The Tuesday, May 11, 2021

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Offense goes absent as Red Sox drop finale in Baltimore

Peter Abraham

BALTIMORE — It felt like a new when the Red Sox and Orioles returned to Camden Yards on Monday night. Twenty-seven hours had passed since their game on Sunday afternoon.

And along with that time went the momentum the Sox had going with their offense. Jorge López and four relievers held the Sox to four hits as the Orioles came away with a 4-1 victory before a crowd of 6,826.

After scoring 21 runs on 29 hits in the first three games of the series, the Sox were hitless in five at-bats with runners in . Their final 10 hitters went in order, six on .

The Sox took three of four from the Orioles, losing at Camden Yards for the first time in seven games this season. They had scored 48 runs in the previous six games.

The Sox (22-14) return home Tuesday to face the West-leading . Twenty-seven of the next 33 games on the schedule are against teams at or over .500.

Matt Andriese (1-2) took the loss, allowing three runs in relief. Baltimore secured the victory by scoring two runs in the eighth , started with what may well have been the only 161-foot in major league history.

Leadoff hitter popped up an Andriese just beyond the dirt on the left side. With guarding against a and shifted over on the other side of second base, nobody was close.

Bogaerts raced over and nearly caught the ball, but it deflected twice off his glove before hitting the grass. Mullins kept running and slid into third just ahead of the tag from Christian Vázquez.

“It’s just a fluky play,” Sox said.

After walked, singled in Mullins. Hays eventually scored on a by .

The first four took 65 minutes, a blazing pace compared to most games. The starting were most responsible for driving the action.

Red Sox starter Martín Pérez had his third solid start in a row, allowing one on four hits over five innings. He walked one and struck four.

Pérez allowed a by in the second inning, when his first-pitch cutter stayed over the plate and was blasted deep into the seats in left field.

Pérez has given up four earned runs over 16⅓ innings in his last three starts, dropping his from 5.71 to 4.01. But the trust in Pérez runs only so deep. Cora lifted him after only 74 pitches.

“I don’t control the decision that he makes. I’m OK with that,” Pérez said. “I’m just doing my job when I have the ball in my hands.”

Said Cora: “I felt like that was good enough today. He did an amazing job, had good stuff. Kept them off balance.”

Politely left unsaid: Perez came into the game having allowed eight earned runs on 15 hits over 10⅔ innings beyond the fourth inning this season.

“He is who he is — and we like the guy,” Cora said. “He had good stuff. Today we were set up with Matt to go multiple innings.”

Andriese replaced Pérez to start the sixth inning, and his fourth pitch was pounded over the wall in center field by Mancini. It was Mancini’s seventh home run, the third against the Sox.

López, who is from Cora’s hometown of Caguas in Puerto Rico, retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced on only 36 pitches.

“That kid had good stuff today,” Cora said. “He was throwing 97 mile-per-hour sinkers; he started throwing a . He had a good . We didn’t have too much today to offer.”

J.D. Martinez singled with one out in the fourth and took second when Bogaerts was by a sinker that also got Ron Kulpa. A advanced the runners before Devers delivered a fly ball to left field deep enough to score Martinez.

Hunter Renfroe, who came into the game with a .914 OPS in May after posting a .485 in April, doubled leading off the fifth. He took third on a groundout, but López struck out and Marwin Gonzalez swinging.

The Sox had another threat in the sixth inning when Bogaerts doubled to center field with two outs. Rather than have López face Devers for a third time, the Orioles went to lefthander . He struck out Devers on five pitches.

López allowed one run on four hits and struck out five without a walk in what was his best, and longest, start of the season.

Red Sox will their pleasure with increased capacity starting Tuesday

Peter Abraham

BALTIMORE — The Red Sox return home on Tuesday night to start a six-game homestand, and more fans will be there to welcome them.

Fenway Park has been approved for 25 percent capacity by state officials, which will be approximately 9,500. The first 19 home games were limited to 12 percent and the largest crowd was 4,751 on April 7.

The Sox have a three-game series with the Athletics, then three with Mike Trout and the Angels starting Friday.

“It’s going to feel different,” manager Alex Cora predicted before his team’s 4-1 series finale loss to the Orioles. “To be honest with you, when we came from Texas to play the Tigers [at Fenway on May 4], I was worried that first inning. It felt like a game with no fans.

“Nothing against the people that showed up, but it’s that big of a difference. Looking forward to that and obviously looking forward to a packed house whenever that is. I think it’s going to be fun.

“But to have more tomorrow is going to mean a lot to all of us.”

The Rangers, open to full capacity since the start of the season outside of three socially distanced sections in the , averaged 29,057 for that series, with a high of 35,129 on May 1.

The Sox are 10-9 at Fenway. More fans could help.

“Ten thousand fans and better music. We’re going to keep preaching that,” Cora said.

Big role for Marwin Gonzalez With fellow utility players Kiké Hernández and on the , Marwin Gonzalez takes on a heavier burden for combinations to make the lineup work.

Gonzalez was back at second base on Monday, going 0 for 4 with three strikeouts out of the leadoff spot. He also has started games at first base, third base, shortstop, left field, and right field this season.

In all, Gonzalez has started 29 of the 36 games.

“He’s very important, but we’ve got to take care of him,” Cora said. “We have to be careful, too. I don’t want to push him to the ground and all of a sudden we don’t get the good Marwin Gonzalez.”

Gonzalez is hitting .219 with a .634 OPS. Cora believes he’s capable of more based on the quality of the at- bats.

“I’m working really hard in the cage to get to the point where I can contribute to the team and actually feel good about myself,” Gonzalez said. “Hitting is about confidence.”

Gonzalez, who has played for five playoff teams in his career, sees good characteristics in the Red Sox so far. The key will be how they react to adversity.

“The bad times are going to come. We’re not going to play the way that we’re playing all season long,” he said. “Then you have to try and get that back.”

Ryan Brasier gets started

Righthanded reliever , who has been out all season with a strained left calf muscle, threw 20- 25 pitches in the on Saturday at the team complex in Fort Myers, Fla.

“He was pretty solid,” said Cora, but Brasier is not yet ready to join a minor league team.

Utility player is expected to be added to the Triple A Worcester roster on Tuesday. He was 4 for 10 with a double and a home run in three games for A Greenville.

Santana is coming back from shoulder and foot injuries. Once ready, Santana will be an option in left field and around the infield.

Cora also said the flexor muscle pain that has sidelined Triple A righthander is minor, and that the medical staff told him Houck’s issue is short term.

“We just have to make sure he is where he’s supposed to be. He’s very important to this organization — not only for this year, but for the future,” the manager said. “When things like this happen you have to be smart about it and take your time.”

Houck has been the sixth starter this season, filling in both times the Sox needed to fill a gap in the rotation.

Bye for now

The Red Sox and Orioles have played 10 times this season, which for the Sox represents 28 percent of their schedule to date. The teams don’t meet again until Aug. 13 at . . . Tuesday will be a homecoming for Oakland and DH Mitch Moreland, who hit .251 with an .803 OPS and 64 regular-season home runs for the Sox from 2018-20. Moreland was traded to the Padres last Aug. 30, then signed a one-year with the Athletics for $2.25 million in February. Moreland has hit .218 for Oakland with a .697 OPS and started 24 of 36 games . . . The Sox are diving back into the concert business. They have scheduled New Kids on the Block (July 16); Def Leppard, Motley Crüe, Poison, and Joan Jett (July 17 and 18); Guns N’ Roses (Aug. 3); Billy Joel (Aug. 4); Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer (Aug. 5); Lady Gaga (Aug. 7); Zac Brown Band (Aug. 8); Maroon 5 (Sept. 12); and Aerosmith (Sept. 14) for Fenway dates this year.

Martín Pérez was carving up the Orioles. So why was he lifted after five innings?

Alex Speier

Through five innings on Monday night, Martín Pérez looked excellent. Aside from the solo homer he allowed in the second inning, the Red Sox starter had carved up the Orioles, retiring 11 of his last 13 batters without a runner reaching second base in that time.

At 74 pitches, Pérez seemed like he’d barely broken a sweat in a 1-1 game.

“I was throwing 95, 94,” Pérez recalled. “Everything was good.”

So naturally, the lefthander was lifted before the top of the sixth.

The move immediately turned sour when Sox reliever allowed a massive solo homer to the first hitter he faced, Trey Mancini, in an eventual 4-1 Orioles victory at Camden Yards.

It made for an easy second guess, but the decision to lift Pérez was consistent with the way the Sox have played throughout their best-in-baseball 22-14 start. And, for that matter, it was consistent with the way starting pitchers throughout the game typically have been handled this year.

“We just didn’t score runs,” said manager Alex Cora. “As for the [] usage and all that, I don’t think that’s an issue. . . . We manage the game as a group. We have a plan.”

Welcome to pitching staff management, circa 2021. This is the time of the five-inning start, a byproduct of several intersecting factors that have conspired to radically alter the structure of the game.

“Sometimes you want to go long in the game, but that’s not the manager’s plan,” said Pérez, who made clear that he respected and accepted Cora’s strategic wisdom. “I’m not going to say [anything] about the decision, but that’s how the game changed.”

Indeed. In 2021, teams possess 26-man rosters. That roster expansion entering 2020 was supposed to come with a 13-pitcher limit, but concerns about health and safety in the wake of last year’s shutdown and truncated season led the league to hold off.

As a result, you have grotesqueries such as a Red Sox roster with 14 pitchers, nine of them relievers. They’re positioned to turn to the bullpen early — a strategy of last resort in the past, but that now represents a sensible choice for many teams.

Young pitchers are being trained to miss bats, with the amateur baseball showcase circuit, innovative training facilities, and technocratic player development systems producing a succession of relievers who throw 95+ mph and spin demonic Wiffle Balls. are filled with handfuls of such pitchers, with managers eagerly deploying them early and often.

Meanwhile, no one has any idea how the abbreviated 2020 season will affect pitcher health over a full- season workload this year. As a result, teams are taking an understandably conservative approach to their rotations.

Through 36 games, Cora has gotten 29 starts of at least five innings — tied with the A’s for most in the American League and second most in the majors. But Sox starters have made just 10 starts of at least six innings, tied for fourth fewest in the AL. The team has asked a starter to throw 100 or more pitches just four times this year — once every nine games.

Five innings hasn’t been a flaw. It’s been part of the program. The Sox have 16 starts this year of exactly five innings, most in MLB, and are 10-6 (.625) in those games.

“I ask for nine on a daily basis. But with this team, with this offense, if they give us five, we have a chance,” said Cora. “Obviously where we’re set up, roster-wise, we can actually do that, ask a little more from the bullpen because we have one extra guy. Coming into the season, we trust our rotation to give us a chance to win ballgames. And since Day 1, they’ve been doing that. We’re very pleased with the way they’ve been throwing the ball, and them giving us a chance to win on a nightly basis.”

It is not Cora’s job to celebrate the aesthetic allure of seeing a starter test the limits of his endurance while running on fumes. Instead, he’s tasked with putting a pitcher on the mound who is most likely to get an out — preferably, a , lest a hitter do something bizarre such as plop a 161-foot pop-up into shallow left for a triple, as Cedric Mullins did against Andriese in the eighth inning to set a two-run Orioles rally in motion.

Cora didn’t seem likely to lose sleep over lifting Pérez after five. He noted that the lefthander worked into the sixth inning of a 1-1 contest in his prior outing against the Tigers. That start concluded with Pérez permitting a two-out, two-run, bases-loaded single. Fool me once …

“He is who he is,” said Cora. “Against Detroit, we left him in against a righty and we got burned. Today, we felt five innings was perfect.”

Again: A Firm Five works for the first-place Red Sox, at least for now. It is fair to wonder whether such modest expectations might eventually overtax key relievers, but with a 14-man pitching staff, that concern is diminished.

The Sox are smoothly running the same sort of succession of pitching shifts as every other team. It’s a formula for efficiency (yawn) and success, even if it has stripped the game of the thrill offered by a pitcher challenging his limits.

The responsibility of halting the Era of Starter Erosion eventually will fall to , which should examine whether even greater roster restrictions on the of pitchers than the envisioned cap at 13 — perhaps a 12- or even (gasp!) 11-pitcher limit — might force teams to develop pitchers who can provide more than five innings.

But until then, teams will take a Five-and-Thrive approach, making a night like Monday — five innings, 74 pitches, and goodnight — utterly unremarkable.

About a quarter ways into the season, here are the truths we know about the Red Sox

Chad Finn

Thirty-five games and 22 wins into the Red Sox season, those of us who have been aboard the “sneaky good” train since Fort Myers can’t help but notice that those who wrote them off as the No-Chance Brigade back then are saying an awful lot of nice stuff about them now.

I can’t crow beyond that mild I-told-you-so, though. They did lose their first three games, which seemed to confirm some of the worst suspicions about the shape the season would take.

It should have been obvious, even during that rough first series, that Chaim Bloom’s roster-building ingenuity had improved the organization’s depth and quality over last season’s 24-36 abbreviated debacle — but no one foresaw this. The Red Sox entered Monday with the best record in the majors at 22-13, with the largest first-place lead (3½ games) in any division, and playing at a 102-win pace.

At some point this week, the Red Sox will surpass last season’s win total. The next 25 games, they’d have to go 2-23 to equal last season’s 60-game record. They could bring back Zack Godley to start every single game and they’d still beat their 2020 mark.

No one saw this coming. And I’m not sure anyone — those who believed in this team, and those who didn’t — can be trusted to forecast what’s to come.

NESN analyst broached a similar theme on Twitter Monday, asking, “In about a week the season will be 25% over. At what point, would you say, we enter the ‘this is for real’ zone?”

Personally, I was convinced they were for real when they ripped off nine straight wins from April 5-14 to go from 0-3 to 9-3. It’s been further confirmed since then that they are legitimately good, and there’s nothing sneaky about it.

But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to coast to the AL East title. They reside in a division that as of Monday featured three other teams over .500. For all of their injuries and erratic play, the Yankees are just 3½ games out.

Sure would have been helpful for the Red Sox to have played the Yankees during their turbulent April rather than having to wait until early June. The old rivals clash 14 times in June and July, including in 11 of the Sox’ 27 games from June 25-July 25. Those summer showdowns are going to have a huge say in how this race to the postseason shapes up.

There are certain truths about this Red Sox team that can be counted on as the season turns toward the summer and the guts of the schedule. It’s clear having Alex Cora back in the managerial saddle has enhanced the composite confidence of the entire roster.

That 0-3 start could have been demoralizing to a team trying to put the sloppy, disjointed 2020 season behind it. Cora’s confidence never wavered, and his team didn’t get down; it got hot. Say what you will about his past transgressions, but he paid the price, and he’s the right manager for the right team in the right city at the right time.

It helps that Cora has a true superstar who says and does everything right as the fulcrum of the ball club. Xander Bogaerts helped the Red Sox win the World Series as a 20-year-old late-season callup in 2013, was the consensus No. 2 prospect in baseball entering 2014, won his first Silver Slugger at 22, made his first All-Star team at 23, helped the Red Sox win another World Series at 25, hit 33 homers and finished fifth in the MVP balloting at 26 … and here, in his age 28 season in which he is .349 with an MLB-leading 45 hits after 35 games, it’s entirely possible that he was actually underestimated all along.

Bogaerts is the Red Sox version of Patrice Bergeron, and I imagine Cora would be the first to agree that he should never play an inning for another organization.

Other truths? Well, we’d better acknowledge that J.D. Martinez (1.075 OPS, 10 homers, a team-best 2.0 bWAR despite having minimal defensive or baserunning value) was right about how his wretched 2020 season was an outlier after the exceptional ones he had before that as a late-blooming professor of slugging.

We also should note, presumably to near-unanimous agreement, that Christian Vazquez is one of the most complete in the game today, featuring many of the attributes for which was lauded.

And that has become overpowering in part because he has stopped overthinking it, Working fast and trusting his stuff the way he always should have, he’s become a lights-out .

And that a locked-in Rafael Devers is a delight to watch at the plate, with his Beltre-ian quirks and an endless supply of scorched line drives in his bats.

Maybe you’ve recognized a few other truths about this team and the compelling group of players it comprises. I have just one more from here: With a quarter of the schedule almost gone already, it’s been a pleasure — and maybe a bit cathartic, too — to watch them remind us that faith can be rewarded, even coming off the lousiest of years.

No more PawSox: McCoy Stadium sits empty and Pawtucket is looking to fill the void

Edward Fitzpatrick

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — In Worcester on Tuesday, fans will leap to their feet as potential Red Sox stars of the future, such as and Jeter Downs, bound from the on at shiny new Polar Park.

In Pawtucket, meanwhile, the murals of Red Sox players of the past, such as and Jody Reed, still hang, faded and torn, inside the vacant and worn concrete confines of 79-year-old McCoy Stadium.

In Worcester, the home team will take the field, stepping onto the manicured sod that earned its own promotional video and news coverage. The stadium lights are shaped like hearts, symbolizing the “Heart of the Commonwealth.”

In Pawtucket, the patchy grass will continue to be fertilized by a visiting team of Canada geese. The statue of the late, beloved PawSox owner Ben Mondor will stand sentry outside a deserted ballpark, an empty space in the heart of Pawtucket.

As the Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate begins a new era as the WooSox, PawSox fans remain bummed out and bitter, with the city locked in litigation with the team and McCoy stadium serving as a COVID-19 testing site rather than a proving ground for future Fenway favorites.

But Pawtucket officials say they are working to fill the void, pointing to plans for a new soccer stadium by the Seekonk River and a new commuter train station for Pawtucket and Central Falls.

They’re also hoping to move past a legal battle to at long last develop the under-used Apex site that motorists see from Interstate 95 – a key gateway to the city and the state.

But questions about McCoy Stadium continue to swirl. Will the site of baseball’s longest game – which saw future Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Cal Ripken Jr. battle over 33 innings in 1981 – be demolished? Can it discover new life as an independent league ballpark, once again echoing with the crack of line drives and dingers, offering a new generation the chance to “fish” for autographs from above the dugouts?

“In all honesty, it’s sad,” Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien told the Globe during a recent on-field interview. “The community, the state as a whole, we lost a gem. We lost a team. We lost some identity.”

Grebien said he probably won’t be visiting Polar Park this season. “It still hurts,” he explained.

Plus, Pawtucket just sued the PawSox owners in January, claiming the team failed to repair and maintain the city-owned stadium as required by contract. “I am hoping they realize they left us with a hole, and we can come to some sort of understanding,” he said. “They left a lot of things here, and they moved on.”

In court documents, team owners deny the accusations in the lawsuit.

Grebien said he had hoped Opening Day would see Pawtucket and PawSox officials standing side by side, proudly welcoming fans to a gleaming new $83-million ballpark by the Blackstone River. He envisioned the stadium – near the Old Slater Mill, known as the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution – as the keystone for new downtown development.

But he acknowledged that an initial proposal for a Providence ballpark – which called for the state to provide $150 million over 30 years, with the team paying back $30 million – poisoned the well of goodwill for public subsidies. “That scared everybody off,” he said.

And he acknowledged that it was unwise to have later called for $38 million in taxpayer support for a new stadium – a figure that raised the specter of 38 Studios, Curt Schilling’s ill-fated video game venture that received a state backing. Perhaps $37.5 million might have been a smarter ask, he said.

Grebien gave the state Senate credit for backing a proposal to keep the PawSox in Rhode Island. But critics blame former House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello for scuttling that deal by hatching an alternative plan. Grebien said that Mattiello’s plan might have worked, but it came too late in the game.

“Worcester, I think, gave away everything to get them,” Grebien said. Worcester assumed more than half of the $159-million total design, construction, and land acquisition costs, and helped cover cost overruns caused by a COVID-19 construction shutdown. Grebien said remaining in Pawtucket would have been better for both the city and the team.

But, in any case, Pawtucket is poised to jump into another game.

In December 2019, state and city officials joined Fortuitous Partners in announcing a $400 million project that would put a soccer stadium with up to 11,000 seats, 435 residential units, 60,000 square feet of office space, and 56,750 square feet of retail/restaurant space in downtown Pawtucket, across three sites separate from McCoy stadium.

Since then, the project has since been scaled back to $284 million, and the city has not been able to acquire the Apex site to include in the plan. But Grebien said he still expects the project, which has received $46 million in state incentives, to bring about more downtown development than the PawSox proposal would have realized.

“We are in a better position because we are getting more development, and a younger organization,” he said. Plus, he said, “Soccer is more of an upcoming sport.”

But first, environmental cleanup work must be completed at the Tidewater site, where gas manufacturing took place for decades. Grebien said testing is under way, and the developer hopes to secure the needed state and city permits over the next couple of months.

”They want to break ground this fall and to have the first soccer ball kicked in 2023 for the season,” he said.

Meanwhile, the outlook for McCoy remains unclear. The city would need a “strong partner” to help renovate the stadium, Grebien said. “It needs HVAC. It needs some TLC.”

Other possibilities include turning McCoy into a public safety complex, or a place to consolidate Pawtucket’s two public high schools, Grebien said. But whatever option the city pursues, he hopes the state will be a partner.

Grebien is likely to have an ally in Rhode Island’s new governor, Daniel J. McKee, a former mayor of nearby Cumberland.

At a news conference this week, McKee said, “I’m a Blackstone Valley kid, so I was clearly advocating for the PawSox to remain in Rhode Island – and in Pawtucket in particular.”

The governor said he recently visited the soccer stadium site. Between that and the new train station, “the future is going to look very bright in Pawtucket.” He vowed to do all he can to help Pawtucket, saying, “I think they have been forgotten for a little bit too long.”

But McKee, who graduated from Assumption College in Worcester, said he might pop into a WooSox game. “I don’t have hard feelings for the people who are in the management level up there,” he said. “I think they tried as hard as they could to keep it in the state of Rhode Island.”

If McKee does go to Polar Park, he won’t see Pawtucket City Councilman Terrence E. Mercer there.

Mercer, who represents the area around McCoy, said he sees “a lot of positive possibilities” in Pawtucket’s future, but his emotions on Opening Day at Polar Park won’t be bittersweet – they’ll just be bitter.

“I absolutely love sitting in the stands for a baseball game, whether it’s high school, college, Triple-A, or Fenway Park,” he said. “But I can’t see myself going there any time soon.”

“We licked our wounds and picked ourselves up,” he added. “We are going to move forward as best as we can.”

Zac Brown Band announces date for summer concert at Fenway Park

Hayley Kaufman

Another concert has been penciled in at Fenway Park this summer with the announcement Monday that the Zac Brown Band will return to Boston Aug. 8 for its much-anticipated 2021 “Comeback Tour.” But don’t be surprised if additional dates get added.

The country rockers, massive favorites in , hold the record for sellouts of Fenway Park with 11. The last time the band swung through town in 2019, they sold out back-to-back shows over Labor Day weekend.

“We couldn’t be more excited to get back out on the road and share our new music with our fans,” Zac Brown said in a statement. “It’s been a long, difficult year for everyone and we’re fired up to be reuniting with our crew, get back on tour, and celebrate a brand new world.”

The concert announcement comes the same day that rolls back more COVID-19 restrictions, allowing for road races, the reopening of amusement and water parks, and increased capacity at stadiums like Fenway. Indoor and outdoor stadiums are now permitted to operate at 25 percent capacity, up from a 12 percent limit instituted in March.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public at noon on Friday, May 14, at zacbrownband.com, according to a release from Live Nation. But members of the Zamily Fan Club will get early access, with tickets going on sale at noon Tuesday, May 11.

In late April, the Red Sox announced that several summer concerts, canceled last year because of the pandemic, had been rescheduled. The Plainridge Park Casino Fenway Concert Series launches July 16 with New Kids on the Block, followed by Def Leppard & Motley Crue on July 17 and 18, Guns N’ Roses on Aug. 3, Billy Joel on Aug. 4, Green Day on Aug. 5, Lady Gaga on Aug. 7, Maroon 5 on Sept. 12, and Aerosmith on Sept. 14.

The Grammy-winning Zac Brown Band has sold 9 million albums and notched a jaw-dropping 9.3 billion streams. Special guests Teddy Swims and Ashland Craft are scheduled to open the show at Fenway.

Hot Stove Cool Music steps up to the plate for charity once again

James Sullivan

For Red Sox fans, two big things happened during the “hot stove” offseason in February 2020. The team traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, and the baseball-themed Hot Stove Cool Music fundraising event celebrated its 20th anniversary.

If you haven’t forgiven the Sox for letting go of a generational talent, don’t look now, but this year’s team is currently enjoying the best record in baseball. Zealous fan Kay Hanley says the 2021 Sox remind her a little of the curse-breaking “Idiots” of 2004.

“Some teams are jet-fueled by attitude,” she says, “and this seems like one of those teams.”

From the beginning, Hanley and her friends and colleagues at the Foundation To Be Named Later — the benefit organization launched by former Sox GM Theo Epstein and his brother Paul — have been jet- fueled by their mission. This year’s pre-recorded concert, featuring Bill Janovitz, Juliana Hatfield, Will Dailey, and a couple of “bananas” guest stars, as Hanley puts it — Yo-Yo Ma and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder — will take place virtually on May 18.

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck will play drums with his classic rock covers band, French Lick. Hanley says this will be her first time hearing them perform.

“I do know that our music director, Ed Valauskas, loves them,” she says. “I love how people who are really high-level in different fields, this is their chance to do what they really want, which is to be a rock star.”

Uncharacteristically, the Hot Stove team was running on fumes after last year’s anniversary show at the Paradise. Several of the participants got sick; they joked that they’d all come down with the “Hot Stove Flu.” In retrospect, it was probably coronavirus.

“We still don’t know,” says Hanley, who will emcee this year’s show. “Anecdotally, it makes sense.”

After Epstein left Boston in 2011 to run the Chicago Cubs, Hot Stove began hosting a second event each June. Because of the COVID-19 shutdown, last year the organization had to shift its Chicago fundraiser to a virtual setting. In hindsight, says Hanley, it was the most rewarding event since the nonpareil baseball writer (and former Globie) Peter Gammons co-created the original Hot Stove Cool Music concept back in 2000.

“It became painfully obvious within days that the communities the foundation serves were in desperate need of help,” says Hanley, the Dorchester native who now lives in LA, writing music for animated TV shows. Last year her beloved ’90s band Letters to Cleo headlined the show at the Paradise.

For Hanley, the virtual Chicago show “was the most important Hot Stove we’ve ever done. It changed everything for me, the way I see what it is we do out there.”

To date, the foundation has raised $13.5 million for several nonprofit community groups, including Roxbury Youthworks, the West End House Boys & Girls Club, and, in both Boston and Chicago, the BASE, which provides coaching and mentorship for underprivileged student-athlete ballplayers. Additionally, the number of students chosen as “Peter Gammons Scholars,” who get cash scholarships for the college of their choice, recently surpassed 200.

For the show next week, Gammons’s All-Stars have pre-recorded a song they’re aptly calling this year’s anthem.

It’s a spunky version of Bob Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody.”

HOT STOVE COOL MUSIC

May 18 at 7 p.m. Tickets from $10, ftbnl.org

* The

Alex Cora’s bold move backfires as Red Sox lose to Orioles

Jason Mastrodonato

Alex Cora showed a lot of trust in his bullpen on Monday night.

This time, it backfired.

Starter Martin Perez was cru`ising through five innings of one-run ball on just 74 pitches when Cora replaced him with Matt Andriese in a tie game to start the sixth inning. Andriese promptly served up the go-ahead homer on a blast by Trey Mancini as the Red Sox eventually fell to the Orioles, 4-1.

The move looked bad at the time, but Cora had a strong explanation after the game.

Cora said he left Perez in too long during his most recent outing against the Tigers, when Perez gave up a two-run, go-ahead single to JaCoby Jones in the sixth inning that cost the Red Sox the game. Perez had started the sixth on 71 pitches in that game and needed 20 pitches before he was removed.

“He is who he is,” Cora said of Perez. “We like the guy. He had good stuff, good changeup. Just today we were set up with Matt to go multiple innings, he did a good job for five and we pushed Matt for three innings and that was good too.

“As far as the usage and all that, I don’t think that’s an issue. We managed the game as a group. And we had a plan against Detroit, we left him in against a righty and today we felt like five innings was perfect.”

There’s also an argument to be made for keeping Perez in the game for at least another inning vs. the O’s on Monday. The lefty had looked strong, ending the fifth inning on just 14 pitches after striking out Austin Hays on a well-placed cutter on the outer half of the plate.

“I was throwing 95 mph,” Perez said of his fifth inning. “But like I said, he made the decision to pull me out. I respect his position. He thought it was good enough for me and he took me out of the game. I have nothing to say.”

While the modern game has been trending toward taking the out before he goes through the a third time (Blake Snell surely has some thoughts on that), Perez has not been one of those starters with substantially worse numbers.

This year, he’s holding hitters to a .190 average with a .451 OPS the third time facing them. Last year, same thing: he held them to a .190 average and .571 OPS the third time through.

Cora wanted the right-handed Andriese to face the right-handed Mancini, who has hit righties just as well as he’s hit lefties throughout his career.

“We were set up with Andriese with all those righties and I felt like that was good enough today,” Cora said.

It didn’t work as Andriese threw a breaking ball through the bottom of the zone that Mancini easily hammered well over the fence. It was his seventh homer of the year. And it broke a 1-1 ballgame and tilted it in the Orioles’ favor.

The Red Sox are now 19-10 when they get five innings from their starting pitcher. They’re 9-1 when they get six innings. But they’re just 1-3 when a starter begins the sixth, and doesn’t finish it.

The loss snapped their four-game . They now head home to face the first-place Oakland A’s in what should be an entertaining series at Fenway Park.

Other takeaways from Monday’s game:

1. Perez ran into trouble only briefly in the second inning, when Mountcastle got a juicy cutter and demolished it into the left-field bleachers for a solo homer. Perez looked shaky that inning, allowing two batters to reach as he worked the to 2-2 with two outs against Ryan McKenna. But Christian Vazquez took control, pausing the game and motioning to Perez to calm down and take his time. Vazquez did this four or five times while waiting to give Perez the sign. The next pitch, Perez struck out McKenna. The O’s didn’t threaten off him the rest of the game. Perez now has a 4.01 ERA on the season.

2. The Red Sox offense was surprisingly quiet against right-hander Jorge Lopez, who entered with a 5.63 ERA but kept the Sox to just one run over 5 2/3 innings. J.D. Martinez had two of the four hits off him. It was just the fourth time this year the Red Sox were held to one run, and first since April 28-29, when the Mets’ Jacob deGrom and the Rangers’ Kyle Gibson each pitched very well against the MLB’s top offense.

3. Xander Bogaerts made a rare mistake in the field that led to the O’s adding some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. The speedy Cedric Mullins lifted a blooper to the edge of the dirt between third and short, but Bogaerts couldn’t come up with it. He reached the ball on the run, but bobbled the a few times as Mullins ran all the way to third base. The O’s plated two in the inning.

Red Sox Notebook: Fenway Park capacity to increase Tuesday vs. Oakland A’s

Jason Mastrodonato

Tuesday is a big day at Fenway Park, which will host the most fans its welcomed to the century-old ballpark in two years.

Gov. Charlie Baker approved a capacity increase for sports venues up to 25%, a rule that goes into effect this week and will give the Red Sox a chance to have more than 9,400 people in the seats Tuesday vs. the Oakland A’s.

The Sox have been operating at 12% capacity with just more than 4,600 people per game, the smallest capacity of any MLB stadium. They played in Texas last week, where the attendance for a four-game series was between 23,000 and 35,000.

“When we came from Texas (and went back to Boston) to play the Tigers, I was worried that first inning; it felt like a spring training game with no fans,” manager Alex Cora said. “Nothing against the people that showed up, but it’s that big of a difference.

“Looking forward to the increase, obviously looking forward to a packed house, whenever it is. I think it’s going to be fun, but to have more (Tuesday), it’s going to mean a lot to all of us.”

Fresh eyes on Devers

Rafael Devers is one of the hottest players in the big leagues, with 18 extra-base hits and 27 RBI in his last 27 games.

Marwin Gonzalez, a 10-year big league veteran and first-year teammate of Devers, offered some interesting insight.

“He’s really hard on himself,” Gonzalez said Monday. “That’s the thing about him, sometimes he gets frustrated really quick. We all do, but faster than everybody else.

“He has the talent. I didn’t know he was that good. I respected him as a player before I got here but he totally impressed me. He’s way better than I thought he was. He’s a superstar. It’s been fun to play with him.”

Cora said Gonzalez has been mentoring Devers a little bit, particularly on defense.

Experienced utility man

Gonzalez has become the Red Sox’ primary with Kiké Hernandez on the injured list.

He has just a .331 on-base percentage, but Cora said he likes the way he competes in the box. He’s been even more impressed with Gonzalez’s defense at six different positions this year.

“He’s solid at every position,” Cora said. “He hasn’t played short much the last two years, I think with Minnesota, but I saw him play short in ’17 and he makes the play. He’s good at third. At first base he’s one of the best out there, the fact that he has range and he can throw too. In the outfield he knows what he’s doing.

“We were talking about it (Sunday), if you see him the way he catches a ground ball, it’s almost perfect. Perfect mechanics, good fundamentals, and I also think he has helped Xander (Bogaerts) and Raffy defensively. They’re talking about throwing, moving their feet, talking about positioning and he’s been amazing for those two guys.”

Gonzalez offered insight into what makes a successful .

“I think it’s like you have to fall in love with what you do for the day,” he said. “Growing up, everybody wants to be starting at third base, starting at second base. Then you have that label on your back. But I think that’s the key: you have to put the ego to the side and fall in love with what you do and then to try to get advice when you can from the guys who can help you. Ask every single day. There is always room to get better, always room to improve.”

Do damage

All three teams Cora has managed have feasted on the first pitch of an at-bat, and it’s particularly noticeable this year.

The Sox entered Monday hitting a stunning .359 with a .957 OPS on the first pitch.

Is the manager surprised the Sox are still getting good first pitches to hit?

“Where we’re at as a league, if you’re not hunting pitches early on — and it’s not swing just to swing, there’s a plan in place, and we’re looking for certain pitches — but hitting at this level, it’s very tough,” Cora said. “We preach our guys to get ahead. I bet the other teams are doing the same thing. Will they make adjustments? Yeah, they will.

“I used to have this conversation with Mookie (Betts). When you start swinging at the first pitch, you know what’s going to happen? They’re going to start falling behind later on because they’re going to start nibbling. The 1-0 and 2-0 counts, they’re going to be more, because they know you’re ready to hit. But if you’re predetermined to take a pitch just to take it, it’s 0-1 right away. … So it’s one of those that we know teams are going to make adjustments, but we’re not going to change our plan.”

Houck update

The Red Sox shut down their top pitching prospect, Tanner Houck, over the weekend but still aren’t sure how long he’ll be out, though they do believe it’ll be a short-term injury.

Houck, who has a sore flexor muscle in his pitching elbow, has begun getting treatment and is feeling better, according to Cora. The team plans to be cautious with Houck, who is “very important to this organization, not only this year, but for the future,” he said.

* MassLive.com

Alex Cora replaces Martín Pérez after 5 innings (74 pitches) and Boston Red Sox go on to lose to Orioles

Christopher Smith

Update: Alex Cora explained his reasoning here for removing Martín Pérez after just 5 innings.

BALTIMORE — Manager Alex Cora pulled his starting pitcher too early Monday and the Boston Red Sox lost 4-1 to the here at Camden Yards.

Left-handed starter Martín Pérez pitched well for Boston, allowing just one run, four hits and one walk while striking out four in 5 innings.

But Cora took him out after just five innings and at 74 pitches. Cora probably did it because the lefty was about to face the middle of the Orioles’ lineup for the third time.

Cleanup hitter Ryan Mountcastle already had taken Pérez deep in the second inning.

Managing to the analytics (if that was what happened) came back to bite the Red Sox.

Matt Andriese relieved Pérez and gave up a leadoff homer to No. 3 hitter Trey Mancini. Mountcastle followed with a single.

Andriese allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in 2-plus innings. Mancini connected for an RBI single against him in the eighth after Cedric Mullins led off the inning with a strange triple 70.7 mph, 161- foot triple that Xander Bogaerts was unable to catch. Bogaerts sprinted back and toward the left field foul line. He got a glove on it but the ball popped out of his glove and he juggled it.

The Red Sox went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base.

Hunter Renfroe doubled to begin the fifth inning with the game tied 1-1. He advanced to second base on ’s groundout. But both Bobby Dalbec and Marwin Gonzalez struck out to strand the runner at third base.

Boston — which stroked just four hits — won the four-game series, 3-1.

Tuesday’s pitching matchup

The Red Sox return home Tuesday to begin a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.

Boston righty (4-2, 4.62) will start opposite Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt (2-2, 3.70).

Boston Red Sox notebook: Xander Bogaerts juggles ‘fluky’ 161-foot triple; Fenway Park ‘going to feel different’ with capacity increased to 25% Tuesday

Christopher Smith

BALTIMORE — Cedric Mullins’ triple against Red Sox reliever Matt Andriese to the bottom of the eighth inning went just 161 feet and left his bat with only a 70.7 mph exit velocity.

The Orioles scored two runs in the eighth and beat the Red Sox 4-1 here at Camden Yards on Monday.

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts was shifted to the second base side. So he had a long way to go to make the play toward the left field foul line. He sprinted to catch it but the ball popped out his glove. He juggled it and it dropped in.

“It was a fluke play,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I believe everybody reacted the right way. ... Good heads-up play by their guy.”

Catcher Christian Vázquez covered third base but Mullins dived in safely ahead of the tag.

“I don’t think he was late (to the third base bag),” Cora said. “The guy was . It’s just a fluky play.”

Devers ‘a funny person’

Rafael Devers isn’t just a slugger.

“He’s a funny person, man,” Marwin Gonzalez said before Monday’s game. “When you don’t know what to expect from him, he will make like a really crazy comment when you’re not expecting it. Saying stuff about himself when he does not do good. ... Something you’re not expecting. That’s why he’s special, too.”

Gonzalez has mentored Devers on defense, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

“He’s really hard on himself,” Gonzalez said about Devers. “I think that’s the thing about him. Like sometimes he gets frustrated really quick.”

Devers said he likes to ask Gonzalez questions.

“I didn’t know he was that good,” Gonzalez said. “I respect him as a player before I got here. But he’s totally impressed me. He’s way better than I thought he was. He’s a superstar. It’s been fun to play with him. He’s a funny guy, too. I’ve been trying to help him (with) little things, to slow the game down and all that kind of stuff.”

Red Sox confident Houck’s injury is short-term

Tanner Houck, Boston’s top depth starter, has been shut down for the time being with a sore flexor muscle.

“He’s getting treatment already,” Cora said. “I don’t know about the specifics. But he’s feeling better. We just gotta make sure he is where he’s supposed to be. He’s very important to this organization. Not only this year but for the future. So when things like this happen, you’ve got to be smart about it and take your time. But as a whole, the training staff and everybody that I’ve talked to, they feel very comfortable that this is just something short-term. So he’ll be OK.”

Brasier throws bullpen

Reliever Ryan Brasier threw a bullpen session this past week in Fort Myers, Cora said.

“It was a good one,” Cora said. “I think it was a 20, 25 pitch bullpen. And he was pretty solid.”

There are no plans yet to send him out for a rehab assignment.

Brasier strained his calf late in spring training. He dealt with a right pinkie fracture this past offseason. He also was behind in spring training after leaving camp for a personal reason in February.

Pivetta tipping pitches?

Nick Pivetta said after Sunday win that he might have been tipping his pitches early in the game. Pivetta began the game wearing a red long-sleeve shirt under his jersey. But he took it off and went with bare arms. He hinted that the sleeves might have had something to do with the tipping.

Cora gave credit to quality control on Monday.

“We have a good coaching staff,” Cora said. “What my coaches do on a daily basis is amazing. I know Nick mentioned me. But it wasn’t me. It was actually Ramón. We’re always paying attention. We’re always looking for stuff. Not only to the opposition but our guys. Because at the end of the day, we have to take care of our guys for them to be successful. That’s the most important thing. And we’re very detail orientated.

“Ramon yesterday, he felt there was something going on and he addressed it. I don’t know. Maybe that was the reason he dominated after that. Or probably it’s just his stuff and he’s that good.”

25% capacity at Fenway

The Red Sox will be allowed to increase from 12% capacity to 25% on Tuesday. So Fenway Park will be able to hold roughly 9,400 fans for games beginning against the Athletics.

“It’s going to feel different,” Cora said. “To be honest with you, when we came from Texas to play the Tigers, I was worried that first inning. It felt like a spring training game with no fans. Nothing against the people that showed up, but it’s that big of a difference.”

Texas’ Globe Life Field is at 100% capacity and it got loud in there.

“So looking forward for that,” Cora said. “Obviously looking forward for a packed house whenever it is. I think it’s going to be fun. But to have more tomorrow is going to mean a lot to all of us.”

Alex Cora explains replacing Boston Red Sox starter Martín Pérez for Matt Andriese after 5 innings (74 pitches) with game tied 1-1

Christopher Smith

BALTIMORE — Manager Alex Cora pulled starter Martín Pérez after just five innings and 74 pitches in a 1-1 game against the Orioles on Monday.

Pérez allowed just one run, four hits and one walk while striking out four. The one run came on Ryan Mountcastle’s solo homer in the second inning.

So why take him out so early?

“Because we were set up with (Matt) Andriese with all those righties,” Cora explained. “And I felt like that was good enough (for Pérez) today. He did an amazing job. Had good stuff. Kept them off balance. Just one pitch — that cutter that ran into Mountcastle. But besides that, he was really good and we were set up with Matt to go multiple innings today. So that’s the reason I did it.”

Andriese allowed a homer to No. 3 hitter Trey Mancini, the first batter he faced. The Red Sox went on to lose 4-1 here at Camden Yards.

The Orioles had their Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters, Mancini, Mountcastle and , all right-handed hitters, due in the sixth for the third time through the batting order. No. 6 hitter Freddy Galvis is a switch- hitter who hits better vs. lefties.

Pérez has pitched more than 5 innings just twice this season.

Cora was asked if he feels Pérez isn’t equipped to go deeper into games.

“The other day I pushed him 5 ⅔ and had bases loaded against (JaCoby) Jones with two outs and he gave up a (single),” Cora said.

In his previous start, Pérez allowed a two-out single to Jones with the game tied 1-1 in the sixth.

“He is who he is and we like the guy,” Cora said. “He had good stuff. Good changeup. Just today we were set up with Matt to go multiple innings. He (Pérez) did a good job for 5 and then we pushed Matt to three innings. And that was good, too. Just a fluky play at the end that happened.

“But when we got to the eighth inning, they only scored two runs,” Cora added. “So that’s the name of the game. Avoid runs and score runs. And today we didn’t score runs. But as far as the usage and all that, I don’t think that’s an issue. We manage the game as a group. And we have a plan. Against Detroit, we left him in against the righty and we got burned. And today, we felt like 5 innings was perfect.”

Mancini connected for an RBI single against Andriese in the eighth after Cedric Mullins led off the inning with a strange 70.7 mph, 161-foot triple that Xander Bogaerts was unable to catch. That was the fluky play Cora was referencing.

Bogaerts sprinted back and toward the left field foul line. He got a glove on it but the ball deflected away after he juggled it.

Boston Red Sox lineup: Marwin Gonzalez leading off despite down stats; ‘He’s working counts, grinding at-bats’

Christopher Smith

BALTIMORE — Marwin Gonzalez will lead off for the Red Sox for the third time in four days.

The Red Sox and Orioles will play the finale of their four-game series Monday here at Camden Yards. Boston is looking for the sweep.

Gonzalez is expected to continue to hit leadoff against right-handed starters while Kiké Hernández is on the IL with a right hamstring strain.

He said leading off doesn’t change his approach.

“Nowadays, you see different types of players leading off,” Gonzalez said Monday. “So it’s not like it used to be. I don’t think different. I just try to get on base.”

Gonzalez is batting only .228 with a .331 on-base percentage, .327 , one homer, seven doubles, nine RBIs and 13 runs in 29 games (101 at-bats).

“Offensively, there’s more,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We know that. It’s one of those where you look at the numbers and you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s quote unquote struggling.’ But if you just see the game, you’re like, ‘No, he’s putting good at-bats, working counts, grinding at-bats. He’s been solid.’ When we talk about him in the offseason, it was something that I kept telling Chaim (Bloom) and the front office that this guy can really help us. Because he’s versatile. He’s a grinder. He grinds. And I’m very happy he’s with us. And I’m very happy that he’s performing.”

Gonzalez said he’s been working hard every day in the .

“To get to the point that I can contribute to the team and actually feel good about myself and get the confidence,” Gonzalez said. “I think hitting is about confidence. ... It is hard when you’re getting quality at- bats and not getting the results. You get frustrated. You’re trying to change, try something different, and that’s when you get in the hole.”

Boston Red Sox lineup

1. Marwin Gonzalez 2B

2. CF

3. J.D. Martinez DH

4. Xander Bogaerts SS

5. Rafael Devers 3B

6. Christian Vázquez C

7. Hunter Renfroe RF

8. Franchy Cordero LF

9. Bobby Dalbec 1B

Pitching matchup: LHP Martín Pérez (0-2, 4.40) vs. RHP Jorge López (1-3, 6.49)

Danny Santana to continue Boston Red Sox rehab in Worcester; expected to play in WooSox’s home Tuesday

Christopher Smith

BALTIMORE — Danny Santana’s rehab will continue in Worcester on Tuesday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before Boston’s game in Baltimore on Monday.

The WooSox will play their first game at Polar Park on Tuesday and Santana is expected in the lineup.

“He’s in Worcester now,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He’s doing protocol, the intake. ... He’s supposed to play Tuesday in Worcester.”

The 30-year-old went 4-for-10 with a homer and double, two RBIs and two runs in a rehab assignment this past week for High-A Greenville.

Santana, who belted 28 home runs for the in 2019, spent time in the hospital during spring training because of a foot infection. He also underwent an ulnar collateral ligament repair and augmentation procedure last September (per MLB.com).

He signed a minor league with Boston in March. He likely will be added to Boston’s active 26-man roster whenever he’s ready.

He has played every position except for catcher during his major league career.

Santana batted .283 with a .324 on-base percentage, .534 slugging percentage, .857 OPS, 28 home runs, 23 doubles, six triples, 81 RBIs, 81 runs and 21 steals in 130 games (511 plate appearances) for the Rangers in 2019. That year was an outlier in his career, especially in terms of power. He has a .260/.299/.418/.717 slash line in 509 major league games in seven seasons (2014-20). He has played for the Twins, Braves and Rangers.

Brasier throws bullpen

Ryan Brasier threw a bullpen session this past week, Cora said.

“It was a good one,” Cora said. “I think it was a 20, 25 pitch bullpen. And he was pretty solid.”

There are no plans yet to send him out on a rehab assignment yet.

Brasier strained his calf late in spring training. He dealt with a right pinkie fracture this past offseason. He also was behind in spring training after leaving camp for a personal reason in February.

* The Worcester Telegram

Polar Park is decked out and ready to go

Bill Ballou

WORCESTER — For the most part, baseball has reduced bunting to a museum piece, on display behind glass along with a pair of Ty Cobb’s sharpened spikes and one of Burleigh Grimes’ discolored .

It is back, though, and a part of modern baseball history.

Workers were hanging it — the traditional red, white and blue variety — from the bottom of the second level of Polar Park on Monday, and baseball only brings out that kind of bunting for very special events.

Think World Series. Think All-Star Game. In this case, think Opening Day.

The are scheduled to play their first home game ever at 3:05 on Tuesday afternoon. That is the time for the official first pitch. Some ceremonial ones will come a bit before that as part of inaugural ceremonies that start at 2 p.m.

As Polar Park was being tidied up for its first game on Monday, WooSox chairman looked down at the field from just outside his second-level box, right above the “Window World” sign.

“This is where I plan to spend most of my time this season,” he said, just as his phone rang.

The Worcester Red Sox will open Polar Park, the new home of their Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, on Tuesday. It was a question about the placement of a sign. Should it stay where it is, or should it be moved?

“I’m hoping I can enjoy tomorrow,” Lucchino said, “and not worry about fixing things.”

Opening Day has been a tortuous journey for the WooSox.

“This is probably the hardest project I’ve done,” Lucchino said, “when you consider COVID and all the multiple parties involved.”

Because of COVID, this will be a more limited Opening Day than planned. At some point, assuming society fully reopens, there will be another Opening Day — Opening Day 2.0 — at Polar Park. Tuesday’s mandated capacity will be 2,377. The WooSox hope to be able to reach the official capacity of 9,508 before the season is over.

Lucchino estimated the ballpark was about 80 to 85% done. The playing field is 100% ready and a jewel. Virtually all the player-related facilities are finished as well.

“Either the ballpark will be finished this year, or I’ll be finished,” Lucchino said.

As the grounds crew tamped down the dirt area around home plate, workers rolled paint onto unfinished walls and uncoiled wire below the ceiling. Team president Charles Steinberg worked feverishly in his private box overlooking the first-base line, barely having time to watch the outfield grass being mowed.

“Really, the ballpark won't be finished until the end of next year,” he said. “When Camden Yards in Baltimore opened, it got rave reviews and we had passed out surveys to get fan reaction and suggestions for improvements. We got so many responses we had to do a Camden Yards upgrade in the second half of the season.

“So, there will be imperfections (on Tuesday).”

If Fenway Park is an example, Polar Park will continue to evolve as well. Fenway opened in 1912 and is still a work in progress, much of that work inspired by Lucchino and architect Janet Marie Smith, a major player in the design of Polar Park.

She was among the workers at Polar Park on Monday doing some last-minute detail work.

Steinberg is in charge of the Opening Day ceremonies and they will include a long list of baseball and political dignitaries. Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr., Mayor Joseph M. Petty and the City Council are all expected to attend.

There will be several ceremonial first pitches involving baseball people. The WooSox have invited many significant ex-players with Red Sox connections spanning the seasons all the way back to the 1967 Impossible Dream team. Former Boston manager , the all-time winningest skipper in Red Sox Triple-A history, is slated to attend as well.

At least one Hall of Fame pitcher is scheduled to be on hand for a first pitch and there is talk that baseball great Joe Torre will be at Polar Park for the opener.

The National Anthem? Don’t expect Neil Diamond, at least not yet. The Opening Day singer will be regional as well as national, the kind of entertainer who has made the drive from Stockbridge to Boston more than once, often through snow or fire and rain.

There will be between-innings recognitions as well, particularly for the city’s police and fire departments. Donna Zabinski, widow of Gene Zabinski who authored the postcard campaign to help bring the WooSox here from Pawtucket, will also be recognized.

The baseball part of the afternoon looks like this:

The WooSox are playing the . Worcester is 2-4, fourth in the division. Syracuse 1-5, tied for sixth. Raynel Espinal is scheduled to start for Worcester. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in one previous appearance this year. The Mets starter was undetermined as of Monday.

This will be the first professional game played in Worcester since the of the Can-Am League lost to Rockland, 7-4, on Aug. 29, 2012. It will be the first Affiliated League game here since Sept. 20, 1934 when the Worcester Rosebuds lost to the Lowell Honeys, 3-2.

The Rosebuds were in an affiliated league but were not an affiliated team. The last game played here by an affiliated team was on Sept. 19, 1925 when the Worcester Panthers — owned by the Boston Braves and managed by Casey Stengel — beat the Waterbury Brasscos.

No doubt there was a lot of bunting in that game, just not the red, white and blue kind.

Happy Opening Day, Worcester!

Larry Lucchino and Charles Steinberg

We write to thank you all – Worcester, Central Mass. and WooSox Nation – and to celebrate with you this historic date when the Worcester Red Sox make their official hometown debut in beautiful new Polar Park.

Opening Day is typically a joyous time, full of hope. This one, however, is perhaps doubly so because it’s the debut of a ballclub and a ballpark. We would not call the journey up 146 to the Canal District a smooth ride.

The obstacles since announcing in 2018 that we were choosing Worcester have tested us: navigating a fraught relocation road; dealing with interstate politics and arduous working conditions; tense negotiations; collaborating with multiple partners and builders; fussing over dozens and dozens of design details; sweating robust financial pressures; and most of all, powering toward today through a 13-month (and still counting) pandemic, which has included so much sadness worldwide, and for our project, a seven week construction stoppage.

Yet these challenges have been softened by your constant demonstration of excitement, and by the warmth with which you have welcomed us.

We promised you a “nice little year-round ballpark,” which would reflect Worcester’s proud architecture, rich history and particular tastes. And here it is, in all its red, white and lots of blue glory, with a gorgeous green diamond — all just a 10-minute stroll from City Hall.

We think it’s a handsome, intimate ballpark. Happily (and much relieved), we are not alone: Our players have described the playing field as “unbelievable.” The Boston Globe has called the ballpark “gorgeous” and Worcester’s own T&G has described it as “amazing,” “fabulous.” Other visitors have used the words “beautiful,” “inspiring,” and “a miracle.” Even some critics are impressed.

In 2017, we began considering Worcester for three main reasons:

1) this city’s business, university and political leaders had already dedicated a decade to making big investments in revitalizing downtown, which had boosted Worcester up the rankings of the best and most livable small cities in America;

2) “” was heavily populated with fans from the Worcester area, heirs to a remarkable baseball history that began before the Civil War, was home to a team in 1880-82, and supported youth baseball, factory baseball and right into the 21st Century, nurturing everyone from our Little Leaguers who went to Williamsport to our Hall of Famers who went to Cooperstown; and

3) You made us feel wanted and welcome!

If anything, we underestimated the enthusiasm of the area’s baseball fans who embraced the idea of a Triple-A team when it was only a rumor. Those 10,000 postcards are mythic. Twenty-one “fan planning” sessions from 2018 to 2020 generated 877 ideas, so many of them incorporated in what is now truly your ballpark.

Elected officials from the Commonwealth and the city have shown their leadership and loyalty time and again. The mayor and city councilors have engaged in substantial dialogue with us, bringing forth the ideas of thousands of constituents. Exceptional City Manager Ed Augustus and his staff have proven sharp- minded, reliable and hard-working partners.

The contractors and their skillful subs have toiled with pride and craftsmanship worthy of Worcester’s continuing commitment to innovation. The business community – unified, organized, and galvanized – has shown support and commitment second to none. And Massachusetts has delivered on a vastly improved Kelley Square.

In our long careers in baseball, we have heard many politicians and business people preach and practice “public-private partnerships to promote urban development.” This city’s leaders have delivered a master class. They have turned “Worcester Pride” into steel, turf and a mixed-use neighborhood re-development that will enrich the local economy and quality of life here for years to come.

Our goal has always been a win-win-win for the ballclub, the city and the Boston Red Sox. Yes, our team needed a new, sustainable home; but we also believed that a downtown ballpark would contribute to – maybe even accelerate – the Worcester Renaissance. So far so good.

Our only regret today is that our dream of 9,508 fans on their feet cheering their own Red Sox team remains on hold, due to COVID crowd restrictions. As today’s lucky ticket holders will notice, the ballpark remains a work in progress.

We promise more features to come, with an escalation of successive celebrations. We look forward to an Opening Day 2.0 this summer, and summertime arrivals of the Berm, the Duck Boat, and the Diner. We so look forward to having full houses – and celebrating “COVID Independence.”

Meanwhile, “Worcester” has returned to the national baseball conversation. The name of this proud city, the second largest in New England, will now be on the lips of announcers in 150 cities across America and other baseball crazy nations.

WooSox ’21 has finally arrived. Polar Park has finally arrived. The fun has just begun – rooting for your team in your ballpark in your city. Now, our city. You have welcomed us, and we thank you.

Now, at last, it is our turn to say to you...

“Welcome home!”

Larry Lucchino is the principal owner and chairman of the Worcester Red Sox; Dr. Charles Steinberg is the president.

* The Portland Press Herald

Red Sox bucking the trend in a year of light hitting

Tom Caron

They say hitting is contagious. If that’s the case, much of Major League Baseball has been immune in the 2021 season.

Through Sunday’s game, the major league batting average was just .234. There are a plethora of reasons behind the lack of offense. For years now players have been rewarded for power. Low batting averages and high strikeouts were the price players paid for home run totals and slugging percentages that lead to big paydays.

This year, power is down along with averages. Pitching is king. There have been four no-hitters already this season, the most through the first week of May in more than 100 years. And that doesn’t include Madison Bumgarner’s faux-hitter in a seven-inning game.

Red Sox Manager Alex Cora, a lifetime .243 hitter, has watched hitters fall behind pitchers over the first six weeks of the season.

“I hate to say this is what it is, but it looks that way,” Cora said over the weekend. “I don’t think it’s like the last few years when guys were hitting .210 and hitting 40 (homers.) I don’t see that happening, either.”

The 2021 Red Sox are trying to buck that trend. They lead the major leagues in batting average, slugging percentage and runs.

On Thursday the Sox scored 12 runs without hitting a homer, just the third time the team has ever done that. Eight of those hits were up the middle or to the opposite field, a sure sign that Sox hitters aren’t taking an all-or-nothing approach at the plate.

“We’ve been very disciplined,” Cora said over the weekend. “We understand who we are and we understand we’re going to hit the ball in the air and we can hit home runs. But, at the same time, we’ve been talking about it since spring training – put the ball in play in certain situations. And we’ve been doing a good job.”

That’s exactly what Rafael Devers did Sunday afternoon in Baltimore. Down by a run with the bases loaded in the sixth, Devers took two mighty hacks and missed each time. But with two strikes he was determined to put the ball in play. He managed to flick off a nasty pitch to stay alive, and then drove a ball to the wall for a two-run double.

The Red Sox had the lead, and soon had their major-league leading 22nd win.

“I think the line drives the other way help him out,” said Cora after the game. “He looks like he’s balanced now. He’s not trying to do too much. When he does that he’s in a good spot. Actually, his swing reminds me a lot of what he did in spring training. I told him the other day, ‘Don’t change a thing.’ He’s putting the ball in play with two strikes. There’s not too many swings and misses, and when he makes contact it’s loud contact.”

The Red Sox bats have been making noise all season. They will hit the quarter pole of this season this Friday at Fenway. It’s been a surprising start to the season.

Actually, not everyone is surprised.

“We believe in this clubhouse,” Devers said after Sunday’s win. “We believe in each other. We knew we were a good team.”

Red Sox Farm Report: Early on, it’s been a mixed bag for top prospects

Kevin Thomas

The sample sizes are so small that we can get caught up in the statistics, whether they be gaudy or gawdawful.

Prized pitching prospect looked lost in his advanced opener.

Jarren Duran began his time in Triple-A going 0 for 11.

And, here in Portland, No. 1 slugging prospect is batting .167 (3 for 18) with no extra-base hits and eight strikeouts.

“Triston is going to be all right,” Manager Corey Wimberly said. “It’s only one week of baseball.”

Also, realize this is only Casas’ second full baseball season out of high school, and he is in Double-A. He turned 21 in January.

Casas had not drawn a walk until his last two plate appearances on Sunday, the first an eight-pitch effort that began the Sea Dogs’ six-run rally in the eighth inning. Casas batted again in the inning and, again, walked.

“Those last two at-bats – the way he battled – that’s how it starts,” Wimberly said.

In Casas’ only other pro season, he got off to a slow start, batting .208 with two home runs in his first month in low Class A, in 2019. The next month, Casas batted .315 with eight home runs.

As for those other guys, Duran turned it around quickly, going 6 for 9 in his next two games, with a home run.

On Sunday, Duran went 0 for 3, but he can still make things happen with his speed. Duran walked in the sixth inning. He went from first to -third on a ground-ball single to left field, and scored when the ’s throw to third was errant.

Groome, 22, is the 2016 first-round draft pick looking for his first injury-free season. The left-hander is scheduled to make his second start Tuesday, hoping to rebound from last week’s two-inning, five-run effort.

Pitching for the (now Boston’s advanced A affiliate), Groome loaded the bases in the first inning on two singles and a walk. With one out, he hit a batter and walked another. In the second inning, he allowed four more hits and a walk.

IN WORCESTER, while Duran begins to heat up, one surprise in Triple-A has been Marcus Wilson, who is batting .278 with a .936 OPS, including a triple and a home run. Yes, it is early, but Wilson had not demonstrated much success above Class A ball.

Wilson, 24, who was obtained in the deal with Arizona, is in his second year on the Red Sox 40-man roster. He batted .223 in 62 games with Portland in 2019 and did not see much playing time at the alternate training site last year.

But Boston has believed in Wilson’s potential. Maybe it will pay off.

The Red Sox also like utility player Yairo Munez, who was scooped up by Boston last year after being released by the Cardinals. Munez hit .333 for the Red Sox in 12 games in 2020, but was removed from the 40-man roster after the season and sent to Triple-A. In his first five games with Worcester, Munez is batting .381, while playing solely at third base.

IN GREENVILLE, third baseman Brandon Howlett is off to a nice start: .313 with a double and a home run. Howlett, 21, was drafted out of high school in 2018 (giving up a scholarship to Florida State) and has been pushed through the system, although he struggled in low A in 2019 (.231/.698 OPS).

Greenville’s lineup had major league utility player Danny Santana last week, on a rehab from Tommy John surgery, as well as a foot infection suffered during spring training. Santana, who hit 28 home runs for the Texas Rangers in 2019, was signed to a minor league contract in March.

In Greenville, Santana hit .400 in three games with a double and home run. He will continue his rehab this week in Worcester.

SALEM FEATURES two of Boston’s bright, young prospects, in Gilberto Jimenez, 20, and last year’s first-round draft pick, , 19. Jimenez continues to draw praise for his continued development. He is batting .308 with two doubles and is 3 for 3 in attempts. Yorke is adjusting to the pros, batting .200 with a double and two stolen bases.

Compared to those two kids, first baseman Nick Scott is an old man on the Salem roster, turning 24 this month. Scott may not be long in low A ball if he keeps up his torrid start. Scott, a 10th-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2019, is batting .462 with three home runs, seven walks and one strikeout.

BACK IN GREENVILLE, the Drive gave away Mookie Betts bobblehead dolls to the first 500 fans to a game last week, adding this disclaimer on Twitter: “Yes, we know he’s with the Dodgers now, but we ordered these pre-trade and pre-pandemic, so cut us some slack.”

New Hampshire’s wild pitching hands Sea Dogs a 12-6 win Portland draws eight walks in the eighth inning and wins its fifth straight.

Pitcher Kutter Crawford sharp in return as Sea Dogs win, 5-1 Kutter Crawford, in his first game since Tommy John surgery, pitches four scoreless innings to pace Portland to its fourth straight victory.

Home runs propel Sea Dogs to 9-4 victory over Fisher Cats Veterans Johan Mieses and Jake Lopez each homer as Portland wins its third straight at Hadlock Field.

* RedSox.com

Pérez lacks run support, despite Sox's stats

Jordan Horrobin

The Red Sox have the most wins in the Majors. Martín Pérez doesn’t have any of them, but he probably should.

With five innings of one-run ball on Monday, Pérez earned a no-decision in a 4-1 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards.

The loss prevented the Red Sox (22-14) from clinching the four-game sweep, and it was the first time in 10 games between these teams in 2021 that the home team got the win.

“Everything was good tonight,” Pérez said regarding his stuff. “It feels good when you have this kind of outing.”

Including Monday's outing, Pérez -- Boston’s fifth starter -- has quietly strung together three solid starts (2.20 ERA in 16 1/3 innings over that span), but he has nothing to show for it in the win column. That’s because the Red Sox's league-best offense has struggled whenever he takes the mound.

The Red Sox entered the night leading the Majors in runs scored, batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and extra-base hits. But in Pérez’s seven starts, they’ve averaged just 3.4 runs per game, compared to 5.7 runs per game for everybody else. Pérez has a 4.01 ERA this year, but he also has four starts of five- plus innings and three or fewer runs allowed. And yet, no wins.

On Monday night, Pérez found himself in a bit of an unlikely pitchers' duel with Baltimore’s Jorge López, who was stung for seven runs in four innings when he faced Boston on April 11.

Pérez's only blemish came on the first pitch of the second inning, when he grooved a cutter into an inviting spot for Orioles Ryan Mountcastle. The inning could’ve gotten worse, as two of the next three hitters reached safely, but Pérez struck out and Ryan McKenna to avoid further damage.

Boston evened the score at 1-1 two innings later thanks to a sac fly from Rafael Devers. After a clean fifth inning, Pérez sat at 74 pitches, poised to return to the mound. But Red Sox manager Alex Cora went in a different direction.

With a slew of right-handers due up -- including Mountcastle -- Cora removed the left-handed Pérez in favor of righty reliever Matt Andriese. Trey Mancini was the first batter he faced, and Mancini greeted Andriese with the decisive solo shot.

Pérez has maxed out at 92 pitches this season, and he has yet to complete six innings. Physically, he felt “good” after five, but he said he “respects the decision” made by Cora.

“Sometimes you wanna go long in the game,” Pérez said, “but that’s not the manager’s plan.”

Part of Cora’s plan was an intentional avoidance of lefty/righty matchups. Part of it was that Andriese, who hadn’t thrown since earning the win Thursday, was ready to provide length from the bullpen. And another part was that Pérez had been given an opportunity to go deeper in his last start, but that opportunity backfired.

“We left him in against a righty and we got burned,” Cora said, referencing the two-run double Pérez allowed in the sixth inning of his previous start against the Tigers on Wednesday. “Today, we felt like five innings was perfect.”

With a nine-man bullpen and a supercharged offense, the Red Sox can typically survive on a diet of five- inning starts. They’ve received five-plus innings in 13 of their past 14 starts, and their place atop the standings speaks for itself.

But Monday’s game offered anecdotal evidence to the contrary. Maybe Cora should’ve left Pérez in, maybe not. The point is, the Red Sox have a plan and they’re sticking to it.

“When we got to the eighth inning, they’d only scored two runs,” Cora said of the Orioles. “That’s the name of the game: Avoid runs and score runs. And today we didn’t score runs. But as far as the usage and all that, I don’t think that’s an issue right now. We manage the game as a group and we had a plan."

Gonzalez's adaptability key to utility role

Jordan Horrobin

Marwin Gonzalez is comfortable with his carousel of defensive assignments, but he joked Monday that it does inspire one inconvenience.

“It just affects me during the game if I change [positions] because I have to run super fast to get my glove inside and move,” Gonzalez said. “Other than that, it’s good.”

In 29 games entering Monday, Gonzalez has already made three or more starts at five spots: first base, second base, third base, shortstop and left field -- plus one start in right. The concept of playing everywhere -- and not exactly establishing himself anywhere -- is something Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought up over the winter while Gonzalez was mulling his free-agent options.

“I was like, ‘Hey, this is the scenario. You’re gonna play almost every day, but you’re gonna be kind of the backup guy,’” Cora said. “We’ll find [him] at-bats all over the place, and he’s good with that.”

Gonzalez’s malleability in the lineup is particularly important in a time like this, when primary second basemen Christian Arroyo and Kiké Hernández are both on the 10-day injured list for at least the next week. Monday marked Gonzalez’s fourth start at second in the past five games, though and recent callup Jonathan Araúz both figure to be candidates at that spot as well.

Moving forward, Gonzalez will likely take the lead, though. And he’s also the de facto leadoff hitter for the time being, which Cora said he’s comfortable with -- despite what Gonzalez’s numbers show so far.

“He will work the count, he will put [together] good at-bats,” Cora said of Gonzalez, who has a .657 OPS and more strikeouts (24) than hits (23). “I do believe -- and maybe he doesn’t agree with me -- just putting him up there, forget about hits. Just get on base somehow, some way. It’s a good way to get people going.”

Fenway capacity increases

As per a late-April announcement from Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, large capacity venues in the state -- including Fenway Park -- are permitted to increase capacity to 25%, effective Monday.

The Red Sox are still on the road, of course, but they’ll host the Athletics on Tuesday, and roughly 9,400 fans will be allowed inside the ballpark to watch. Given that games at Fenway have been limited to a 12% capacity so far, the increase should provide a noticeable boost to the energy and atmosphere.

“To be honest with you, when we came from Texas to play the Tigers [at home], I was worried that first inning,” Cora said, referencing last week's series against Detroit. “It felt like, I don’t know, a Spring Training game with no fans. Nothing against the people that showed up, but it’s that big of a difference.

“Obviously [we're] looking forward to a packed house, whenever it is. I think it’s gonna be fun. But to have more tomorrow, it's gonna mean a lot to all of us.”

Odds and ends

• Right-hander Tanner Houck, Boston's No. 6 prospect, is “feeling better” and receiving treatment for his sore right flexor muscle, Cora said. Houck was forced out of his start with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday, but Cora emphasized that the issue is not expected to be major.

“When things like this happen, you’ve got to be smart about it and take your time,” Cora said. “But as a whole, the training staff and everybody I’ve talked to, they feel very comfortable that this is just something short term. So, he’ll be OK.”

• Ryan Brasier (60-day IL, strained calf) threw a bullpen session on Saturday that was “really good,” according to Cora. Brasier threw in the range of 20-25 pitches. It’s still too early to tell when he’ll take part in a Minor League assignment.

• Utility man Danny Santana, who had a right foot infection during Spring Training, is doing intake protocol in Worcester. He is expected to play on Tuesday afternoon against Syracuse.

* WEEI.com

Absolutely bizarre triple helps end Red Sox' win streak

Rob Bradford

It seemed like it was all set up for a Red Sox' comeback. But strange things happen. In this case, the strangest.

With the Orioles clinging to a one-run lead in the eighth inning, Cedric Mullins led off the frame against Red Sox reliever Matt Andriese. What happened next was a combination of bad luck for the visitors, and really good for Baltimore.

Two batters later, with the Red Sox' infield forced in, Trey Mancini's single made it a two-run game, with the Orioles adding another later in the frame on a sacrifice fly from Freddy Galvis.

When it was all said and done, the Red Sox left Camden Yards with a 4-1 loss, just narrowly missing out of the four-game series sweep.

"It was a fluke play," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose team saw its four-game win streak snapped. "I believe everybody reacted the right way. It’s kind of like that play we talked the other day in New York and the Astros. Good heads up play by their guy. Christian (Vazquez) was just there. I don’t think he was late, the guy was safe, just a flukey play."

Andriese took the loss, having come in for starter Martin Perez to kick off the sixth inning. He was immediately greeted with the eventual game-winning homer from Mancini.

The good news for the Red Sox was that Perez kept the string of solid Red Sox' starts intact, going five strong innings in which he only allowed one run (a solo homer from Ryan Mountcastle in the second inning).

Perez now has a 2.20 ERA over his last three starts.

But this time, the lefty wasn't allowed to see if he could pick up his first win of the season, with Cora bringing in Andriese after Perez had thrown just 74 pitches. The decision was based on the flurry of right- handers at the top of the Orioles' lineup.

Also, with the decision to leave Perez in against Detroit -- resulting in a game-turning double -- fresh in Cora's mind, the move was made.

"We like the guy," the manager said of Perez. "He had good stuff, good changeup. Just today we were set up with Matt to go multiple innings, he did a good job for five and we pushed Matt for three innings and that was good too. Just a flukey play at the end that happened. When we got to the eighth inning they had only scored two runs so that's the name of the game, avoid runs and score runs and today we didn’t score runs. As far as the usage, and all that I don’t think that’s an issue. We managed the game as a group and we had a plan against Detroit we left him in against a righty and today we felt like five innings was perfect."

This Red Sox starting rotation can actually work

Rob Bradford

What has truly allowed for the buy-in when it comes to these Red Sox?

Sure, when you have the best record in baseball on May 10, that will certainly help the cause. And knowing there is the fail-safe of MLB's most potent heart of the order -- Alex Verdugo, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers -- is certainly a pretty good selling point.

But the underlying bit of optimism that truly might be the difference-maker is this starting rotation. Put it the way: When you have five starters who represent a legitimate chance to win each time they take the mound, that is the kind of gold a fan base is always starved for.

What once was the Red Sox' biggest question mark is now their foundation.

These starters -- Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, , and Martin Perez -- have more wins than any other starting rotation in Major League Baseball (16), nine more than the be-all, end-all collection of Padres starters. They have also allowed the fewest homers of any rotation in MLB.

It's the same recipe used in jumping out to that start in 2018, when the Red Sox sat at 26-11 on May 10. That starting rotation claimed 17 of those wins. But, with the likes of , Rick Porcello, , Eduardo Rodriguez and even Drew Pomeranz, there was certainly somewhat of an expectation that it would be trending that way.

This group? There were no expectations. Only uncertainty.

Not anymore.

The latest reminder? Nick Pivetta.

The waiting, waiting, and waiting for the righty's reality to turn into a wave of "I-told-you-sos" from those watching him in Philadelphia has turned. Now it's an expectation instead of a hold-your-breath anticipation.

Pivetta proclaimed after dropping his ERA to 3.19 and batting average against to .190 with his six-inning, two-run outing against the Orioles that this was the best he has ever pitched. And that's why it this whole ball of wax is working - the Red Sox are getting the best versions of some pitchers who are making the backs of their baseball cards look like hieroglyphics.

Has it been the kind of lock-down, no-doubt-about-it images the best starting rotations usually carry? Nope. Pivetta, for example, has two fewer walks (22) than hits allowed. Richards has been markedly better, but still carries around the uncertainty from his initial introduction. Perez, Eovaldi and Rodriguez have all certainly exhibited a lot more good than bad, but still hasn't completely shaken off some question marks.

That's OK.

While we wait for whatever Sale's 2021 season might look like, or figure out if Tanner Houck -- who has been shut down due to a sore flexor muscle -- can continue to viewed as a perfect fail-safe, this is plenty good enough.

"I mean you have ERod goes out and grind. It was great to watch him pitch. You have GRich go out and throw seven innings. I want to do better than GRich. I want to do better than every other starter on this staff," Pivetta said. "I want every other starter to do better than I do. I want us to build off each other. I want us to motivate each other to do really great things. I think that's what it is. I get motivated by the guys who are here with me. That's who I compete against the most. I'm competing against those guys. Once I compete against them, they compete against me and good things happen. That's awesome. I love what they're doing. I love how they're going about our business. I think everyone has point we all need to get better at. We still have a long season to go ahead, but I think we're a really good position right now."

Jarren Duran adds to his hype video with a race around the bases

Rob Bradford

Remember when Jarren Duran started this season going 0-for-11 with six strikeouts? We didn't think so.

The Duran hype train is alive and well thanks to the outfielder's resurgence over the weekend, with the Worcester Red Sox outfielder notching back-to-back three-hit games Friday and Saturday before allowing for another notable moment Sunday.

There is no expectation that the Red Sox are going to call upon Duran any time soon, but the outfielder is holding up his end of the bargain. The 24-year-old's career momentum continues trending in the right direction.

* NBC Sports Boston

First-place Red Sox striking a more defiant tone

John Tomase

The Red Sox started the season with an "Aww, shucks," demeanor after winning nine straight games to establish themselves as a legitimate problem in the American League East.

One month later, as owners of the best record in baseball, their personality is morphing into something more along the lines of, "Still don't believe in us? Bleep you."

If they continue to play at this 22-13 pace, they'll win 102 games. From the little team that could, they are very quickly morphing into a locomotive, and they don't mind who knows it.

"I know the people say we're not going to be good this year, and I'm sorry at the word I'm going to say, but we're (bleeping) good," said left-hander Martin Perez recently.

"We believe in each other as a team," said third baseman Rafael Devers after homering in a win over the Orioles on Sunday. "It's you guys that don't believe in us."

"The atmosphere is loose," added unbeaten starter Nick Pivetta. "The guys are having the time of their lives. We've got a good thing going here."

The Red Sox have earned the right to start playing the "nobody believed in us" card, because even those who acknowledged they might be "sneaky good" assumed that meant a ceiling of about 85 wins, not 102. But as we approach the magic 40-game mark that most teams wait to hit before deciding what's real and what needs fixing, the Red Sox are playing like a club that doesn't intend to go anywhere all summer.

If it feels like they've been in every game, that's because they basically have. They've been blown out exactly twice -- an 11-3 loss to the Orioles to complete a season-opening sweep that had us believing the sky was falling, and a noncompetitive 8-2 loss to the Mariners three weeks later. Otherwise, they've given themselves a chance in every game.

That's not easy to do over the course of 162, especially on those nights when you clearly don't have it and can just as easily pack it in for tomorrow. The Red Sox could've surrendered to Mets Jacob deGrom two weeks ago, for instance, especially coming off a 2-1 victory that had already guaranteed them a series split on the road.

Instead, they squeezed out one run when catcher Christian Vazquez rifled a 100 mph the other way, and Pivetta and the bullpen made it stand in a 1-0 victory.

"Everybody is ready to play every day," Pivetta said. "We have a great rhythm going on. We're never out of baseball games, as you've heard me say 100 times ... We're just never out of it."

The Red Sox are starting to feel like one of those teams we perpetually assume will fall back to earth, but instead remains in orbit until October. They're the kind of team that can bench Franchy Cordero after a 1- for-34 , be forced to play him in an emergency when a starter is injured, and then watch him record three hits and a game-saving catch in a win over the Tigers.

Nick Pivetta continues to be an absolute steal for Red Sox They're about to be legitimately tested without regulars Kiké Hernández and Christian Arroyo, who just hit the injured list with hamstring and hand injuries, respectively. Michael Chavis stepped in at second base on Saturday and promptly launched a two-run homer. Will anyone be surprised if reserve Jonathan Arauz finds a way to contribute to a win sooner than later?

That's just the kind of roll the Red Sox are on right now. They're good and they know it and if you don't want to believe in them, that's your call, but understand this: that train is leaving the station.

* BostonSportsJournal.com

BSJ Live Coverage: Orioles 4, Red Sox 1 (8th)

Sean McAdam

WHO: Red Sox (22-13) vs. Baltimore Orioles (13-19) WHEN: 7:05 p.m. WHERE: at Camden Yards SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 3-0 SEASON SERIES TO DATE: Red Sox 6-3 STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Martin Perez (0-2., 4.40) vs. RHP Jorge Lopez (1-3, 6.49) TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM, 93.7 FM

LINEUPS

RED SOX

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

ORIOLES

Mullins CF Hays LF Mancini 1B Mountcastle DH Severino C Galvis 2B Franco 3B Valaika 2B McKenna RF

IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:

B8: With runners on the corners, the Red Sox bring the infield in, but Mancini foils the strategy, driving a single just to the right of second base, scoring Mullins. That’s it for Andriese, Phillips Valdez on.

B8: What a bizarre play — with the Sox shifting on Cedric Mullins, Xander Bogaerts has to run halfway across the infield to track down a shallow popup in left. He can’t hold on and by the time he recovers, Mullins slides in safely with a leadoff “triple.”

B6: The move backfires four pitches in when Trey Mancini clubs a out to center off Andriese.

B6: Strange call by Cora, lifting Martin Perez after just 74 pitches and five innings. Matt Andriese on.

T5: With a baserunner at third base and one out, Bobby Dalbec fails to drive home Renfroe from third, striking out.

T4: Sox pull even on a single by Martinez, a hit batsman (Xander Bogaerts), a wild pitch, and ultimately, a sacrifice fly from Rafael Devers.

T3: In sharp contrast to the long inning for Perez, Lopez sets down the Red Sox in order — and needs just six pitches to get the three outs.

B2:Martin Perez ultimately gets out of trouble, allowing just the one run. But the Orioles make him him work, too, with 26 pitches necessary to complete the inning.

B2: Ryan Mountcastle jumps on a cutter out over the middle of the plate for a long blast to left.

T2: Jorge Lopez is challenging Red Sox hitters to hit his four-seamer — hitting 97 mph — and early in the game, they’ve been unable to do much with it. Sox have hit two balls very hard against him — a two-out single by J.D. Martinez in the first inning and a hard lineout to short by Hunter Renfroe — but both of those have come on off-speed pitches.

PRE-GAME STATS: The Red Sox own MLB’s best record at 22-13 (629)…Since getting swept by the Orioles in the first series of the year, they are 22-10 (.688) in games and 6-1-3 in series….The Sox have won five of their last six games, including each of their last four…The Sox are a season-high nine games above .500…Their +36 run differential is second in MLB….On the road, the Sox are an MLB-best 12-4 (.750)….They also have the fifth-best road ERA at 3.34….In the last six games, the Sox have scored 49 runs, averaging just over eight per game…They scored 11 ore more runs in three of those six and and at least five runs five times….The Red Sox lead the majors in runs (187), batting average (.267), slugging percentage (.445), OPS (.778), doubles (78), and extra-base hits (124)…The Sox have 16 HR in their last nine games…Xander Bogaerts has seven HR in his last 18 games, tied for most in the MLB in that time. Bogaerts leads MLB in hits (45) and ranks fifth in AVG (.349)…In May, he is 13-for-32 (.406) with three homers. Bogaerts leads MLB in batting average (.349), OBP (.396), slugging percentage (.589), OPS (.985), doubles (tied, 10), and extra-base hits (17)…No other SS has an OPS of at least .900...J.D. Martinez (31) and Rafael Devers (28) rank first and second in the majors in RBI…Martinez also leads the majors in total bases (82) and is tied for the lead in home runs (10) and runs (30)…He ranks 2nd in MLB in slugging (.651), OPS (1.075), and hits (tied, 42), and third in OBP (.425) and extra-base hits (20)….The Sox are 15-for-19 in stolen base attempts (78.9%)…Christian Vázquez (4-for-4) and Alex Verdugo (3-for- 3) lead the club in steals….Hunter Renfroe leads the Red Sox with nine RBI in May. In 8 games this month, he is 11-for-35 (.314) with three HR….Marwin Gonzalez has hit safely in each of his last seven games, going 10-for-31 (.323) with four doubles. Christian Vázquez is 10-for-22 (.455) with 7 RBI during his six-game hitting streak. In his last three games, Bobby Dalbec is 4-for-12 with five RBI….The visiting team has won each of the last 10 meetings between the Red Sox and Orioles, including all nine this season…The have received five or more innings from their starters in 13 of the last 14 games…Sox starters have thrown five or more innings in 28 games, the third-most in the majors behind the Dodgers (30) and A”s (29)…Matt Barnes has recorded 11 perfect appearances of at least one inning…He has struck out 48.4% of batters faced this season (30 of 62) and has not allowed a run in his last seven outings (6.2 IP). Barnes is 8-for-8 in save opportunities…In those eight games, he has allowed 0 runs and held opponents to a .038 AVG (1-for-26) with 13 SO and one BB….Since taking over the closer role August, Barnes leads the AL with 17 saves, second-most in the majors behind Mark Melancon (18).

NOTES:

Danny Santana (foot infection), who had been on a rehab assignment at High A Greenville, has joined Triple A Worcester and is going through the protocol and is expected to be eligible and available for Tuesday’s home opener at Polar Park.

Ryan Brasier (calf muscle) threw a bullpen in extended spring training Saturday and has begun a regular throwing program. It was a 25-pitch sessions, and according to Alex Cora “was pretty solid.”

Tanner Houck is undergoing treatment as he deals with a sore flexor muscle in his right arm. “He’s feeling better,” said Cora. “We’ve just got to make sure he’s where he’s supposed to be. He’s very important to this organization — not only for this year, but for the future. When things like this happen, you’ve got to be smart about it and take your time. But as a whole, the training staff and everybody I’ve talked to, they feel very comfortable that this is just something short-term, so he’ll be OK.”

Fenway Park will allow 25 percent capacity starting Tuesday, which will double the amount of fans allowed in the ballpark from around 4,500 to 9,000. Cora expects that to be a factor for the home team. “It’s going to feel different,” said Cora. ” To be honest with you: when we came from Texas (with crowds of 35,000) to (Fenway) to play the Tigers, I was worried the first inning. It felt like a spring training game with no fans. Nothing against the people who showed up, but it was that big of a difference. Looking forward to (more fans), obviously looking forward to a packed house, whenever that is. But to have more (Tuesday) is going to mean a lot to all of us.”

With both Kike Hernandez and Christian Arroyo on the IL, Marwin Gonzalez is the team’s leadoff hitter. “You see different type of hitters leading off, so it’s not like it used to be,” said Gonzalez. “I don’t think any differently (about it). I just try to get on base and keep working.”

BSJ Game Report: Orioles 4, Red Sox 1 – Sox’ bid for sweep of O’s falls short

Sean McAdam

All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox’ loss to the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:

HEADLINES

Move to lift Perez early backfires: Martin Perez had what was probably his best start of the season, limiting the Orioles to a single run over five innings, allowing just four hits and a walk with four strikeouts over the first five innings. With Perez at just 74 pitches after five, it seemed logical that he would come back out for at least one more inning. Instead, the Red Sox opted to go to the bullpen. The decision proved costly almost immediately when Matt Andriese, on his fourth pitch, hung a curveball to Trey Mancini, who belted it over the center field fence to snap a 1-1 tie. “We were set up with Andriese with all those righties and I felt that (five innings by Perez) was good enough today,” Cora said. “Against Detroit, we left (Perez) in against a righty (JaCoby Jones, who doubled) and we got burned. Today, we felt like five innings was perfect.”

Bats quieted: The Sox had one of their weaker offensive games of the season, with just four hits — their lowest total since the second game of the season. The lone run they scored was on a sacrifice fly and they were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. The best opportunity came in the fifth when Hunter Renfroe doubled to the wall in right to leadoff and took third on a groundout to the right side. But Bobby Dalbec fanned after getting ahead 3-and-0 and so did Marwin Gonzalez. Cora gave credit to Baltimore starter Jorge Lopez, who allowed one run on 5.2 innings. “He was amazing,” said Cora. But things didn’t get any better after he left, and the Red Sox didn’t have a single baserunner against four different relievers over the final 3.1 innings. It sure didn’t look like the same lineup that had averaged slightly more than eight runs over the previous six games.

TURNING POINT

A bizarre play to start the eighth inning helped open the door for two runs for the Orioles. Cedric Mullins popped up a pitch that would, under normal circumstances, have been a routine play for shortstop Xander Bogaerts. But with the Sox shifted around on the left-handed hitting Mullins, Bogaerts had to race over from the other side of the second base bag. He almost caught up with the pop-up, snagging it with the end of his glove. The ball then was bounced up in the air, but Bogaerts, his momentum carrying him, couldn’t corral it and the ball fell near the left field line. Mullins, racing from halfway up the first base line, turned on the jets as he rounded first and, noting that Rafael Devers had followed Bogaerts out into the outfield to retrieve the ball, bolted for third. Catcher Christian Vazquez raced to third to take a throw from Devers in left, but Mullins, diving headfirst, beat the throw. A walk, a single and a sacrifice fly later, the Orioles had two huge insurance runs.

ONE UP

J.D. Martinez: On a night in which the Boston offense was virtually non-existent, Martinez had half of the team’s four hits with singles in the first and fourth innings.

TWO DOWN

Franchy Cordero: Some were hoping that his three-hit game last Thursday against Detroit would represent the start of something at the plate, but it hasn’t happened. Cordero was 0-for-3 Monday night and 0-for-10 for the series.

Rafael Devers: Though Devers did produce the only run of the night on a sacrifice fly, he fanned three other times, including in the sixth, with a runner on third base.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“We didn’t have much too much today to offer.” Alex Cora, on his team being held to just four hits.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

The win by the Orioles represented the first time in 10 meetings between the teams this season in which the home team won.

Marwin Gonzalez saw his seven-game hitting streak come to an end.

The Red Sox allowed two solo homers, but remain the only team in the majors to not allow three homers in a game.

For the 14th time in the last 15 games, the Red Sox got at least five innings from their starting pitcher.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox return home for the start of a six-game homestand, with the Oakland A’s in at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday. The pitching matchup will feature RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.62) vs. RHP Chris Bassitt (2-2, 3.70)

Sudden lack of starting pitching depth hangs over Red Sox

Sean McAdam

While it’s easy to cherry-pick a few clunkers among the first 36 games, on the whole, it’s difficult to be critical of the Red Sox’ starting pitching.

Even Monday night, when the Red Sox saw their four-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, it was through little fault of starting pitcher Martin Perez, who allowed just one run over five innings. That left Sox starters with a 4.08 ERA, good for seventh in the American League, and if that number doesn’t completely impress you, then you weren’t paying attention to the Sox last year, when their rotation was arguably the worst in either league.

A more noteworthy stat on the rotation might be this one: the Sox went into Monday night second in the American League in innings from their starters, evidence that, in the vast majority of games, the Sox were being kept competitive by the starters. Again, this marks another stark contest to last year.

The Sox have also been fortunate that all five of their starters have taken every turn but one: Eduardo Rodriguez missed his scheduled Opening Day assignment because of some elbow inflammation he experienced at the back end of spring training, delaying by a week his return to the mound after missing all of 2020.

As the season is nearly one-fourth complete, the Sox have utilized just six starters — the current five-man rotation, plus two fill-in starts from Tanner Houck. Houck took Rodriguez’s missed turn in the first week, and was called upon to start half of a caused by rainout.

It’s a guarantee the Sox will need to use more than six starters over the long, demanding six-month regular season, though surely the hope is they’ll come nowhere near the 16 needed to get through just the 60-game schedule in 2020.

And here’s where things get a bit ominous for the Sox.

At the start of spring training, the team felt good about its starting pitching depth — and for good reason. At Triple-A, the Sox expected to have Houck, Bryan Mata and in reserve in Worcester. Houck had already demonstrated that he was capable of, at the very least, spot start duty, having won all three of his starts last September.

Mata and Seabold, less experienced and without having pitched above Double-A, were more projections. But the feeling was that they could at least be introduced to the majors at some point this season.

But already, those expectations have been altered. Mata came down with soreness in his elbow after some spring training appearances and when he attempted to begin a throwing program, the soreness persisted. Last month, the Sox announced that he had undergone Tommy John surgery and would, of course, be lost for the remainder of this season, to say nothing of a portion of 2022 also.

More recently, Seabold was shut down after experiencing elbow inflammation last week. The Red Sox say that the elbow is structurally sound and they’re merely being cautious — as indeed they should be. Then, only a few days ago, the team also sidelined Houck, who complained of some soreness with his flexor muscle a day after his most recent start.

The same messaging took place with Houck. Nothing to worry about, just exercising caution, etc.

And maybe Seabold and Houck will be back on the mound for the WooSox soon, continuing their development and ready to answer the call if the major league team needs reinforcements. Having two quality prospects at Triple-A would nicely reinforce the Sox’ rotation.

But what if one — or both — pitchers are revealed to have more major injuries. Then what?

The performance of the rotation to date aside, there’s plenty of reason to worry about the current staff’s durability going forward. Both Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Richards have had long checkered injury histories. Eovaldi has spent time on the IL in each of the last five seasons, including both full seasons with the Sox. Richards, meanwhile, had averaged less than 40 innings over the previous five seasons before signing with the Red Sox last winter.

And as welcome as Rodriguez’s return has been, there remains some questions about his ability to get through the season without a blow, given that he didn’t pitch at all a year ago and his workload will have to be carefully managed.

The issue, then, isn’t if the Red Sox will need to augment their rotation at some point during the season but rather, when.

For the time being, there isn’t a single dependable starter at Worcester upon whom the Sox could call.

In point of fact, that empty minor league cupboard may well have been the reason that Alex Cora gave the hook to Martin Perez after just five innings and 74 pitchers Monday night at Camden Yards — to stretch out /swing man Matt Andriese in the event he has to be plugged in for a spot start soon.

For now, there’s little to worry about. But the loss, however temporary, of three prospects at Triple-A in the last four weeks (two of them in the last week) is an emphatic reminder of how quickly things can change when it comes to pitching inventory — and not for the good, either.

* The Athletic

Exploring the Red Sox strategy of 5-inning starts and a deep bullpen

Jen McCaffrey

At the start of the day on Monday, power rankings across baseball listed the Red Sox as the top team in the majors.

Improbably, six weeks into the season, the Red Sox have the most wins of any team (22), lead in several offensive categories and are tied for the third-best run differential (33).

The Red Sox rotation, meanwhile, has pitched five or more innings in 14 of the past 15 games and has at least hit the five-inning mark in 29 of 36 games, which is tied for second in baseball with Oakland, trailing only the Dodgers (30).

But unlike the A’s and Dodgers, the Red Sox are relying much more heavily on their bullpen. Boston starters have thrown 16 starts of exactly five innings, while the A’s and Dodgers’ rotations have pitched just three each of the same length. In other words, the A’s and Dodgers starters are going deeper, but the Red Sox are finding similar success with shorter starts and a deeper bullpen. It’s a plan the Red Sox devised in the offseason; a versatile roster with a three-man bench can field a nine-man bullpen.

While it’s worked more often than not so far, that wasn’t the case Monday in a 4-1 loss to the Orioles. Nevertheless, manager Alex Cora doesn’t seem to want to deviate from the plan anytime soon.

“With this team, with this offense, if (the starters) give us five, we have a chance,” Cora said. “Obviously, where we’re set up, roster-wise, we can actually do that, ask a little more from the bullpen, because we have one extra guy. Coming into the season, we trust our rotation to give us a chance to win ballgames and since Day 1, they’ve been doing that. We’re very pleased with the way they’ve been throwing the ball and them giving us a chance to win on a nightly basis.”

Martín Pérez tossed five innings Monday, but Cora lifted him before the sixth after just 74 pitches. Matt Andriese entered and subsequently allowed a go-ahead homer followed by two more runs, one of which came after a bizarre, fluke triple to shallow left.

Cora referenced pushing Pérez to 5 2/3 innings against Detroit last week, only to have the lefty give up a double with the bases loaded against JaCoby Jones.

“As far as the usage, and all that, I don’t think that’s an issue,” Cora said. “We managed the game as a group and we had a plan against Detroit. (Last week) we left him in against a righty and today we felt like five innings was perfect.”

The five-inning starts are often part of the Red Sox strategy in preventing teams from seeing a starter a third time through the order, but there’s the added benefit of preserving the health of the rotation. Pérez hasn’t pitched more than 5 2/3 innings in seven starts this season. Four of Eduardo Rodriguez’s six starts have been five-inning outings as the Red Sox choose when to push him deeper and when to give him a lighter workload.

In a way, the Red Sox are managing their rotation like a team would in the postseason: Short starts that are turned over to the bullpen early. Whether it’s a formula that can work an entire season, with this group of staters, remains to be seen. Red Sox starters entered Monday with the fifth-best FIP (3.29) in baseball. Along with the Dodgers, the Red Sox were the only other team with five starters who had posted a FIP of 4.00 or lower.

So even though Pérez might want to go deeper into games, he’s buying into the plan laid out by Cora, pitching coach and the Red Sox front office.

“Sometimes you want to go long in the game, but that’s not the manager’s plan,” Pérez said. “Like I said, I’m not going to say nothing about the decision, but that’s how the game changed. There’s going to be times when we go out there and throw more than 100 pitches. It’s coming, but like I said, we just need to focus, inning by inning, trying to throw a lot of strikes and just keep the game close so we can score some runs and win the game.”

Leadoff man uncertainty, scouting Kris Bryant, and Jarren Duran and Jeter Downs’ timelines: Red Sox Mailbag Part 2

Jen McCaffrey

Just like the Red Sox, the mailbag marches on. In Part 1, we dealt with contract questions for J.D. Martinez and Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale’s return date and impact, and the impact of the Tanner Houck injury. Now let’s delve into some other questions, starting with the man who has replaced in the outfield and in the hearts of fans waiting patiently for more production.

What was the reasoning behind the Franchy Cordero acquisition? He is tough to watch. — Richard T via The Athletic app

More than once, it was suggested Benintendi could have used a change of scenery. That was something hinted at by both sides around the time the trade was made. We’ve noted time and again that Cordero had played only 95 career games in the majors over four seasons prior to this year because of injuries. The Red Sox knew there would be growing pains with him in finally seeing consistent at-bats, and they want to give him a chance because of his potential. But the trade wasn’t just about Cordero. They were able to add right- hander Josh Winckowski, who’s been at Double A, and will be getting three additional players to be named later, likely at some point over the next month. (There was an agreement at the time of the trade the Red Sox could select their three players after having seen them in game action once the minor-league season began.) So while Cordero has been tough to watch at times, and probably could benefit from at least a stint at Triple A, it’s hard to evaluate him fully after just one month.

What would a realistic trade package for a LF, specifically Kris Bryant consist of? — Andrew Dwan, @AndrewDwanMLB

Again, as with Max Scherzer, whom we discussed in Part 1, I’m just not sure this is a move Chaim Bloom is going to make. Bryant is having a great year with an OPS over 1.000 and the Cubs are not going to give him up for nothing. But he hits free agency this winter and turns 30 in January. Unless the Red Sox were convinced they could sign him before he hit free agency, I don’t know that this is the season that Bloom would part with a few prospects for two months of Bryant, even if the Red Sox are in contention.

What would it take for the Red Sox to be buyers by the trade deadline and what types of players/positions do you think they would target? Also the MiLB season just started and we will see if prospect rankings play out, but do the Red Sox have depth in any particular area in the minors that could foreseeably be used as trade fodder to add some more pieces to the major league squad? At first glance, they seem to have lots of their prospects/young major leaguers at corner infield spots. — James Phelan via email

I think the Red Sox could be buyers at the deadline, but as noted above, that doesn’t mean they’re going to go out and try to acquire every top player available and wipe out the farm system they’ve been working so hard to rebuild. I can see Bloom continuing to make small to mid-level moves to plug holes and help the existing team. It’s hard to predict what the rotation situation will look like by July, but with Houck, and Sale in that mix by then, I think they’d lean on that group first. I could see Bloom adding to the bullpen for sure and probably another bat. As far as who they’d give up, I don’t think he’s going to target a player who would cost one of the top 20 prospects in the system. Even if you have surplus talent at a position like first with Bobby Dalbec and Triston Casas or at third, you can’t bank on prospects panning out or account for injuries cropping up. I think trades are more of a balance of whom the Red Sox are trying to acquire versus what their opponent wants, not so much the Red Sox trying to dangle an extra first-base or third-base prospect to see what team might bite.

Should we be expecting Alex Verdugo as the new leadoff hitter anytime soon? With the bottom of the order continuing to struggle, how much longer does Alex Cora stick with the current approach? — A Greek Guy G via The Athletic app

I don’t think so. Even with Kiké Hernandez hitting the injured list, rather than move up Verdugo, Cora opted — surprisingly — to move Marwin Gonzalez into the leadoff spot. He said he considered Verdugo at leadoff, but didn’t want to mess with the two-through-five spots in the lineup that have really been the driving force in the Red Sox offense. Cora said that for now, he’s thinking of having Gonzalez lead off against right-handers because of his roughly .330 on-base percentage against righties. Over the weekend, Michael Chavis led off against a lefty starter in Baltimore and hit a two-run homer. Christian Arroyo had led off a few times this season in place of Hernandez, but he too landed on the IL on Sunday (retroactive to May 7) with a bruised hand. So for now, Cora will be shuffling around the top of the lineup, but it doesn’t sound like he wants to mess with the middle of the order.

How long before we see Jarren Duran? Cordero is awful. — Anonymous U. via The Athletic app

I don’t think you should expect Duran much before the beginning of June. Though has been hitting well in his first few games with Worcester, the Red Sox really want to give him consistent game action in the outfield and at-bats at Triple A before he’s expected to perform at the big-league level. The Red Sox are a bit banged up with Hernandez and Arroyo on the IL, but I still don’t expect Bloom to promote Duran just yet. They’re all different players, but if Duran doesn’t perform right away in the majors, he’ll likely face the same heat as Dalbec or Cordero. Bloom has been asked numerous times this season about where Duran stands, but this quote from late in spring training was interesting to me, and reinforces that Duran the best chance to excel from the get-go is the goal:

“I know Triple A gets a bad rap in terms of being a place that is a more veteran league, where you have a lot of guys who aren’t necessarily prospects on the way up,” Bloom said. “I think Triple A can be a huge developmental step, precisely for that reason. You have a lot of guys who have been around the block a little bit and know what they’re doing. They may have some flaws preventing them from being in the big leagues at a particular moment, but as far as the pitchers, they know how to get you out, they use all their pitches; a lot of the position players really understand how to work at-bats. I think that can be a huge developmental step because it’s the one level where it’s harder for guys to master that level and automatically move out of it. And you have to face some guys who really know what they’re about.”

Where do the Red Sox view Jeter Downs in his development? He is one of the best prospects in the organization, but he hasn’t gotten the same hype as Duran, which one will be better? How close is Downs to the big league club, could he make it to Boston at some point this summer? — Eliot Barrengos via email

I think the lack of “hype” for Downs is merely because he hadn’t yet played in a regular-season game for the Red Sox since the March 2020 trade from the Dodgers. Duran is farther along in his progression and closer to the majors, but also had been in the Red Sox system since 2018, so the swing change he implemented this past year could be compared to his previous production. With Downs, prior to last week, the highest level he’d appeared in was 12 Double-A games in 2019, so he’s very much been in the development phase. I think this will be a big year for him, not only because it’ll be his first full year in the Red Sox system, but he’ll finally have some consistent at-bats against upper-level pitching. That Bloom quote above applies as much to Duran as it does to Downs. I still think, though, that next season is a more realistic expectation for a Downs’ big-league debut.

* Associated Press

Mullins’ bizarre triple helps O’s beat Red Sox 4-1

BALTIMORE (AP) — Cedric Mullins raced around the bases for a bizarre bloop triple, Trey Mancini hit a go-ahead solo homer and the Baltimore Orioles four-hit the Boston Red Sox for a 4-1 victory Monday night.

The Orioles had dropped their first six games at Camden Yards this season against the Red Sox and avoided a four-game sweep. It was the first time the home team won in 10 games between the teams this season.

“To salvage a series like this, it’s not exactly easy to do when you’re down 3-0 in a series,” Mancini said. “They’ve been playing great baseball over there. That’s a fantastic team they have. To win the fourth one and go into a two-game series tomorrow feels good and shows the resolve this team has.”

Boston still has the best record (22-14) and the best road record (12-5) in baseball.

Mullins’ heads-up baserunning helped the O’s add an insurance run in the eighth. He hit a high popup into shallow left field leading off, finding an open spot against Boston’s shifted infield defense. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts raced over from near second base and deflected the ball twice before it fell.

Mullins alertly sprinted all the way to third, diving under catcher Christian Vázquez’s tag.

“It was a fluke play,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “Everybody reacted the right way. … A good heads- up play by their guy.”

Two batters later, Mancini’s sharp single against Boston’s drawn-in infield made it 3-1, and Freddy Galvis’ sacrifice fly later in the inning supplied the Orioles’ final run.

Baltimore’s bullpen combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings, retiring all 10 batters it faced. Tanner Scott (2-2) struck out his only hitter to complete the sixth, Travis Lakins Sr. and both completed perfect innings, and César Valdez worked the ninth for his eighth save.

“We pitched so well tonight,” manager said.

Mancini put the Orioles ahead 2-1 with a blast to center off reliever Matt Andriese (1-2) to lead off the sixth.

Orioles starter Jorge López went a season-high 5 2/3 innings, scattering four hits while striking out five and maintaining control except for a brief sequence in the fourth after yielding J.D. Martinez’s one-out single. Over the course of three pitches, Martinez moved up a base on a hit batsman, a wild pitch and Rafael Devers’ sacrifice fly to tie it at 1.

López gave up a leadoff double in the fifth, but with Scott warming, he retired the next three batters and then pitched into the sixth for the first time this season.

“I’ve been battling the last couple games,” López said. “Getting out of that inning gives me a little more confidence to keep pushing.”

Ryan Mountcastle lined his third homer down the left-field line off Boston’s Martin Pérez, who otherwise navigated five innings with little difficulty. He allowed four hits and one run and struck out four.

Mountcastle added a single, giving him consecutive multi-hit games for the first time this season. He has five multi-hit games in his last 10 outings after recording two in his first 25 games in 2021.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: RHP Ryan Brasier (left calf strain) threw a 20-25 pitch bullpen Saturday, but Cora said he is not close to joining a minor league team for a rehabilitation assignment.

Orioles: Hyde said OF DJ Stewart (left hamstring strain) reported reduced soreness Monday. Stewart left in the sixth inning Sunday. ... Baltimore recalled LHP from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned LHP to Norfolk. Lowther is 0-1 with an 18.90 ERA in two games with the Orioles.

SEE YOU (MUCH) LATER

After playing each other 10 times in less than six weeks, the AL East rivals won’t meet again until Aug. 13- 15 in Boston. The Red Sox’s last trip to Camden Yards isn’t until Sept. 28-30, the final week of the season.

MEANS HONORED

Baltimore LHP was named the American League’s player of the week after no-hitting Seattle on Wednesday. Means is the first Orioles pitcher to earn the honor since Arthur Rhodes in August 1994.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 4.62 ERA), whose 52 consecutive homerless innings is the longest active streak in the majors, draws the start as Boston begins a three-game series at Fenway Park against Oakland.

Orioles: Means (4-0, 1.37) makes his first since his no-hitter as Baltimore begins a two-game set against the at Citi Field.