The Wednesday, June 6, 2018

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Steven Wright in a word: ‘Outstanding’

Peter Abraham

When Steven Wright walked to the mound in the first at Fenway Park on Tuesday night, it was his first start in the majors in a little more than 13 months.

But in his mind, it had been so much longer.

Wright had not started a game with complete confidence in his abilities since Aug. 5, 2016, at . Wright threw a shutout that day, baffling the postseason-bound Dodgers with his .

Wright was selected to the All-Star team that season but didn’t get into the game. The performance against the Dodgers almost made up for it, he was that good.

The satisfaction didn’t last even 48 hours. Wright was used as a pinch runner two days later and wrenched his right shoulder diving back into second base. Because of the injury, Wright started only two more games that season.

When he reported for in 2017, Wright’s shoulder had recovered, but he injured his left knee and made only five starts before undergoing season-ending surgery. The recovery lasted into this season and he was on the disabled list for the first month of the season.

Wright then served a 15-game suspension for violating Major League ’s domestic violence policy for a December arrest. The Red Sox had long since filled their rotation and needed him only as a reliever.

Wright pitched well and earned a chance to face the on Tuesday. Not much had changed since that start against the Dodgers.

Wright worked seven strong as the Red Sox beat the Tigers, 6-0, before a crowd of 34,762.

“First couple of innings I felt a little antsy, a little excited, nervous,” Wright said. “It’s been about a year and a half since I’ve gone out there healthy.”

Wright allowed two hits, walked three, and struck out six. Working with Christian Vazquez, he used an occasional to keep the Tigers from locking in on his knuckleball.

“Outstanding,” Alex Cora said.

The 42-19 Sox have won three straight and six of their last eight games. With going on the disabled list, they also have a new starter — at least for a while.

Wright is 2-0 with a 1.57 earned average and has pitched 16 consecutive scoreless innings. He should provide good contrast in a rotation that has three hard-throwing lefthanders.

“We definitely need Drew,” Wright said. “I think he’s going to be a huge factor going forward. I’ll do whatever they want me to do in the meantime. I just want to .”

The first inning was the biggest challenge for Wright.

Leonys Martin drew a five-pitch to start the game then tried to score when Nick Castellanos lined a off the wall in left-center.

Andrew Benintendi fired in to Xander Bogaerts, and he threw Martin out at the plate, Vazquez making a quick tag.

After walked, Wright retired Victor Martinez on a popup and struck out .

Only two other Tigers reached base against Wright. He retired the final 13 batters he faced and 17 of the last 18.

Wright used tempo to his advantage, working quickly and throwing 57 of 96 pitches for strikes.

It reminded Cora of his time playing behind , one of Wright’s knuckleball mentors.

“Grab it and throw it. I get you or you get me,” Cora said.

It surely didn’t hurt that Detroit played a against the Yankees on Monday as the Sox were off. Wright returned from Houston ahead of the team on Sunday and was well rested for his start.

But the way he pitched, any team would have been in trouble.

Rookie Artie Lewicki, Detroit’s starter, didn’t get through the fourth inning. He allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits and three walks.

Benintendi led off the first inning with a and was initially called out stealing second. That was overturned on review.

That proved significant when J.D. Martinez homered off the light tower in left-center. It was his 20th of the season to go along with 52 RBIs.

Remember when Fenway Park’s expansive right field was supposed to be a poor fit for Martinez? He has a 1.206 OPS and 13 home runs in 108 at-bats at home.

“For me, I don’t care,” Martinez said. “I’m not going to change my approach. I’m going to go up there and try to drive the ball up the middle, to right-center, and be me.”

Martinez reached on a two-base to start the fourth inning. Singles by Mitch Moreland (2 for 4) and Eduardo Nunez scored a run. Brock Holt walked to load the bases and another run scored when Rafael Devers grounded into a .

The Sox scored two more runs in the fifth inning. Bogaerts led off with a into the Red Sox bullpen. He has nine, one fewer than all of last season.

Bullpen Mike Brenly sprung off the bench and caught the ball with his hat.

Martinez, Moreland, and Nunez followed with singles to load the bases. Holt grounded to second to drive in one run but that was it. Devers was intentionally walked to load the bases and Vazquez grounded into a double play.

We saw the return of the knuckleballer at Fenway on Tuesday

Nick Cafardo

Steven Wright looked very much like the 2016 Steven Wright on Tuesday night.

He threw a dominant knuckleball for seven innings that the Detroit Tigers could not reconcile bat with ball. That’s the way it used to be. That’s the way it was long before a right shoulder strain sent him to the DL on Aug. 15, 2016, which was not long after he pitched a shutout against the Dodgers.

He was injured while being used as a pinch runner.

Then came the horrible knee surgery in which he underwent cartilage restoration and missed the bulk of 2017. Then came the long, grueling rehab, complete with setbacks. Then came the awful domestic abuse charge. Then came more rehab and a slow spring training and early-season rehab assignment.

And finally, after physical, emotional, and mental distress that nearly tore his life and career apart, he was back. The journey has been long, and met with the worst moments of his life.

Wright has emerged, however, simply happy to have his life and his career back to normal.

The 33-year-old righthander has pitched well out of the Red Sox bullpen. And when Alex Cora needed a starter Tuesday after a long stretch of games, Wright pitched two- shutout ball in a 6-0 win.

As it turns out, he will stay in the rotation after the Red Sox placed Drew Pomeranz on the 10-day disabled list with a tired left arm. It will give Pomeranz a chance to regroup, while allowing Wright to give the Red Sox a completely different look than the other four starters on the staff.

“First couple of innings I felt antsy and nervous and a little excited,” Wright acknowledged. “It’s been a year and a half since I’ve gone out there healthy and thrown. But then [the defense] made that unbelievable relay [to get a runner at the plate] in the first inning, and I was able to calm down a bit. It was definitely nice to get back out there.”

He walked Leonys Martin to lead off the game. He allowed a double to Nick Castellanos to left-center but the relay went from Andrew Benintendi to Xander Bogaerts to Christian Vazquez and Martin was out at home on a nice swipe tag by Vazquez.

Wright walked Miguel Cabrera, but Victor Martinez popped out and Jeimer Candelario struck out looking.

He was pretty dominant in the next six innings.

“Well it’s a slow pitch but it doesn’t ever do the same thing twice in a row,” said Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire. “He did a nice job. I don’t think too many of our hitters have seen , especially the younger guys. So it was an experience for them. Maybe they’ll be better next time. But that’s not an easy art. You need a tennis racket to hit those things sometimes.”

With a light rain falling, it usually means trouble for a knuckleball, but not on this night.

“It wasn’t a factor.” Wright said. “If it had kept raining it might have been a factor, but it wasn’t raining that hard by the time I got out there.”

And even in walking a pair of batters in the first inning, Wright knew not to panic. He’s been there before where the pitch isn’t doing what it’s supposed to and all of sudden it started clicking again.

“I knew I was overthrowing,” Wright said. “There was a lot of emotion out there, good emotions but I have to keep them in check. It was August of 2016 the last time I’ve gone out there healthy. As the game went on, I knew walks are part of the knuckleball, but I was able to slow down things down.”

Did he ever doubt he could return healthy?

“I knew that I could. It’s such a long rehab especially from the shoulder to the knee surgery. You’re always in there hoping you can get back because it was such a long surgery.

“When you get surgery it’s hard to look a year from now, especially with the type of surgery I had. That’s the confidence I had in myself [and] the training staff. They worked tirelessly and continue to do that. And continue to do that so we can perform to our capabilities. I just didn’t know how long it would take.”

What got him through it?

“A lot of things,” he said. “My faith, my family, training staff. The team was behind me 100 percent. Sometimes the rehab isn’t going to go the way you wanted, but I’m happy it’s over and done with. It’s something I have to manage the rest of my career.”

The last couple of years flashed before him as he retired 14 out of 15 batters he faced Tuesday. He has limited opponents to a .147 average and his season ERA was lowered to 1.57.

And since it was his longest shutout outing since Aug. 5, 2016, vs. the Dodgers (nine innings) I asked him if he thinks he’ll be OK the day after.

“I think I’ll be all right,” he said. “I’ll be sore. Knowing I threw seven and won’t have to do anything for a couple of days, I can make sure my muscles and tendons and ligaments are good.”

What a long road. What a night for a who likely has weathered the worst time of his life.

Dustin Pedroia has inflammation in surgically repaired knee

Peter Abraham

Red Sox Dustin Pedroia was in Manhattan on Tuesday morning to have his left knee examined by Dr. Riley Williams III.

It was Williams who performed the cartilage restoration surgery on Pedroia in October.

Williams found inflammation, no complication related to the surgery. Pedroia, who is on the disabled list, will continue with treatment and start baseball activities in a few days.

Red Sox put struggling Drew Pomeranz on 10-day disabled list

Peter Abraham

The Red Sox on Tuesday placed struggling lefthander Drew Pomeranz on the 10-day disabled list with what was said to be biceps tendinitis.

Righthanded reliever Brandon Workman was recalled from A Pawtucket and worked a perfect ninth inning in a 6-0 victory against the Detroit Tigers.

Pomeranz has been the weakest link in an otherwise strong rotation. He is 1-3 with a 6.81 and 1.84 WHIP through eight starts.

Only twice all season has Pomeranz pitched more than five innings, and he has yet to throw a pitch in the seventh. He faced the Astros last Thursday and allowed four runs over five innings in a 4-2 loss.

The average velocity on Pomeranz’s four-seam fastball had dropped from 91.8 miles per hour last season to 89.7. His also has lacked the same sharp break it once had.

“Coming out of the Houston start it was kind of hard for him to kind of bounce back. We decided to put him on the disabled list,” manager Alex Cora said.

The move was made retroactive to Friday and Cora said the Sox are hopeful Pomeranz can return soon. But given his poor performance, they may be in no rush.

Pomeranz, 29, has been on the disabled list twice already this season. He was out from March 26 to April 20 with a forearm strain. For a player who will become a free agent after the season, it has been a disastrous start.

Pomeranz was scheduled to start against Detroit on Thursday. Lefthander Jalen Beeks was scratched from his start with Pawtucket and will take his place.

Beeks is 3-3 with a 2.56 ERA in 10 starts and has not pitched since May 31.

It would be the major league debut for Beeks, who played at the University of Arkansas with Andrew Benintendi and was a 12th-round pick in 2014.

The Sox didn’t necessarily need to fill the spot but elected to stay with their plan to give the other starters two extra days off this turn through the rotation.

Workman has appeared in 15 games for Pawtucket. He has a 4.18 ERA but worked 6⅔ scoreless innings in his last four games.

Betts starts hitting Mookie Betts, who is on the DL with an abdominal strain, took some swings off a tee before Tuesday night’s game. The has made progress over the last few days and could return when eligible on Friday.

“Hopefully he reacts the way we would love to and takes practice, weather permitting, the next few days,” Cora said. “He feels great; he’s feeling better.”

Dustin Pedroia was in Manhattan on Tuesday morning to have his left knee examined by Dr. Riley Williams III. It was Williams who performed the cartilage restoration surgery on Pedroia in October.

Williams found inflammation, no complication related to the surgery. Pedroia, who is on the disabled list, will continue with treatment and start baseball activities in a few days.

Pitch for Mitch Mitch Moreland is hitting .310 with a 1.001 OPS. Among American League first basemen with at least 150 plate appearances, Moreland is the leader in both of those categories and second in WAR with 1.5.

“I was looking at numbers around the league. I hate to look ahead, but the way things are going he should be a guy playing in Washington [in the All-Star Game] in a month and a half,” Cora said. “No doubt about it.”

Moreland, 32, has never been an All-Star and faces long odds given the number of his teammates likely to make the team. But that he’s even in the discussion is significant given he did not become a full-time starter until Hanley Ramirez was designated for assignment last month.

Plane in the neck The Red Sox did not get back to Fenway Park until 9 a.m. on Monday following a long return trip from Houston.

A mechanical issue with the team charter forced the team to change planes before it left Houston, and the second flight did not leave until 3:51 a.m. local time.

The team buses were in rush-hour traffic after getting back to Boston.

Cora didn’t mind so much.

“We can’t complain about this,” he said. “It’s either get in at 9 or take our chances. Let’s be honest.”

Catching on The Sox are still planning to give Blake Swihart his first start this season as a catcher this week. Cora did not feel it would be fair to have him Steven Wright’s knuckleball on Tuesday. “I want him to have, quote/unquote, a regular pitcher,” Cora said. Swihart has not started behind the plate since April 12, 2016 . . . Righthanded reliever Tyler Thornburg was added to the Pawtucket roster to start a second minor league rehabilitation assignment and pitched a perfect inning against Louisville at McCoy Stadium. Thornburg, who is coming back from shoulder surgery, had a 5.14 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in nine games from April 20 to May 22. The Sox, dissatisfied with his progress, shut Thornburg down for 13 days and now will try again. A rehab assignment can last 30 days . . . Carson Smith has not yet decided whether he will have surgery on his right shoulder. The righthander accidentally dislocated his shoulder on May 14 when he threw his glove at the bench after allowing a home run . . . Detroit Jeimer Candelario left the game in the fourth inning with a jammed middle finger on his right hand, the result of fielding a ground ball off the bat of J.D. Martinez. X-rays were negative and Candelario is day to day . . . Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops threw out the first pitch and from the top of the mound hit the catcher on the fly. The maestro diligently worked on his location beforehand, playing catch in front of the dugout . . . The pregame ceremonies also included representatives of the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. Thirteen researchers were recognized on the field and the color guard was from Quincy Fire Department Local 792, which holds an annual fund-raiser for Alzheimer’s. Dr. Rudy Tanzi, vice-chair and director of the genetics and aging research unit at Massachusetts General, also threw out a first pitch.

Red Sox’ third-round draft pick could reach majors this year

Alex Speier

Usually, the MLB Draft is an exercise in long-term projection, with teams resigning themselves to years of player development before they can assess whether they’ve identified a player who will contribute in the big leagues. Red Sox third-round pick Durbin Feltman — the most overpowering college closer in the country this year, and a player some believe capable of pitching in the big leagues in 2018 — is cut from a different cloth.

“Everybody wants to make it to the big leagues as fast as possible. I feel like I have a pretty good shot at it,” said Feltman. “If the Red Sox decide to push me up and challenge me, I’m always ready for the challenge.”

It remains to be seen if the Red Sox would consider such a step. But the fact that some in the industry consider the possibility realistic reflects a startling three-year development.

In high school, Feltman split time between catching and pitching. That led Texas Christian University pitching Kirk Saarloos to conclude that the 5-foot-11-inch righthander had a chance to build velocity on his high-80s fastball as a full-time pitcher, but neither Saarloos nor Feltman anticipated what happened with the Horned Frogs.

Velocity kept coming all fall and into the spring. As a freshman, Feltman was shocked when he hit 98 miles per hour in a game against Oklahoma.

“I went in my room and just kind of let it soak in for a second,” said Feltman. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, last year I was throwing 88 at this time. Now all of a sudden I’m sitting close to triple digits.’”

Saarloos helped Feltman turn his hard curveball into a true . The pitch took hold with one bullpen session. Feltman had two swing-and-miss offerings, pitches that developed over three years as the TCU closer into an overpowering 95-99-m.p.h. fastball and a mid-80’s slider that breaks out of the same lane as the fastball.

“His command of his fastball went from being OK to being pretty elite by the time he left here. Same thing with his slider. That two-pitch combination is really difficult,” said Saarloos. “Hitters don’t see the baseball on him. His arm is right behind him. Guys don’t pick up the baseball until it’s on its way.”

In 2018, Feltman put up numbers typically seen in high school. In 18 games (24⅓ innings), Feltman posted a 0.74 ERA with 43 and six walks. Opponents hit .143 against him with just two extra-base hits (both doubles) – and even that might be underselling his dominance, given that the doubles were routine fly balls that were turned by wind and sun into hits.

Feltman didn’t just excel against non-prospects. In a spring scrimmage, Red Sox scout Brandon Agamennone watched as Feltman overmatched TCU teammate Luken Baker, a second-round pick.

“It was unfair,” said Agamennone. “When you see guys that you’re evaluating — very good, high-level collegiate hitters — just look silly on stuff, or they don’t read it well and they expand the zone remarkably more than they do against other good college , you see that there’s just something different to him.”

That difference has spawned conversation about the possibility of Feltman getting on the fastest of fast tracks. Some evaluators believe Feltman has the arsenal and late-innings makeup to pitch in the big leagues this year. In 2014, TCU pitcher Brandon Finnegan ended up pitching in the World in the same year that Kansas City took him in the first round. Saarloos sees the potential for a similar scenario with Feltman.

“You hate to put something on a kid before he’s even thrown a professional pitch, but if he just does what he did here for three years, that’s going to play in any league — I don’t care what league it is,” said Saarloos. “I could see him helping out the Red Sox in the bullpen this year, for sure . . . His stuff will definitely play in the big leagues.”

Some evaluators suggest pumping the brakes, noting the difficulty of such a rapid jump. The last Sox draftee to reach the big leagues in the same season was 2005 first-rounder Craig Hansen, a reliever who seemed overwhelmed by the ascent. Regardless of whether the Sox elect to push Feltman to the big leagues this year, however, it seems likely that he’ll travel an atypical path.

Round 4: Kole Cottam, C, Kentucky In the fourth round, the Red Sox selected highly alliterative catcher Kole Cottam of Kentucky. Kottam posted big offensive numbers as a junior, hitting .352/.438/.667 with 19 homers in 56 games. At 6-foot-3, he’d be unusually large for a catcher, but the Red Sox nonetheless believe that his technical abilities behind the plate and leadership can keep him at the position. If he can stay there, his all-fields power would stand out, particularly given the generally woeful state of offense among big league .

Kottam wore the No. 13 with Kentucky for an unusual reason, as explained by the team’s website:

“Wears the No. 13 because he has had 13 surgeries on his right eye due to a congenital melanocytic nevus, a type of melanocytic nevus (or mole) considered a type of birthmark that occurs in an estimated 1 percent of infants worldwide.”

Round 5: Thad Ward, RHP, Central In the fifth round, the Red Sox continued their run on college players, taking righthander Thad Ward out of the University of Central Florida. In 63 innings as a junior, Ward – who split his time between the rotation and bullpen – had a 3.27 ERA with 11.9 strikeouts and 3.7 walks per nine innings. As a reliever, he stranded 15 of 17 inherited runners.

He features a 90-95 mph power sinker, a hard slider, and feel for a . That combination – and the life and angles he creates with it – helped him limit opponents to a .203 average with just one homer. The idea of reporting to the Red Sox’ spring training facility represents a homecoming of sorts for the Fort Myers native, who has served as a Red Sox bat boy during spring training.

Round 6: Devlin Granberg, OF, Dallas Baptist In the sixth round, the Red Sox took Devlin Granberg – a college senior – out of Dallas Baptist. Granberg posted monster numbers as a senior, hitting .443/.541/.680 with 13 homers and 26 steals in 63 games. While college seniors are typically a demographic that is targeted in order to sign players to bonuses that fall below slot recommendations – thus creating an opportunity for teams to reallocate bonus pool money to give other players above-slot bonuses – Granberg’s performance, according to , established him as “a productive senior sign who has legitimate potential as well as a nice price.” The publication did suggest, however, that he was likely limited defensively to left field or first base.

Round 7: Jarren Duran, 2B, Long Beach State The Sox continued their run on college players by taking second baseman Jarren Duran out of Long Beach State in the seventh round. He hit .302/.382/.377 with 17 steals as a junior. That performance followed an impressive performance last summer in the Cape League, where Duran had nearly as many walks (20) as strikeouts while hitting .281 with a .397 OBP and a modest .378 slugging mark along with 10 steals (second most in the Cape).

Round 8: Elih Marrero, C, St. Thomas University In the eighth round, the Red Sox tabbed switch-hitting catcher Elih Marrero out of St. Thomas University. Marrero, the son of former big leaguer Eli Marrero, started his college career at Mississippi State but transferred from the program in 2017, the same year in which he was arrested on a DUI charge.

At St. Thomas (an NAIA school), Marrero had a strong 2018 campaign, hitting .370/.438/.593 with nine homers, suggesting an interesting offensive profile to complement advanced receiving skills.

Round 9: Brian Brown, LHP, North Carolina State The Red Sox took another college senior in the ninth round, taking lefty Brian Brown out of N.C. State. Brown dominated early in the season, his name landing on the Golden Spikes midseason watch list after he carried a 6-0 record and 0.99 ERA through 10 starts. Though he stumbled down the stretch to finish the year with a 7-2 record and 2.74 ERA, Brown’s ability to enjoy a stretch of dominance in the ACC makes him interesting beyond the possibility of a below-slot bonus.

Round 10: Grant Williams, 2B, Kennesaw (Ga.) State With their final pick of Day 2, the Red Sox took another college senior, second baseman Grant Williams of Kennesaw (Ga.) State. Williams hit .305/.399/.462 while showing doubles power as a senior.

On Day 2 of draft, Red Sox will try to add depth to their farm system

Alex Speier

Days two and three are where good baseball drafts can become great.

In 2011, the Red Sox had four of the first 40 picks. They did well with those selections, as Matt Barnes has become a key bullpen member and Jackie Bradley Jr. has emerged as the team’s everyday center fielder. Neither Henry Owens nor Blake Swihart have hit on their upside, but both had significant trade value at one point, and Swihart still has a chance to make an impact on the Sox’ big league roster.

That was all well and good as far as first-round yields go. But it was the selection of Mookie Betts in the fifth round (172nd overall) that made the biggest mark on the franchise, while the addition of Travis Shaw in the ninth round (292nd pick) further added to one of the best draft hauls by any single team in recent years.

Unquestionably, every draft room in baseball is excited about the players their organizations added on Monday. The Red Sox are no different.

The team can’t help but dream of first-rounder Triston Casas (a player who will start his pro career at third base, but whom VP of amateur scouting Mike Rikard views as a potentially “outstanding defender” at first should he move there) as a middle-of-the-order force in Fenway five or seven years down the road.

“The one thing that has always stuck out in Triston’s case is his opposite field power,” Rikard said of the 18-year-old out of Florida. “He can hit the ball to left-center as far as many other right-handed hitters can when they pull the ball. That’s always been a big thing in scouting him. He’s got a very professional approach. Although he is a power hitter, he does have a nice plan at the plate and he was able to make adjustments and just as importantly, he can use the whole field very well for a young hitter.”

The team is likewise excited about second rounder Nick Decker, a potential power-hitting outfielder (he’ll open in center, but some see his future in right field) out of high school in New Jersey.

But on Tuesday, in the third through 10th rounds of the draft, the Red Sox can make a major mark as they try to rebuild the depth of their organization – either to create a pipeline to the big leagues or to amass a stack of trade chips.

In 2015, for instance, the Sox added lefty Logan Allen in the eighth round. Less than six months later, he became part of the Craig Kimbrel deal, and has emerged as a very promising starter with mid-rotation potential in the Padres system.

In 2016, the team grabbed righty Shaun Anderson out of the University of Florida in the third round. He became the key pitcher in a deal for Eduardo Nunez just over a year later. In that same 2016 draft, the Sox identified one of their best current pitching prospects (Mike Shawaryn) in the fifth round, and college closer Stephen Nogosek – taken in the sixth round – helped them land Addison Reed last summer.

On Monday, the Sox used their first two picks on high schoolers for just the second time since 2002. (The other time they did so was in 2014, when the team used its two first-round selections on Michael Chavis and Michael Kopech.) The team typically tries to draw from a diverse mix of player pools – college pitchers and hitters who offer relatively high-probability options, a couple of high schoolers with upside, some college seniors who are available for relatively modest bonuses.

That said, while the second day of the draft is in some ways an exercise in risk management, the Red Sox have seen too many good players taken after the first couple of rounds – whether Betts, Shaw, Anthony Rizzo (2007, sixth round), or Jonathan Papelbon (2003, 4th round) – to stay in the middle of the fairway.

“We’re going to continue to kind of do what we always do. We’ll take the best player while at the same time being considerate of the demographics of the players,” said Rikard. “It’s always nice to have a good blend of players in each draft, but we certainly wouldn’t pass on a more talented player if some more high school players do kind of present themselves at some point [Tuesday].”

* The Boston Herald

J.D. Martinez bombs his former Tigers team and Steven Wright excels on mound in 6-0 Red Sox win

Jason Mastrodonato

Hello there, old friend.

For the first time since the Detroit Tigers traded him last July, J.D. Martinez greeted his former team. He did it with a towering, first-inning home run that bounced halfway up off the light tower in left-center field at Fenway Park.

It was a vicious blast, estimated to have traveled 431 feet, and a symbolic one, too.

Out with the old, in with the new.

In his first year with the Red Sox, Martinez became the first major leaguer to accumulate 20 homers with another prolific night at the plate to lead the Sox to a 6-0 win over the lowly Tigers.

“It was supposed to be harder (for Martinez at Fenway Park),” Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I don’t know. He sticks with his plan. That’s the most important thing. First pitch is at his head, try to get him off the plate. He’s disciplined enough to take two pitches on the inside part of the plate. The last one was right down the middle, he stays inside and drives that ball. That was impressive.”

Martinez spoke with the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera before the game, but otherwise kept his distance from his former teammates.

“There’s no animosity or nothing like that,” Martinez said of the Tigers. “It is what it is. They’re my home club, I would say. I really came into my own there. I have a lot of love for that organization and that team. I wish them nothing but the best.”

Martinez put the Sox on the board in the first inning and knuckleballer Steven Wright took it from there, firing seven shutout innings on 96 pitches in his first start of the year. Wright allowed two hits and walked three while striking out six.

With Drew Pomeranz on the disabled list due to biceps tendinitis, Wright is bound to get more opportunities in the rotation and he certainly deserves them. That he went 96 pitches after throwing just 56 five days earlier, and throwing no more than 68 pitches all year, was quite remarkable.

There was an injury to report on the visiting side, and Martinez’ thunderous bat was to blame. Jeimer Candelario, the Tigers third baseman and one of their best players this season, was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning when Martinez smoked a ground ball his way. His bare hand appeared to make contact before his glove and his throw sailed wide of first base, allowing Martinez to reach second easily.

Candelario exited with a jammed middle finger, and the Sox tacked on two more runs thanks to the error.

While Martinez hit his home run to left-center — a rare feat for him, since the majority go to right field — Xander Bogaerts took his turn knocking one out to right field. Bogaerts roped an outside fastball into the Sox’ bullpen to start the fifth inning for his ninth long ball of the season. It was just his third home run to right field of his 60 career homers.

As for Martinez, in his last 14 games at Fenway he has 10 home runs. He has 13 homers overall in 28 games at home this season, a pace of 37 Fenway homers. The most hit in a single season at Fenway was by Jimmie Fox, who hit 35 in 1938. He also hit .405 at home that year.

Martinez never bought into the idea that Fenway would limit his power.

“Everybody always asked me that question, that was the big question in the offseason,” Martinez said. “I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ Same boring question I keep answering over and over. I’m not going to change my approach. I’m going to try to drive the ball up the middle, right-center and be me.”

It was an ugly night for the Tigers. Rookie Artie Lewicki was erratic and gave up four runs in his second career start. Leonys Martin made an ugly mistake when he chose not to run out a grounder to first base, likely because it appeared like it was going foul. Instead it went straight into Mitch Moreland’s glove for an easy out.

The Tigers came here after taking one of two games against the New York Yankees on Monday.

Right place, right time to deliver Wright stuff

Michael Silverman

Steven Wright could have gone out last night, given a pretty good effort and just plain old survived in his first start since April 2017.

Well, he didn’t do that.

Not even close.

Wright sparkled, his knuckleball did the cha-cha and he delivered an outing that resembled his All-Star first half in 2016, the season, you’ll recall, when his name started to get thrown into the Cy Young discussion.

In throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing only two hits against the Tigers in the Red Sox’ 6-0 victory, Wright re-introduced himself as a key member of the rotation with the oomph and flair of Cosmo Kramer bursting into Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment.

His return is real, and it was spectacular.

“That first inning, the first couple innings, I felt a little antsy, a little excited, nervous — it’s been about a year and a half since I’ve been out there healthy throwing,” said Wright. “Once they made that unbelievable relay in the first, I was able to kind of calm down a little bit. It was definitely nice to get back out there.”

The unbelievable relay he noted came when the first batter he faced, Leonys Martin (walk), tried to score on Nicholas Castellanos’ double to left-center. After a video challenge, Andrew Benintendi’s throw and Xander Bogaerts’ relay to Christian Vazquez created an out of Martin and cleared a path for Wright to enter a zone of domination where the Tigers were able to do little but muster weak groundballs and flailing strikeouts. He retired 19 of the final 22 batters he faced.

“Outstanding,” said manager Alex Cora. “Didn’t start off the way we wanted to, but Beni makes a nice play, hits the cutoff guy, Bogey, with a great throw and Christian with the great tag. We get the out. He walks Miggy (Miguel Cabrera) and gets Victor (Martinez) and it seems like after that he settled down and was outstanding.”

Wright’s ability to calm himself and walk into that special place where special pitchers produce special starts is a bit of a mystery, even to him.

“It’s hard to explain the feeling,” said Wright. “For me, that’s what you’re hoping for is weak contact, especially as a knuckleballer, you want to go out there and get them to swing. For me it’s just throwing, trying to kill the spin and throw it in the . I know if it moves inconsistent consistently, there’s a chance they’re going to hit it but more times than not I can kind of get them to get on top of it or get underneath it. For me, it’s just a timing thing. When it’s going good, everything is just kind of flowing.”

The tale of Wright’s return is long and tangled.

There was the concussion when a ball hit him in the head while he was in the in August 2015 that made him miss the final seven weeks of that season.

He returned in splendid form before jamming his shoulder in an ill-fated stint as a pinch-runner in August 2016 and his season turned to mud.

Last May he had surgery on his left knee that left him behind in spring training and on the slow track to the start of his 2018 season.

And before that could start, he had to serve a suspension for the domestic altercation he had with his wife that was revealed in December.

Wright’s tale is one of pain and woe, a bit more of each than is usual, but he came through each obstacle. His start this year began in the bullpen, where he quickly earned the trust of Cora. He carried a nine-inning scoreless streak, beginning on May 24, into last night’s start.

And then he went out and produced just the second scoreless start of his career and allowed only two hits, the lowest total in any career start that lasted more than one inning.

Not much goes according to plan with anyone in sports or baseball, and that is especially the case with Wright.

A lot went on behind the scenes with Wright since we saw him make his last start, but his latest one is a testament to perseverance.

“It was a lot things, man,” said Wright about what kept him on his path. “My faith definitely kept me going, my family, the training staff, the team was behind me 100 percent. . . . It’s something I’m happy that it’s over and done with, but I’m not out of the woods yet. It’s something I’ve got to manage, probably for the rest of my career.”

Red Sox agree with Yankees’ complaint against ESPN over Sunday night switcheroo

Michael Silverman

The thought that the Yankees weren’t going to get enough sleep the night of July 8 was keeping nobody awake around these parts.

But when the Yankees got their way last night — under threat of boycotting ESPN, the franchise convinced MLB and the cable network to take them off their Sunday night schedule July 8 so they wouldn’t have to play late into the evening and then turn around and fly to Baltimore for a doubleheader the next day — the Red Sox did not use the opportunity to make a crack about the bags under the eyes of the Evil Empire.

No, not this time.

In this case, the Red Sox are on the Yankees’ side.

In other words, those in glass bedrooms shouldn’t throw pillows and all.

“MLB and ESPN did the right thing,” Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy said in a text last night. “The weather this spring has been a challenge for all clubs and starting three games (in two different cities) in less than 24 hours just doesn’t work. MLB would make that adjustment for all clubs. We are both fortunate to play on ESPN on the national stage but everyone understands why this change was made.”

The Yankees have been rained out seven times already this season, the Red Sox just once, so there’s a reason for the New Yorkers to have turned a bit cranky when ESPN moved their July 8 game against the Blue Jays from a 1 p.m. start to the prime time window and the national audience. The day before the switch, the Yankees had agreed to a make-up double-header on Monday, July 9 in Baltimore.

The Blue Jays were fine with the switch. But the Yankees weren’t and they began to squawk, threatening to never speak to ESPN media members in retaliation. That was awkward. Manager Aaron Boone was a member of the ESPN Sunday night crew for many years and former Yankee Alex Rodriguez sits on the current broadcasting team.

Commissioner Rob Manfred entered the fray and by late yesterday afternoon, imposed baseball’s will on the rights-holder, which agreed to drop the Yankees-Blue Jays game and replace it with another.

Boone was happy, telling reporters that MLB and ESPN “clearly ended up doing the right thing in considering the product and player safety and all those kinds of things. Excited to get that bit of news today.”

Before the decision was announced, Red Sox manager Alex Cora — also a former ESPN staffer — weighed in, saying that if the Yankees got their way, it could open the door for other teams to complain.

“If they do that, then some time down the road, somebody needs to do it, too,” Cora said. “It’s going to come up and if they do it for one team, they have to do it for everybody. Usually it’s kind of like a team on the East Coast that plays a lot of games on Sundays. We’ll see. We’ll see.”

A year from now the longtime rivals will be playing each other in London, so rest up: More sleep-centered, jet-lagged Yankees-Red Sox stories are in store for us all.

Red Sox Notebook: Drew Pomeranz lands on disabled list

Jason Mastrodonato

Dustin Pedroia and the Red Sox appear to have caught a break.

The 34-year-old second baseman received good news after a visit with Dr. Riley Williams III at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York yesterday, when the surgeon who performed the operation on Pedroia’s knee last October told him there were no lingering complications.

Any new pain Pedroia has been dealing with, enough that he had to go back on the 10-day disabled list after playing in just three games this season, is simply inflammation.

“Everything about the surgery is fine,” manager Alex Cora said. “He just has some inflammation. I was actually talking to him during the game. It’s kind of like with David (Price), after he saw the doctor, now he can calm down and get treatment and hopefully he’ll be with us sooner (rather) than later. It’s nothing that has to do with surgery so that’s good.”

Pedroia will likely stay inactive for two more days before the Sox get him moving again.

“Treatment tomorrow, he hasn’t gotten treatment the last two days, and we go from there,” Cora said. “He should be back to baseball activity slowly but surely.”

Pomeranz lands on DL

Drew Pomeranz has insisted all year that his health hasn’t been an issue, but the struggling left-hander yesterday was placed on the 10-day DL with biceps tendinitis in his throwing arm.

Cora said the injury was new. Pomeranz has a 6.81 ERA in eight starts.

“Coming out of the Houston start (on Thursday), it was kind of like hard for him to bounce back, so we decided to put him on the DL,” Cora said. “Hopefully it’s something that he’ll come back from right away.”

Pomeranz’ velocity has been down 1-2 mph compared to what it was last year. It was slightly better in his last start, but the results were not as he gave up four runs in five innings.

He missed six weeks with biceps tendinitis in 2013 when he was with the .

Knuckleballer Steven Wright, who fired seven shutout innings in the Sox’ 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers last night, will likely stay in the rotation. But after the Sox pushed all their starters back two days in an attempt to get them some midseason rest, they didn’t want to move them up again to fill Pomeranz’ spot tomorrow.

Instead they’ll go with left-handed prospect Jalen Beeks, who has a 2.56 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 561⁄3 innings at Triple- A Pawtucket this year.

Mookie ‘feels better’

Outfielder Mookie Betts, who is on the disabled list with a left abdominal strain and eligible to return on Friday, is making progress. He swung a bat for the first time since last Friday, when the Sox placed him on the DL.

“He said he feels great, he feels better,” Cora said. “So he was feeling better in Houston and then he took a few swings and he decided not to keep going so we’ll see how it goes.” . . .

Right-hander Carson Smith is mulling options on his injured shoulder. . . .

Right-hander Tyler Thornburg has rejoined the PawSox for another rehab assignment. He pitched an inning last night with one .

Star trek for Moreland?

Mitch Moreland entered yesterday leading all major league first basemen (minimum 100 plate appearances) with a 1.001 OPS. His 1.6 WAR ranks third, despite Moreland having just 157 plate appearances this year.

Cora said he thinks Moreland deserves to be an All Star.

“He’s been outstanding early on with his role,” Cora said. “He did a good job not only offensively but obviously defensively and now that his workload is a lot more, he’s still consistent. Driving the ball out of the ballpark, playing good defense, hitting third or fourth. We’re happy. I was looking at the numbers around the league and I hate to look ahead but the way things are going he should be a guy playing in Washington in a month and a half. No doubt about it.”

Draft pick goes to third

A day after selecting Triston Casas, an 18-year-old out of American Heritage High School in Plantation, Fla., with their first pick in the draft, the Red Sox declared that Casas would begin his career at third base.

There was some question as to whether he would move to first.

“We’re going to start him at third base, he’s got good enough hands and a plus arm,” said vice president of amateur scouting Mike Rikard. “It’s a little bit tough to kind of project what certain 18-year-old’s body will look like in five-plus years, but as long as he can maintain his current agility and range and those type things, there’s certainly a chance he can sustain as a third baseman. If not, we believe that he’ll be an outstanding defender at first base. All of our bat and power projections certainly fit as a really good player at first base in that scenario as well.”

After making two picks on Monday, the Sox made eight selections yesterday, highlighted by TCU right- hander Durbin Feltman in the third round (No. 100 overall). The 21-year-old was the Horned Frogs’ record-setting closer for three years while he piled up 32 career saves, including a season-record 17 in 2017.

* The Providence Journal

Red Sox 6, Tigers 0: Boston begins homestand in dominant fashion

Bill Koch

BOSTON -- This was the Steven Wright of two years ago and the J.D. Martinez of this season, a potent, winning combination for the Red Sox on Tuesday night.

The knuckleballing former all-star settled in after a rocky start and the slugging free agent acquisition kept swinging a hot bat, with the Tigers powerless to stop the dual onslaught at Fenway Park.

Wright worked seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season and Martinez regained the big league home run lead as Boston opened its week-long homestand with a 6-0 shutout of Detroit.

Wright retired the last 13 men he faced, not allowing another baserunner after a Nicholas Castellanos one- out single in the top of the third. Miguel Cabrera bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning and the Tigers went 1-2-3 in each of their next four turns at the plate, allowing the Red Sox to slowly pull away.

“He settled down,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He was outstanding. I played behind (Tim) Wakefield – he’s kind of the same way. He just grabs it and throws it.”

Martinez exited late in Sunday’s victory over the Astros due to back spasms, but he required just one swing on Tuesday to allay any concerns. Artie Lewicki left a fastball out over the plate that came to rest 431 feet later, crashing into the light tower that illuminates left center field. It was the 20th round-tripper of the season for Martinez and one of his most majestic, giving the Red Sox a quick 2-0 lead.

“It’s a different feel,” said Martinez, who has homered in 10 of his last 14 home games. “You have a routine. You know the stadium. You get to sleep in your own bed. It’s more relaxed.”

Boston left baserunners by the handful the rest of the way but did just enough against Lewicki and reliever Warwick Saupold. Eduardo Nunez sent an RBI single through the left side and Mitch Moreland scored on a double play to account for a two-run fourth, making it a 4-0 lead. Xander Bogaerts lined a solo homer into the Red Sox bullpen leading off the fifth and Brock Holt plated the final run on a grounder to second, with Martinez scoring for the third time.

Wright allowed four of the first six men he faced to reach safely, issuing all three of his walks in that span. Boston’s defense bailed the right-hander out of what would be his only serious jam in the first, as Leonys Martin led off the game with a walk and Castellanos sent a drive off the Green Monster in left. The Red Sox executed a perfect 7-6-2 relay to retire Martin at the plate, and Wright induced Victor Martinez to pop to short before fanning Jeimer Candelario.

“Once they made that unbelievable relay in the first I was able to kind of calm down a little bit,” Wright said. “It’s definitely nice to be back out there.”

James McCann’s leadoff walk in the second was rendered a nonfactor by three straight groundouts and Castellanos was the last man to reach base for Detroit until Dixon Machado’s two-out single against Hector Velazquez in the eighth. Velazquez worked a scoreless frame and Brandon Workman recorded the final three outs in his season debut with Boston.

Wright made just five starts last season and was blasted to the tune of an 8.25 earned-run average. He underwent a cartilage restoration procedure on his left knee and saw his time off the field extended by 15 games when he was suspended by due to a domestic violence arrest. This was Wright’s first start since April 29 of last year and his longest scoreless outing since firing a three-hit shutout at the Dodgers on Aug. 5, 2016, a 9-0 win in Los Angeles.

“That’s the confidence that I had not only in myself but in the training staff that we have,” Wright said. “They worked tirelessly and did everything they could, and they continue to do that to make sure we can go out there and perform to our capabilities.”

Red Sox focus on college players on Day 2 of MLB draft

Bill Koch

BOSTON — With two high school hitters in the fold after the first day of the Major League Baseball draft, the Red Sox turned their focus to more immediate help on Tuesday.

All eight Boston selections were college players, a group that included three pitchers, two catchers, two second basemen and an outfielder. The Red Sox will make their picks in Rounds 11 through 40 on Wednesday, hoping to connect on at least a couple of prospects to bolster their thin farm system.

TCU right-hander Durbin Feltman was first off the board to Boston at No. 100, with his name called near the end of the third round. A closer, he allowed just 12 hits and struck out 43 in 24 1/3 innings this season. His combination of high-90s fastball and power slider could make Feltman a quick riser through the system.

The Red Sox went for a polished bat in the fourth round, selecting Kentucky catcher Kole Cottam 130th overall. The 6-foot-3, 225-pounder had 19 home runs and 12 doubles in 56 games, good for an 1.105 OPS.

Boston opted for another right-handed bullpen option in the fifth round, selecting Central Florida’s Thad Ward. His 84 strikeouts led the Knights, those coming in just 63 1/3 innings. Ward also made five starts this season for UCF, and his lean 6-3 frame suggests he could eventually be stretched into a starting role.

In the eighth round, the Sox took switch-hitting catcher Elih Marrero from NAIA St. Thomas University. Marrero drove in 80 runs in 62 games, helping the Bobcats to a 56-9 record.

The final pitcher selected by the Red Sox was one of three seniors they took on Tuesday. North Carolina State left-hander Brian Brown held opposing hitters to a .229 batting average in 16 starts and struck out 98 in 98 2/3 innings. Brown (ninth round), Dallas Baptist University outfielder Devlin Granberg (sixth) and Kennesaw State second baseman Grant Williams (10th) have all exhausted their college eligibility, giving Boston the leverage to potentially some bonus money for other selections.

Williams had 22 extra-base hits and an .855 OPS with Kennesaw State this season, starting all 55 games. He was the final Red Sox pick of the day, going 310th overall. Long Beach State second baseman Jarren Duran, taken in the seventh round, profiles more as a defensive option. He committed five errors in 269 chances and add 17 stolen bases.

* MassLive.com

Tyler Thornburg resumes rehab: Boston Red Sox reliever pitches perfect seventh, tops out at 95 mph

Christopher Smith

Red Sox reliever Tyler Thornburg began his second rehab assignment Tuesday for Triple-A Pawtucket. He hurled a perfect seventh inning.

Boston returned Thornburg from injury rehab assignment without activating him from the 10-day disabled list May 25. That prevented him from pitching in another rehab game for at least the next seven days.

Back on May 25, president of baseball operations said, "We're hopeful he'll be back as quickly as possible. He's very close. But we don't want to rush this process. We don't want to put him out there and have him pitch too often and be a setback for him."

Thornburg threw bullpen sessions in between rehab assignments and received treatment from the Red Sox training staff.

He's scheduled to pitch again Friday for Pawtucket.

His perfect inning consisted of a flyout to left field, strikeout swinging and lineout to center field.

He threw nine . He topped out at 95 mph. He threw six 94 mph fastballs, per the PawSox release.

Steven Wright's fastball/knuckleball combo for Red Sox an indicator he's back to 2016 All-Star form

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Steven Wright has made it difficult for the Red Sox to justify him being used in any other role than as a starter.

And the knuckleballer has made only one start this season.

Wright, who made the 2016 American League All-Star team as a , is back to his form of two years ago. The effectiveness of his fastball-knuckleball combination is a clear indicator.

He hurled 7 scoreless innings and allowed only two hits in a 6-0 Red Sox win over the Tigers here at Fenway Park on Tuesday.

Wright has a 1.57 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and .147 batting average against in 23 innings (six relief outings, one start) this season.

He will take Drew Pomeranz's spot in the starting rotation while Pomeranz is on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis.

"Hopefully, it's something that he'll come back right away," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said about Pomeranz's injury.

Pomeranz dropped to 1-3 with a 6.81 ERA last Thursday in Houston.

Meanwhile, Wright has thrown 16 straight scoreless innings. He became just the second Red Sox pitcher this season (joining ) to throw 7 shutout innings while allowing two or fewer hits in a start.

R.A. Dickey, who has worked with Wright, told MassLive.com in 2016, "The thing that's so difficult to do that he is able to do as well as most knuckleballers that have had success is he's able to throw a fastball, then go right back to the knuckleball. He doesn't lose the feel for it. He's got a very good feel right now. He's in a great rhythm. Mechanically he's got a lot of tempo."

His fastball-knuckleball combination indicates Wright has really good stuff right now like he did in 2016.

"When we got the lead, all of a sudden he started throwing that fastball and that's when the at-bats got really tough," Cora said. "He did it to (Nick) Castellanos. He threw two hard knuckleballs up and in. And then he threw two fastballs in the same lane. That's hard to do. As a hitter, it's tough to pick up."

Flash back to Thursday when Wright relieved Pomeranz and hurled 3 scoreless innings vs. the Astros.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning, he fell behind in the 3-0 to Marwin Gonzalez. But he then spotted two fastballs perfectly on the inside corner of the plate. He struck out Gonzalez swinging on a knuckleball high in the zone.

Wright also has a strong tempo and pace like Dickey mentioned he had in 2016.

"I played behind Wake (Tim Wakefield)," Cora said. "It's the same way. Grab it and throw it."

Right now, Wright deserves to be pitching every fifth day.

Boston Red Sox prospect Jalen Beeks to make major-league debut Thursday

Chris Cotillo

BOSTON -- The Red Sox will call up left-hander Jalen Beeks to start Thursday against the Tigers, manager Alex Cora announced Tuesday. It will be Beeks' major-league debut.

Fellow left-hander Drew Pomeranz was originally slated to make the start before being placed on the disabled list with left biceps tendinitis Tuesday. Beeks was scheduled to start Tuesday night for Triple-A Pawtucket but was scratched in anticipation of a spot start in the majors.

Beeks, a 12th-round pick of the Red Sox out of the University of Arkansas in 2012, has shined for the PawSox this year. In 10 starts, he owns a 2.56 ERA and 12.8 K/9, causing him to rise to the fifth-best prospect in the system, according to SoxProspects.com.

Beeks' stay in the rotation is likely to be a short one, as Steven Wright's seven shutout innings in Tuesday night's game earned him another shot in place of Pomeranz. Boston will move forward with a rotation of , David Price, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez and Wright, with Beek providing a sixth option while Pomeranz is shelved.

For a deeper look at Beeks, check out Christopher Smith's feature on him from spring training.

Dustin Pedroia injury: Second baseman has inflammation, will resume baseball activities this week

Chris Cotillo

BOSTON -- For Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, a Tuesday visit to the doctor who performed his knee surgery last fall in New York City brought good news. Pedroia, who was placed back on the disabled list Saturday, is dealing with inflammation in the knee and nothing related to the surgery, according to manager Alex Cora.

Cora said Pedroia will receive treatment tomorrow at Fenway Park and will resume baseball activities in the next couple of days. The hope, according to Cora, is that the former American League MVP will be back "sooner rather than later," with the club not fearful at this point about another extended absence for the veteran.

Pedroia underwent a cartilage restoration procedure on his left knee last October and was sidelined for the first two months of this season, making his season debut on May 26. He was 1-for-11 in three games against the Braves before being held out of the lineup for four straight days and eventually being placed on the disabled list, retroactive to May 30.

Steven Wright hurls 7 shutout innings, J.D. Martinez homers in Boston Red Sox's win over Tigers

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- J.D. Martinez bashed a 431-foot homer to left-center field in his first against the Detroit Tigers since they traded him to the Diamondbacks last July 18.

The DH, who signed for five years, $110 million with Boston in the offseason, went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and three runs.

Steven Wright, meanwhile, pitched 7 scoreless innings in his first start of 2018. Boston beat Detroit 6-0 here at Fenway Park.

Martinez didn't play against Detroit last year when he spent the final two and a half months with Arizona. He also became the first player in the majors this season to reach 20 homers.

Martinez, Mitch Moreland, Eduardo Nunez and Jackie Bradley Jr. each stroked two hits.

Wright dominates

Wright allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out six over his 7 shutout innings.

Wright has a 1.57 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and .147 batting average against in 23 innings (six relief outings, one start) this season.

Wright's first inning was a bit shaky. He allowed three base runners. He walked Leonys Martin to begin the game. Nicholas Castellanos then doubled.

But Martin got thrown out at home thanks to a perfect relay from Andrew Benintendi to Xander Bogaerts to catcher Christian Vazquez.

Wright walked Miguel Cabrera, then retired Victor Martinez on a pop-out to shortstop and struck out Jeimer Candelario looking.

Wright rolled the rest of the way. He retired the final 13 batters he faced. He pitched to the minimum in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Bogaerts launches ninth homer

Xander Bogaerts belted his ninth homer, putting him one shy of his 2017 total.

Bogaerts hit it 401 feet with a 105.6 mph exit velocity.

* The Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Red Sox Journal: Pedroia out a few more days with inflammation

Bill Ballou

BOSTON — While the Red Sox and Dustin Pedroia braced for worst-case news about his left knee, that did not happen on Tuesday and he is eventually expected to return.

“Everything about the surgery is fine,” manager Alex Cora said. “He just has some inflammation. I was talking to him during the game. It’s kind of like with David [Price]. After he saw the doctor, at least he can calm down and get treatment and hopefully he’ll be with us sooner rather than later.”

Pedroia is expected to begin treatment Wednesday and should be back in a couple of days, according to Cora.

Pomeranz on goes DL

Drew Pomeranz is the latest addition to the disabled list. He has biceps tendinitis, something he came down with supposedly after his start in Houston last Thursday. Pomeranz’s DL time has been backdated to June 2.

Brandon Workman was recalled from Pawtucket to take Pomeranz’s place on the roster. Workman will be used in relief.

Cora said aftyer Tuesday’s game that Pawtucket left-hander Jalen Beeks would be promoted to make his big league debut for Thursday’s game against Detroit. Beeks has racked up 80 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings for the PawSox this season.

All-Star candidate

The campaign to make Mitch Moreland an All-Star began on Tuesday night with Cora saying, “I was looking at numbers around the league. I hate to look ahead, but the way things are going he should be a guy who’s playing in Washington in a month and a half.”

Moreland is having the best offensive season of his career, including a batting average about 50 points higher than his career average. He started fast last year and tailed off, but that was largely — the Sox think — because he played much of the time with a broken toe.

Vazquez in lineup

Cora reversed course on Tuesday night’s starting catcher, which he had hinted would be Blake Swihart. Instead, Christian Vazquez was behind the plate for Boston with Steven Wright on the mound.

“He had a big swing this weekend,” said Cora of Vazquez, who homered in Houston. “He’s been working hard. I don’t think it’s fair for Blake to go out there and catch a knuckleballer for seven innings. He will catch this week. I’m not going to tell you when, but he will catch a game this week.”

Homegrown talent

With Workman replacing Pomeranz on the 25-man roster, 14 of the Red Sox’ active players have never played for any major-league team other than Boston. Nine of those players were acquired via the amateur draft.

The Red Sox’ disabled list payroll is up to $30,631,000 and they are paying players off the roster — Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Allen Craig, Rusney — more than $50 million.

Workman was assigned No. 44, a change from the No. 67 he wore in his first three seasons in a Boston uniform. Chili Davis wore 44 during his three years as Red Sox batting coach. The last Boston player with 44 was Jackie Bradley Jr. in 2013.

Record pace

J.D. Martinez is way ahead of Dick Stuart’s pace as he attempts to become just the 10th Red Sox batter to hit 30 or more home runs in his debut season for Boston. Stuart holds the record with 42 in 1963, his first year in a Sox uniform.

Martinez hit his 20th in the first inning on Tuesday night. It was Boston’s 61st game of the year. Stuart hit his 20th on July 24, 1963 in Boston’s 96th game.

* The Pawtucket Times

Thornburg stellar in return to the mound; Beeks calls pending Red Sox debut 'a blessing'

Brendan McGair

PAWTUCKET – The decision that led to the Red Sox pulling Tyler Thornburg off his minor-league rehab assignment had nothing to do with any setbacks from the surgery to threat thoracic outlet syndrome in his right shoulder.

“As a group, it was more not feeling like I could be a regular bullpen guy based on the way the bullpen guys were being used at that point,” said Thornburg after needing just nine pitches to retire the Louisville Bats in the seventh inning of a game the would lose, 7-4, on Tuesday night. “It was just a situation where guys were throwing a lot and they didn’t want to protect me down there. They said they’ll give me 10 days or whatever it is and start it back over. Maybe it’s a different situation where I’m in a position to become an everyday reliever”

The layoff seemed to definitely agree with Thornburg, who threw seven fastballs, one changeup, and one curveball against Lousville. His fastball generally sat around 94 miles per hour but topped out at 95 mph. He recorded three swing-and-misses and one strikeout.

“Probably felt as good this time out as I had in any of the times in the first stint. I was happy, especially since it had been a few weeks,” Thornburg said. “The ability to throw strikes and still thread things when I need to was still there.”

Thornburg posted a 5.14 ERA in nine games with Pawtucket and Double-A Portland before getting shut down. He threw one bullpen in the downtime he was prescribed prior to getting back on the mound Tuesday night.

What’s the next step? Thornburg says he plans to return to McCoy Stadium on Friday. With innings already under his belt, he noted this phase of his rehab figures to represent a vast departure from initial go- around, which he admitted at times felt more like spring training in terms of building up arm strength.

“It’s literally a recharging kind of thing and I don’t see that taking two, three, four weeks,” he said.

***

Jalen Beeks put himself on the map with a 2.56 ERA in 10 starts and 80 strikeouts and 56.1 innings. The left-hander has parlayed that strong start to the season with a start with the Boston Red Sox, which will take place on Thursday against Detroit. It will be his first-ever major-league appearance for the 24-year-old who was drafted in the 12th round by Boston in 2014.

"I'm just excited and feel blessed right now. I'm honored. It's been something I've been dreaming about as long as I can remember," said Beeks, who spoke to reporters prior to sharing the good news with family members.

Beeks was informed of his pending major-league debut during Tuesday’s game. The messenger was pitching coach Kevin Walker.

Said PawSox manager Kevin Boles, “To see a guy pitch as well as he has and how he’s come a long way in a short amount of time … he’s worked to get to this point. Good for him.”

*Redsox.com

Wright twirls gem to stump Tigers in opener

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- The spot start turned into a sparkling start for knuckleballer Steven Wright, who mowed down the Tigers with ease on Tuesday night and led the Red Sox to a 6-0 victory in the opener of a six-game homestand.

Manager Alex Cora figured that inserting Wright into the rotation on Tuesday would be a great way to provide rest for the other five starters, given the recent schedule of 26 games in 27 days.

View Full Game Coverage Wright made the decision look brilliant as his knuckleball danced and darted and perplexed the Tigers, who managed just two hits over his seven innings.

"I was definitely trying to go out there and just go as deep as I was able to go," Wright said. "To be able to go seven was huge. I was lucky enough -- I got in at 1 in the morning [on Monday from Houston], they got in at about 10, so you know, it's definitely exciting and encouraging going forward. Just going to go out there and throw as many innings as I can."

The righty walked three and struck out six, throwing 96 pitches in his first start since April 29, 2017. Wright threw 96 pitches, which was impressive considering his season-high total was 68 in relief on May 18.

"That first inning, the first couple innings, I felt a little antsy, a little excited, nervous," Wright said. "It's been about a year and a half since I've been out there healthy throwing. It was definitely nice to get back out there."

With Drew Pomeranz going on the disabled list prior to the game with tendinitis in his left biceps, Wright is likely to remain in the rotation at least in the short term.

"We definitely need Drew," Wright said. "I think he's going to be a huge factor going forward. I'll do whatever they want me to do in the meantime. I just want to pitch, so it doesn't matter, starting or relieving."

J.D. Martinez staked Wright out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first when he mauled his MLB-leading 20th homer off a light stanchion above the Green Monster in left-center. It was Martinez's first at-bat against the Tigers since they traded him to the D-backs last July.

"Feels satisfying anytime you hit a home run, doesn't matter who it's against," Martinez said.

Xander Bogaerts added a solo shot to the home bullpen in right-center in the fifth.

First baseman Mitch Moreland, whom Cora touted as an American League All-Star candidate prior to the game, had two more hits to raise his average to .310.

With the win, the Red Sox improved their MLB-best record to 42-19. And Wright helped keep the train moving as Boston joined the past two champions (2016 Cubs, '17 Astros) as the only teams since '14 to win 42 of their first 61 games.

"Huge," Martinez said. "I think when [Wright] came in today and what he did, it was awesome. You have to give a lot of credit to a guy like that. Spot start, and a lot of people don't give that lineup credit, but they still have some really good hitters over there. So for him to do what he did was awesome."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Relay cuts down early run: The Tigers nearly took the 1-0 lead just two batters into the game, when Leonys Martin tried to score from first on a double off the Green Monster by Nicholas Castellanos. Andrew Benintendi fielded the carom off the wall perfectly and fired a one-hop relay to Bogaerts, who then made a tremendous throw to the plate. Christian Vazquez applied the tag, and Martin was out.

"Once they made that unbelievable relay in the first, I was able to kind of calm down a little bit," Wright said.

SOUND SMART Martinez is in position to break the team record for most homers by the end of June. The current record is 24, which has been done four times, most recently by Manny Ramirez in 2001.

"That's just who he is," Cora said. "I keep saying it and I'm going to keep repeating myself probably the rest of the season, but he's a complete hitter."

UP NEXT Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (6-1, 3.88 ERA) will try to continue his recent roll when he pitches Wednesday's 7:10 p.m. ET against the Tigers. In his last five starts, Rodriguez is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA. He is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in three career starts against Detroit. The Tigers counter with lefty Blaine Hardy (2- 0, 2.77 ERA).

J.D. boosts All-Star bid with MLB-best 20th HR

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- Facing the Tigers for the first time since he was traded last July, J.D. Martinez greeted his former mates with a towering two-run shot to left-center that gave the slugger an MLB-leading 20 for the season.

After hitting the dirt on a high-and-tight offering by Artie Lewicki in the first pitch of the at-bat, Martinez smashed a 3-2 fastball off a light stanchion above the Green Monster to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Boston went on to win the game, 6-0.

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With his latest homer, Martinez passed Mike Trout for sole possession of the MLB lead.

It was the 15th time Martinez has gone deep in his last 31 games, and 11th in his last 21.

The drive rocketed off his bat with an exit velocity of 108.2 mph and a projected distance of 431 feet according to Statcast™.

"He sticks with his plan," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "That's the most important thing. First pitch is at his head, tried to get him off the plate, he's disciplined enough to take two pitches on the inside part of the plate. I guess the last one was right down the middle, I don't know. But he's able to stay inside and drive that ball. That was impressive."

After being released by the Astros during Spring Training of 2014, Martinez found a home in Detroit, slashing .300/.361/.551 with 161 homers and 486 RBIs in 458 games. The Tigers traded Martinez to the D- backs last July 18 for three prospects. Martinez signed a five-year, $110-million contract with the Red Sox on Feb. 26.

For those who wondered how his all-fields approach would fit in at Fenway, Martinez is destroying the opposition in home games. The slugger has gone deep in six of his last seven games at Fenway, and 10 of his last 14.

"Everybody always asked me that question. That was the big question in the offseason. I was like, I don't know," Martinez said. "Same boring question I keep answering over and over. I'm not going to my change approach. I'm going to try to drive the ball up the middle, right-center and be me."

Since the All-Star break last season, Martinez leads MLB with 51 homers, 124 RBIs, a .707 and a 1.082 OPS in 124 games.

Red Sox go college-heavy with picks on Day 2

Blake Richardson

BOSTON -- After drafting two high school players in the first and second rounds of the 2018 MLB Draft, the Red Sox turned to collegiate players in Day Two, taking three pitchers, two catchers, two infielders and an outfielder from colleges across the country -- all of whom were upperclassmen.

Round 3: RHP Durbin Feltman, Texas Christian University When he was a sophomore in high school, Feltman technically was not a pitcher, but Oak Ridge High School baseball coach Michael Pirtle couldn't keep his catcher off the mound. Feltman's arm was just too strong.

"By the time he got to be a senior, pretty much he would go from catcher to pitcher," said Pirtle, who coached Feltman for three years. "Which was pretty tough, and we didn't want to do it. But he was so good, and his arm was so good, that he was lighting up the place."

Feltman's phenomenal throwing -- and his versatility -- runs in the family. His older brother, R.J., pitched in high school and played for Texas A&M's club team. His younger brother, Jett, a freshman at Oak Ridge High School, also switches between pitching and catching.

But to Pirtle, what set Feltman apart, both on the field and in the classroom, was his work ethic -- bolstered by friendly competition with his high school teammate, Luken Baker, who played with Feltman at TCU and was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round on Monday.

"Luken and Durbin are like brothers," he said.

Round 4: C Kole Cottam, Kentucky Kole Cottam chose 13 for his jersey number for a reason. That's how many times he has had surgery on his right eye.

Cottam had congenital melanocytic nevus, a large mole that increases one's risk for melanoma and manifests as a birthmark in an estimated 1 percent of babies worldwide.

But the surgeries didn't stop Cottam from excelling in baseball and in academics, graduating as Knoxville Catholic High School's president of the National Honor Society. Then again, how could he be deterred? Baseball is in his blood.

Both his father, Jeff Cottam, and his uncle, Danny Cottam, played baseball at Memphis. And don't forget Jeff Cottam's collegiate handball career. His mother, Kori Cottam, played basketball at Memphis, and his younger brother, Kyle Cottam, is on Clemson's golf team.

Round 5: RHP Thad Ward, University of Central Florida With the bases loaded and no outs, UCF head coach Greg Lovelady knew who he would turn to in the bullpen -- Ward.

"This year, he was awesome," Lovelady said. "He was a guy that we put in the most stressful situations every single game."

Ward's father, Steve Ward, ran track at LSU. Thad's brother played baseball and basketball at Averett University, and his sister played volleyball at Florida Southern. Lovelady described Ward as an energetic, fun-loving presence in the clubhouse, but all that changed when he stepped on the mound.

"He just flipped the switch," Lovelady said.

Ward wasn't always the go-to pitcher under pressure. Lovelady said Ward improved this season after working with pitching coach Justin Parker to build his mental game. He focused on slowing the game down, attacking hitters, and most importantly, trusting his pitches. In his final season for UCF, the hard work paid off.

"It was just remarkable how tough and resilient he was in those situations," Lovelady said.

Round 6: OF Devlin Granberg, Dallas Baptist When he met with his players mid-season, Dallas Baptist head coach Dan Heefner was amazed by what he kept hearing, again and again.

"Half our team was struggling in this class and was like, 'Yeah I'm struggling in this class, but Devlin is tutoring me,'" Heefner said. "And I was like, 'How does this guy have time for this?'"

A two-time Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team selection, Granberg helped his teammates in business, exercise, physiology and other classes. But that is just Granberg. To Heefner, it seemed that Granberg never focused on himself.

"He's amazing," Heefner said. "Obviously a tremendous hitter … he's just a tremendous teammate, he's a 4.0 student, great leader. There's literally nothing else we could've asked for Devlin Granberg, on or off the field."

Round 7: 2B Jarren Duran, Long Beach State Duran was prepared before he even stepped on the collegiate because of what he did off it.

"He was very, very physical before he walked into our place," Long Beach State head coach Troy Buckley said.

Whether it be recovery, strength training, speed or his diet, Duran was committed to building his physical fitness, and his discipline allowed him to make an immediate impact at Long Beach State. Buckley said Duran's speed made him particularly fun to watch on the field.

While Duran was not Buckley's most talkative player, he made his presence known through his competitiveness. And Buckley was impressed by how seriously Duran took performing on the field.

"He really liked to compete," Buckley said. "He loved playing, and that will be really evident for Boston. They'll see that right away."

Round 8: C Elih Marrero, St. Thomas University Marrero and his father, Eli, went to the same high school, Coral Gables, and played the same position there, catcher. Now, the pair have another compelling connection -- the MLB Draft.

In 1993, Eli Marrero was drafted in the third round by the Cardinals. Now, his son starts his career similarly, with the Red Sox.

Eli Marrero was a catcher when drafted, but switched to outfield and first base after surviving thyroid cancer in 2000. Between 1997 and 2006, he played in 724 games.

Eli Marrero started his coaching career as a batting coach for the Billings Mustangs in 2011 and is now a manager for the Daytona Tortugas, a Class A Advanced team for the Reds.

Round 9: P Brian Brown, North Carolina State N.C. State head coach Elliott Avent is going to miss seeing Brown sitting in a chair on his heels, his back pinned against the locker, mind wrapped around baseball.

Brown had a quiet, unassuming presence in the dugout, but he spoke with authority. Avent said that even if Brown wasn't pitching, he stayed involved, offering pointers to push his teammates.

"The team has so much respect for him that they understood that if he said something, it was probably accurate," Avent said.

Avent was impressed by Brown's independence, especially as he got older. Brown took ownership, pored over scouting reports and grew comfortable calling his own game.

"He's the guy we depended on the most, and as that became more obvious to everybody, then a certain responsibility goes with that, and with that responsibility, he accepted it."

Round 10: 2B Grant Williams, Kennesaw State On top of his collegiate baseball career, Williams studied finance at Kennesaw State and graduated from business school in May.

The Dunwoody, Ga., native has two siblings -- Burke and Claire.

Pomeranz to DL with left biceps tendinitis

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- The Red Sox had an addition to their recent parade of injuries on Tuesday, as starter Drew Pomeranz was placed on the 10-day disabled list with left biceps tendinitis. The move was made retroactive to Saturday.

To fill Pomeranz's spot on the roster, the club recalled righty Brandon Workman from Triple-A Pawtucket. Left-hander Jalen Beeks will be recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday to start in place of Pomeranz.

Beeks, ranked No. 15 among Red Sox prospects by MLB Pipeline, has dazzled at Pawtucket this season, posting a 2.56 ERA and 0.98 WHIP.

"The way he looks, the way we lined up for the rest of the week, it makes sense to bring him up and get him here, see how he goes," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Steven Wright was inserted into the rotation on Tuesday to give the other starters extra rest, and he dazzled, pitching seven brilliant innings in a 6-0 win over the Tigers. It could be that Beeks makes the one start before going back to Triple-A, and Wright takes over the fifth spot in the rotation.

Position players Mookie Betts (left abdominal strain) and Dustin Pedroia (left knee inflammation) went on the disabled list this past weekend.

What happened with Pomeranz?

"Coming out of the Houston start, it was kind of like hard for him to bounce back, so we decided to put him on the DL," Cora said. "Hopefully it's something that he'll come back from right away."

The earliest Pomeranz is eligible to pitch for the Red Sox again is June 12 at Baltimore.

Though ace Chris Sale could have pitched Thursday in place of Pomeranz with five days of rest, Cora is opting to go with his original plan of Sale starting Friday against the White Sox.

"We feel they need that; for them to catch a breather. No way we were going to move them up after their mind was set to have their off-days and go through their preparation that way," Cora said.

The Red Sox are mulling their options for the finale of this three-game series against the Tigers. They could have a "bullpen" game, or call someone up from Pawtucket.

Pomeranz started the season on the DL with a left forearm flexor strain, and has struggled since his return, going 1-3 with a 6.81 ERA in eight starts.

Mookie making progress Betts is making incremental progress from the injury that has kept him out of action since May 27. Betts hit off a tee prior to Tuesday's game. If he can advance to regular batting practice in the next couple of days, there's a chance he could be activated when he is first eligible on Friday night.

But if Cora learned anything last week, it was to not get ahead of himself.

"He said he feels great, he feels better," Cora said. "So he was feeling better in Houston, and then he took a few swings and he decided not to keep going, so we'll see how it goes."

Houston, we have a problem The Red Sox had a tough time getting home from Houston after Sunday night's win.

"We got in at 9 a.m. [Monday]," Cora said. "Mechanical problems, which, I was like, we can't complain about this. It's either get in at 9 or take our chances. I mean, honestly. Somebody asked me, 'Can you believe this?' I was like, 'Yeah. I want to get home [safely].' I think we left Houston like at 3:50 in the morning, Whatever that was. I walked in and saw one of the twins smiling at me at 10 in the morning. So that was cool."

Cora's twin boys are almost 10 months old.

Pedroia gets peace of mind Pedroia got good news on Tuesday in his visit with Dr. Riley Williams, who performed Pedroia's cartilage restoration procedure last October.

"With Pedey, everything about the surgery is fine. He just has some inflammation. I was actually talking to him during the game. It's kind of like with David [Price], after he saw the doctor, now he can calm down and get treatment and hopefully he'll be with us sooner than later," Cora said. "It's nothing that has to do with surgery, so that's good."

The earliest Pedroia is eligible to be activated is Saturday. Because he played in just three games before returning to the DL, the Red Sox might be conservative with his timetable.

"Treatment [Wednesday]," Cora said. "He hasn't gotten treatment the last two days. Then we go from there. I think he should be back to baseball activities, slowly but surely, probably starting in two days."

*WEEI.com

Dustin Pedroia gets good news on knee -- just inflammation, no need for surgery

John Tomase

The news on Dustin Pedroia appears to be good.

The Red Sox second baseman is on the disabled list with soreness in his surgically repaired left knee. On Tuesday morning in New York, he was examined by the doctor who performed that October cartilage restoration procedure, Dr. Riley Williams III, and informed that he's only dealing with inflammation. Red Sox manager Alex Cora believes Pedroia could resume baseball activities in two days.

"With Pedey, everything about the surgery is fine. He just has inflammation," Cora said. "I was actually talking to him during the game. It's kind of like with David (Price). After he saw the doctor, now he said at least he can calm down and get treatment. Hopefully he'll be with us sooner rather than later. It's nothing that has to do with surgery, so that's good."

Pedroia was placed on the 10-day DL on Saturday after the knee began bothering him. He spent nearly two months on the DL to open the season before rejoining the team for three games last week. He went 1-for-11 before being shut down again.

"Treatment tomorrow," Cora said. "He hasn't gotten treatment the last two days and we go from there. I think he should be back to baseball activities slowly but surely probably starting in two days."

Red Sox 6, Tigers 0: Steven Wright returns to rotation, pitches like All-Star he once was

John Tomase

Red Sox manager Alex Cora practically rolled his eyes at the question before Tuesday's game against the Tigers: Did Steven Wright's prior struggles in wet conditions concern him on a drizzly night?

"No," Cora said with a dismissive wave. "He came in relief on a day like this and he did well. He should be fine."

Wright certainly entered the game on a roll, having allowed just nine hits in 16 innings of relief after returning from cartilage replacement surgery in his knee and a suspension for an offseason domestic incident. But Tuesday represented his first start in more than a year, and his first healthy one since the three-hit shutout against the Dodgers in August of 2016 that preceded an ill-advised pinch running appearance that started him down this long road to recovery.

For those who thought Wright would never be the same pitcher, or that he might struggle with the elements, let those concerns be dispelled. Because on Tuesday, he was masterful.

His knuckleball dancing and his fastball sneakily deployed, Wright shutout the Tigers over seven two-hit innings of a 6-0 victory. He struck out six, walked three, and after allowing the first three batters of the game to reach, permitted just two baserunners the rest of the night.

"I played behind Wake," Cora said of former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. "He's kind of the same way. Grab it and throw it. Either I get you or you get me. Then when we got the lead, he started throwing that fastball. That's when the at-bats started getting really tough."

He was aided by an exceptional defensive play when Nick Castellanos followed Leonys Martin's leadoff walk with a double to left-center. Andrew Benintendi cut the ball in front of center fielder Jackie Bradley, hit cutoff man Xander Bogaerts in short left, and then watched Bogaerts fire a laser to the plate that withstood a replay challenge. Martin was out and so were the Tigers. They barely threatened thereafter.

"That first inning, the first couple innings, I felt a little antsy, a little excited, nervous," Wright said. "It's been about a year and a half since I've been out there healthy throwing. Once they made that unbelievable relay in the first, I was able to kind of calm down a little bit. It was definitely nice to get back out there."

The Red Sox got all the offense they'd need, meanwhile, off the bat of J.D. Martinez, who launched his 20th homer of the year off the light tower in left-center to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Xander Bogaerts would add a homer of his own, into the Red Sox bullpen, while Mitch Moreland, Jackie Bradley Jr., and Eduardo Nunez contributed two hits apiece.

But the story of the night was Wright.

"It is such a long rehab, especially from the shoulder to knee surgery, you're always in there hoping that you can get back, but it is such a long surgery," Wright said. "With that type of surgery, it's unique to baseball. But that's the confidence I had not only in myself, but in the training staff. They worked tirelessly and did everything they could And they continue to make sure that we can go out there and perform up to our capabilities, so, yeah, I just didn't know how long it would take, but I have confidence."

Good news on Dustin Pedroia. After visiting a specialist to get another opinion on his sore knee, Pedroia was told there's nothing structurally wrong with his knee. "He just has inflammation," Cora said. "I was actually talking to him during the game. It's kind of like with David (Price). After he saw the doctor, now he said at least he can calm down and get treatment. Hopefully he'll be with us sooner rather than later. It's nothing that has to do with surgery, so that's good."

Red Sox go mostly college players in Rounds 6-10 of MLB draft

Vincent Gallo

The Red Sox finished Day 2 of the 2018 MLB draft with seven new players.

Here is a recap of their last picks in rounds 6-10.

ROUND 6

With the 190th overall pick, the Red Sox selected Devlin Granberg, a 6-foot-2, 224-pound senior out of Dallas Baptist (Tex.). Granberg is a right-handed outfielder who has hit .408 with 20 home runs and 117 RBIs in his career with the Patriots. Between his stints with Creighton, Cisco Junior College and Dallas Baptist, Granberg has hit .427/.508/.608 in 163 games played.

ROUND 7

The Red Sox took Jarren Duran at No. 220 overall, a 6-foot-2, 200-pound left-handed hitting second baseman from Cal State Long Beach. The junior hit .302 in his junior year to round out his career batting average with Long Beach to .294.

ROUND 8

At No. 250, the Red Sox chose switch-hitting catcher Elih Marrero from St. Thomas University (Florida). The junior batted .370 in 62 games played for the Bobcats, while totaling 91 hits and nine home runs to drive in 80 runs.

ROUND 9

The Red Sox picked southpaw pitcher Brian Brown No. 280 overall. The 6-foot, 183-pound senior out of NC State has a career 3.03 ERA in 60 starts and 322 for the Wolfpack. He finished his career with a 1.24 WHIP and 310 strikeouts.

ROUND 10

Kennesaw State University (Georgia) second baseman Grant Williams was drafted at No. 310 overall. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound second baseman is a lefty batter who hit .300 throughout the span of four seasons with the Owls.

Red Sox place left-hander Drew Pomeranz on DL, will give spot start to Jalen Beeks

John Tomase

The Red Sox on Tuesday placed left-hander Drew Pomeranz on the 10-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis, interrupting a disappointing season for the returning 17-game winner.

Pomeranz was placed on the DL retroactive to June 2. He'll be replaced on the roster by reliever Brandon Workman, and he'll likely be replaced in the rotation by knuckleballer Steven Wright, who starts on Tuesday, though the Red Sox will first give Pawtucket left-hander Jalen Beeks a spot start on Thursday for his big-league debut.

"Coming out of the Houston start, it was kind of hard for him to bounce back, so we decided to put him on the DL," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Pomeranz is just 1-3 with a 6.81 ERA in eight starts. He allowed four runs in five innings in his last start against the Astros and has produced only two quality starts on the season.

"It happened after this one, this last one," Cora said. "Hopefully it's something that he'll come back right away."

The Red Sox had already planned to push the entire rotation back a day by starting Wright on Tuesday, and Cora doesn't want to disrupt that plan, so a spot starter will be summoned on Thursday. The other option would have been to move everyone to their original days.

"We had our plan already set up with the guys, pushing them back, and we feel they need that for them to catch a breather," Cora said. "No way we were going to move them up after their mind was set to have their off days and go through their preparation that way."

Beeks is 3-3 with a 2.56 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A.

*NBC Sports Boston

Drellich: Steven Wright's All-Star form could've been lost to injuries

Evan Drellich

BOSTON — Physically, there was never any guarantee Steven Wright would get back to this point this quickly, and it wasn’t exactly quick.

Shoulder and knee injuries for a pitcher in his mid-30s, knuckleballer or otherwise, can be debilitating. Cartilage from a cadaver was put into his left knee in an operation last May.

“It is such a long rehab, especially from the shoulder to knee surgery, you’re always in there hoping that you can get back but it is such a long surgery,” said Wright, who underwent a procedure similar to Dustin Pedroia. “But with that type of [knee] surgery, it’s unique to baseball. But that’s the confidence I had not only in myself, but in the training staff. They worked tirelessly and did everything they could.”

The difference for Wright now is that because he is a knuckleballer, re-establishing himself as a viable starter could mean many, many more years in the major leagues. It’s still early yet, but from his bullpen work earlier this season and now, in a starting role, Wright has provided a glimpse of his 2016 All-Star form.

Seven innings of two-hit ball against the Tigers in a 6-0 Sox win Wednesday night showed Wright at peak form, commanding not only his knuckleball — thrown harder and with more drastic movement than, say, Tim Wakefield’s — but his mid-80s fastball as well. Wright has now thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings, a career-best streak.

The last scoreless start of Wright’s career was Aug. 5, 2016, a complete-game shutout that happened to be the last start for Wright before this run of injuries began. In that same series against the Dodgers, he was asked to pinch run and was hurt doing so.

Early on, Wright’s command was off, which is bound to happen with such an erratic pitch. But the setting Tuesday did get to Wright as well.

"I knew that I was overthrowing, I knew there was a lot of emotions going in, good emotions,” Wright said. “But it’s something I’ve got to keep in check and...It’s been since August of ’16 I’ve gone out there healthy [as a starter]. So as the game went on, I knew that’s part of the knuckleball, walks, but usually, when it’s moving really good, as the game went on, I was able to slow everything down.”

Namely, the Tigers offense.

Pedroia gets good news: 'It's nothing that has to do with surgery'

Evan Drellich

BOSTON — The news about Dustin Pedroia’s left knee following a visit to his surgeon in New York on Tuesday sounded about as good as can be.

“With Pedey, everything about the surgery is fine,” manager Alex Cora said after a 6-0 Red Sox win over the Detroit Tigers. “He just has some inflammation. I was actually talking to him during the game. It’s kind of like with David [Price], after he saw the doctor, now he can calm down and get treatment and hopefully he’ll be with us sooner than later. It’s nothing that has to do with surgery, so that’s good.”

MORE RED SOX - Pomeranz to DL; rookie lefty Beeks to start Thursday in MLB debut The plan now: treatment on Wednesday after Pedroia, who returned to the disabled list on Saturday, went a couple days without treatment and then possibly baseball activities, “probably starting in two days,” Cora said.

The potential for a relatively quick return seems to exist. While the Red Sox don’t think Pedroia rushed back from the DL, the fact that he played three big-league games before returning to the DL suggests that they’d be wise to be perhaps abundantly, over-the-top cautious this time.

How well do Red Sox match up with MLB's elite?

Evan Drellich

BOSTON -- The marathon may feel a little more like a slog before an insane sprint.

The Red Sox won’t see the Astros again until September, a month when roughly half of the 26 games they play, 12 of 26, are against either the Yankees, Astros or Indians.

That kind of scheduling should lead to a palpable pennant race. Baseball is better off with high drama essentially built into the calendar. But there is a flip side: those head-to-head meetings allow for a last- second rewrite, potentially dampening some of the allure of the other match-ups in between. The second half of August, for examples, has four games with the Indians, six with the Rays, two with the Marlins and a series with the White Sox leading into September.

You’re eating your vegetables to get to dessert.

At times, that’s what it often feels like the Sox have been doing this season. As still the only team in the majors with 40 wins, the Sox stand apart. But theirs is a case where carrying the best record is not a seal they are baseball’s best team.

The driving question as the non-waiver trade deadline approaches in July: How well do they match up with other elites in a short series? For as volatile as baseball is on a day-to-day basis, the Sox showed some mettle when they took the final two games of four from Houston over the weekend.

“We came here and we competed at a high level,” manager Alex Cora said on the way out of Houston. “And we know we’re a little bit banged up, but guys stepped up and the energy was great. We faced four of the best righties in the big leagues, and we did a good job with them.

“We know that team is going to be around, and they’re going to be around in October. Where we want to be, probably we have to go through them. So, it was a great series. We did a lot of different things. We just need to keep playing that way. I think with this unit right now, who we have, playing fast, being aggressive, is going to help us out.”

Those are nice buzz words, but it’s also the way a team talks when it’s been weakened. Losing Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia indefinitely hurts. But the Sox can survive, possibly even thrive until their expected returns, because seven of 10 teams between the American League East and Central are under .500.

The first-place Mariners and the AL West, where only one team is below .500, are featured prominently in the second half of July. That should be a welcome dose of reality — the reality that matters, anyway — as the Sox approach the trade deadline.

The Sox are an excellent team. And baseball’s playoff format makes an arrival in the playoffs the most important element. But after two straight years of first-round knockouts, and with a schedule this year that’s designed to create September insanity, a sense we’re all just waiting around for the season’s fourth quarter is hard to avoid. In the meantime, the Sox need to remember what they'll be up against when crunch time arrives.

* NESN.com

Red Sox Notes: Steven Wright Shines In First Start Of Season For Boston

Lauren Campbell

It was a good night for Steven Wright.

The knuckleballer made his first appearance as a starter after beginning the season in the bullpen, and tossed seven scoreless innings for the Boston Red Sox in their 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Of Wright’s 96 pitches, 57 of those were strikes, including nine swing-and-misses. Red Sox manager Alex Cora had nothing but high praise for his pitcher, despite a shaky first inning. Wright opened the game by walking Leonys Martin and then surrendering a ringing double to Nick Castellanos. Luckily for Wright, however, Martin was thrown out at home plate and he was able to escape the inning unscathed.

“It didn’t start the way he wanted to … (but) he settled down (and) he was outstanding,” Cora said after the victory, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “He gives you quality innings, we’ve seen it since he got back from the DL.”

Wright said after the game that he hasn’t been healthy on the mound since August 2016 and felt “excited, antsy and nervous” going into Tuesday’s start. He seemed to keep his emotions in check and was able to eat up innings, as he’s done all season.

“I was trying to go as deep as I was able to go,” Wright said. “Going seven was huge, especially for our bullpen.”

The 33-year-old will fill left-hander Drew Pomeranz’s place in the rotation for now, after the lefty was placed on the disabled list with biceps tendinitis. As for Wright’s future in the rotation after that, he’s just happy to be on the mound.

“We definitely need Drew (Pomeranz). I’ll do whatever they want me to do. I just want to pitch.”

Here are other notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Tigers game:

— After the game, Cora said Jalen Beeks will be called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to make his major league debut for Boston on Thursday. The pitcher has a 2.56 ERA with the PawSox with 80 strikeouts through 10 starts.

“It makes sense to bring him up and get him here to see how he does,” Cora said after the game.

— Dustin Pedroia met with doctors Tuesday in regards to his surgically repaired left knee. Cora told reporters that “everything about the surgery is fine” and the second baseman is just dealing with some inflammation and will receive treatment Wednesday and resume baseball activities in a few days.

— The offense collected six runs on 10 hits in the victory, with four batters having a two-hit night, including Jackie Bradley Jr. “All around it was a good day for us,” Cora said.

— J.D. Martinez reclaimed the lead for most home runs in Major League Baseball when he hit his 20th blast of the season in the first inning. The slugger now has 13 home runs in 28 games at Fenway Park.

Red Sox Wrap: Steven Wright’s Seven Shutout Innings Lift Boston To 6-0 Win

Lauren Campbell

Steven Wright was stellar in his first start of the 2018 season.

After coming off the disabled list in mid-May and beginning the season in the bullpen, the knuckleballer pitched seven scoreless innings en route to the Boston Red Sox’s 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Wright threw 95 pitches, 67 of which for strikes, while J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts drove in three runs for Boston as part of a loud night for Boston’s offense, which collected 10 hits.

With their third straight win, the Red Sox climb to 42-19, while the Tigers slip to 29-33.

Here’s how it all went down:

GAME IN A WORD

Solid.

Between Wright’s start and the offense getting to the Tigers early and often, the win for the Sox was a full- team effort.

ON THE BUMP

— It looked as if Wright was going to get into some early trouble in the first inning after Leonys Martin tried to score on a Nicholas Castellanos double deep to left field, but a nice relay from Andrew Benintendi and Bogaerts allowed Christian Vazquez to apply the tag for the out.

But the knuckleballer would settle down after that, tossing seven innings of scoreless ball with six strikeouts.

— Hector Velazquez pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

— Brandon Workman, who was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier Tuesday, closed out the game with a scoreless ninth.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX

— Martinez gave the Sox a 2-0 lead in the first after he launched his 20th home run deep to center, good for the Major League Baseball lead.

— Boston added two more runs in the fourth after Martinez reached second on an error and Mitch Moreland singled before Eduardo Nunez drove in Martinez for a 3-0 Red Sox lead with an RBI single. Rafael Devers later grounded into a double play, however, it was enough to plate the fourth run for the Sox.

— Bogaerts made it 5-0 after he sent his ninth home run of the season into the Sox’s bullpen.

— The Red Sox extended their lead to 6-0 on a Brock Holt groundout before leaving the bases loaded to end the inning.

— Devers, Vazquez and Holt all went hitless on the night.

UP NEXT

The two sides will play the second of their three-game set Wednesday night at Fenway Park. Eduardo Rodriguez will get the ball for Boston opposite Blaine Hardy. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.

* Bostonsportsjournal.com

McAdam: Injuries can’t keep Red Sox down

Sean McAdam

The rallying cry of “next man up” was made for football, a violent sport where substitutions happen after every play and injuries are commonplace. The season is a war of attrition, with a blown-out knee or concussion seemingly lurking during the next series of downs.

Baseball has its injuries, too, though they can be so minor as to be comical: blistered fingers and contusions can seem to strike as often as actual, honest-to-goodness sprains and tears and breaks.

No matter the seriousness, however, the Red Sox have been struck by the injury bug in the last week, necessitating trips to the DL for three of their players from the 25-man rosters: two everyday players and a member of the starting rotation.

Since Friday, in fact, the Sox have played exactly one more game than they’ve had DL moves. First, it was Mookie Betts (abdominal strain). On Saturday, it was Dustin Pedroia (knee inflammation). And Monday, Drew Pomeranz was the unlucky one, diagnosed with biceps tendonitis.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, none of these pose any long-term threat. Betts swung a ball off a tee and took some cuts against soft tosses Tuesday. Pedroia is set to resume baseball activities Thursday. Pomeranz needs time, but not much, it’s expected.

Still, the run of injuries could have strained a lesser team. But the Sox have absorbed the loss of manpower and continued to pile up victories.

In Houston, they mixed Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez in place of Pedroia at second and split with the mighty Astros. Holt and Blake Swihart took turns patrolling right field, while Andrew Benintendi filled in capably in the leadoff spot and, incredibly, approximated the kind of production Betts had been providing there.

Finally, on Tuesday night, Steven Wright got his first start of the season and shut out the Detroit Tigers over seven innings in a 6-0 Sox win. Wright’s start was originally conceived as a spot start, designed to provide an additional day of rest for the remainder of the rotation, which has performed reasonably well for the first third of the season.

OSTON, MA - JUNE 5: Steven Wright #35 of the Boston Red Sox delivers during the first inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers on June 5, 2018 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Lately, the games have piled up along with some travel and it was determined that inserting Wright into the rotation could be the perfect tonic for a group of pitchers beginning to feel the effects of a long season.

But with the news that Pomeranz was headed to the DL, Wright’s stay in the rotation could last a bit longer. At the very least, Wright will pitch again next Monday in Baltimore, since Pomeranz will not yet be eligible to return by then. And given that Pomeranz will need additional time to build back arm strength, it’s all but guaranteed that Wright will take the next turn, too, scheduled in Seattle.

If Wright can duplicate what he did Tuesday — inducing weak contact, confounding hitters’ timing — he might be difficult to dislodge. A sudden surplus of quality starters would be a welcome problem for the Sox as the season enters the warmer months and depth becomes a needed survival tool.

When they designated Hanley Ramirez nearly two weeks ago, the Red Sox were nearly giddy with the prospect of increased versatility and roster flexibility they had achieved. Suddenly, there would be playing opportunities for Swihart, Nunez could resume his super-utility role, and Holt could rotate through the and outfield to keep others fresh.

The twin losses of Betts and Pedroia, even for a relatively short period, put those plans on hold. Now, Nunez is back to effectively being the everyday second baseman and Holt has become the de facto right fielder. How much use — if any — they get out of Sam Travis remains to be seen.

But the injury setbacks haven’t sunk the Sox and don’t seem likely to in the near future. The bench may not be as formidable as it looked a week ago, but in the short-term, they can survive that.

Meanwhile, Wright has outpitched Pomeranz, whose underperformance had turned his last two outings into a referendum on his job security. And while he’s fully capable of making some adjustments and having the sort of second half he enjoyed last year (3.01 in his final 15 starts), he wasn’t contributing much as things were.

There are ancillary openings, now, too. Jalen Beeks will make his major-league debut Thursday, for one night only. Still, the experience of getting plugged into the rotation — if only for one start — should help his development and enable the Red Sox to test his readiness for later in the season.

Similarly, Brandon Workman, who was on the upswing at Pawtucket after a rough first two weeks of the season, is here — though likely only until Beeks arrives — with a chance to stake a bullpen claim for later.

And all the while, the Sox can fatten up on a cushy schedule that has them pitted against three straight lesser lights — the Tigers, White Sox and Orioles — over this nine-game stretch.

Not full strength? Not a problem.

Next man up, indeed.

BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 6, Tigers 0 – Wright, Martinez shine

Sean McAdam

`HEADLINES

Wright on time: Making his first start of the season, Steven Wright was brilliant — after a rocky first inning, that is. Admittedly a little amped up by his assignment, Wright was overthrowing his knuckleball and issued free passes to three of the first six hitters he faced. But he settled down after that and carved up the Detroit lineup: after the second inning, he allowed just one batter to reach base over his final five innings, en route to seven shutout frames. “I knew that walks are part of (throwing) the knuckleball,” he said. “Once the game got on, I was able to slow everything down and the knuckleball got better.” Ordinarily, a good knuckler results in weak contact and a lot of popups and flyballs. But Wright’s knuckler was diving down in the zone with late action, producing the kind of at-bats usually resulting from a two- seam fastball. Of the 14 balls put in for outs from the second inning forward, 10 were groundouts.

Martinez keeps mashing at home: Remember when all the talk centered around Fenway Park being the wrong hitting environment for J.D. Martinez? Good times. Martinez has been a beast in his own ballpark. In his last 14 home games, Martinez has 10 homers. He’s reached base in each of his last 22 home games and now owns a career slugging percentage of .748 at Fenway. “That was the big question of the off- season,” he said of the doubts about his suitability for the ballpark. “But to me, I just said, ‘I don’t care, man.’ It’s the same boring question I keep answering over and over. I’m not going to change my approach. I’m going to go up there and try to hit the ball up the middle and to right-center and be me.” That seems to be working.

Pedroia given re-assurance: Dustin Pedroia returned from a visit to New York and his surgeon, Riley Williams. He underwent a full workup of tests and an MRI on his ailing knee. The visit showed no damage to the knee and he was diagnosed with inflammation. He’ll start getting treatment again Wednesday and on Thursday will begin light baseball activities with an eye toward getting back sometime next week. “Now,” said Cora, “he can calm down and get treatment and hopefully he’ll be back with us sooner rather than later.

TURNING POINT

Can a turning point happen two batters into the game? Steven Wright thought so. He walked Leonys Martin to start the game, then gave up a hard double off The Wall in left. But a strong relay from Andrew Benintendi to Xander Bogaerts to Christian Vazquez managed to cut down Martin at the plate and relaxed Wright thereafter.

TWO UP

Xander Bogaerts: The shortstop continues to flash improved power, belting his ninth homer of the season, or, one fewer than he had last year for the entire season.

Mitch Moreland: Hours after his manager publicly promoted him for the All-Star Game, Moreland kept piling up the hits, stroking two singles to lift his average to .310.

ONE DOWN

Christian Vazquez: He got the start behind the plate because Cora thought he saw better at-bats Saturday night, but he was 0-for-3 with a strikeout and still seems a long way from figuring things out.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“J.D. Martinez, good Lord. I don’t hit my driver that far.” — Steven Wright on the massive first-inning homer off the light-tower in left-center by the Red Sox’ DH.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

The win bumped the Red Sox to a season-high 23 games over .500. The Sox have won four in a row at home and 10 of their last 12. The shutout was the fourth this season by the Red Sox. Wright extended his scoreless streak to a career-best 16 innings. Bogaerts has reached safely in each of the last 20 games. The Red Sox have played 12 different opponents to date; Martinez has homered against 11 of them. Moreland posted his 13th multi-hit game this season. Over his last 10 games, Eduardo Nunez is hitting .385 (15-for-39). UP NEXT

The Red Sox and Tigers play the middle game of their three-game series Wednesday night, with LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (6-1, 3.88) facing LHP Blaine Hardy (2-0, 2.77)

Final: Red Sox 6, Tigers, 0 – Wright (7 SO innings) helps Red Sox run streak to three

Sean McAdam

Steven Wright tossed seven two-hit, shutout innings and got all the offensive backing he would need from a two-run first-inning homer from J.D. Martinez as the Red Sox cruised to a 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Wright, making his first start of the season, overcame some early wildness and allowed just two baserunners after the first inning, striking out six and lowering his ERA to 1.57 for the season.

The Sox tacked on two more runs in the fourth on an RBI single from Eduardo Nunez and a groundout. An inning later, Xander Bogaerts led off with a solo homer and the Sox added another run on a bases-loaded double play.

WHO: Red Sox vs. Detroit Tigers WHEN: 7:10 p.m. WHERE: Fenway Park WHAT’S UP: Following their brief road trip in Houston, the Red Sox return home for a six-game homestand, beginning with three against Detroit. Boston is 11-4 in its last 15 games. This is the first meeting of the season with the Tigers, who, though they have a losing record, are in second place in the A.L. Central, two and a half games behind first-place Cleveland. They split a double-header at home with the Yankees on Monday. STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Steven Wright (1-0, 2.25) vs. RHP Artie Lewicki (0-0 3.60). TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM

IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:

9:06 After some early command issues, Wright has really gotten locked in. Since he issued a leadoff walk in the second, he’s retired 14 of the last 15 hitters he’s faced, all but one on either a strikeout or a groundout.

8:50 At the start of the year, Xander Bogaerts was the player who seemed most capable of improving on what he did a year ago. Last year, passive at the plate and hampered by a hand injury in the second half, he had just 10 homers in 148 games. Tonight, in his team’s 61st game and his own 48th game, he hit his ninth homer.

8:23: Solid single to center by Mitch Moreland. Earlier today, Alex Cora was promoting Moreland as a deserving choice for the All-Star Game next month.

7:44 As often happens with knuckleballers, Steven Wright is struggling with his ability to control his signature pitch tonight. He’s walked three of the first six hitters, but thanks a nice relay from the outfield to cut down a potential run at the plate and some weak contact on knucklers in the zone, he’s escaped any damage so far.

LINEUPS

RED SOX

Benintendi LF Bogaerts SS Martinez DH Moreland 1B Nunez 2B Holt RF Devers 3B Vazquez C Bradley CF

TIGERS

Martin CF Castellanos RF Cabrera 1B Martinez DH Candelario 3B McCann C Jones LF Iglesias SS Machado 2B

NEWS AND NOTES:

The Red Sox placed LHP Drew Pomeranz on the DL with biceps tendinitis, retroactive to Saturday. Alex Cora said Pomeranz didn’t bounce back physically from last Thursday’s start and needs a little time to recover. For now, that means Steven Wright, making his first start of the season tonight, will remain in the rotation, taking Pomeranz’s spot. To take Wright’s spot on the roster, the Red Sox called up RHP Brandon Workman. In order to give the other starters two extra days of rest — the idea behind plugging Wright into the rotation in the first place — the Sox will plug in another spot starter Thursday, which would have been Pomeranz’s spot. Among the candidates: Hector Velazquez, and Jalen Beeks. Mookie Betts is scheduled to take some swings off a tee and swing against some soft tosses Tuesday and continues to feel improvement as he recovers from an abdominal strain.

*The Athletic

McCaffrey: Steven Wright suddenly adds more firepower in Red Sox rotation

Jen McCaffrey

Steven Wright couldn’t have asked for a much better return to the Red Sox rotation than the one he had on Tuesday night.

It’s been a tumultuous 18 months for the knuckleballer. From a shoulder injury in August 2016 running the bases, to a season-ending knee surgery last May to an arrest for a domestic violence charge this past winter followed by a suspension from the league, the bad days have seemingly outweighed the good.

Tuesday was a good day, though.

Wright spun seven scoreless innings allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out six in a 6-0 Red Sox win over the Tigers.

Since returning to the Red Sox on May 14, Wright had pitched 16 innings out of the bullpen allowing four earned runs for a 2.25 ERA.

Manager Alex Cora wanted to give his starters extra rest this turn through the rotation and inserted Wright into the rotation. Then before his start on Tuesday, the Red Sox placed lefty Drew Pomeranz on the disabled list with bicep tendonitis, clearing a way, at least temporarily, for Wright to stay in the rotation.

“That first inning, the first couple innings, I felt a little antsy, a little excited, nervous,” Wright said. “It’s been about a year and a half since I’ve been out there [starting] healthy [and] throwing.”

Wright issued a leadoff walk followed by a double to left center that almost scored the first run of the game. Andrew Benintendi made a strong relay throw to Xander Boagerts who fired home to Christian Vazquez for the out. Wright issued another walk but then got the next two outs in succession.

J.D. Martinez took some early pressure off by crushing a two-run homer in the bottom of the first to give the Red Sox an early lead.

Wright erased a leadoff walk in the second with three quick outs and got Miguel Cabrera to ground into a double play in the third after he’d allowed a one-out single. From there, he cruised, retiring 17 of the final 18 batters he faced.

“When we get the lead, all of the sudden he starts throwing the fastball and that’s when the at-bats get really tough,” Cora said. “He did it to (Nick) Castellanos, two hard knuckleballs up and then two fastballs in the same lane and that’s hard to do. As a hitter, it’s tough to pick up. You could see he was gaining confidence and there was momentum and he was outstanding.”

The Tigers batters couldn’t handle the action of Wright’s knuckleball mixed with his fastball. He induced nine swings and misses, seven with his knuckleball.

Another key to his success on the night were the nine groundouts compared to one fly out.

“For me, that’s what you’re hoping for is weak contact, especially as a knuckleballer, you want to go out there and get them to swing,” he said. “For me it’s just throwing, trying to kill the spin and throw it in the strike zone. I know if it moves inconsistent consistently, there’s a chance they’re going to hit it but more times than not I can kind of get them to get on top of it or get underneath it. For me, it’s just a timing thing. When it’s going good, everything is just kind of flowing.

After an All-Star first-half in 2016, in which he posted a 2.68 ERA over his first 17 starts, not much had gone right for the knuckleballer.

He entered a game as a pinch-runner in Los Angeles against Dodgers in August and jammed his shoulder diving back to the bag, resulting in bursitis that ended his season early.

The following spring, after he complained of knee pain, doctors found a large hole in the cartilage of Wright’s left knee, necessitating cartilage restoration surgery. He worked his way through a laborious recovery process with the hope of returning in early 2018.

But in the offseason, following an incident with his wife at their home outside Nashville, Wright was arrested on domestic assault charges and preventing a 911 call, both misdemeanors in the state of Tennessee. Wright, whose court case was retired, later insisted it was a verbal argument that never grew physical, but accepted a 15-game suspension by Major League Baseball for violating the domestic violence policy.

Wright finished his suspension and remained in Triple-A Pawtucket rehabbing before he was activated to the Red Sox roster on May 14. From the extensive surgery to off-the-field issues, Wright expressed equal parts gratitude and relief following his triumphant return to the rotation.

“My faith definitely kept me going, my family, the training staff, the team was behind me 100 percent,” he said. “There were times where you do look at yourself when you come back on a rehab like that and it’s not going the way you want and thinking ‘Is this ever going to get better?’ and it does. Sometimes it takes some time. It’s something I’m happy that it’s over and done with, but I’m not out of the woods yet. It’s something I’ve got to manage, probably for the rest of my career.”

With Pomeranz on the disabled list for at least the next 10 days, Wright has a chance to lobby for a more permanent spot in the rotation.

For now, though, he’s just happy he’s had a chance to come back.

Jennings: In a bizarre AL East, who’s the best team? Well, what day is it?

Chad Jennings

On Saturday night, the Red Sox became the first team to win 40 games this season. On Sunday night, they won again. They had four more wins than any other team in baseball.

And they still weren’t in first place.

The American League standings are a bizarre collection of numbers right now, with a bunch of winning teams in the West, a bunch of losing teams in the Central, and an unusual back-and-forth in the East.

The Yankees have been rained out so many times this season that heading into Monday’s doubleheader against the Tigers they were four behind the Red Sox, but still possessed a better winning percentage, and so Major League Baseball’s official standings briefly showed them in first place — but also, somehow, a game behind the Red Sox. After the Yankees split the doubleheader, all returned to normal, with the Yankees three wins behind and one game back. But it speaks to how oddly the schedule has gone so far, and how tightly contested the AL East really is.

A division this close could be decided by a game or two, and it’s entirely possible the second-best team in baseball could end up in a roll-of-the-dice wild card game.

Winning their last two games in Houston gave the Red Sox a series split on the road against the defending champs. It wasn’t a best-case scenario, but the Red Sox could feel good about it considering they were playing without Mookie Betts or Dustin Pedroia.

“Just one bad inning the whole weekend,” manager Alex Cora said. “That’s a good baseball team, as everybody knows, but we have a good baseball team, too.”

It’s becoming easier and easier to divide baseball into the good teams and the bad teams. There are a few hovering somewhere in the middle, but there are four American League teams with at least 37 wins, and four with at least 37 losses. It’s already easy to assume a two-team race in the East – the three also-rans are already at least 12 games behind the Yankees and Red Sox – and Cleveland is the only team with a winning record in the Central.

The West is more like the Wild West with Seattle having pulled ahead of the Astros, and then the Angels and to a lesser extent Athletics keeping themselves in the playoff hunt.

The standings won’t stay this way – at some point, the number of games played will even out – but if they did, the Red Sox would have the most wins in baseball and end up in a wild-card showdown against the Astros, with their pick of or Gerrit Cole on the mound.

The Red Sox showed this weekend that they can hang with the defending champs, but no teams wants to end up in a one-game, wild-card gamble. The division is paramount. And right now, the division is truly bizarre.

The Yankees and Red Sox have split their head-to-head matchups, and their run differentials are similar (the Red Sox have scored fewer runs per game, but they’ve also allowed fewer runs per game).

So, it’s worth considering strength of schedule to think about which team is actually off to a better start.

We can pretty easily divide the American League into five distinct categories ranging from bad to good, and then can use those categories to see how the Red Sox and Yankees have done against each level of competition. Out of curiosity, we’ll check the Astros as well.

Bottom of the barrel: Orioles, White Sox, Royals

These three teams have a run differential of at least -80. The Miami Marlins are the only team in baseball that’s been outscored by a more lopsided margin. Just brutal.

Red Sox: 8-2

Yankees: 5-4

Astros: 6-0

The Astros and Red Sox have each beat up on the Orioles, but the Yankees have split six games against them. The Astros have also swept the White Sox.

Not very good: Twins, Blue Jays, Rangers

These teams aren’t without merit, but they’re well below .500 without many signs of life. The Twins are fairly close to breaking even on run differential, but not close enough to keep them out of this group.

Red Sox: 10-3

Yankees: 10-5

Astros: 7-6

In one six-game period, the Astros went 2-4 against the Twins and Rangers. That’s kept their record against this group from climbing well above .500. The Yankees swept a four-game series against the Twins, and the Red Sox have owned the Blue Jays with a 7-2 record.

Right in the middle: Athletics, Rays, Tigers

Oakland’s hanging in there with a winning record, and the Rays are just two-games below .500 while nearly breaking even on the run differential. The Tigers are a second-place team, but only because the Central is so bad.

Red Sox: 11-8

Yankees: 6-2

Astros: 5-1

Winning nine against the Rays has kept the Red Sox afloat against this rung of mediocrity. The Yankees have played the Rays just twice with 17 to go (including four in the final week of the season). That’s an opportunity to make hay. The Astros have won five of six against the A’s.

Legitimate contenders: Indians, Angels, Mariners

According to record, the Mariners are neck-and-neck with the Astros, but their modest run differential tells a different story. The Angels have been inconsistent, and the Indians have yet to fully take advantage of playing in such a weak division.

Red Sox: 3-0

Yankees: 8-1

Astros: 10-7

Aside from a three-game sweep in Los Angeles, the Red Sox have yet to venture into this level of the American League hierarchy. That’ll change later in the month with 10 games in 14 days against the Mariners and Angels (they don’t play the Indians until August and September). The Yankees won three in a row against the Indians and five of six against the Angels.

Cream of the crop: Red Sox, Yankees, Astros

More or less, the undisputed top three teams in baseball, though the Cubs might disagree (they’re the only other team with a positive run differential greater than 75). Seattle is technically ahead of the Astros in the standings, but their expected win-loss record suggests they’ve run into some good luck. By most standards, in the American League at least, these three have set themselves apart.

Red Sox: 5-5

Yankees: 8-5

Astros 4-7

The Red Sox and Yankees have split their first six head-to-head games this season, and the Red Sox and Astros just split their first four-game set, but the Yankees have already finished their season series against the Astros by winning five of seven. The Astros come to Boston the second weekend of September.

The other half

The American League accounts for most of the schedule, but not quite all of it. So far in interleague play, the Red Sox have outperformed their primary competitors for the pennant.

The Red Sox are 4-1 the National League. The Yankees 1-1, and the Astros 5-3.

With a division race this, it’s possible interleague play could decide the American League East. Here’s what the Red Sox and Yankees have left:

Red Sox: 3 at Nationals, 2 vs. Phillies, 2 at Phillies, 2 vs. Marlines, 3 at Braves, 3 vs. Mets

Yankees: 3 at Mets, 2 vs. Nationals, 3 at Phillies, 3 vs. Braves, 3 vs. Mets, 2 at Marlins

Rainy Days

Another quirk of the schedule: The Yankees have been rained out six times, always on the road. Because of that, they’ve played fewer games than the Red Sox, and they’ve played a disproportionate number of games at home.

The Red Sox, idle Monday, have played just 46.7 percent of their games at home. And they’ve been better at Fenway (.714 winning percentage) than on the road (.656 winning percentage). They’ll play a little more at home the rest of the way.

The Yankees have similar home-road splits, but their schedule has been tilted the other way. They’ve played 55.3 percent of their games at (with a .710 winning percentage). After splitting Monday’s doubleheader in Detroit, they’ve played just 25 games on the road (with a .640 winning percentage).

*The Detroit Free Press

Detroit Tigers shut out by Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, 6-0

Anthony Fenech

At Fenway Park

What happened: The Detroit Tigers lost to the Boston Red Sox, 6-0, on Tuesday evening at Fenway Park. The matchup of the two teams proved to be a mismatch. Young Tigers right-hander Artie Lewicki did not last long, damaged by the Red Sox big bats. The Tigers bats did next to nothing against knuckleballer Steven Wright, recording two hits. They had three hits total. Jeimer Candelario left the game with a jammed middle finger on the right hand. The Tigers are 29-33.

Starting off: Lewicki struggled. Former Tiger J.D. Martinez opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Lewicki wasn’t helped by a Candelario throwing error to start the fourth inning — Candelario was hurt on the play. Lewicki allowed two earned runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings. He walked three batters and struck out two.

More Tigers:

Nerves & sweat: How Mize became Tigers' top pick

Why Tigers made good move picking Clemens' son

At the plate: An early opportunity went by the wayside when Leonys Martin walked to open the game and Nicholas Castellanos followed with a double. Martin tried to score from first base on the play but was called out by inches. The Tigers did not challenge the play. … Castellanos recorded two hits. It marked his 26th multi-hit game of the season, which leads the American League.

On the mound: Warwick Saupold allowed two runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings. … Buck Farmer and Zac Reininger each threw scoreless innings.

Injury update: X-ray tests on Candelario’s right hand came back negative, according to the Tigers. He is considered day-to-day.

Overseen: Martinez's two-run home run went over the Green Monster in left field and off a light tower. Martinez has 20 home runs this season.

Three stars: 1. Castellanos, 2. Farmer, 3. Reininger

Up next: Wednesday vs. Red Sox at Fenway Park, 7:10 p.m.

*Associated Press

Martinez hits 20th, Wright pitches Red Sox past Tigers 6-0

BOSTON -- Steven Wright needed a few pitches to get Detroit off balance, then kept the Tigers guessing for seven innings.

Making his first start in more than a year, Wright used a combination of knuckleballs and fastballs to hold the Tigers to two hits as he and the Boston Red Sox won 6-0 Tuesday night.

"There were definitely a lot of emotions going in -- good emotions, but it's something that I've got to keep in check," said Wright, who had surgery on his left knee last May that cost him most of the 2017 season.

J.D. Martinez hit his 20th home run for Boston, and Xander Bogaerts led off the fifth with his ninth of the season.

Wright was grateful for the offense as well as the defensive support he got right away after walking Leonys Martin to start the game. Nicholas Castellanos followed with a double off the Green Monster in left, where Andrew Benintendi fielded the bounce and threw a strike to Bogaerts, who relayed home in time for Christian Vazquez to a sliding Martin.

"Once they made that unbelievable relay in the first, I was able to kind of calm down a little bit," Wright said.

Wright (2-0), the knuckleballer who served a 15-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy, also missed time this season after an injection on his surgically repaired knee sent him to the disabled list. He made six relief appearances before getting the start Tuesday, allowing only two hits with six strikeouts and three walks.

"He started throwing that fastball and that's when the at-bats got really tough," Boston manager Alex Cora said. "As a hitter, it's tough to pick up. You could see he was gaining confidence and there was momentum. Like I said, he was outstanding."

Castellanos, who also singled in the third, was the only Detroit player with a hit against Wright, who retired the last 13 batters he faced. Dixon Machado's two-out single in the eighth against reliever Hector Velazquez was the only other hit for the Tigers, who have lost three of four.

"Well, it's a slow pitch but it doesn't ever do the same thing twice in a row," Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. "I don't think too many of our hitters have seen knuckleballs, especially the younger guys. So it was an experience for them. Maybe they'll be better next time. But that's not an easy art. You need a tennis racket to hit those things sometimes."

Artie Lewicki (0-1) made his first start in the majors and lasted 3 2/3 innings, loading the bases twice in the fourth before getting pulled with Detroit trailing 4-0. He allowed four runs -- two earned -- on five hits and three walks.

Martinez put Boston up 2-0 in the first with a homer off a sign above the Green Monster.

"I don't hit balls like that with my driver," Wright said. "It's exciting. There's such a difference in everybody, but they all can hurt you in different ways."

Boston scored two more in the fourth, when Martinez reached on a throwing error by third baseman Jeimer Candelario, who jammed a finger on the play and left the game. Mitch Moreland and Eduardo Nunez followed with back-to-back singles to add another run, and Moreland scored later on a fielder's choice.

"I'd definitely like to improve my fastball command and just being able to finish hitters or put them away early," Lewicki said. "We've been playing well. I just would have liked to go out there and give us a better chance to win."

Warwick Saupold came in from the bullpen and retired Benintendi to end the inning, only to run into his own troubles in the fifth when Bogaerts drove his first pitch into Boston's bullpen.

RELIEVED RELIEVERS

Wright was especially pleased with how deep he went on 96 pitches, saying it helped out a weary group of relievers in the bullpen who had a late flight home from Houston on Sunday night. Velazquez pitched the eighth and Brandon Workman got through the ninth on only nine pitches.

J.D. POWER

Martinez, who played three-plus seasons with the Tigers, said the two-run homer against his former club wasn't personal.

"I really came into my own there, so I've got a lot of love for that organization," he said. "It feels satisfying any time you hit a home run. It doesn't matter who it's against."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Tigers: Candelario exited with a jammed middle finger and was replaced by Ronny Rodriguez.

Red Sox: Placed LHP Drew Pomeranz on the 10-day disabled list with tendinitis in his left biceps. Boston recalled Workman from Triple-A Pawtucket. ... Cora said 2B Dustin Pedroia got some good news when he had his left knee checked out after going back on the disabled list Saturday with soreness. Although the 2008 AL MVP has some inflammation, Cora said there are no complications from the surgery and Pedroia could resume baseball activities in the next couple of days.

UP NEXT

Tigers: LHP Blaine Hardy (2-0, 2.77 ERA) has allowed two runs or fewer in four starts this season, winning his last two.

Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (6-1, 3.88) has won his last three starts, holding Toronto to two runs and three hits in 6 2/3 innings last Wednesday to close out May with a 3-1 record.