The Boston Red Sox Wednesday, June 26, 2019

* The Boston Globe

Despite the rain, Rafael Devers shines for Red Sox

Alex Speier

A few years ago, a loaded Red Sox farm system inspired passionate disagreement about the pecking order at the top of its prospect lists.

Yoan Moncada’s five-tool potential screamed of a superstar’s ceiling. He was in the argument for the top prospect in all of baseball. So, too, was outfielder Andrew Benintendi, whose remarkable ability to put the barrel on the ball suggested a potential batting champion with the athleticism and instincts to play superb outfield defense.

In their shadow resided Rafael Devers. Yet three years after he last played with Moncada in High-A Salem, it is Devers who is making a case as the first to arrive at stardom.

The 22-year-old continued his emergence as one of the game’s elite hitters on Tuesday against Moncada’s White Sox, going 4 for 4 with three doubles while driving in one run and scoring twice in the Red Sox’ 6-3 victory over the White Sox.

Two of Devers’s hits — one misplayed by the White Sox, one a legitimate rocket off the Wall for a single — were to left, one double clanged off the fence in center, and another two-bagger sizzled between outfielders in right- center.

At an age (22) when he is still gaining strength, Devers is scorching the ball to all fields in a fashion matched by few hitters in the big leagues, a notion embodied by his major league-leading 125 balls put in play with exit velocities of at least 95 miles per hour — the balls typically hit with such force as to yield the highest chances of extra-base hits.

He is a line-to-line force against righties and lefties, right now not merely emerging as a power hitter but the most complete compared with Benintendi, Moncada, and many others. With Tuesday’s four-hit effort, Devers is hitting .317 with an .889 OPS.

Devers, batting second with Benintendi getting a breather, helped to jump-start the Red Sox offense in the first inning against a White Sox team that opted to employ a quartet of pitchers for two innings each.

The Red Sox went on the attack early and did not let up. Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the first with an infield single against Carson Fulmer and advanced to second on an errant throw from shortstop Tim Anderson. Betts raced home when Devers hit a fly ball down the left-field line that rookie Eloy Jimenez misplayed into a double.

The lead proved short-lived, thanks to some defensive miscues from Xander Bogaerts in the next two innings. The shortstop’s throwing error on a grounder by leadoff man James McCann led to an unearned run off David Price in the second. And in the third, after the White Sox took a 2-1 lead with a pair of doubles, a two-out grounder by Jimenez skidded off the wet infield dirt and under the glove of Bogaerts for what was ruled an RBI single.

But as they did three times after falling behind in Monday’s walkoff win, the Red Sox returned serve, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the third on a bases-loaded, two-out single to left by Christian Vazquez that evened the game at 3-3.

Two innings later, Bogaerts made up for any misdeeds by following a Devers leadoff double against Jose Ruiz with a two-run rocket to left-center, the shortstop’s 15th homer of the year, which gave the Red Sox a 5-3 lead. With that round-tripper, Bogaerts took the American League lead for extra-base hits with 42 — and also tied for the second- most by a Red Sox shortstop through 81 games in at least the last 100 years.

Once again entrusted with a lead, Red Sox starter David Price concluded his outing with a scoreless sixth inning, the end of a night in which he once again demonstrated tremendous command of a diverse arsenal. Price allowed three runs (two earned) while scattering eight hits, walking none, and striking out nine.

The lefthander lowered his ERA to 3.36. On a night when he featured a wipeout changeup as a frequent and outstanding complement to his two- and four-seam fastballs, he coaxed 17 swings and misses from a White Sox lineup that was ready to hack.

The Red Sox tacked on an insurance run with an Eduardo Nunez sacrifice fly in the sixth, increasing their advantage to 6-3.

That proved plenty for the Red Sox bullpen, which breezed through three scoreless innings. Matt Barnes (walk, two strikeouts) contributed a scoreless seventh, followed by Ryan Brasier (two strikeouts and a single) in the eighth, and finally Brandon Workman (two strikeouts and a double), who worked a scoreless ninth for his third save. Red Sox pitchers struck out 15 batters and walked just one, helping their team to its most comfortable victory of a homestand that concludes on Wednesday afternoon.

Halfway through the season, the Red Sox have struck out 15 batters on 10 occasions, most in the majors.

Steven Wright returns to Red Sox under cloud of suspension

Peter Abraham

Chris Sale walked by going to his locker as Steven Wright stood in the center of the Red Sox clubhouse on Tuesday taking questions from reporters about his return to the team following an 80-game suspension after a positive test for a synthetic drug that promotes the production of human growth hormone.

Sale was wearing a gray T-shirt that read “All Me” on the front and “Train Hard. Eat Right. Play Fair.” on the back.

The Taylor Hooton Foundation, which was founded to discourage the use of performance-enhancing drugs by young athletes, produced the shirt, and you see it fairly often in clubhouses.

Sale, Dustin Pedroia, and Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw are among the 32 major leaguers on the foundation’s advisory staff.

Sale wears that particular T-shirt, or one like it, every day, so he was not trying to make a point on Tuesday.

But the lefthander said in March that Wright’s suspension reflected badly on the team. Rick Porcello made similar comments.

Wright addressed the team at the time of his suspension, then essentially disappeared, the Sox taking away his locker in the major league clubhouse and sending him to minor league camp.

Now Wright is back on the roster and is expected to play a significant role in propping up the battered bullpen.

It could get uncomfortable.

“Obviously it’s not easy,” manager Alex Cora said. “It’s a topic. But everybody goes about their business the way they always do.”

Wright, to his credit, took on all questions for seven minutes. He said he apologized to the team in March for causing a distraction.

“I needed to talk to them and it was one probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” Wright said.

Wright could help the Sox if his left knee remains stable. The knuckleballer gave up one earned run over 13⅔ innings in relief appearances last September. He also pitched well in five games for Triple A Pawtucket this month.

The plan is to use him in relief rather than risk his knee for five or more innings as a starter.

Under the rules of his suspension, Wright would not be eligible for the postseason. But the Sox have to get there first for that to be an issue.

Wright continues to deny he knowingly took a banned drug and claimed he “has some ideas” what happened without providing details.

“I didn’t want to dig into it too much because at the same time I wasn’t going to find out,” he said. “There’s no reason for me to keep my concentration on that. I just wanted to move on.”

Wright certainly fits the profile of a player desperate enough to break the rules. He’s a 34-year-old who had pitched only 25 games the previous two seasons because of injuries and is eligible for salary arbitration.

Now he’s out $568,000 in salary and whatever the cost is for a permanently damaged reputation.

“It falls on me,” Wright said. “I wasn’t as careful as I should be.”

Wright should be out of second chances with the Sox at this point. He was arrested for domestic violence in December 2017 and served a 15-game suspension the following season.

That’s 95 games of suspension time in two years.

“It’s actually been humbling, to be honest with you,” he said. “It’s obviously been hard, the stuff last year with the domestic violence and this year with the PED stuff. But it just made me get a lot closer to my family. That’s who I leaned on the most throughout this whole process.

“It made me not take anything for granted. It’s stuff that you never think you’re going to experience and by doing it, it’s like you almost have to take a step back and be like, man, I’ve really got to cherish the times that I do have the clubhouse because just that quickly it can be taken away.”

Michael Chavis, who started at first base on Tuesday, was suspended 80 games last season when he tested positive for steroid use. He also denied it.

The Red Sox also have righthander Jenrry Mejia, who tested positive three times while playing for the Mets, on their Triple A roster. He has a 6.82 earned run average over 31 games.

I asked Cora if that made him uneasy, managing a team having two players who tested positive.

He didn’t deny it.

“It is what it is. We know that there’s still people out there that do it,” he said. “I think MLB has done an outstanding job of trying to clean up the game. The penalty is harsh. There’s people that take chances and they pay the price.”

J.T. Watkins has carved out a role with Red Sox

Alex Speier

Games between the Red Sox and White Sox serve as a reunion of one of the most loaded minor league teams in recent years.

The inter-Sox contests feature several members of the 2015 Greenville Drive capable of appreciating the distance traveled by a large group from Single A to the big leagues over the last four seasons. Five members of the 2015 Drive were at Fenway for the Sox vs. Sox series: Yoan Moncada, Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, Michael Chavis, and J.T. Watkins.

The first four names are familiar, their roles as big league regulars leaving them visible at ballparks on most nights. Watkins, meanwhile, is usually out of sight, but that doesn’t diminish his own fascinating ascent to the big leagues.

The Red Sox drafted Watkins out of West Point in 2012. He played for a summer in Lowell before serving for two years in the Army, at the conclusion of which he reentered pro ball in 2015, joining Greenville as a 25-year-old for the final two months of the season.

“That was, ‘OK, here we go. Here’s my chance to keep playing and try to make it to the big leagues,’ ” said Watkins.

Watkins struggled on the field, hitting .214/.235/.276 in his return. Still, he made a formidable impression on his teammates, many of whom were teenagers. Chavis was so impressed by Watkins that he wanted to set up the catcher with his sister — until he found out that Watkins was already married.

“[Chavis and Greenville teammate Trenton Kemp] had a two-bedroom apartment and [Watkins] just stayed on our couch the entire season,” recalled Chavis. “We became really close. He’s smart, man. He’s smart in regards to baseball, but he’s also smart in life, the mental aspect of it, because you know what he’s been through in his combat training and all of that.”

While Watkins thought he might have a chance to advance as a player in that first season back, his outlook evolved in 2016. He was sent back to Greenville (save for a brief midyear stint in High-A Salem), and his offensive struggles (.144/.210/.165) and limited playing time altered his focus.

“It was about halfway through 2016 that I realized that this is maybe not the most realistic goal,” said Watkins. “For me, at that point, I was 26, I’m playing with guys who are significantly younger than me, you look around, you’re also probably one of the few married guys in the room, you’re different. You’re at a different life stage.”

An opportunity presented itself following that season that aligned with that outlook. The Red Sox offered Watkins a position as an advance scouting assistant who would work with the big league staff. He’s now in his third year as part of the advance scouting efforts.

“I feel like I worked hard as a player and I think they saw that,” said Watkins. “I do the same thing here now — work hard, do my job, and help out where I can. But certainly, going from Greenville and Salem to here is a different jump, a steep learning curve. I learned so much in my first year from [the Red Sox coaches] about what it takes to prepare for each series. I’ve been lucky to have people helping me out along the way.”

Watkins’s former Greenville teammates feel similarly about him.

Thinking it through Alex Cora did not manage by the book on Monday night. After White Sox catcher James McCann stole second base on a 2-2 curveball to lefthanded hitter Jon Jay, Cora elected to make a mid-at-bat move to the bullpen, summoning lefthander Josh Taylor to replace Colten Brewer for a 3-2 pitch. Taylor walked Jay, a free pass that was charged to Brewer.

Cora said he’d been thinking about making such a mid-at-bat move for “a month and a half, really.” He feared Jay flicking a run-scoring single, and so he went to Taylor — telling the lefthander to throw a “kill pitch” that would get Jay to chase for a strikeout or would result in a take and a walk.

“Why not? If we don’t like the matchup with men in scoring position, why hang with the guy because the at-bat is going on?” Cora explained.

After Jay’s walk put runners on first and second, Taylor struck out Moncada to end the inning in an eventual 6-5 Red Sox walkoff win.

“It worked out,” said Cora.

Progress report Nathan Eovaldi, out since mid-April surgery to remove loose bodies in his pitching elbow, was moved from the 10- day injured list to the 60-day. That procedural move was made in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for knuckleballer Steven Wright. Righthander Josh Smith was optioned to Triple A Pawtucket to clear a spot on the big league roster for Wright, who returned from the restricted list with the conclusion of his 80-game suspension.

Though Eovaldi’s elbow has recovered from the surgery, he’s working back deliberately from biceps soreness he experienced three weeks ago. He threw on flat ground on Tuesday. He won’t make the trip to London for games against the Yankees, instead staying in Boston to continue his rehab.

“He’s progressing at his pace so we’re not going to rush him, either. We know he’s going to come back. When? We don’t know when yet, but we feel he’s making strides,” said Cora. “He’s bouncing back better than earlier and he should be OK.”

First baseman Steve Pearce (lower back), who is 3 for 25 with two walks and 10 strikeouts over six rehab games with Pawtucket, is unlikely to make the trip to London. The Red Sox anticipate that he’ll remain on his rehab assignment to get steady at-bats as he looks to regain his timing at the plate, with an eye toward being activated for the series in Toronto that starts on July 2. Reliever Heath Hembree likewise won’t make the trip to London. The team hopes that he can make a rehab appearance and be ready to be activated for the series against the Blue Jays after the return to North America.

Mitch Moreland (quadriceps) will skip the trip overseas to continue his rehab efforts. He’s begun baseball activities in recent days but is not at the point where rehab games are a consideration. Brock Holt, who is day to day with a hamstring injury, was scheduled to sit on Tuesday and possibly Wednesday. The team was waiting to determine whether he’d be able to play in London or if he’d need a stint on the injured list.

Benintendi was out of Tuesday’s lineup. Cora described him as “a little banged up and fatigued. There’s a chance he’ll return to the lineup on Wednesday, and he’s expected to play in London.

Righthander Tyler Thornburg has a 20.65 ERA in six appearances with Pawtucket. In 5⅔ innings, he’s allowed four homers, walked seven, and struck out seven.

“He’s still working on it,” said Cora, who noted that Thornburg still has shown mid-90s fastball velocity. “It’s just a matter of executing pitches.”

Not in the stars Cora requested and was granted permission by Major League Baseball to have his brother join his coaching staff for the American League at the All-Star Game. But Joey Cora, the third base coach for the Pirates, declined. “It was kind of late and he already had plans, some vacations, and he couldn’t cancel it. When I asked him, he was like we have plans already. I was like thank you, appreciate it,” Alex Cora smirked. “It’s on me that I was late asking for the permission and all that. He’ll watch.” Aside from members of the Red Sox coaching staff, the only additional member of Cora’s All-Star coaching staff will be Cleveland manager Terry Francona, a nod not only to his role in Cora’s career but also to the fact that the exhibition will take place in Francona’s home park . . . Lefthander Chris Sale will start against his former team, the White Sox, on Wednesday. In three starts against the White Sox (two in Chicago, one in Boston), Sale is 2-1 with six earned runs allowed in 19 innings with 29 strikeouts, and four walks . . . Red Sox special assignment scout Eddie Bane was voted to the Omaha College Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2019 in recognition of his three dominant College World Series starts for Arizona State in Omaha during the 1972 and 1973 College World Series. He had shutouts for the Sun Devils in both years . . . White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson required assistance to leave the field in the fifth inning of Tuesday’s game after he collapsed to the ground after making a play on a grounder up the middle. The White Sox described his injury as a right ankle sprain, with further evaluation scheduled for Wednesday.

* The Boston Herald

Red Sox’ David Price solid for six innings in victory

Rich Thompson

David Price outlasted three Chicago pitchers, persevered in a soaking rain and survived an early deficit to capture his fifth win of the season.

Price improved to 5-2 with his seventh quality start in the Red Sox’ 6-3 victory against the White Sox on Tuesday night at Fenway Park. He tossed six innings and scattered eight hits, allowing two earned runs with no walks and nine strikeouts. The lefty threw 97 pitches, 72 for strikes, and went six innings for the ninth time in 14 starts. He has struck out 23 batters in his past 18.1 innings.

“It was good, and coming off of two shorter outings against Texas and Minnesota it was good to get the pitch count back up and be able to throw strikes,” Price said. “I was in command of the strike zone for the most part and used everything.”

Price has made six starts at Fenway this season, and five have happened in cold temperatures, rain or both. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Price will make his next start at Toronto and another at Detroit before the All-Star break.

“(Weather) is part of it,” Price said. “It usually happens to one of the five (starters) every year. (Chris) Sale had it earlier in the year with really tough outings with weather, but that is part of it.

“That could be October baseball so you just roll with it.”

Price pitched out of a troublesome situation in the top of the second inning and limited the damage to a soft unearned run. Designated hitter James McCann reached second on a throwing error by shortstop Xander Bogaerts, went to third on a wild pitch and tied the game 1-1 on a single to left by Jon Jay. Price ended it by getting Joe Rondon to fly to center and striking out catcher Zach Collins.

Price hit another rough patch in the third, which began with a one-out double to center by shortstop Tim Anderson. McCann drove in Anderson on a double down the left field line and scored on a single to left by Eloy Jimenez. Price exited the frame down 3-1 after getting Jay to pop to left.

“He’s been good for us all season,” Cora said. “We didn’t make a few plays behind him, but he gave us enough.

“He threw the ball well, velocity was up, command was OK on the inside against righties, and then he gets those swings and misses. (He) was able to get the fastball to elevate against right-handers.”

After the Sox tied the game with a pair in the third, Price got down to business. He struck out the side in the fourth and canned two more in the fifth. Price faced four batters in the sixth.

Red Sox close first half of season with win against White Sox

Steve Hewitt

As a bench coach with the Astros in the 2017 ALDS, Alex Cora saw the potential in a 20-year-old Rafael Devers.

Little did he know that less than two years later, he’d be helping Devers blossom into one of the best young players in baseball.

While they have been frustratingly inconsistent through the first 81 games of the season, there’s no telling where the Red Sox would be without a few players, especially Devers. On Tuesday night, it was only appropriate he helped the team close its first half on a high note.

Devers was 4-for-4 — including three doubles — and Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning that gave them the lead for good as the Red Sox came from behind in Game 81 for a 6-3 victory against the Chicago White Sox on a rainy night at Fenway Park.

After a strong October and becoming a key part in delivering the Red Sox a World Series, Devers has grown this season. He’s now batting .317 as Sox’ best hitter. And with J.D. Martinez and reigning MVP Mookie Betts failing to produce at the level they’re capable, Devers’ performance is even more necessary.

“I was looking for something better,” Cora said sarcastically. “Nah. He’s been great. He’s matured too. … The moment is not too big for him. He learned a lot last year in September and October. We knew the talent was there. I saw it in ’17. We played that playoff series and he was smiling the whole time. We were trying to rattle him in Spanish and English, and it didn’t matter. He hit that inside-the-park home run against (Ken) Giles and I was like, ‘This kid, he gets it.’

“So I’m glad he’s playing for us and he’s doing an outstanding job.”

David Price pitched six strong innings as the Red Sox improved to 44-37 at the halfway point, where they sit 8½ games back of the first-place Yankees. They were 54-27 at this point last season.

“Hopefully we can get to the All-Star break at around 50 wins,” Bogaerts said. “I think that’ll be real nice. I don’t want us to get too ahead of ourselves. Just take it one game at a time and let the momentum just carry on.”

After Devers gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead with his first double in the first, things got shaky. Bogaerts’ throwing error to begin the second on a ground ball by James McCann allowed him to reach second, and after Price issued a wild pitch, he scored on Jon Jay’s bloop single.

The White Sox extended their lead in the third when Tim Anderson hit a one-out double before scoring on a double by McCann. One batter later, Eloy Jimenez hit a grounder to Bogaerts that snuck under the shortstop’s glove and into left. It wasn’t ruled an error but gave Chicago a 3-1 lead.

The Red Sox were resilient.

Devers sparked a third-inning rally with a double as the Sox eventually loaded the bases. Jackie Bradley Jr. flew out for the second out of the inning, but Christian Vazquez followed with a two-strike knock to left that scored two and tied the game.

“We needed the at-bat, we needed that hit,” Cora said. “It felt like, ‘Here we go again.’ He puts the ball in play. … We haven’t done the job with men in scoring position, so for Christian to get that hit it was a big one for us.”

It was Devers again in the fifth as he led off with another double to deep right. Bogaerts followed by crushing Jose Ruiz’ 97-mph fastball through the rain and over the Green Monster for his 15th home run of the season, which proved the game-winner.

“He’s hitting the ball so hard,” Bogaerts said. “It’s kind of like J.D. last year. I mean, obviously J.D. is still doing it, but Devers kind of became something like that now, and it’s pretty impressive to see. Lately I’ve been hitting behind him so he swings at a lot of first pitches, but it’s a lot of loud. Loud outs and loud hits.”

The Red Sox have a chance to sweep the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon with Chris Sale on the mound. Despite their inconsistencies through the first half, Cora likes where his team is at.

“We’ll take it,” Cora said. “We know we’re going to be better. We know that. Like I said, we’ve got certain goals and we’ve got to finish strong before the All-Star break. (Wednesday), come here and finish this series and then go to London and play good and then Toronto and Detroit. Those are huge series for us. Keep improving. I’ve been saying all along, I do feel that we have to be better. Little by little, we’re getting there, but it’s still not far, but we still have to work.”

Steven Wright returns, tries to move forward after PED suspension

Steve Hewitt

As he made his long-awaited return to the Red Sox on Tuesday, Steven Wright maintained he didn’t knowingly use PEDs, and said he’s moving on as he tries to help the team make the playoffs this season.

Wright, who was reinstated from the restricted list after serving an 80-game PED suspension, tested positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide 2 in March. The knuckleballer took responsibility for it, as he addressed the team and apologized during spring training, but said he never found the cause of it.

““We got some ideas, but still, it’s unknown,” Wright said at Fenway Park on Tuesday. “It was such a small amount that it was one of those, I didn’t want to dig into it too much because at the same time, I wasn’t gonna find out and so there’s no reason for me to kind of keep my concentration on that. I just wanted to move on as best I could and do whatever I can to get healthy. Right now, I feel like I’m in a good spot mentally and physically, and I’m just trying to keep my concentration on doing everything I can to help the team win. …

“It could come from a lot of different things, but it falls on me. I wasn’t as careful as I should be and now I don’t take anything now. … I haven’t really thought about it since then because I really just wanted to put it behind me and just do everything I can to move forward.”

It was the second suspension in the last year for Wright, who also served a 15-game ban in early 2018 for violating MLB’s personal conduct policy after he was arrested for domestic assault. The case was later retired. Along with a recurring left knee injury that’s kept him out for significant time, it’s been a tumultuous few years for Wright, but he said he’s gained new perspective.

“It’s actually been humbling,” Wright said. “Obviously it’s been hard, the stuff last year with the domestic violence and this year with the PED stuff, but it just made me get a lot closer to my family because that’s who I’ve leaned on the most throughout this whole process. It just made me not take anything for granted. A lot of it was stuff you’d never think you could have experienced. You almost have to take a step back and be like, you really gotta cherish the times I do have in the clubhouse because it’s that quickly it can be taken away. But I just used it as a time to control the things I can control, and that’s just try to get better and get a better relationship with my wife and with my kids and my family and get ready to now help grind out the rest of the season.”

Wright is ineligible to play in the postseason, but he’s hoping he can help the Red Sox make it there. He’ll take on a role out of the bullpen.

Wright said his knee is “feeling really good,” but he didn’t sound optimistic about the prospect of potentially starting games.

“It’s one of those things, it’s unknown,” Wright said. “I would love to sit here and say that for sure, but I said that last year and it didn’t work out, so for me, I just want to go out there and just pitch and do as best I can under the role, and if I do get an opportunity and feel like I can do that, great, but to me, I’d rather just do whatever the team needs and right now, they want me in the bullpen and that’s where I’m happy to be.”

Bradley stays hot Alex Cora knew Jackie Bradley Jr.’s reputation as a streaky hitter when he first became Red Sox manager, and in the matter of a season and a half, he’s watched it unfold up close. But he’s hopeful the center fielder’s surge over the last month isn’t a fluke.

Entering Tuesday night’s game against the White Sox, Bradley had produced a .301 batting average with 11 doubles, eight home runs and 20 RBI over his previous 33 games. He ranked fourth in the AL in OBP (.406) over that span.

“You start looking at the numbers the last month, he’s been one of the best offensive players in the big leagues,” Cora said. “One thing about Jackie, he controls the strike zone. There were swing-and-misses early, but they were quality pitches. As soon as he felt that swing click, you can see it confidence-wise. He’s getting to fastballs, hitting the ball the other way, all that stuff. It’s one of those that you don’t want it to happen. We talk about it, we want him to be consistent throughout. But it seems like this year he found it a little bit earlier than last year, which is a good sign for us.”

Eovaldi to 60-day IL Nathan Eovaldi (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day injured list in a procedural roster move to make room for Wright on the 40-man roster. Josh Smith was sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket to make room for Wright on the 25- man roster.

Cora said Eovaldi won’t make the trip to London but that he’s progressing.

“We know he’s going to come back,” Cora said. “When? We don’t know when yet, but we feel he’s making strides. He’s bouncing back better than earlier and he should be OK.” …

Andrew Benintendi got a night off. Cora said he’s “a little banged up” and “his legs are a little bit heavy” but hoped he’d be back in the lineup Wednesday.

In London, Liverpool and Red Sox hope shared success felt by fans

Jason Mastrodonato

Inside his familiar confines of the Cask Pub and Kitchen in London, Tony Evans takes a sip of his pale ale and thinks for a second.

“Anfield could charge much higher prices for tickets and still sell out,” he said, then nodded his head, quite certain in his decision.

Evans, who followed Liverpool as a superfan in his twenties before he came to be a well-known journalist in England who has covered the team for years, can picture Anfield, the home to Liverpool Football Club, holding 60,000 people instead of its current capacity of 54,000 and charging higher prices.

He can picture Liverpool as the premier global soccer superpower.

“Liverpool is positioned to catch up to Real Madrid,” Evans says.

A few hours earlier, back in Liverpool’s London office, a small, 30-person remote headquarters nestled just off a side street near the University of London, Billy Hogan said he’s hoping for the same thing.

“My responsibility has been helping to drive the commercial side,” said Hogan, the Boston-born chief commercial officer of Liverpool FC. “At the end of the day, it’s very similar to Boston. The mindset is to run a sustainable business and build the revenue profile to invest back into the team and put that investment back to work.

“The global reaction shows the size and power of the Liverpool fanbase is truly incredible.”

Liverpool is taking over the sports world. With an ownership group led by John Henry, Tom Werner and Mike Gordon, the same group that owns the Red Sox, the Reds are on the heels of an impressive Premier League season in which they lost the table by a single point to Manchester City, but saved the season with an incredible run to a Champions League title.

It’s their first notable trophy since 2005, and though the drought was far shorter than the one that once existed in Boston, it was no less worrisome to the hardcore fans. For a Liverpool team that got used to winning trophy after trophy in the 70s and 80s, going without a major title from 2005 until 2019 had become a thorn in their side.

The pain started with the previous ownership group that was “literally going into administration and going through a stress sale,” Hogan said. “The club was in a tough place from a management standpoint. So there’s a lot more to fix at Liverpool than the Red Sox when they first came into the Red Sox.”

Henry and his ownership team bought the club in 2010 for a reported price of £300, though Evans said the more accurate number is about £218. Recently, Evans said, the rumored asking price for a Liverpool sale would be near £2.5 billion. It’s a crazy asking price, in his mind, but shows the strength of the club since Henry has turned it around.

At first, Henry’s team had failed miserably. Former manager Brendan Rodgers was seen as a bad choice by many. And the team’s over-reliance on analytics while bargain shopping for players was a mistake chalked up to an overzealous American owner who thought he knew more than everyone else.

“Ownership had to rebuild trust,” Evans said. “They thought they could out-wit the football executives in England. They couldn’t.”

Similar to the Red Sox under Henry and Co., Liverpool started spending big money to land star players from around the world. With top-tier talent and Jürgen Klopp leading the way on the sidelines, the Reds were a force this year, going 30-7-1, though their 97 points came one point shy of a title.

But as Liverpool has become a major success, it’s forced Hogan and others around Fenway Sports Group to reminds fans of the Reds and the Red Sox that these two entities are entirely separate.

When Liverpool wins, that’s good for Henry and Co. But that doesn’t mean the money made from Liverpool is going to be siphoned into the Red Sox. Just like it doesn’t mean that a Red Sox World Series title creates money going toward Liverpool.

“I think the first, most important point, is that the two organizations are run as their own organization,” Hogan said. “Fenway Sports Group as an ownership group, sits over all the different properties that we have. Whether that’s the Red Sox, Liverpool or 50 percent in Roush Fenway Racing, Fenway Sports Management, NESN, there are different organizations within the enterprise.”

Just like when the Red Sox spend $217 million David Price, that’s not lost money for Liverpool.

“More and more people are starting to understand,” Evans said. “A portion of Liverpool fans thought it was, ‘us or them.’ Which is a ludicrous idea. Nobody can doubt that FSG’s commitment is to winning. There’s never been a moment that I thought they put the Red Sox ahead of Liverpool.”

The two teams are completely separate, but are learning from each other.

After the Red Sox saw incredible success from the addition of seats atop the Green Monster and the preservation of the age-old Fenway Park, Liverpool did the same with the addition of two levels of seats on one side of Anfield, increasing its capacity by 8,500 in 2016. The stadium was first built in 1884.

“I think the history of protecting what was unique about Fenway and developing it, but at the same time keeping the charm and what makes it so special, probably gave us the confidence that it was possible to do it at Anfield,” Hogan said. “Obviously you have to make sure the building can do it. Provided it could be, we felt confident it was a good opportunity to do that.”

It’s been a smashing success for Liverpool. But Hogan says the secrets to success for Liverpool aren’t always the same as those for the Red Sox, and vice versa. He and his college buddy from Trinity College, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, swap ideas here and there, but mostly in an informal setting, Hogan said.

What works for the Red Sox doesn’t always work for Liverpool, and vice versa. And the business operations remain completely separate.

But the fans should be able to relate to one another. The stadiums have similar stories. Liverpool will continue its run of playing exhibition games at Fenway Park this year in July, and now the Red Sox are coming to London to try to connect with baseball fans on this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

“It’s funny, we had talked about it years ago when we first acquired the club, that it would be great to bring the Red Sox across,” Hogan said. “I was pleasantly surprised how quickly the games sold out. There’s a great buzz around the city about it.”

Hogan is hoping Liverpool fans will hop on the Red Sox bandwagon.

“You see more Red Sox hats, certainly,” Hogan said. “And I think there’s an interest level. Generally speaking, people understand the connection. I think when the Red Sox win the World Series, there’s not a connection to Liverpool but the fan base probably takes notice of it, just like I hope the fanbase of the Red Sox notice we won the Champions League.”

And there’s one more connection.

“Boston has an Irish influence too,” said Evans, a Liverpool native. “Just like Liverpool.”

Red Sox relievers Colten Brewer and Josh Taylor share a first

Rich Thompson

Relief pitchers Colten Brewer and Josh Taylor shared a single batter and a one-time experience in the Red Sox’ 6-5 walkoff win against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night at Fenway Park.

Brewer opened the eighth inning and gave up a one-out single to James McCann. Brewer got Eloy Jimenez to fly out to Mookie Betts and had a 3-2 count on White Sox right fielder Jon Jay when McCann stole second.

Brewer was contemplating his out pitch when he noticed manager Alex Cora walking to the mound. Cora motioned to the bullpen and summoned the southpaw Taylor to finish the job on Jay with switch-hitter Yoan Moncada in the on-deck circle.

“Well, AC came up to me and said, ‘Hey I’m think of bringing in this lefty,’ and I guess it had something to do with analytics,” Brewer said before Tuesday night’s game.

“Things ended up working out for the better for the team, and we ended up getting a win. But I’m new to that for sure and it kind of caught me by surprise when he first came out. … I didn’t know what to say, but in that time of the game, it’s more important for the guy to get out. Maybe they saw something that they thought was better off with Josh being in there.”

Taylor jogged to the mound, connected with Cora and catcher Christian Vazquez and agreed on a course of action with little margin for error. Taylor missed on fastball to Jay but struck out Moncada looking to maintain a one-run deficit.

Taylor retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth before handing the ball off to Brandon Workman, who picked up his team-high seventh win of the season.

“I can guarantee you I had never done that before. That was a first,” Taylor said of entering the game in the middle of a batter. “But it was a situation that I just approached like it was an 0-0 count and just going in there and trying to get ahead with a strike.

“The two-seam went more (inside) than I expected, but with one pitch I’m back to a fresh count. I can throw just about any pitch in that situation, but I felt running the two-seam in off his hands on the inner part of the plate … I was looking to get a swing and miss or poor contact to get him to roll over for an out.”

Brewer and Taylor spent parts of the season in Pawtucket but have secured their places in the Red Sox’ realigned bullpen. Brewer struggled through April and May before finding his way in June, in which he has a 0.82 ERA in 10 appearances.

Taylor was called up June 14 and has recorded four straight scoreless appearances. Both guys are thrilled with the prospect of playing a two-game series against the New York Yankees this weekend in London.

“I’ve never been anywhere out of the country except for summer ball in Canada for one month,” Taylor said. “This will definitely be a new experience, and I’m excited about it.”

* The Providence Journal

Red Sox 6, White Sox 3: Walkoff magic carries over for Boston

Bill Koch

It’s happened rather often in recent seasons.

The Red Sox have been able to harness the energy from a walkoff victory and channel it into their next game. Boston had such an opportunity on Tuesday night at Fenway Park and took advantage against the visiting White Sox.

Xander Bogaerts gave the Red Sox the lead for keeps with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning. There was no late magic required this time between the raindrops, as Boston coasted from there to a 6-3 triumph.

David Price turned in six strong innings and the bullpen was solid behind him. Rafael Devers doubled three times and scored a pair of runs in his first four-hit game of the season. The Red Sox are back to seven games over .500 and came out on top for the 19th time in their last 25 games played after a walkoff win.

“We’ll take it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We know we’re going to be better. We know that. We’ve got certain goals and we’ve got to finish strong before the All-Star break.”

Jose Ruiz was the third Chicago pitcher of the night to begin the fifth, as the White Sox attempted to go bullpenning. Devers smashed a double to right-center and Bogaerts crushed a drive off the advertising boards hanging above the Green Monster in deep left-center. His 15th round-tripper of the season traveled 429 feet and snapped a 3-3 tie.

“Collectively as a group and as a staff, we know how important that is from one game to the next,” Bogaerts said. “We need to get every one from now on.”

Eduardo Nunez added a sacrifice fly to center in the sixth, the ninth time in 11 innings Boston had put up at least one run. Chicago failed to place another man in scoring position, as Matt Barnes fanned a pair after a leadoff walk in the seventh and Ryan Brasier worked around a two-out double in the eighth. Brandon Workman shrugged off a two- out double in the ninth for his third save and his 35th scoreless appearance.

Christian Vazquez extended his hitting streak to 11 games in a key spot. The Red Sox appeared on the verge of another bases-loaded squander in the third when Vazquez grounded a two-out, two-run single through the left side. That base hit erased a 3-1 White Sox lead and plated the first of five unanswered runs for Boston.

“We needed that at-bat,” Cora said. “We needed that hit. It felt like, ‘Here we go again.’ And he puts the ball in play.”

It was the longest start for Price by innings and pitches thrown since his June 8 outing against the Rays. Price collected a season-high 72 strikes on 97 pitches and fanned nine against no walks. He lasted just 1 1/3 innings in a June 13 start against the Rangers and was limited to 73 pitches a week ago against the Twins.

“That was good to get the pitch count back up, be able to throw strikes, be able to command the strike zone for the most part and be able to use everything,” Price said.

The Red Sox enjoyed a rare lead in the first. Mookie Betts singled to deep short and was granted second base after Tim Anderson’s throw across went wide into the camera well. Devers followed by looping an RBI double down the line in left, a soft fly that landed maybe 100 feet beyond third base that made it 1-0.

Chicago answered immediately in the second. James McCann reached on an infield error and took third base on a wild pitch. Jon Jay broke his bat on a flare to left field, an RBI single that made it 1-1.

Heavy rain began to fall in the third, and the White Sox struck for a pair of two-out runs. McCann dug out of an 0- and-2 count to line an RBI double to the corner in left and Eloy Jimenez grounded an RBI single through the left side. Jay lined to deep left to end the threat and Price struck out five of the next seven men he faced to build steam later in his outing.

“He’s been good the whole season,” Cora said. “We took care of him this week. Now he’ll pitch again in Toronto and probably in Detroit – two more starts before the All-Star break.”

Red Sox Journal: Roster moves coming for London trip

Bill Koch

The Red Sox traveling squad for this weekend’s London Series against the Yankees is beginning to take shape.

Nathan Eovaldi (right elbow), Heath Hembree (right elbow) and Mitch Moreland (right quadriceps) will all remain in Boston working their way back from various injuries. Steve Pearce (lower-back strain) is likely to continue his rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket.

“It’s far and it’s only two games and you’ve got off days and you’ve got to have 26 guys who can perform,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’ve been talking about it the last few days and we’ll talk about it tonight and make decisions accordingly.”

Hembree threw a bullpen session prior to Tuesday night’s game with the White Sox. He could begin a rehab assignment in the coming days barring any setbacks. Hembree and Pearce are both on track to join Boston during its three-game series in Toronto next week.

Eovaldi was transferred to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot for Steven Wright, who was activated on Tuesday after serving his 80-game suspension. Eovaldi has been out of action since the third week of April, which is more than 60 days — it’s strictly a procedural decision by the Red Sox. Josh Smith was optioned to the PawSox to create space on the 25-man roster for Wright.

Brotherly snub

It will be a four-city road swing for certain members of Boston’s traveling party.

London, Toronto and Detroit will be followed by a short trip to Cleveland for the All-Star Game on July 9. Cora has earned the right to serve as the American League manager after reaching the World Series with the Red Sox in 2018.

“That’s a lot of packing,” Cora said. “Or a lot of shopping — one of the two. Looking forward to Cleveland. That’s something as a baseball fan, just being around all those guys is going to be amazing.”

Cora will enlist his former Boston manager, Terry Francona, as one of his bench coaches. Francona has served as the manager for the hometown Indians since the start of the 2013 season. Cora also explored the idea of having his brother Joey on staff, borrowing Pittsburgh’s third-base coach from the National League for one night.

“We talked a little bit about bringing my brother, but it was kind of late and he already had plans,” Cora said. “He had vacation. He didn’t cancel it.

“When I asked him he was like, ‘We have plans already.’ I was like (sarcastically), ‘Thank you. Appreciate it.’ The kids — his kids — are going to be in London and then after that they’re going to a resort for the All-Star break. They already set it up.”

Decision coming

Brock Holt remains hopeful of avoiding the injured list after suffering left-hamstring tightness on Sunday.

“We’ll stay away from him today and most likely tomorrow and see how he reacts,” Cora said. “We still have three days we don’t play in the next 10 days. The problem is we need him. We rely on him to be ready.”

Holt was the lone Boston position player unused in Monday’s 6-5 walkoff victory over Chicago. Eduardo Nunez started at second base on Monday and Marco Hernandez drew the start on Tuesday. Hernandez came off the bench as a pinch-runner on Monday and eventually hit the winning single in the ninth.

Strange move

Cora’s unconventional pitching change on Monday was still a topic of discussion the following afternoon.

The manager removed Colten Brewer prior to a 3-and-2 pitch to Jon Jay in the eighth inning on Monday. Josh Taylor was summoned to go left-left with Jay and threw an inside fastball to complete a walk. Taylor then struck out Yoan Moncada, ending the inning.

Cora said on his weekly WEEI radio appearance the thought stemmed from a winter ball game during his playing career. He was at the plate in an 0-and-2 count when the lights went out, forcing a postponement to the following day. Cora said he spent the night preoccupied by what would happen on the next pitch he saw.

“It kind of caught me by surprise when he first came out there,” Brewer said. “I didn’t really know what to say. In that time of the game I guess it’s more important for the guy to get out.”

Red Sox’ Wright reinstated from suspension list

Bill Koch

For the second time in as many seasons, Steven Wright is attempting to move past a suspension imposed by Major League Baseball.

An arrest for domestic violence condemned the Red Sox right-hander to a 15-game ban at the start of the 2018 campaign. A positive test for performance-enhancing drugs earned Wright an 80-game ban that had him out of uniform until Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Wright was contrite and apologetic during his pregame media session in the home clubhouse. He’s ready to work after five outings with Triple-A Pawtucket and was returned to a bullpen role in the middle of this three-game series with the White Sox.

“I just wanted to move on the best I could and do whatever I can to get healthy,” Wright said. “Right now I feel like I’m in a good spot mentally and physically and I’m just trying to keep my concentration on doing everything I can to help the team win.”

Wright, who tested positive for a growth hormone releasing peptide during the offseason, had his final appeal denied while Boston was at spring training in Fort Myers. He addressed the team at that time and delivered an apology.

“The biggest thing is you never want to be a distraction,” Wright said. “When you have something like that, it’s a huge distraction and takes away from the concept of what the team’s supposed to be about, and that’s doing everything you can to get ready for the season and to go out and win.”

Wright’s clubhouse briefing on Tuesday was delivered with his teammates preparing for that night’s game in the background. One of them, left-hander Chris Sale, walked past wearing his usual gray T-shirt while heading out to the field to play catch. “All Me/PED Free” is the slogan emblazoned across the front in black letters, a reminder that Wright’s actions could be met with unspoken scorn in certain corners of the clubhouse.

“It is what it is,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We know there are still people out there that do it. I think MLB has done an outstanding job trying to clean the game.

“The penalty is harsh. It’s 80 games and then you don’t play in the playoffs. There are people who take chances and they pay the price.”

Wright maintains he didn’t knowingly use a performance-enhancing substance. He said he’s spoken with several doctors over the last few months looking for insight, but he’s given up on pinpointing exactly what happened in his case.

“We’ve got some ideas,” Wright said. “Still, it’s unknown. It was such a small amount.

“It’s one of those where I didn’t want to dig into it too much, because at the same time I wasn’t going to find out. There’s no reason for me to kind of keep my concentration on that.”

Wright has spent most of the four months in Florida strengthening his balky left knee. He and teammate Dustin Pedroia both have undergone the same cartilage-restoration procedure on the joint. Pedroia is currently on a leave of absence from the club and with his family at their Arizona home.

“I’ve reached out to him a little bit, but he needs his space,” Wright said. “He needs time to heal and figure out what to do. I don’t know what he’s feeling. I haven’t talked to him about that.”

Wright said his family served as his support during his time away from the team. He and his wife, Shannon, both attended family counseling sessions after the December 2016 incident at their Tennessee home. The couple has two children, daughter Ella Grace and son Lucas.

“It just made me get a lot closer to my family, because that’s who I leaned on the most throughout this whole process,” Wright said. “It just made me not take anything for granted.

“A lot of it was stuff you’d never think you were going to experience. You almost have to take a step back and be like, ‘I’ve really got to cherish the times I do have in the clubhouse.’ It’s that quickly it can be taken away.”

* MassLive.com

Red Sox-Yankees in London: Alex Cora says, ‘It’s big. It’s kind of bigger than I thought it would be’

Christopher Smith

The Red Sox will play their three-game series finale against the White Sox on Wednesday at Fenway Park, then they fly to London.

Boston and New York play two games at London Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.

It begins an exhausting stretch of travel before the All-Star Break. The flight to London is 3,269 miles. The Red Sox then travel 3,547 miles to Toronto for a three-game series next week (Tuesday-Thursday).

They then fly 230.9 miles to Detroit for a three-game series before the All-Star Break.

The team will spend 11 and a half days in three different cities and three different countries. You have to wonder if most players would have preferred to avoid a midseason trip to London, which is a five-hour time distance.

“There’s a lot of stuff that is negative as far as the topics (such as sleep schedules). We’ve got to do this, we’ve got to do that to avoid certain things,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “But at the same time, they’re looking forward to the experience. It’s something different. Something obviously that MLB and MLB Players Association agreed to. It’s something that, it’s big. It’s kind of bigger than I thought it would be. Watching TV and all this, it seems like everybody is looking forward to this. But is it a tough stretch? Of course. It’s not easy to go all the way over there during the season and then make adjustments and all that. Everybody agreed to it. And here we go. It should be fun. Different but fun.”

The Red Sox began planning for the trip during spring training.

“We’re doing everything possible to avoid being tired or to be on time and not be slow and tired,” Cora said. "There’s a lot of stuff going on. We did it last year going to the World Series (on West Coast). We talk about sleep and when to get your naps and all that. When we travel over there, when we come back. I think when we go over there we sleep and when we come back we don’t sleep. That was easy for me, ‘OK, cool, we’ll do that one.’ There’s a lot of stuff going on. It’ll be interesting. It’s two games and we have to move on.”

Boston Red Sox, 44-37 at halfway point, have put themselves in position to make a run

Chris Cotillo

The ups-and-downs the Red Sox have endured through the first half of this season make their dominating 2018 campaign seem more like a distant memory. Quite honestly, it makes that near-perfect season look like a dream.

“I read something yesterday that made it look very ridiculous-- when we lost our 37th game," manager Alex Cora said. "That was stupid.”

Cora is referencing how the 2018 Red Sox lost their 37th game on Aug. 19, falling to 88-37 while leading the Yankees in the A.L. East by 9 1/2 games. This year, while back on Earth, the Sox lost their 37th game Sunday before winning two in a row against the White Sox to close the first half with a 44-37 record.

Considering how inconsistent the Red Sox have been for three months, Cora and his crew will take that record. For a team that trails the Yankees by eight games in the division and sits in a three-way tie for the second A.L. wild card spot, there’s still plenty of work to be done.

“We’ll take more, obviously, but it’s who we are right now,” Cora said. “For everything that went wrong in the first half, we’ve got 44 wins.”

The Sox have done what might have looked unlikely when they started 3-8, putting themselves in position to make a run in the second half. Since starting 11-17, Boston is 33-20, rising well above the .500 mark by winning 10 of its last 13 games.

That’s about as much as Cora could have asked for from his group after a terrible April. The pitching has come around, the bullpen has done enough and the offense is starting to get big hits when it matters.

In the context of the 2018 team, the Red Sox-- with largely the same roster-- have been a disappointment so far. They trail the pace of their predecessors by 10 games and would need to go 64-17 to win 108 games this year.

That’s not happening, obviously. So it’s important to note that the 2004 Red Sox, who won 98 games and a World Series, were 44-37 at the halfway mark. So was the 2016 team that won 93 games and the division.

The Sox hope to finish the unofficial first half strong by sweeping the White Sox on Wednesday afternoon, playing well against the Yankees in London and winning road series against the overmatched Blue Jays and Tigers next week.

“Hopefully we can get to the All-Star break around 50 wins,” shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. “I think that would be real nice. I don’t want us to get too ahead of ourselves. Just take it one game at a time and let the momentum just carry on.”

The Sox do have that momentum and are starting to look like real contenders in the American League. They’ll have plenty of chances-- including 14 games against the Yankees and nine against the Rays-- to make up ground.

It would have taken a miracle for this version of the Red Sox to keep pace with a 2018 team that is widely considered the best in the franchise’s 119-year history. But the 2019 club, as flawed as it has been, still has a chance to write its own chapter by getting hot in the second half and repeating its October magic from a year ago.

“By no means have we played our best baseball,” lefty David Price said. “We’re seven games over .500. We haven’t done anything great this year, so to be seven games over .500 and where we are in the standings, I think we should be excited about that. I think we all know we’re a better team than we’ve showcased these first 81 games.”

Bogaerts homers, Devers goes 4-for-4 with 3 doubles to lead Boston Red Sox over White Sox; Price K’s 9

Christopher Smith

Xander Bogaerts connected on a 97 mph four-seam fastball from White Sox reliever José Ruiz and blasted it over the Green Monster for a two-run homer that broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning.

Bogaerts’ homer marked his 15th this season and helped the Red Sox to a 6-3 win over the White Sox here at Fenway Park.

The shortstop is on pace for 30 home runs. His career high is 23 in 2018.

The victory gave the Red Sox their first series win at Fenway Park since May 10-12 against the Mariners. Boston will try to sweep the three-game series Wednesday at 1:05 p.m.

The Red Sox also have won 10 of their past 13 games.

Rafael Devers continued his offensive surge. He went 4-for-4 with three doubles, one RBI and two runs.

Christian Vazquez delivered the game-tying single in the third after working a seven-pitch at-bat with two outs.

Price earns win

David Price pitched well again, allowing three runs, two earned runs, eight hits and no walks while striking out nine. He improved to 5-2 with a 3.36 ERA in 14 starts.

Price recorded 17 swings-and-misses: eight with his changeup, four with his two-seam fastball, three with his four- seamer and two with his curveball.

The lefty’s 25 two-seam fastballs averaged 92.1 mph, per Statcast. He threw 24 four-seam fastballs that averaged 91.8 mph. He topped out at 94.2 mph.

He threw 97 pitches (72 strikes).

Tim Anderson injury: White Sox shortstop suffers sprained right ankle vs. Red Sox

Chris Cotillo

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson was helped off the field in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game after suffering a sprained right ankle while fielding a J.D. Martinez ground ball. X-rays were negative and Anderson will be re- evaluated Wednesday, according to the White Sox.

Anderson ranged to his left to field the grounder and threw to first base for the out. He went down on the ground and stayed down for a few minutes before being helped off the field by trainers.

Bands of heavy rain throughout the game have made the Fenway Park field a slick one. It’s unclear if the wet conditions had any impact on Anderson’s injury.

Anderson has been one of Chicago’s best players this season, entering Tuesday with a .313 average and 11 homers in 69 games.

Leury Garcia moved from center field to replace Anderson at shortstop and Ryan Cordell entered the game in center. Boston leads Chicago, 5-3, in the sixth.

Boston Red Sox roster has 2 players who have served PED suspensions; ‘MLB has done an outstanding job of trying to clean the game,' Alex Cora says

Christopher Smith

Two players on the Boston Red Sox 25-man roster have served 80-game PED suspensions.

Boston activated knuckleballer Steven Wright on Tuesday after he sat out the first 80 games this season. Wright tested positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide 2 (GHRP-2).

Power-hitting rookie Michael Chavis served an 80-game suspension in the minor leagues in 2018. Chavis tested positive for Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a form of anabolic steroid.

Both Wright and Chavis maintain they did not use PEDs knowingly.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora was asked if it’s troubling to him two players on the 25-man roster have failed PED tests, especially considering how much he cares about baseball.

“It is what it is,” Cora said here at Fenway Park before Tuesday’s game vs. the White Sox. “We know that there’s still people out there that do it. And I think MLB has done an outstanding job of trying to clean the game. The penalties, it’s harsh. It’s 80 games and then you don’t play in the playoffs. There’s people who take chances and whatever. They pay the price. I think MLB has done an outstanding job with the topic."

Cora said he hasn’t sensed any issues among the players about having two players who tested positive for PEDs on the roster.

“Obviously it’s not easy,” Cora said. “It’s a topic but everybody goes about their business the way they always do.”

Wright spoke with the team at spring training the day after his appeal was denied.

“It’s always awkward when something like that comes up, but addressing the team was something that needed to be done,” Wright said. “More apologizes because the biggest thing is you never want to be a distraction. When you have something like that, it’s a huge distraction that takes away from the concept of what the team is supposed to be about. ... I needed to talk to them. And it was probably one of the hardest things I ever had to do. But guys understood why I had to do it. And I just apologized for the distraction."

Thornburg, Sox’s highest-paid reliever, has 20.65 ERA in 6 rehab outings; does Cora think he can still help?

Christopher Smith

Tyler Thornburg (right hip impingement) allowed five runs on five hits (two homers) in one inning during a rehab outing for Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday.

The Red Sox righty, who missed most of the past two seasons because of thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, allowed four runs on three hits (two homers) and one walk while recording just two outs in his previous rehab outing June 20.

He has a 20.65 ERA in six rehab games for Pawtucket. He has allowed 13 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora was asked Tuesday here at Fenway Park if he thinks Thornburg still can make an impact.

“We’re trying,” Cora said. "We’re trying to (get) better shape on his breaking ball. Changing grips and all that. It’s not for lack of adjustments. I think yesterday it started with two bunts, too. All that stuff comes into play. And then he didn’t execute two pitches. It was a fastball. I think it was an 0-1 fastball and then a backup slider. He’s still working on it. He’s still working it. It’s tough. We’ve been saying this all along: 95, 96 (mph), it’s still there. It’s just a matter of executing pitches.”

Thornburg began his rehab assignment June 9. Pitchers receive a maximum of 30 days on a rehab assignment. The Red Sox, therefore, will need to make a decision by July 9 to either activate the righty or designate him for assignment barring another injury.

Thornburg’s $1.75 million salary counts toward the Red Sox’s Competitive Balance Tax. He’s the Red Sox’s highest paid reliever.

He allowed 16 earned runs in 18 2/3 innings (7.71 ERA) for Boston this year before landing on the IL.

President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acquired Thornburg from the Brewers at the 2016 Winter Meetings for Travis Shaw and minor leaguers Mauricio Dubon, Josh Pennington and Yeison Coca.

Dubon has 25 extra-base hits and an .809 OPS at Triple A this year. He could make his major league debut this year. Shaw hit 31 homers in 2017 and 32 homers last year.

Red Sox-Yankees in London: Hembree, Moreland among Sox players who won’t make trip to England

Chris Cotillo

The Red Sox have not yet finalized their 26-man roster for this weekend’s series in London against the Yankees.

Both teams will be able to carry 26 active players and two more healthy players for the weekend series. Manager Alex Cora said his staff is still debating who the Sox will take on the trip.

“We have a pretty good idea but we have a few guys we have to make decisions on,” Cora said.

The Sox aren’t planning on activating Heath Hembree (right elbow extensor strain) or Steve Pearce (low back strain) for the trip, instead aiming to bring both players back Tuesday in Toronto. First baseman Mitch Moreland (quad strain) and righty Nathan Eovaldi (loose bodies in elbow) will not make the trip.

Hembree will throw bullpens in Boston over the next week while Pearce will continue rehabbing with Pawtucket. Moreland just started baseball activities this week and Eovaldi is playing catch as he works his way back from a setback due to biceps tendinitis.

Cora expects Brock Holt, who is day-to-day with hamstring tightness, to make the trip. Righty Hector Velazquez, who is on the 10-day IL with a back strain, could be activated Saturday.

The Sox will have a handful of decisions to make before leaving Wednesday night, including adding a 26th player (who must be a position player) and deciding which two taxi squad players to bring. Cora says the three off days surrounding the trip-- two before and one after-- will play a role.

It’s far, and it’s only two games and we have off days," Cora said. “We need to have 26 guys who can perform.”

* The Lawrence Eagle Tribune

Five Red Sox Takes: Rafael Devers keeps raking

Chris Mason

An uneven first half came to a close on a positive note, as the Red Sox knocked off the White Sox, 6-3, on a rainy night at Fenway Park.

At the season’s halfway point, the Sox sit third in the AL East at 44-37. It’s a far cry from where they want to be, but Alex Cora is doing his best to put a positive spin on it.

“As far as this year, I’ve been saying all along inconsistency,” Cora said before the game. “We have 43 wins, so I don’t know how many teams can say that they’ve been inconsistent and not great and all that and have 43 wins. Not too many teams can say that, so that’s the way we see it.”

Here are five takes from win No. 44:

1. Devers looks locked it

Rafael Devers got a little luck from the Baseball Gods in his first at-bat. The 22-year-old third baseman popped a ball down the left field line that fellow 22-year-old Eloy Jiménez completely whiffed on. But because the left fielder didn’t touch the ball, it went in the book as an RBI double.

He next two doubles would be far louder.

In the fifth, Devers scalded a ball into the gap, and in the seventh he absolutely smashed another double off the garage door in dead center field.

The last Red Sox player with a three-double game at 22 or younger? Dwight Evans in 1973.

2. Bogey delivers again

After two misplays early in the game, Xander Bogaerts redeemed himself at the plate — and then some.

Bogaerts blasted the go-ahead homer, a two-run shot over the Green Monster in the fifth, his 15th of the season. The Sox can’t ask much more of their shortstop; after signing a six-year extension, he’s on pace for the best year of his career.

3. Quality night for Price

After a back-to-back abbreviated starts, David Price looked strong last night. The starter threw six innings in the rain, allowing three runs, two earned, and elicited a ton of swings and misses. Price struck out nine White Sox and didn’t walk a batter. One thing to monitor though, his four-seam fastball averaged a tick under 92 MPH again. That’s where it’s been for all of June (91.9 mph), and according to Brooks Baseball, that’s the lowest velocity of any month in his career.

4. Heavy workload for Barnes

After two days off, Cora went back to Matt Barnes, who threw a scoreless seventh.

It was the reliever’s 13th appearance in 25 days, and he’s only had a heavier workload during one month in his career, when he pitched 14 times in May 2017. With two games against the Yankees in London ahead, chances are he at least ties that.

5. Asking a lot of Work, too

Brandon Workman also made his 13th appearance of the month, tasked with locking down the save. He allowed a double — a rarity against him this season — but got the job done in a scoreless ninth inning.

J.D. Martinez sounds of on All-Star, MVP Award voting

Chris Mason

In the first round of All-Star balloting, J.D. Martinez had 500,000 more votes than any other designated hitter in the American League.

He still doesn't think the system is right.

"I believe that the players and coaches should vote," Martinez said "I get that it’s fun for the fans and stuff like that, I get why MLB does it, at the end of the day it's a business and they have to promote it."

With a new convoluted format this season, Martinez and Mookie Betts are the only Red Sox finalists to start the game Alex Cora will manage next month in Cleveland.

Xander Bogaerts — Boston's most consistent player — was snubbed at shortstop for two candidates with lesser numbers, and though he could still make it as an alternate, it was tough for Martinez to watch.

"Of course, that's what I'm saying," Martinez said. "When the players vote I feel like they do a good job."

Martinez would also like to see players vote on year-end awards like MVP, not writers.

Despite a mammoth offensive season, Martinez wasn't a finalist in the AL MVP race last year. He finished a distant fourth, accruing less than half as many points as Mookie Betts. Martinez doesn't believe BBWAA voters will ever give the award to a designated hitter, and offered an interesting reasoning for that.

"The writers would never allow it," Martinez told the Eagle-Tribune last month. "They'd get blackballed. There's a reason why a lot of people didn't. You've got to think of it like this: Writers want to be what?"

Good question. What do writers want to be?

"They want to work where? They want to work in the front office," Martinez opined. "They want to get jobs with teams and (expletive). These guys that do all the analytics and all the stuff like that.

To me, that's what they look at. That's what they're going to value. That's my opinion. If you go against the grain and you're the guy that says that, then you have everybody saying you're bad at your job. It's easier to go with the crowd."

Does Martinez really think all writers aspire to work in front offices?

"Most of them. That's what they want," he reiterated in the Red Sox clubhouse yesterday. "It's just how it is. Everyone that votes on that has aspirations of moving on and becoming something like that."

He doubled down, too, on his idea that group think dictates the way baseball writers cast their ballots.

"Everybody wants to be like, 'Oh yeah, well that's the most valuable thing,'" Martinez said. "But why? 'Oh, because this guy won it.' If you're a writer and you care what you say, then why don't you write your story for how you see it, not for what everybody else does? Because to me, it just follows the trend."

And that's why a DH will need to walk on water — as Martinez has said — to win the MVP award?

"Pretty much," he concluded.

* RedSox.com

Red Sox mark season's halfway point with win

Ian Browne

They are halfway home, these 2019 Red Sox. And considering that things have often been a grind to get to this point, they’ll take where they are.

With a well-rounded, 6-3 victory over the White Sox Tuesday night at Fenway Park, the defending World Series champions are now 44-37.

That puts them on pace for an 88-74 regular season. You are undoubtedly noticing that is well below the team’s franchise-best win total of 108 from last season. But that’s exactly why last season was historic. It just about never happens, for any team.

It stands to reason this edition of the Red Sox is plenty capable of playing better in their last 81 games, which would vault them into the 90s in wins. That is generally what it takes to play in October.

You’ve seen evidence of that lately, with Boston reeling off 10 wins in the last 13 games.

“I mean, we’ll take more obviously, but this is who we are right now and for everything that went wrong in the first half, we have what, 44 wins?” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We’ll take it. We know we’re going to be better. We know that. I’ve been saying all along, I do feel that we have to be better. Little by little, we’re getting there but we still have to work.”

Some of the stars of the first half again demonstrated their worth on Tuesday.

Rafael Devers, who was the team’s top candidate to have a breakout season, has done just that. The 22-year-old third baseman put on a show against the White Sox, going 4-for-4 with three doubles. He is hitting .317/.369/.520 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs.

“He’s been great. He’s matured too,” said Cora. “Overall defensively, amazing, he’s been great for us. Offensively he hit second today and gets on base four times. The moment is not too big for him.”

David Price, Mr. Consistency amid a half in which Chris Sale has been up and down, walked none and struck out nine while limiting the White Sox to three runs (two earned) over six innings. The lefty is 5-2 with a 3.36 ERA.

“He’s been great for us the whole season,” said Cora. “We didn’t make a few plays behind him but he threw the ball well. Velocity was up, command was OK on the inside part of the plate against lefties and he got some swings and misses. Was able to elevate the fastball against the righties.”

Xander Bogaerts, who has been the team’s top run producer while Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez have hit below their expected levels, mashed a towering two-run homer through the driving rain to snap a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the fifth.

After signing a six-year contract extension just prior to the season, Bogaerts has made the Red Sox look smart for securing his services. He is slashing .297/.389/.537 with 15 homers and 53 RBIs.

A team leader, Bogaerts is focused on what the group needs to do better rather than his own solid numbers.

"We know lately that we needed to improve,” Bogaerts said. “We needed to play better. I think collectively as a group, as a staff, we just understand that and know how important it is from one game to the next and winning each and every one from now on forward."

If the Red Sox can get similar performances from Devers, Price and Bogaerts the rest of the way and Betts, Martinez and Sale can get closer to their usual outputs, a strong finish is likely.

Another thing that could fuel Boston down the stretch would be the return of key starter Nathan Eovaldi, who had right elbow surgery in April and has recently been slowed by biceps tendinitis.

While the bullpen remains a question mark, Tuesday’s return of Steven Wright from an 80-game suspension should be significant.

Also, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has never been shy about upgrading his team prior to the July 31 Trade Deadline.

Boston trails the Yankees by eight games in the American League East and is just one percentage point behind the Indians and Rangers for the second Wild Card spot.

“By no means have we played our best baseball,” said Price. “We’re seven games over .500. But we haven’t done anything great yet this year. To be where we are in the standings, I think we should be excited about that. I think we all know that we’re a better team than what we showcased this first 81 games and we look to get better.”

Sox activate Wright, option Smith to Triple-A

Ian Browne

With the season approaching the midway point, the Red Sox got a reinforcement in the bullpen as knuckleballer Steven Wright was reinstated from the restricted list prior to Tuesday’s game against the White Sox.

Wright was suspended in Spring Training for the first 80 games of the season after testing positive for human growth hormone.

“Oh, it’s nice,” said Wright. “It’s good to see the guys and kind of get back to a normal life for during the season. I’m happy to be back and do whatever I can to help the team win.”

To make room for Wright on the 40-man roster, Nathan Eovaldi was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Eovaldi underwent right elbow surgery in April and his comeback has been prolonged by biceps tendinitis. He has been playing catch of late but has not been cleared to resume throwing off the mound. Eovaldi has already spent 60 days on the injured list, so he can return to action as soon as he is ready.

To open a spot on the 25-man roster, righty Josh A. Smith was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Due to the positive test, Wright is ineligible for postseason play.

“I haven’t really thought about that,” said Wright. “Obviously I think it’s going to be hard when the time comes and the playoffs come around. All I can do now is just try to do whatever I can to help them get there. When the time does come, and the playoffs start, I’ll just be a cheerleader and just try to do whatever I can.”

The Red Sox entered the day eight games out in the American League East, but just one game out of the second Wild Card spot.

At the present time, Wright can do a lot to help a bullpen that has been overworked and inconsistent in recent weeks.

Prior to his activation, Wright pitched in five games in a Minor League rehab assignment with Pawtucket, posting a 1.86 ERA in 9 2/3 innings.

As a reliever in 2018, Wright had a 2.68 ERA in 20 appearances.

Questions remain about Wright’s health, as he was unable to pitch in the postseason last year due to his surgically repaired left knee. In 2017, Wright underwent cartilage replacement surgery. That is the same surgery that Dustin Pedroia had, and the veteran second baseman isn’t sure if he will ever play again.

“I don’t think you can go out there and think about that because I think if you do then something else is going to go,” said Wright. “For me, obviously I’m paying attention with him but let’s face it, I’m a pitcher, he’s not, so it’s a lot harder to go out there and cut and run and swing the bat.

“He had to put a lot more pressure on his knee than I do. Obviously I’ve got to throw and I’ve still got to run, I’ve still got to cover bases but the time to do it is on the field and not so much in the weight room like we’re more used to doing, so we’ve kind of changed some things up as far as that and so far it’s been working.”

As for any uneasiness that might exist with his teammates over the suspension, Wright addressed that during a meeting in Spring Training a couple of days after the news came out.

“I mean, it’s always awkward when something like that comes out,” said Wright. “Addressing the team was something that needed to be done. More of apologies because the biggest thing is that you never want to be a distraction. When you have something like that, that’s a huge distraction, it takes you away from the concept of what the team is supposed to be about and that’s doing everything you can to get ready for the season and to go out and win.

“When you have something like that, it’s tough, but I needed to talk to them and it’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do and I just apologized for the distraction.”

Worth noting

• Left fielder Andrew Benintendi was not in the lineup on Tuesday due to what Cora referred to as “heavy legs.”

“He's a little banged up. He's been playing a lot, running around,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Try to take care of him today. Hopefully he feels a little bit better. His legs are a little bit heavy. If he plays tomorrow, good. We're still going to use him if we need him. If we can see how he feels tomorrow coming in, if he feels better, fresher, we'll play him. If not, we'll take advantage of four days [off] and he'll play in London [on Saturday].”

• It appears that first baseman Steve Pearce won’t return until next week in Toronto at the earliest. Pearce has been on the injured list with a low back strain and has been on a Minor League rehab assignment since June 14.

“It doesn’t look like he’s going [to London]. We’ll keep him here, get his at-bats,” Cora said. “Feeling better, but not great. Most likely get at-bats the whole week.”

* WEEI.com

The story of how the Red Sox landed in London

Rob Bradford

Creativity was going to be a necessity. The Red Sox and Major League Baseball knew that.

Playing baseball in London simply isn't a turn-key proposition.

So when sifting through the ins and outs of what awaited the team's two games against the Yankees at London Stadium the Red Sox found themselves with somewhat of a roadblock, literally. While the distance from the team hotel to the ballpark/pitch/stadium was just under nine miles traffic was going to make the trip about an hour. Too much traffic. No police escort. As Red Sox Chief Strategy Officer Dave Beeston pointed out, "There was no way around it."

This is where outside-the-box thinking was going to be called upon. So the Red Sox' brass actually contemplated the unthinkable: Maybe the team could get to work via London's subway system, known to most as The Tube.

"We tried. It didn’t work because it was too hard," Beeston said with a smile. "We had the visual of the team getting on the team in the Tube. But we couldn’t get security."

The traffic issue is something the Red Sox are willing to live with. They've come too far, adjusted too much, and now find themselves on the doorstep of a dream that was hatched more than three years ago. On the day his team departs across the Atlantic Ocean Beeston -- a chief point person for the London Series from the Red Sox' side of things -- has been now able to shift his focus from trying to Americanize the sports fans of London to fret about what might matter most.

"At this point, I'm not worrying about anything specific," Beeston said. "Probably the biggest thing for me who has been charged with leading the trip for us is making sure it doesn’t get lost that these games are two games that matter."

They've come along way from when this thing was officially hatched back at the 2017 Owners Meetings.

After the Red Sox and Yankees agreed to the particulars of playing these two games in the middle of the regular season, the real hurdles stopped popping up. Most notably, where to play. London Stadium, the home of West Ham soccer team, would be the somewhat imperfect landing spot.

"The stadium was probably the biggest hurdle. It’s a soccer pitch," Beeston explained. "It was like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. How to fit a diamond into a track."

Beeston and a group of Red Sox representatives ventured over to London in January to see exactly what they were dealing with. What they found was a stadium with no clubhouses, but just bare-bone spaces called "boot rooms" where soccer teams showed up from their respective training facilities took off their boots and got ready to play their game of choice. Those were going to need some work. "You’re not going and hanging out, which is what our guys do," noted Beeston about the difference in London Stadium's usual place for preparation and what the baseball teams might need.

As the visit unfolded more aspects of the games were defined. The Red Sox would be flying into Gatwick instead of Heathrow. There would be a ton of foul ground, but a very short distance to the deepest part of center field (385 feet). The field was going to be artificial turf, placed on top of a solid surface which will rest on the soccer pitch's natural grass. And (get this) special dispensations were put into motion in order to have vendors roam through the stands to sell beer and popcorn.

"You go to a soccer match, you sit down at the kickoff and you stand up at the end of the match. You don’t leave your seats," said Beeston, who saw the soccer fans way of doing things first-hand when venturing outside of London to watch Liverpool take on Brighton. "You come here and everyone is up five or six times. People get up in the middle of the match? What are you talking about."

Some of the adjustments will undoubtedly be a work in progress.

Most English sports fans will want to relate baseball to a sport they are much more familiar with, cricket. That means there will likely be the inclination to throw all balls hit into the stands back onto the field, as is customary within the Laws of Cricket. Fortunately, Major League Baseball plans to sell portable radios at the concession stands in order to translate what is happening as the games unfold.

And the education isn't limited to the fans. All the Red Sox players are receiving cheat-sheet cards reminding them when and when not to sleep, along with other travel tips, in order to make the four-day excursion as palatable as possible. (They are encouraged to sleep a ton on the flight over, and not sleep while jetting back to Toronto.)

Getting to this point, however, has been anything but easy ... for more than just the teams.

MLB has had a team on the ground in London preparing the field since the outset of May. And making their job even more difficult was an early June concert that put the whole process on hold.

"It's been a sprint," Beeston noted.

And now, the finish line.

"From what I heard from people over there, people are intrigued. It’s a city of 20 million so not everybody is intrigued. But it did sell out in like 15 minutes.

"We need to spread the game globally, and we think this will help do that."

Traffic or no traffic, they got there.

Alex Cora on OMF explains why he isn't worried about Mookie Betts

Amin Touri

While reigning AL MVP Mookie Betts hasn’t quite posted the numbers this season that helped fill up his trophy cabinet in 2018, Red Sox manager Alex Cora isn’t worried.

In his weekly appearance on Ordway, Merloni & Fauria on Tuesday, Cora spoke about Betts’ all-around contributions to the game, even when his bat isn’t quite so loud.

"I think with Mookie -- and we talk about it all the time, we talked about it last year, a reminder [that] it really doesn't matter how you're doing numbers-wise, you're still dominating the game," Cora said. “The other day he was a little bit down on that game, he was 0-for-2, and he walked three times and we lost the game on Saturday and he feels like he wasn't contributing, and the next day I said, 'Dude, hold on, come here. You got on base three times, you scored from second, you can steal bases, there's ways you can dominate the game.'”

Cora was referring to Saturday’s loss to the Blue Jays, when Betts was hitless, but reached base three times, stole a base and scored twice.

“And not everybody can do that,” said Cora. “If you don't hit, you're not contributing — with Mookie, he gets on, he can run, he can play defense, so I try to remind him, dude, it doesn't matter, you show up, you're impacting the game.”

Betts’ slash line has dropped from a stellar .346/.438/.640 last season to .266/.386/.469 in 2019, still an above- average season at the plate but not quite MVP material. Still, the three-time All-Star is walking even more than he did last season and rates as one of the betters defensive right fielders and baserunners in the league.

According to Cora, those conversations with Betts have always been ongoing, as he’s always looking to improve.

"That happened last year when he was hitting .340, .360, whatever, and it's happening this year,” Cora said. “One thing for him, he's always searching, he's always searching. I think Lou [Merloni] noticed it early in the season, looking for feedback from the dugout, you don't see that often but he was doing it in the dugout, talking to guys and trying to find that swing. The two line drives two nights ago one to right field, one up the middle, I think put him in a good spot, yesterday he goes deep to center field, but we'll see."

The second-year skipper also addressed perceived changes in Betts’ body language, which Cora just attributes to his star outfielder’s desire to get better.

"They see a different guy compared to last year, but it's not the reason, the reason that they feel that he looks that way, they're not right,” Cora said. “I just feel that this is a kid that, he's searching, he's thinking, and he knows how important he is for us, and he takes it personal. Some guys don't show it, other do, and in his case, when you see him in the dugout by himself, it's not that he's down — he's searching, he's thinking about what I did in that at-bat, where am I, did I swing at a strike, do I need to do this, that's the case."

* NBC Sports Boston

When it comes to the 2019 Red Sox, even the walk-off wins are kind of boring

John Tomase

It's just a curiosity in a season distinctly lacking the excitement of 2018, but the Red Sox have managed to turn the walk-off — what should be the most thrilling play in baseball — into an aesthetically meh anticlimax.

The Sox recorded their fifth walk-off of the season on Monday, and it fit the general pattern of its predecessors, with Marco Hernandez sending everyone home by beating out an infield single to short in a 6-5 victory over the White Sox that looked like it would be another sloppy loss, with Rafael Devers erased at third on a short fly to left, Christian Vazquez failing to put his bat on a hit-and-run fastball, and a 3-for-12 performance with runners in scoring position.

"We let some chances slip away," said manager Alex Cora. "We had men in scoring position and we didn't put one ball in play. There were a few things we did not do offensively today. Early on with Devers running the bases. We didn't put that ball in play with the hit and run in the eighth. There was a lot of stuff that didn't go right, but in the end, you know what? We won and that's the most important thing."

It wasn't exactly pretty, but with the exception of Christian Vazquez's mammoth homer over the bullpen on Friday night to complete a stirring comeback vs. the Blue Jays, the Red Sox have delivered the least dramatic walk-offs imaginable this year.

Are we going to nitpick their game-winners? You'd better believe we are. Consider the others:

-- After dropping the home opener, the Red Sox trailed the Blue Jays 6-5 in the ninth inning on April 11. Toronto closer Ken Giles tried to nail things down, but couldn't throw a strike. A walk to Mookie Betts and double by Mitch Moreland tied the game before two more walks loaded the bases with one out.

The Blue Jays brought the infield in and Rafael Devers chopped one in front of home plate and into the second base hole that landed on the infield dirt. Statcast had it traveling 135 feet at a minus-29 degree launch angle. The expected batting average? An even .100.

-- It looked like the Red Sox were going to blow a second straight heartbreaker to the Rockies on May 15 after Colorado scored three in the seventh off of Eduardo Rodriguez and Matt Barnes to erase a 5-2 deficit, but a Xander Bogaerts leadoff double in the 10th and intentional walk of Devers set the stage for Michael Chavis to ground one sharply up the middle to win it.

-- The Red Sox blew another lead, this time in the eighth, against the Rangers on June 12, but reliever Jesse Chavez lost his command in the ninth after allowing a double to Christian Vazquez and single to Jackie Bradley. He walked Chavis on four pitches to load the bases, and then issued a five-pitch walk to Betts to force in the decisive run.

-- And that brings us to Monday. The Red Sox overcame deficits of 2-1, 3-2, and 5-3 before loading the bases on a double and pair of intentional walks in the ninth. With two outs, Hernandez sliced one to deep short, where Tim Anderson passed up an opportunity for an out at third and instead unloaded a strong fall-away throw across the diamond which first baseman Jose Abreu couldn't scoop and Hernandez beat by half a step anyway.

The exit velocity of 74 mph and launch angle of two degrees suggested a hit 23 percent of the time, but as far as the Red Sox are concerned, it was a missile.

There's been a lot of that this year.

* BostonSportsJournal.com

Steven Wright returns to Red Sox, but questions linger

Sean McAdam

Almost exactly halfway through the season, Steven Wright arrived in the Red Sox clubhouse Tuesday.

His tardiness had nothing to do with his pitching, or the state of the Red Sox’ pitching staff, though the team hopes he will positively impact the latter.

Instead, Wright’s late arrival was mandated by Major League Baseball’s joint drug agreement, which Wright violated at some point last offseason. He failed a PED test over the winter, and appeals exhausted, was suspended in spring training for 80 games. He’s also ineligible to participate in the postseason, should the Red Sox qualify.

On one hand, Wright is a welcome addition to the team. The bullpen has been overworked in recent weeks, having to provide far more innings than usual thanks to a spate of extra-inning games and some ineffective performances from some starters. Wright’s ability to provide multiple innings of relief could have a domino effect on the rest of the pen.

But even now, there are questions about Wright’s durability. He underwent a procedure on his left knee several years ago similar to the surgery performed on Dustin Pedroia. And like Pedroia, Wright has not been the same since. He’s had several stints on the IL, and last year, after the World Series, had a follow-up procedure.

He’s had several months in extended spring training to rehab the knee further, and over the last few weeks, on a rehab stint at Pawtucket, experienced no issues with the knee.

But for now, the Red Sox are planning to use him in relief only, fearful that the knee would not hold up under the demands of six or more innings and 90 or more pitches. And there is the looming specter of Pedroia, currently home in Arizona and likely contemplating the end of his playing career.

“So far, it’s been feeling really good,” Wright said of the knee. “I don’t think you can go out there and think about (what’s going on with Pedroia). I feel like if you do, something else is going to go wrong. For me, obviously paying attention with him, but let’s face it, I’m a pitcher and he’s not. So it’s a lot harder to go out there and cut and run and swing a bat. He puts a lot more pressure in his knee than I do.”

But Wright acknowledged he has his doubts about being able to perform as a starting pitcher again.

“It’s hard to say,” he said. “We went through that last year and I think that’s where the concern comes in. I tried starting and we had a pretty big setback and ultimately it led to another surgery. So I definitely share (the team’s) concern, because it’s unknown. I’d love to sit here and (say) ‘Yeah, for sure,’ but it didn’t work out. So for me, I just want to go out there and just pitch and do the best I can under the (relief) role and if I do get the opportunity and I can, great. But I’d rather do what the team needs, and right now, they want me in the bullpen.”

If health were the only issue here, that would be one thing. But it’s not.

There’s also the matter of Wright’s failed PED test.

In the Red Sox clubhouse, a number of fellow pitchers have been outspoken in the past about players who have been caught using PEDs. As Wright spoke to a group of reporters Tuesday, in fact, Chris Sale walked by, wearing a T- shirt that read “All Me” on the front, and “Train Hard, Eat Right, Play Fair” on the back.

It’s doubtful that Sale was trying to troll Wright, or send any sort of passive-aggressive message — he frequently wears the shirt underneath his uniform. But it served as a reminder that a possible divide exists. Meanwhile, Rick Porcello has also voiced his unhappiness with those who resort to PEDs and said in the spring that Wright owed the team an explanation.

Toward that end, Wright took it upon himself to address the team in a players-only meeting in spring training, an experience Tuesday he labeled “probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

As with many others who have been suspended under the program, Wright maintained in the spring — and again Tuesday — that his positive test was a surprise and that he didn’t knowingly take a banned substance. In March, Wright said he was enlisting the help of some specialists to determine how it was something turned up in his system.

But he added that was now a moot point.

“It falls on me,” he conceded. “I wasn’t as careful as I should be.”

What’s not known is how Wright will be received in the clubhouse, in the dugout and on the field. Alex Cora hinted that the situation is not optimal.

“It is what it is,” he said of the situation. “We know that there’s still people out there that do it. I think MLB has done an outstanding job of trying to clean up the game. The penalty is harsh. There’s people that take chances and they pay the price.”

Wright has served his suspension, and emerged from exile. How the rest of his season unfolds — on the mound, and with his teammates — will be worth watching.

BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 6, White Sox 3 – Price, balanced attack hold off Chicago

Sean McAdam

Offensive improvement: Delivering hits with baserunners in scoring position has been a season-long issue for the Red Sox. In recent days, the Sox have had games in which they were 1-for-8 and 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. There was improvement in that regard Tuesday night as the Sox finished the night 4-for-12. And they were also able to counter whenever the White Sox scored. After Chicago went up 3-1 in the top of the third, the Sox wasted no time responding, scoring two runs of their own. The big hit was a two-run single to left by Christian Vazquez, scoring Rafael Devers and Xander Bogarts. “We needed that at-bat,” said Alex Cora. “We needed that hit. It felt like, ‘Here we go again.’ But he put the ball in play and Andy (Barkett, interim third base coach) was very aggressive there with Xander. We had to take a chance there and we scored two. It felt good. We haven’t done the job with men in scoring position, so for Christian to get that hit, it was a big hit for us.”

Price bounces back: Over the last two starts, David Price had shortened outings. He was knocked around for six runs in an inning and a third in his last home start, then was lifted after just 73 pitches in Minnesota last week. But Tuesday, despite some early struggles in the second and third, Price gave the Sox six strong innings with improved velocity on his fastball and better location with all of his pitches as he fanned nine and walked none. “Coming off two shorter outings,” said Price, “it was good to get the pitch count back up and be able to throw strikes and command the strike zone for the most part and use everything.” The changeup was a particularly strong weapon for Price, as he used it bot to get ahead in the count and to get back into pitcher’s counts when he fell behind.

Big night for Devers: After missing three games over the weekend, Rafael Devers returned to the lineup Monday, but really made his presence felt Tuesday. Situated in the No. 2 spot in the Red Sox lineup, he bashed out four hits — including three doubles. “He’s been having some great games,” remarked Xander Bogaerts. “It was a huge hit to have him down. We all know how valuable he is to us. It’s amazing to have him back and have him contributing the way he’s been. He’s hitting the ball so hard; it’s like J.D. (Martinez) last year. It’s pretty impressive to see. Lately, I’ve been hitting behind him. He swings at a lot of first pitches, but it’s a lot of loud outs and a lot of loud hits.” Devers used the whole field, too — with a double and single to left and two doubles to center field.

TURNING POINT

In the top of the fifth, in a tie game, Leury Garcia singled and went to third as Tim Anderson was thrown out at second trying to stretch a single to center. But with a runner on third and one out, Price dug in and struck out both Jose Abreu and James McCann to strand Garcia at third. In the bottom of the inning, the Sox scored twice and went ahead to stay.

TWO UP

Xander Bogaerts: Bogaerts snapped a 3-3 tie when he belted a two-run homer into the Monster Seats in the fifth inning. He also scored a run in the third inning.

The bullpen: The trio of Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier and Brandon Workman combined to each throw an inning of scoreless relief, with each pitcher striking out two batters.

ONE DOWN

Jackie Bradley Jr.: By some measures, Bradley has been the team’s hottest hitter over the last month, but this was a quiet night with an 0-for-4 performance at the plate and six baserunners stranded.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

The win was the fifth straight against the White Sox The Sox have three four-hit games this season and all three have come against the White Sox. The Sox improved to 10-3 in their last 13. Mookie Betts extended his on-base streak to 16 straight games.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“We know that lately we need to improve, we need to play better. I think collectively as a group we understand that and know how important it is, from one game to the next, to win each and every game from now on.” — Bogaerts.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox and White Sox wrap up their series Wednesday at 1:05 p.m. with LHP Chris Sale (3-7, 3.59) vs. RHP Reynaldo Lopez (4-7, 6.23).

* The Athletic

Yankees-Red Sox in London is the most dramatic step yet for a sport hellbent on growing the game globally

Ken Rosenthal

If baseball has its way, London will be only the start.

“We know that the future for us includes billions of fans in China, and includes billions of fans in India,” says Dodgers president Stan Kasten, the head of baseball’s international committee.

“Increasingly – because of social media, and the Internet and probably even moreso in the future because of (legalized sports) gambling – we are going to have fans all over. And remember, we have more product than any other sport – more games, every day.”

From the day commissioner Rob Manfred took office on Jan. 25, 2015, he vowed to increase baseball’s international presence. The sport previously had dabbled with regular-season games in Japan and Mexico, even Australia. The two-game London Series between the Red Sox and Yankees this weekend marks perhaps the sport’s most dramatic step yet into the international arena, and it will not be the last.

The 2016 collective-bargaining agreement formalized a more expansive international schedule, including series in the United Kingdom in ’19 and ’20 for which players each will be paid $60,000. Next year’s London Series will feature another of the game’s great rivalries, Cubs vs. Cardinals.

At the owners’ meetings last week in New York, Kasten says the clubs were “gung-ho” about becoming even more aggressive internationally. Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, a member of the international committee, says, “I think you’re going to see baseball double down on these efforts in the next five to 10 years.”

“We don’t want to just be strong where we already have baseball culture,” Manfred said last week at the conclusion of the owners’ meetings. “We want to grow and expand into areas where baseball is not being played. The best way to start that process is by taking games live, and I think we saw London as one of those opportunities.”

The goal, according to Jim Small, baseball’s senior vice-president of international business, is to make the game relevant in Europe – and worldwide.

Small describes the London Series as a “lightning bolt” that will galvanize attention for baseball in a world capital where the sport previously had little presence. The last time professional baseball came to Europe was 26 years ago in a rain-shortened series between Red Sox and Mets minor leaguers in London. That series took place at The Oval, one of England’s oldest cricket venues. This one will take place at London Stadium, which served as the track and field site for the 2012 Olympics and has been retrofitted for baseball.

Baseball’s mission is twofold – to produce more players from Europe and, perhaps more important, to produce more fans. Thanks to efforts to introduce the sport at the grass-roots level over the past two decades, more than 20 players from Europe currently are under contract to major-league teams, including three who have played in the majors over the past three seasons – Didi Gregorius (Netherlands), Max Kepler (Germany) and Dovydas Neverauskas (Lithuania).

As that number grows, interest will grow. And as baseball demonstrates a greater commitment to Europe through events such as the London Series, officials believe the sport’s entry into the global marketplace will accelerate, making the game more socially acceptable in places where the game is largely unknown.

Sounds far-fetched? Perhaps, considering the pre-eminence of soccer in Europe and the popularity of sports such as cricket in England and basketball in Spain. But Small points out that in the 1970s, a young soccer player in Boston was most likely either a foreign-exchange student or not good enough to play baseball, football, basketball or hockey. Today, soccer in the U.S. is a mainstream sport.

Small says sales in Europe already account for 30 percent of baseball’s international consumer products revenue. The 120,000 tickets for the London Series sold out almost immediately, and 70 percent of the tickets were purchased by residents of the U.K.

Clearly, a curiosity for baseball exists among a percentage of the population in London and throughout Europe. The London Series and a series of accompanying events in the city will help baseball translate that curiosity into sales of Red Sox and Yankees merchandise and the MLB At-Bat app. The series also will create television viewers; baseball now broadcasts games in 35 European countries.

For fans already familiar with the Red Sox and Yankees, the two most well-known baseball brands in Europe, the games will offer something new: An opportunity to form more personal connections with players. The Yankees’ shortstop, Gregorius, was born in Amsterdam. Their right fielder, Aaron Judge, is a unique 6-foot-7, 282-pound specimen.

Baseball officials are practically salivating at the possibilities.

“London is arguably the center of the universe,” says Kennedy, whose team plays in the city Bostonians call the “Hub” of the universe. “We have incredible tradition and great fans domestically here in North America. But the next great frontier is to expand our fan base internationally.”

So, you thought maybe baseball would choose the Rays and Marlins to be the first teams to play in Europe?

No chance.

It had to be the Red Sox and Yankees. It was always going to be the Red Sox and Yankees.

Yankees president Randy Levine, who serves with the Red Sox’s Kennedy and other ownership representatives on baseball’s international committee, says Manfred and the other committee members agreed on a basic premise: You’ve got to lead with your best.

The selections of the Red Sox and Yankees, two of the game’s premier franchises, raises the stakes for baseball, in every way.

By participating in the London Series, the Red Sox are forfeiting two lucrative dates against the Yankees at Fenway Park. Baseball will reimburse the Sox for the revenue they would have lost, a number two baseball sources estimated to be in the range of $3 million to $3.5 million per game.

Kennedy, the Red Sox president, notes that baseball has traditionally controlled costs of international events by choosing a host team with lower game revenues. To introduce the sport’s most historic rivalry in one of the world’s great capitals, baseball was willing to incur additional expenses, devoting what Manfred calls “a tremendous amount of resources” to the series.

The CBA earmarks $40 million to finance international events from 2017 to ’21 and stipulates that the funding be increased if necessary. The money comes from the financial penalties paid by teams that exceeded past international spending limits. The Red Sox and Yankees were among those teams.

Rivals for more than a century – and forever linked after the Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Red Sox for $125,000 in 1920 – the teams formed an unlikely alliance for the London Series.

The principal owners, John Henry of the Red Sox and Hal Steinbrenner of the Yankees, had discussed the idea for almost a decade, Kennedy says. High-ranking employees of the clubs worked closely on logistics, a departure from their usual fierce competition.

Neither club is unfamiliar with the international stage. Each has played regular-season games in Tokyo, the Yankees against the Rays in 2004, the Red Sox against the Athletics in ’08. Levine and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman brought the 2009 World Series trophy to Tokyo, Beijing and Hong Kong on a six-day Asian tour. The Yankees also played two exhibitions against the Marlins in Panama, the home country of Yankees Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera, in 2014.

The international sensibilities of both clubs – and connections to the United Kingdom – also are reinforced by their involvements with English soccer. The Yankees formed a partnership with Manchester City in May 2013 to bring a Major League Soccer expansion team to New York. Fenway Sports Group, the owner of the Red Sox, purchased Liverpool, a Premier League team, in October 2010.

A typical television audience for the Super Bowl is 100 million. The estimated audience for the Liverpool- Manchester United game reportedly has been as high as 700 million, and Red Sox officials could not help but notice the difference.

“We’ve seen the incredible reach of sport throughout the world. We’ve seen the growth of Liverpool supporters and fans in North America over the last 7 to 10 years since we’ve owned the club,” Kennedy says. “At the Premier League, we have, I believe, 211 broadcast contracts – 211 countries that have deals with the Premier League and broadcast English Premier League games around the globe.

“You sort of see what’s possible.”

Most people who will attend the London Series have never seen a baseball game in person. Small, the sport’s VP of international business, relishes the blank canvas, the opportunity “to paint the picture we want to paint.” No, baseball is not going to simply drop the Red Sox and Yankees into London Stadium and say, “Play ball!”

For starters, the sport staged a contest asking fans to select the figures from British lore they would want represented in their version of the Presidents’ Race in Washington and the Sausage Race in Milwaukee. The winners? Winston Churchill, Henry VIII, Freddie Mercury and . . . the Loch Ness Monster.

Fans will be treated to groundskeepers dancing to “Y.M.C.A.” the way they do at Yankee Stadium, and the ritual singing of “Sweet Caroline” that takes place at Fenway Park. “The Freeze” will arrive from SunTrust Park in Atlanta to chase down some unsuspecting English fan in his trademark race along the warning track. Pop-up explanations of certain plays will appear on the scoreboard, which will spell out, “Runs, hits, errors,” rather than just list the abbreviations, “R-H-E” that appear at major-league parks.

Fans will enjoy the novelties of keeping foul balls (something that doesn’t happen at cricket matches) and purchasing food at their seats from vendors (something that doesn’t happen during soccer games). Small says the 700 volunteers working the event will learn to sing, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and then lead fans in the seventh-inning stretch sing-along.

The fun, though, will not only take place at the ballpark.

Baseball expects 15,000 to attend a three-day Fanfest-type event at the Old Truman Brewery, a popular destination in East London. The games will be shown on a giant screen. Fans will take swings in virtual batting cages. Live music will be played. Ballpark food, New York food and Boston food will be sold.

Also in conjunction with the series, baseball is hosting an elite development tournament for the 90 best teenage players from 14 European countries at the Farnham Park Baseball and Softball Complex. The tournament began on Tuesday and will run through Thursday.

The idea of baseball’s multi-pronged approach is to legitimize the game in London and the rest of Europe, enabling kids who are interested in playing or watching to say with pride, “That’s my sport.”

“If we don’t go and play, we disincentivize kids in Europe to pick up a bat and ball,” Small says. “(People would say), it’s not really a mainstream sport.’ No. It is. You can be proud to say you’re a baseball player. Look at the big event coming to the town.”

Kasten, the Dodgers’ president, learned the value of extending a sport’s international reach while serving as general manager and then president of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks from 1979 to ’90.

The Hawks were at the forefront of drafting international players in the ’80s. They played three exhibitions against a Soviet national team in the former Soviet Union in ‘88, and another in Wembley Arena against rookie Shaquille O’Neal and the Orlando Magic in ’92.

“Can you imagine the NBA today without international players?” Kasten asks. “Obviously they’re ahead of us. But because we have so much compelling product, we can catch up quickly. And that is what Rob (Manfred) is intent on doing.”

Manfred has mentioned an expansion team in Mexico as a possible long-term goal, but even if baseball sticks only with teams in North America it will remain hellbent on achieving more of a global footprint.

Regular-season games outside the continental U.S. no longer are uncommon. The Mariners and Athletics opened the season with a two-game series in Japan. The Reds and Cardinals played two in Monterrey, Mexico, in April, and the Astros and Angels did the same in May. The Indians and Twins played in Puerto Rico last season. The Dominican Republic will host spring-training games in 2020.

Baseball also has opened development centers in China, and both Kasten and Kennedy mentioned India as another fertile market (the 2014 film, Million Dollar Arm, told the true story of two Indian pitchers who were discovered by an American sports agent in a reality show competition; neither made it to the majors).

“We’re going to go where the fans are,” Kasten says. “Certainly India is one of those key places we’re working with. There is a lot that goes on, years of development before we ever play a game there. As I often say, the NBA is in 200 countries on TV. They don’t play games in every country.”

No, but there are certain places baseball does not want to miss.

London is the first. London is the start.

Red Sox at the midseason mark: Here’s a plan for turning the season around

Chad Jennings

Alex Cora is proud of his conviction. It’s a character trait he mentions often, one he’s honed through years of playing, analyzing and now managing the game of baseball. His decisions won’t always work, he says, but they will be carefully considered and well-reasoned. He does not shy away from them. He believes what he believes.

Cora’s conviction is such that, six weeks after last year’s World Series parade, shortly before a scheduled press conference at baseball’s Winter Meetings, Cora told reporters to ask him about his plans for the Red Sox lineup. Once cameras were rolling, the first question was a single word: Lineup?

Cora immediately explained that he’d decided to “maximize Mookie in a different spot,” moving Mookie Betts into the No. 2 hole in the order, replacing him with Andrew Benintendi as the leadoff hitter. There was obvious logic to the maneuver. Even though Betts had thrived as a leadoff man in 2018, using him at the top ensured at least one at- bat each game with no one on base, a suboptimal situation for the reigning MVP. Many forward-thinking managers had begun to put their best all-around hitters in the No. 2 hole, and besides, Benintendi had been terrific in his 21 games as a leadoff hitter. Sure, you don’t fix what isn’t broken – and the Red Sox lineup wasn’t broken – but Cora had thought about it, and he was convinced Betts was a better fit in the No. 2 hole.

The change lasted barely two months.

By May 31, Betts was back in the leadoff spot and Benintendi was back in the No. 2 hole. Benintendi had gone 3- for-37 as the first batter of the game, and the Red Sox had become one of the worst offensive teams in the first inning. Last year, they had a .678 OPS in the first inning. This year, a .592 OPS. Only the Marlins have been worse in the first.

“We haven’t been able to get the lead right away,” Cora said. “You can talk about the ninth inning, the eighth inning, but if you look back at our numbers in the first inning, we’re not even close to what we did last year, and we expect them to do that.”

At the midpoint of the season, after 81 games with a record of 44-37, the Red Sox first-inning woes are emblematic of a team that has defied expectation — often with easy explanations for how but without easy answers as to why.

For example: The top half of the lineup has been filled with some combination of Betts, Benintendi, J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland. By a large margin, those six lead the team in first-inning at- bats, and five of the six have a season OPS better than .850. They are good hitters, and they’ve been good hitters this season.

Yet only Martinez has a first-inning OPS better than .600. Bogaerts has been one of the best all-around hitters in the American League, but he is just 3-for-31 in the first inning. Betts has hit 17 doubles this year, but none have come in the first inning. Moreland, Devers and Bogaerts have combined for 39 home runs, but they’ve collectively hit just two in the first inning.

That’s how the Red Sox have sputtered out of the gate. But why they’ve sputtered is difficult to say. A nearly identical group of hitters ranked fourth in the American League in first-inning runs last year. They rank 13th this year.

And check out the overall offensive numbers. This is the team slash line for 2018 and the first 80 games of 2019:

2018: .268/.339/.453 2019: .264/.341/.448

The result is a team OPS that’s only two points lower this season. The offense as a whole is performing much the same as it was during that historic 2018. Now, compare the numbers with runners in scoring position:

2018: .289/.379/.493 2019: .268/.364/.424

That’s an 85-point drop in OPS with runners in scoring position from a team that has otherwise shown little offensive drop-off. Jackie Bradley Jr. is the only everyday Red Sox player with an OPS+ below 100 — meaning he’s the only one with offensive numbers below the league average — yet the offense as a whole has come and gone.

And it’s that inconsistency, with glaring moments of ineffectiveness, that has dogged the Red Sox this season. They had a .705 team OPS in April followed by .849 in May. They’ve put together weeks that suggest a return to form, inevitably followed by a week that suggests even the wild card is not a given.

In some ways, the Red Sox seem worse than they are. There have been glaring mistakes on the bases and in the field, yet they’ve made fewer outs on the bases than most teams, and FanGraphs’ all-encompassing defensive metric pegs the Red Sox has a top-10 defensive team. Their bullpen has been the subject of much debate and derision, yet the Red Sox relievers have an ERA lower than that of the Yankees’ celebrated bullpen. Baseball Reference’s Pythagorean win-loss record suggests the Red Sox should have two more wins and two fewer losses. As of Tuesday morning, FanGraphs was projecting a .579 winning percentage the rest of the way, despite a winning percentage of just .543 to this point.

“We still have to get better,” Cora said Sunday after a disappointing loss, repeating a phrase that has become its own sort of mantra stemming from its own kind of conviction. Cora has routinely expressed confidence in this group of players, often in the same breath in which he acknowledges they have not played up to their potential. Much like his abandoned change at the top of the order, he expects more. What might make the Red Sox a better team through these next 81 games? Here are a few places to start.

A better rotation leads to a better bullpen Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez were left off last year’s playoff roster, but Cora insisted time and again that they were crucial to the team’s success in the regular season. This season might be proving his point.

With Johnson and Nathan Eovaldi hurt, the Red Sox have struggled to fill the fifth spot in their rotation, and they’ve been without a go-to multi-inning reliever who can keep winnable games close or eat innings when games get out of hand.

Now that Johnson has returned, he’s pitched well as the latest spot-start solution, and there’s hope that Steven Wright’s return from suspension will provide a fresh multi-inning option out of the bullpen. Plug those gaps, and the Red Sox might be able to ease up on their top late-inning relievers, who have actually performed pretty well. Five Red Sox relievers have a WHIP better than 1.22 this season. Only two were that good at limiting base runners last season.

Top of the lineup capable of more There are three Red Sox hitters far exceeding anything they’ve done in the past. One is Christian Vázquez, who’s provided a nice boost but hardly qualifies as a guy who determines the team’s offensive fortunes. The other two are Bogaerts and Devers, a 26-year-old and 22-year-old who may be simply reaching their potential. Maintaining this level of performance is all the Red Sox can ask of them.

But the Red Sox can expect more from their top three hitters.

Benintendi, Betts and Martinez are not having bad years, but all three are hitting below last year’s numbers, especially in terms of slugging percentage. They’ve been somewhere between good and great. They’re capable of something between great and exceptional.

If the offense is going to add consistency, it should start with those three.

Days off need to pay off Cora speaks often about the bigger picture, especially when it comes to resting his lineup regulars and limiting his starting pitchers. He rarely tries to do too much, too soon, and that approach might have hurt the Red Sox early in the season when most of the starting pitchers seemed unusually underwhelming, as if still in spring training mode.

In the second half, that restraint needs to pay off.

Last year’s Red Sox were tremendous in the dog days of July and early August. That’s when they surged from tied atop the standings on July 1 to a 10 1/2 game lead on August 19. They perhaps coasted a bit during late August and September, but it hardly mattered. They’d been ready to run in late June and carried that spark for basically two months. It’s worth wondering if this year’s Red Sox have something similar in the tank.

Getting Moreland back from injury should give Cora the option of resting everyday players when necessary, and perhaps Eovaldi can give the pitching staff a similar boost when he returns. The rotation’s workload has been monitored. Most of the everyday players are healthy. Wright and Johnson are back. If the Red Sox have fresh legs, now would be a good time to use them.

Time to dominate a little bit Granted, this is much easier said than done, but with Chris Sale having returned to form, the Red Sox have the ability to make things easy on themselves from time to time. Last year, they had 56 games in which they allowed two runs or fewer. So far this year, they’re on pace for fewer than 40 of those pitching gems. Last year they had 20 games scoring 10 runs or more. They’re on pace for 14 of those offensive outbursts this year.

It starts in the beginning. There’s little reason for the first inning to be such a problem for this lineup. The overall numbers suggest the early production could trend upward. Couple that with better consistency from the rotation — get the starters into midseason form, if you will — and the Red Sox should be able to run away with a few more games. Run away with a few more games and the top relievers get a few more days off, and the everyday players get a few more innings off their feet.

Put the farm system to use Thanks in part to an impressive showing by the 2018 draft class, the Red Sox farm system looks far better today than it did heading into spring training. There is value in the minor-league system, and the Red Sox can put it to use (something Dave Dombrowski has never been shy about doing).

Assuming good health, there’s little reason for the Red Sox to be in the market for a bat. Their more pressing need is on the pitching staff, where they could add another trusted arm to the bullpen or — as they did with Eovaldi last year — add a starting pitcher, trusting a ripple effect will help the relievers as well. Despite what it might have seemed a few months ago, the Red Sox system is not bare. There are enough notable prospects to make an impact trade, and early indications are that the trade market could be heavy on pitchers, which might bring prices down.

Most of what will determine the fate of the Red Sox is already in-house, but there remains ample opportunity to add a player or two.

* The Chicago Sun-Times

Shortstop Tim Anderson sprains right ankle in White Sox’ loss to Red Sox

Daryl Van Schouwen

Tim Anderson has played like an All-Star in what has been a breakout year for the 26-year-old shortstop.

He talked about the possibility of playing in the All-Star Game in Cleveland, which is two weeks away, before the game against the Red Sox on a rainy Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

“That would be a big accomplishment for me,” Anderson said. “We’ll see what happens. That’s not going to make or break me because I know who I am. And the shortstop position is deep.”

That potential achievement might have been jeopardized, though, when Anderson sprained his right ankle in the fifth inning of the White Sox’ 6-3 loss. He had to be helped off the field and could not bear weight on his right foot.

X-rays were negative, and Anderson will have an MRI exam and be re-evaluated Wednesday, when the Sox close out a six-game road trip against Chris Sale, their former ace.

Anderson, who was unavailable after the game, will likely go on the injured list, but without enough time to bring up a replacement for a day game and with a day off Thursday, the move can wait.

“Your heart falls down because you’re not really sure what’s going on,” manager Rick Renteria said of his reaction to seeing Anderson go down. “We’ll see.”

Anderson ranged to his left behind second base to field a ground ball hit by J.D. Martinez, and, while throwing across his body to first base to get the out, his right foot slid across the dirt. He went down holding his right ankle and shin.

The game, delayed at the start 30 minutes by rain, was played in rain for the first several minutes, and the field was wet.

“It looked like his foot was planted, and he made a throw off on an angle,” Renteria said. “I couldn’t tell if it was a factor.”

Anderson left the field with his arms over the shoulders of Renteria and assistant trainer James Kruk.

The American League Player of the Month for April, Anderson entered the game batting .313 with 11 home runs and 37 RBI and had two hits Tuesday.

He was coming off an 0-for-5 night with four strikeouts in a 6-5 loss Monday.

On his deep drive off the Green Monster in left-center field Tuesday, he was thrown out at second base by center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. Instead of having runners on second and third with no outs, the Sox had Leury Garcia on third, but Garcia did not score as Abreu and James McCann struck out.

The Sox (36-41) not only lost Anderson, one of the key pieces of their future core, but dropped their fourth consecutive game.

They are 2-7 since Lucas Giolito beat the Yankees on June 14 to bring their record to 34-34. They’ll try to salvage a game in the series without Anderson and ailing infielder Yolmer Sanchez, who went to the hotel with a high fever and was not available.

On a bullpen day for the pitching staff, Carson Fulmer, Juan Minaya, Jose Ruiz and Josh Osich each pitched two innings.

Fulmer started, struck out three and gave up a run that was unearned because of Anderson’s 16th error of the season.

An RBI single by Jon Jay in the second, and McCann’s RBI double followed by Eloy Jimenez’s RBI single in the third gave the Sox a 3-1 lead.

The Red Sox (44-37) tied it on Christian Vazquez’s two-run single in the third against Minaya and broke the tie in the fifth on Xander Bogaerts’ two-run homer against Ruiz.

* The Chicago Tribune

Tim Anderson sprains his right ankle in the White Sox’s 6-3 loss: ‘Ankle sprains occur, and they happened to occur to him’

Paul Sullivan

The White Sox may not be going anywhere this season, but one of the reasons fans are so optimistic about the future has been the stellar play of shortstop Tim Anderson.

But their hearts stopped for a second Tuesday night in Boston when Anderson crumpled to the infield after injuring his right ankle while making a play in the fifth inning of a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox.

Though Anderson was later diagnosed with a sprained right ankle, the news could’ve been much worse. X-rays were negative, the team announced, and Anderson will be re-evaluated Wednesday and have an MRI taken.

Anderson remained at Fenway Park, but declined to address the media afterward.

Although he apparently escaped a more serious injury, Anderson is still likely to miss time on the injured list, a big loss for a team that thrives on his attitude as much as his play.

After the Red Sox had gone ahead 5-3 on Xander Bogaerts’ two-run homer off Jose Ruiz, J.D. Martinez hit a grounder that Anderson fielded behind second base. While making the throw on the run his spikes apparently caught on the dirt, twisting his ankle, and Anderson crumpled to the field in pain.

Anderson had to be helped off the field, favoring the ankle.

“Like most, I think your heart falls down to your feet because you’re really not sure what’s going on,” manager Rick Renteria said. "But helping him off, and then (the medical staff) seeing him and evaluating him, obviously nothing is broken and things of that nature, which is a good thing.

“We’ll see. Ankle sprains occur, and they happened to occur to him.”

The field was wet from the constant drizzle, but Renteria said he didn’t have any problem playing through the rain.

“We’ve actually played in about two or three inches of rain this season,” he said. “So that out there was pretty playable."

With Yolmer Sanchez out with the flu, Leury Garcia moved from center field to play shortstop. The Sox will play a man short Wednesday and with an off day Friday they’ll wait to make a decision on putting Anderson on the injured list. Former Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar is at Triple-A Charlotte if the Sox need to fill the position.

Renteria wouldn’t say if the injured list was a certainty, and noted Garcia and Jose Rondon can play short if necessary.

Anderson has been one of the Sox’s most valuable players in the first half, and came into the game hitting .313 with 11 home runs and 37 RBIs.

The Sox opted to go with a bullpen day for the second time this season, and like the May 20 loss to the Astros, the plan was doomed from the start.

Carson Fulmer pitched well in his two-inning stint as starter, but Juan Minaya blew a 3-1 lead after entering in the third, and Ruiz was hit hard in his two innings of work.

Red Sox left-hander David Price overcame a jittery start to throw six innings, allowing two earned runs on eight hits while striking out nine and walking no one.

The game was tied 3-3 in the fifth with Garcia on first and no outs when Anderson hit one off the wall in left-center. It looked like an easy double, but Anderson was thrown out at second by Jackie Bradley Jr. after a slow start out of the box, leaving Garcia on third with one out.

Renteria saw it another way.

“I’m glad he was aggressive,” Renteria said. “It took a perfect throw to throw him out, He was speedy, came out of the box good, took a hard turn. For me, Timmy is one of those guys who tries to take advantage of his speed.”

Price promptly struck out Jose Abreu and James McCann to end the threat. Renteria replaced Minaya with Ruiz, who gave up a leadoff double to Rafael Devers before Bogaerts sent one deep into the seats atop the Green Monster in left-center.

The Red Sox added another run off Ruiz in the sixth on Eduardo Nunez’s sacrifice fly. White Sox batters struck out 15 times.

The White Sox have lost four straight and are 2-7 since reaching the .500 mark on June 14.

It doesn’t get any easier Wednesday, when former Sox ace Chris Sale takes the mound for the Red Sox.

* Associated Press

Bogaerts homers, Red Sox beat White Sox 6-3 in rain

The Red Sox celebrated on a soggy field at Fenway Park, hoping they weren't really halfway through the season.

The defending World Series champions want to go well beyond the 162-game schedule and still have some catching up to do. So a 6-3 win over the White Sox on a rainy Tuesday night wasn't cause for a grand celebration.

"By no means have we played our best baseball," pitcher David Price said. "I think we all know that we're a better team than what we've showcased these first 81 games and we need to get better."

Price struck out nine over six innings Tuesday as the Red Sox and White Sox endured steady rain that surged into a downpour at times.

Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer in the fifth and Rafael Devers went 4-for-4 for Boston, which improved to 44- 37 with a victory in their 81st game.

"We'll take more, obviously, but it is what we are right now," manager Alex Cora said. "For everything that went wrong in the first half, we've got 44 wins. There's not too many teams that have."

The start of the game was delayed 24 minutes because of rain, which continued to fall through the first five innings. Just after the rain temporarily let up, Chicago shortstop Tim Anderson sprained his right ankle on a fielding play.

Anderson was carried off the field on the shoulders of manager Rick Renteria and a trainer.

The White Sox said the ankle was sprained and X-rays were negative.

"It seems to be an ankle sprain, but to what degree it's still left to be determined tomorrow. We'll see how he feels," Renteria said.

Renteria said he wasn't sure if the soggy field had anything to do with the injury.

"I don't know. I would have to look at it. I do know that it just looked like his foot was planted," Renteria said. "He was making the throw off to an angle. I couldn't tell you if that had any bearing on it."

The rain's effects were apparent throughout the night, leading to funny hops skipping off the wet field and a bat flying into the stands after it slipped out of Boston catcher Christian Vazquez. A fan caught the bat and was not injured. Anderson was clearly hurt, although the White Sox would say later that X-rays were negative and Anderson was out with a sprain.

Price (5-2) worked through the conditions for six innings, holding Chicago to three runs on eight hits. Brandon Workman pitched the ninth for his third save.

Jose Ruiz (0-1) took the loss after allowing Bogaerts' two-run shot in the fifth, breaking a 3-all tie.

Rafael Devers was 4-for-4 with an RBI for Boston. He led off the fifth with his second double of the game and Bogaerts followed with a drive out to center.

Vazquez extended his career-high hitting streak to 11 games with a two-run single in the third, tying it at 3-all.

Eduardo Nunez drove in a run for Boston with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.

Carson Fulmer was Chicago's "opener," getting his first start of the season and pitching two innings. Fulmer allowed one unearned run on two hits and a walk, striking out three.

SLICK STUFF

Players for both team had difficulties dealing with the conditions.

Vazquez lost his grip while taking a swing in the second inning and the bat twirled all the way to a fan sitting several rows behind Chicago's dugout. The bat was moving slow enough that the fan caught it and was not harmed, smiling and waiving when the fans gave him a rousing cheer.

The series is the only visit the White Sox will make to Boston this summer and postponing the game for a doubleheader Wednesday was unlikely, given the Red Sox were scheduled to fly Wednesday night to London for a pair of games this weekend against the New York Yankees.

TRAINER'S ROOM

White Sox: 2B Yolmer Sanchez was running a high fever and went back to the team hotel, Renteria said. . After Anderson was helped to the dugout, Leury Garcia moved in from center field to play short and Ryan Cordell came off the bench and took over in center.

Red Sox: RHP Heath Hembree (right elbow strain) and 1B/DH Mitch Moreland (right quadriceps strain) will not travel for this weekend's games in London, manager Alex Cora said. 1B Steve Pearce (low back strain) is also unlikely to make the trip. Cora said as much as he'd love to have a healthy roster, it's a long trip and he doesn't want risk any players by rushing their return. "We've got to be smart and that's the challenges of the whole thing," Cora said.

UP NEXT

White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (4-7, 6.23 ERA) faces Boston lefty Chris Sale (3-7). The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start Wednesday.

Apologetic Wright ready to help Red Sox bullpen

Steven Wright knows that postseason baseball will not be in his future this year.

The veteran knuckleballer remains focused on helping put his Boston Red Sox teammates in the best position possible for another World Series run.

Wright is ineligible to pitch in the playoffs after testing positive for growth hormone releasing peptide 2 (GHRP-2) last offseason and serving an 80-game suspension. The 34-year-old right-hander was activated before Tuesday night's game against the White Sox despite not seeing any game action since last September.

A former starter who earned an All-Star selection in 2016, Wright will pitch out of the bullpen with hopes of helping to keep the defending champion Red Sox in the playoff picture after an underwhelming start.

"Obviously I think it's going to be hard when the time comes to where the playoffs come around," Wright said. "All I can do now is just try to do whatever I can to help them get there. When the time does come, when the playoffs start, I'll just be a cheerleader."

Wright addressed his teammates before his return to make amends for taking the focus away from the field.

"You don't ever want to be a distraction," he said. "I needed to talk to them and it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but guys understood why I had to do it. I just apologized for the distraction."

Wright, who is 24-15 with a 3.77 ERA over six seasons with Boston, did not appear during the team's 2018 postseason run that culminated in the Red Sox's fourth World Series victory since 2004 against the Dodgers.

Although initially on the playoff roster for the team's first-round series against the Yankees, Wright was unable to pitch in the playoffs because of a left knee injury that required offseason surgery.

Wright said his knee "feels good" and that he was able to use his extended time off to get back into baseball shape.

"I had a good training staff down in Fort Myers (Florida)," Wright said. "We got a lot of work (done). We used the time wisely as far as my knee and getting my body back to where I needed to be."

Wright also served a 15-game suspension last year for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. He was arrested on Dec. 8, 2017, at his home outside Nashville, and charged with domestic-related assault and prevention of a 911 call, both misdemeanors.

The Boston Globe reported prosecutors retired Wright's case contingent on his completing an anger management course, refraining from violent contact with his wife, and incurring no new criminal charges for a year.

Wright's latest suspension cost him about half of his salary of $1,375,000 for this season. He maintains that he did not knowingly take a banned substance.

"With it being such a low amount (of HGH), it could have come from a lot of different things," Wright said. "But it falls on me. I wasn't as careful as I should be, and now I don't take anything. ... I haven't really thought about it since then because I really wanted to put it behind and just do everything I can to move forward."

Wright posted a 3-1 record with a 2.68 ERA over 20 games last season, only four of which he started due to his nagging knee injury. In his lone All-Star season in 2016, Wright went 13-6 with a 3.33 ERA and a career-high 127 strikeouts in 24 starts.

If given the opportunity, Wright would gladly rejoin the starting rotation. Boston's starters have posted a 4.52 ERA this season, which ranks seventh in the American League and 17th in the majors.

"It's one of those things that's unknown. I'd love to sit here and say, 'Yeah, for sure,' but I said that last year and it didn't work out," he said. "I'd rather just do whatever the team needs. Right now, they want me in the bullpen and that's where I'm happy to be."

The Red Sox optioned right-hander Josh Smith to Triple-A Pawtucket after Monday's game and transferred right- hander Nathan Eovaldi (right elbow surgery recovery) to the 60-day injured list to make room for Wright on the roster.