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The Boston Red Sox Wednesday, June 21, 2017 * The Boston Globe Chris Sale disarms Royals, helps Red Sox surge to first in AL East Peter Abraham KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Red Sox decided on Monday night to recall infielder Deven Marrero and first baseman Sam Travis from Triple A Pawtucket. That was the easy part. Finding them seats on a flight out of Boston or Providence on Tuesday was the difficult task. Poor weather earlier this week made for a busy day at both airports and flights were packed. The players got up early and caught a ride to Logan International then waited for several hours as different arrangements fell through. “Me and Sammy just grinded it out. Played some cards. Had Starbucks like three times,” Marrero said. Flying standby wasn’t an option. The players had equipment bags to check and needed assurance they would get to Kansas City in time to play. Every option was tried; none worked. It fell to vice president of major league and minor league operations Raquel Ferreira to get the job done, and she arranged for a private plane out of Hanscom Field. Marrero and Travis caught another ride out to Bedford and traveled in luxury, napping contentedly in the comfortable seats. They arrived at the clubhouse 2½ hours before first pitch. “This is the Boston Red Sox. They get stuff done here,” Marrero said. Sometimes it’s all in the logistics. Marrero reached base three times and drove in a run and Travis had an RBI double as the Sox beat the Royals, 8-3. “To see those guys walk off an airplane here at [4:30] in the afternoon, right in the lineup and contribute as they did, it was a much-needed lift,” manager John Farrell said. At 40-31, the Sox moved into first place in the American League East, a half-game ahead of the fading Yankees. It is the first time this season the Sox have had sole possession of first place. Credit Ferreira with her first save. “Raquel got it done,” Travis said. “I’m just glad we got here to help the team win.” For Marrero, his first game against the Royals has special meaning. Outside of a spring training exhibition against Team USA in March, Marrero had never played a major league game against Kansas City first baseman Eric Hosmer. It’s not a cliché to say the two are like brothers. They became friends in Little League and played on the same high school team in Plantation, Fla. When Marrero’s father was jailed, Mike and Ileana Hosmer took him in and treated him like a member of their family. Almost every major decision in his life has been made with their counsel. “I’m like the third son, and they’re like my parents,” Marrero said. “They’ve helped my family out a lot.” Hosmer is an All-Star with a World Series ring as Marrero tries to carve out a role with the Sox. On a day Pablo Sandoval went to the disabled list, he helped create three runs at the plate and handled third base flawlessly. Marrero made a difficult backhand play in the seventh inning to take a hit away from Hosmer. “Lots of trash talk after that one,” he said. “Such a fun night.” Chris Sale, who lost a 1-0 game in Philadelphia last Thursday, benefited from run support this time. He went 8⅓ innings, allowing three runs on four hits and retiring 19 straight at one point. Sale (9-3) struck out 10 with one walk. He has 10 or more strikeouts in 10 of his 15 starts and leads the majors with 146. The Sox are 11-4 in his starts. Sale went to the mound in the ninth inning with an 8-1 lead. He walked Whit Merrifield with one out before Jorge Bonifacio homered. After Brandon Moss singled, Fernando Abad came in and got the final two outs. “It sucks, man. I wanted to get that one. I don’t like telling the manager I can go out there and get it for him and not get it done. I wasn’t able to get the bullpen a full day off,” Sale said. “I’ll never settle. When you start settling you get complacent and when you get complacent you suck. It’s not my style. The Royals started rookie lefthander Matt Strahm, a relief pitcher until last week. He had a 1-0 lead after two innings before all the trouble started. Marrero doubled to right field leading off the third inning and scored on a soft single to center field by Mookie Betts. The first four Red Sox had hits to open the fourth inning and knock Strahm out of the game. Jackie Bradley singled and scored on a double to the gap in left by Travis. It was his first career RBI. Josh Rutledge followed with a hard-hit ball to third base for a single. After a wild pitch, Sandy Leon lined a two-run double up the gap in right field. Scott Alexander replaced Strahm and threw another wild pitch. Leon then scored on Marrero’s sacrifice fly to center. The Sox scored three runs off Kevin McCarthy in the sixth inning. Chris Young had an RBI double and Xander Bogaerts a two-run single. The Sox have played 23 of their last 34 games on the road and dealt with an assortment of injuries. First place in June doesn’t merit a trophy, but does signal this is a team still capable of meeting high expectations. “Injuries that we sustained, we continue on. That’s a tribute to every guy in that room,” Farrell said. “To do it on the road, to continue to win, that’s what makes this team starting to grow into something special.” Red Sox won’t rush Rafael Devers to replace Pablo Sandoval Nick Cafardo KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The more time Pablo Sandoval misses the less likely he is going to be this team’s answer at third base in 2017. But if you’re thinking Rafael Devers and whether he can be the choice to start his major league career soon, the answer seems to be a resounding no. First on Sandoval, and we’ve written this negative narrative time and time again. While we would never say a player isn’t sick or hurt, Sandoval might have just fought like cats and dogs to stay off the 10-day disabled list. Because even if his “ear infection” has cleared up before he’s eligible to come off the 10-day disabled list, when he does return Sandoval will be even further out rhythm. Let’s face it, Sandoval had shown no signs of setting the world on fire. There was no reason to hold a spot open for him, as the Red Sox are now for Dustin Pedroia as he recovers from a rib injury. Anyway, the roster demands won’t allow it. You can’t play with a short bench when you only have four players on it. “We need to give this a few days to clear up,” Farrell said of Sandoval. “There was an elevated fever last night as the game wore on. He’s not going to be available for today. The move we made was to put him on the disabled list.” The Red Sox recalled Deven Marrero and Sam Travis. Farrell has at least a comfort zone with Marrero’s defense. He was in the lineup at third base Tuesday against the Royals. If Marrero could only hit consistently there would be no need to even discuss Devers at this point. But there’s nobody else. It’s going to be Marrero and Josh Rutledge at third, unless the Red Sox pick up some veteran has-been such as Jhonny Peralta. But Dave Dombrowski’s philosophy on player acquisition is if the player is not an upgrade over what you have, he won’t do it. That’s the reason the Red Sox were never players for Trevor Plouffe and don’t appear to be interested in Peralta, even though he was once Dombrowski’s shortstop in Detroit. “This is not an ideal situation,” Farrell said of Sandoval. “We all recognize that. We support Pablo in his return and you can probably make the argument we brought him back out of necessity when [Pedroia] went down in Chicago, where he wasn’t playing the number of consecutive games he needs to. For a guy who has been a longtime everyday player, we recognize it’s a tough situation. At the same time you try to make the most of your roster and you try to take advantage of what you have currently to win today, and that’s the approach we’ve taken. We have confidence that he can impact the baseball from the left side of the plate and we have to continue to work defensively to allow that range to be a little bit more improved.” Has Sandoval’s range diminished since the Red Sox signed him to a five-year, $95 million deal in November 2014? “If it has, it isn’t wholesale,” Farrell said. “You strain a ligament in a knee, you wear a brace, it’s going to have some impact, and I think that’s at play a little bit as well. The Red Sox were toying with the idea of Steve Selsky taking more reps at third base, but he rolled his ankle recently and will be out a while.

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