The Boston Red Sox Sunday, April 9, 2017 * The Boston Globe Jackie Bradley Jr.’s defense worth its weight in gold Peter Abraham DETROIT — Jackie Bradley Jr., so graceful in center field for the Red Sox, had a heart-stopping stumble coming around first base in the ninth inning Saturday. Bradley sent a fly ball to deep left field and took a hard turn around first base in case the ball wasn’t caught. His left foot tripped on the base and his right knee collapsed. Bradley fell in the dirt. “It was kind of scary and ugly looking,” manager John Farrell said. Bradley was helped up and walked off the field on his own. The Sox trainers checked Bradley immediately after the injury and he saw one of the Detroit team doctors in the clubhouse. There was no injury. “I’m built like Secretariat,” Bradley said. “It’s all good . everything is intact.” Bradley plans to play Sunday. “Absolutely,” he said. “That’s what I’m thinking.” Bradley also smacked his left shoulder into the wall in right-center field when he made a terrific running catch to take an extra-base hit away from Nick Castellanos in the eighth inning. “All good,” he said. Bradley robbed Castellanos in the third inning when he raced in to make a diving catch on a ball to shallow center. Through four games, Bradley has made a series of outstanding plays. After twice being a finalist for a Gold Glove, he seems determined to finally win the award. “Oh, man, it’s a joke. He’s making plays that I don’t know if anybody else can make,” second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. “It’s pretty special the routes he’s taking and the way he’s getting to balls.” Said Farrell: “He’s been exceptional in center field. The ground he’s covering, the range that he has. Whether it’s coming in on balls [or] going back deep into corners. He’s just an exceptional center fielder.” Bradley worked on his defense during spring training, his throwing in particular. That hasn’t come into play yet, but he’s pleased with his overall glove work. “I’m just trying to make plays,” Bradley said. “Definitely been working on first-step [quickness]. I just feel like I’m getting to the ball more powerful. Other than that, I don’t know if I’m better. Just happen to have made some good plays so far.’’ Bradley also drove in the only run of the game for the Sox with a sacrifice fly in the second inning. The ball to center field was caught just shy of the fence, 412 feet away according to the Statcast system. Bradley started coughing as he spoke to reporters after the game. But he said it was not the flu that had been running through the team, just allergies. “I don’t get sick,” he said. Barnes in line Righthander Matt Barnes is set to rejoin the team Sunday. He had three days of bereavement leave following the death of his grandmother. With his bullpen a jumble, Farrell plans to restore at least some order by designating Barnes for the eighth inning. Over the first three games, the Sox have been matching up out of the bullpen with mixed results. The preference is to establish some roles. “We’re not really overly concerned with the matchups so much with him. He’s shown the ability and has the pitches to attack both lefties and righties,” Farrell said. “That’s the ideal thing at his point.” Barnes pitched the eighth inning Wednesday against Pittsburgh and retired the side in order. The Sox traded for righthander Tyler Thornburg to handle the eighth inning, but he is on the disabled list with a shoulder injury and unlikely to return soon. Pomeranz tunes up Drew Pomeranz threw an extended bullpen session before the game to prepare for his start Tuesday against Baltimore. The lefthander opened the season on the disabled list with what the team said was a forearm strain. He had been scheduled to start Sunday but was pushed back by Thursday’s rainout. Pomeranz pitched in a minor league intrasquad game Monday in Fort Myers, Fla., but has not faced major league hitters since March 29. Good keepsake Righthanded reliever Ben Taylor made his major league debut Friday, striking out Ian Kinsler to end the seventh inning. He got the ball from that at-bat and has been carrying it in his backpack since. “That was the only souvenir I wanted,” he said. “That ball is coming home.” Taylor added to his good start Saturday when he struck out Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez in the sixth inning. Taylor retired four in a row before back-to-back walks got him pulled out of the game. The 24-year-old Taylor was a seventh-round draft pick in 2015 and made it to the majors after only 21 games above the Class A level, all with Double A Portland last season. Long-distance call NESN play-by-play man Dave O’Brien was struck by the flu during the game and couldn’t continue. Tom Caron, the pregame and postgame host, called the remainder of the game from the network’s studios in Watertown. If O’Brien is not available Sunday, Caron may call the game remotely again . Cabrera is 0 for 6 in the series with four strikeouts and 0 for 12 on the season. He has walked four times . Lefthanded reliever Fernando Abad is the only Sox player on the Opening Day roster yet to appear in a game . The game was twice delayed when fans ran on the field. In both instances, security guards walked onto the field and took their time before corralling the interlopers . The Sox are 7-14 against the Tigers over the last four seasons . The Red Sox Foundation and the Boston Area Church League will unveil a new batting cage at the Roxbury YMCA at 10 a.m. Sunday. It is the third cage the Sox have installed in Boston since January to help youth baseball and softball players practice. Prior to that, the closest cage accessible to youth players was in Watertown . It was 53 degrees at first pitch, which represented a heat wave for the Sox. Their first three games were all in the 40s. The forecast is for temperatures in the 70s Sunday. Playing the waiting game with Eduardo Rodriguez Nick Cafardo DETROIT — We’re all thinking the same thing: When will Eduardo Rodriguez achieve the promise that the Red Sox and all of baseball had for him as a prospect in the Orioles’ organization? You’ve heard it a thousand times. It takes time for many prospects to reach that moment when they gain consistency, where they can repeat their deliveries enough to consistently perform into the seventh inning and beyond. It’s not that E-Rod hasn’t done it. He has. I think Rodriguez, a 4-1 loser to the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park, is going to be very good once it all clicks. In fact, he should be a top-echelon guy. And if you ask talent evaluators about him, there’s no reason why Rodriguez can’t be thought of like David Price or Chris Sale. The problem is the consistency just isn’t there yet. Saturday’s performance was a perfect example. He pitched a very strong game for four innings, allowing one run against a pretty tough Tigers lineup before his game went south in a hurry in the fifth. He allowed homers to Jose Iglesias (in the third) and James McCann (in the fifth). Rodriguez admitted he left too many pitches over the plate in the fifth. He allowed a double to JaCoby Jones, a wild pitch, another double to Iglesias, and a run-scoring single to Ian Kinsler before getting out of the inning. “I just thought today was a case of poorly located pitches,” pitching coach Carl Willis said. “On the pitch to Iglesias [the home run] he was trying to go in. Iglesias likes the ball in but it doesn’t mean you don’t go in, but when you do it’s not so much for a strike. You have to get it in far enough. With McCann’s homer as well, he didn’t get it where he wanted to and they made him pay for it.” Willis agrees, however that maturity is setting in. “It is,” he said. “He came in today when we sat down for our pitcher-catcher meetings and he had done his homework. He had a plan. We made some adjustments, but those are things he’s continuing to learn and improve on. That being said, you have to go out and execute.” Willis thinks the upside is worth waiting for. “Oh yeah. He has three-plus pitches and again, it’s a matter of minimizing mistakes and learning to control damage. You have to have patience with him and keep positive with him, yet keep on top of him. When you have a hiccup or bad inning, you have to continue to work and be able to dig in and evaluate why this was a bad pitch,” Willis said. Even established pitchers have occasional meltdowns, but they stand out more for a kid who’s just not quite there yet. Rodriguez just turned 24 on Friday, so it’s not like he’s an old man whose upside is behind him. He’s already pitched in parts of three seasons in the majors and you would think he’s learned a little from every one of his 42 major league starts.