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The Boston Red Sox Monday, March 9, 2020 * The Boston Globe Sunday’s spring training report: Red Sox pull out narrow win Peter Abraham SCORE: Red Sox 7, Twins 6 RECORD: 6-10-2 BREAKDOWN: The Sox scored four runs in the seventh inning to take a 5-3 lead. Jonathan Lucroy had a two-run double. They added two more in the eighth inning on a triple by Chad De La Guerra. The bullpen nearly gave it away when Chris Mazza allowed three runs in the ninth. Durbin Feltman came and allowed an RBI single before getting the final out on a deep fly ball to center. PLAYER OF THE DAY: Lefthander Martin Perez worked four scoreless innings and struck out seven. He has a 1.35 ERA in three starts. NEXT GAME: The Sox play the Braves in North Port on Monday at 6:05 p.m. Ryan Weber is scheduled to start against Felix Hernandez. King Felix has worked 8 2/3 innings in three games and allowed two runs. He is in Atlanta’s camp on a minor league contract. Could Martin Perez emerge as an important cog in the Red Sox rotation? Peter Abraham FORT MYERS, Fla. — It was a smart move in December when the Red Sox signed lefthander Martin Perez for one year and $6.5 million to be their No. 5 starter. Perez, who turns 29 in April, averaged 159 innings for the Rangers and Twins the previous four seasons with a 4.95 earned run average. For a team trying to trim its payroll while staying competitive, Perez was a good fit. Then David Price was traded to the Dodgers and Chris Sale felt pain in his left elbow after facing hitters for the first time since last season. He will be out until at least May and, quite possibly, all season. Now the Red Sox are preparing to open up with Perez as their No. 3 starter. A player who was considered a good bargain is now being counted upon to take on a bigger role he might not necessarily be equipped to handle. The regular season starts in 18 days and the Red Sox have lined up their rotation. It’ll be Eduardo Rodriguez, Nate Eovaldi, Perez and Ryan Weber for the first four spots. The Sox could use openers in the last slot or find another starter via trade. No other pitcher in camp has shown he’s deserving of a rotation spot at this point. The huddled masses yearning to breathe major league air haven’t really worked out. "The other guys we’ve extended out at this point I don’t think anyone has shown us like, hey, they can do it,” said manager Ron Roenicke. “I think when we brought them into camp we felt like their histories suggested they had a chance to do that … Hopefully we see something.” Perez offered some hope on Sunday with four shutout innings against the Twins. He allowed four hits, all singles, and struck out seven with one walk. Perez said he focused on location more than velocity. He was effective at 93-94 miles per hour with occasional bursts of 95-96 m.p.h. The Red Sox have worked with Perez on throwing his changeup more frequently to diversify how he can attack hitters. It was something he had success with early last season pitching for the Twins, then got away from it to his detriment. In the end, they left him off the playoff roster. Perez has benefited from working with Pedro Martinez on using his legs to keep his delivery straight toward the plate. Perez refers to it as being “on line” with is body. “I was trying to throw the ball in front of my eyes,” he said. Perez had been given similar advice by coaches at different points of his career. But it’s different when it comes from a Hall of Famer such as Martinez. “I’ve heard it a lot before. But to hear it from Pedro, it’s a lot,” he said. “I just came here and want to do my job to help the team the team to win. That’s my goal, to stay healthy and do all that I can.” Perez was the No. 2 starter with Texas in three seasons, so this is nothing new for him. “No. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to be a No. 1 or a No. 3,” he said. “I just want the ball every five days to go out there and compete. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to start the first game. The No. 1 is going to do the same job, give the team a chance to win.” Perez enjoyed facing some of his former Twins teammates on Sunday, particularly 22-year-old third baseman Luis Arráez, a fellow Venezuelan he got to know well last season. “I watched him growing up and we signed from the same academy,” Perez said. “I had a chance to speak with him before he signed and now facing him at the big league level is an honor.” When Arráez fell behind in the count in the third inning, he yelled back to the mound that he was ready to hit. Perez then struck him out. “He’s one of my favorite guys and I enjoyed that,” Perez said. There’s a chance Perez could be what the Sox need, a pitcher who can keep them in games and give their offense a chance. He’s hardly an ideal No. 3 starter, but that’s where they are. “I think he’s fine,” Roenicke said. “He was a really good pitcher [against] the group he faced today. We feel good with where he is. If we can count on him for a lot of innings; that’s really going to help us. If he throws the ball like he did [Sunday], he’s really going to help us.” Michael Chavis set on platooning at first base Peter Abraham FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox ran out of second basemen by mid-April last season and called up Michael Chavis even though he lacked experience at the position. He handled the defensive work far better than was expected then switched over to first base when Mitch Moreland went on the injured list. Chavis also added some pop to the offense — 29 extra-base hits and 58 RBIs in 95 games — before a shoulder injury ended his season in August. With Jose Peraza signed to play second base, the Red Sox envision a more specific role for the 24-year-old Chavis this season. Their plan is use Moreland and Chavis and in a platoon at first base. “When a lefthander is pitching against us it will probably be for sure Mitch’s day off. I think that’s what we’re kind of thinking now,” manager Ron Roenicke said Sunday. “We’re not planning on Mitch playing 140 games this year. So that’s one way to do it. "Michael should be in there all the time against a lefthanded starter. And when we think Mitch needs days off — if he’s got a week in a row against righthanders — we’ll slip Michael in there somewhere.” It should be a productive pairing. Moreland has a career .789 OPS against righthanders. Chavis hit better against righthanders (.774 OPS) than he did lefthanders (.742) last season, but the feel is he’ll hit lefties well. Chavis also could fill in at second or third if needed and the Sox are still considering introducing him to the outfield. How much of a utility role he plays will hinge on whether Tzu-Wei Lin is on the roster. Unlucky 13 The Sox dropped 13 players off their camp roster before the game. Catcher Roldani Baldwin, catcher/infielder Connor Wong, infielder Jeter Downs, first baseman Josh Ockimey, righthanders R.J. Alvarez, Trevor Hildenberger, and Tanner Houck and lefthander Mike Kickham were reassigned to minor league camp. Infielder Bobby Dalbec and C.J. Chatham were optioned to Triple A Pawtucket along with lefthander Kyle Hart and righthanders Mike Shawaryn and Phillips Valdez. Outfielder Marcus Wilson was optioned to Double A Portland and lefthander Yoan Aybar was optioned to Single A Salem. Wong (23) and Downs (21) were two of the players acquired from the Dodgers for Mookie Betts and David Price. Both finished last season in Double A and the expectation all along was that they would return to the minors. The Red Sox also lost righthander Hector Velazquez, who was claimed off waivers by the Orioles. The Sox now have 47 players in camp. Outfield options With Alex Verdugo sure to start the season on the injured list, J.D. Martinez is the fourth outfielder. But Lin has shown he can play center and Peraza has experience in left field. … Former Sox reliever Hideki Okajima was among the large group of Japanese media on hand to watch Kenta Maeda’s start for the Twins. Some parting reflections from spring training Chad Finn FT. MYERS, Fla. — Departing thoughts after eight days in Florida, which sounds too much like “28 Days Later” for my liking … I know, you were told there would be no math, but give this a thought since it’s something that is clearly occupying interim manager Ron Roenicke’s mind at the moment. If the Red Sox play 162 nine-inning games this season, that comes out to 1,458 half-innings that will need to be pitched. (Yes, I know there will extra-inning affairs and maybe a game shortened by rain here or there, and road losses may only require eight innings of pitching.