dalbec each hit a two-run homer, and the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Friday night.

The Red Sox opened the weekend series with their second straight victory after dropping three in a row. Matt Andriese (2-2) got the win despite allowing José Iglesias’ two-run double in the seventh, and Matt Barnes struck out the side in the ninth for his ninth save.

Shonhei Ohtani hit his 11th homer for the Angels, who lost their third straight.

Los Angeles grabbed a 3-2 lead on Iglesias’ double, but Dalbec responded with a go-ahead drive off Tony Watson (1-1) in the bottom half of the seventh.

Fans chanted “Bobby!” for a few minutes until he answered the curtain call after hitting a two-run homer on consecutive nights. Friday night’s shot landed with a thud when it bounced off a tarp above the seats in left-center.

Dalbec said catcher Christian Vázquez convinced him to come out of the dugout and give the fans a wave.

“It was crazy — crazy moment, special moment. Something that you dream of as a kid,” Dalbec said.

Boston right-hander Nick Pivetta struck out seven in six-plus innings. He was charged with two runs and four hits.

Pivetta was pulled after Anthony Rendon’s leadoff single in the seventh. Jared Walsh followed with a single against Andriese, and both runners scored when Iglesias lined a double to the corner in right.

Pivetta left with a no-decision, but he is 7-0 in 10 starts since joining the Red Sox in a trade with Philadelphia last summer.

“He really had very good stuff tonight,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “He was throwing the ball exactly where he wanted to. I think you have to give him credit.”

Griffin Canning had a similar night for the Angels, striking out seven over six innings and allowing two runs and six hits.

“Everybody looks like they’re throwing the ball as well as they can. We’ve just got to get the results. We haven’t had those,” Maddon said.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second when Rafael Devers singled and Renfroe hit a drive to straightaway center for his fifth homer.

LOOKING UP

All four of Boston’s runs were generated by the last two hitters in the order. Renfroe batted eighth and went 2 for 3. He singled in the seventh before Dalbec followed with his fourth homer of the season.

“It’s fun to get things going, especially at the bottom of the lineup,” Dalbec said. “The top of the lineup’s been amazing all year, so it feels good to pick the team up.”

BULLPEN BLUES

Maddon said the Angels were in good position to win and played well, but need to start winning some of these games

“It is frustrating. We’ve got to keep fighting through it and we will,” he said. “I like the attitude of the team right now. I like the vibe. It’s great. We’ve just got to finish these games off. We’ve lost games with leads late too often and I do believe this bullpen is better than it has shown on a consistent basis.”

OHTANI BREAK

Ohtani will get some extra rest before he makes his next pitching start, Maddon said. Ohtani was scheduled to come up again in the Angels’ rotation on Tuesday against Cleveland.

“We’re going to move him him back. We haven’t decided to where. No blisters, no nothing. It’s just being proactive,” Maddon said.

Maddon said he thought Ohtani showed some signs of fatigue as DH on Wednesday, when he went 0 for 4 after pitching the night before against the Astros, striking out 10 over seven innings.

Ohtani was still in the lineup as DH Friday, playing in his 35th of the Angels’ 37 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: Rendon (left knee contusion) was reinstated from the injured list after missing nine games since fouling a ball off his knee May 3 against Tampa Bay. ... C (concussion) is getting closer to returning after being out since May 4, but Maddon said he isn’t quite ready yet.

Red Sox: After getting a night off from defense but playing as DH on Thursday, Xander Bogaerts was back in the lineup at shortstop. Manager Alex Cora shifted Devers to DH and started Marwin Gonzalez at third. J.D. Martinez, Boston’s regular DH, started in left field for the second straight night.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Dylan Bundy (0-4, 5.03 ERA) pitches on Saturday. He allowed six earned runs over 3 1/3 innings Saturday against the Dodgers.

Red Sox: LHP Martín Pérez (0-2, 4.01) has gone at least five innings in his last three starts.