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Home , Brandon Hyde, Brock Holt, Gabriel Ynoa, Guerin Austin, Oriole Park, Steven Wright (baseball)

The Sunday, June 16, 2019

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Chris Sale got his start in — and he won’t forget it

Julian Benbow

Some things always stick with you — even after 10 years in the big leagues, seven All-Star appearances, just as many Cy Young-caliber seasons, and a .

In the case of Red Sox starter , it’s his 2010 major-league debut that always comes to mind whenever he’s at at Camden Yards.

He was 21 years old when he got the call from the White Sox. He thought he might pitch in Detroit as soon as he got the call, but his first action was in Baltimore.

“And it was terrible,” Sale said.

He didn’t record an out. He gave up a hit and a walk. He only threw seven pitches. The White Sox lost, 2-1.

And in a way that explains Sale as much as anything else, it’s part of the reason he’s thrived in Baltimore ever since.

“I think about it every time I come here,” Sale said. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”

He dominated in a 7-2 win on Saturday, racking up 10 in six innings while holding the Orioles to two runs on six hits and one walk.

Since the start of 2015, Sale is 8-0 with a 1.82 ERA in 11 starts against the Orioles. Sale’s teams have won his last eight starts at Oriole Park.

“This is where I made my major-league debut,” Sale said. “So I always tell myself after that, I’d try to clean it up here. I’ve obviously had my fair share of bumps in the road here, but I don’t know, I always like playing here. It’s a cool ballpark, good mound. So I guess I just get a little more lucky here than other places, too.”

Sale’s nine -digit performances are the most in the majors. He’s done it while putting something of a governor on his . Instead of flirting with digits, his heater averaged 93.1 miles per hour and maxed out at 95.6, according to BaseballSavant.com.

Velocity isn’t something he stresses.

“Not when you’re getting results,” he said. “I think, more so than anything, the most important thing about a starting is, a, getting deep into games and throwing up zeroes. So as long as I can keep doing that, just trying to pitch effectively and get deep into games — because early on, I wasn’t doing that — so I try to pick up our down guys in the bullpen when I can and try to get as deep as I can.”

Pedroia finds peace

Dustin Pedroia’s future is still uncertain. But, if there’s any consolation, he did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

Manager said he’s stayed in contact with Pedroia since he made the decision last month to shut down his attempts to return this season. Pedroia’s spent most of his downtime with family, including a trip to California to visit his parents.

“I think it was at a lake or something, a Holiday Inn Express,” Cora said. “I was like, ‘You’re staying there?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, this is life.’ ”

Cora said Pedroia’s still very much plugged into the team.

“He’s paying attention,” Cora said. “The other day, in one of the hitting meetings, he FaceTimed the guys and all that. So he’s in a good place.”

In May, Pedroia said he was unsure if he’d be able to return from a left knee injury that’s kept him sidelined much of the past three seasons. After several start-and-stop rehab attempts, he left the team to clear his head.

“[He’s] hanging out with family and the kids and disconnecting himself from this madness and just relaxing, which is good,” Cora said. “I think he has an awesome family. Kelli, she’s been there the whole time.

“He made it a time with the kids. Instead of the kids watching Dad just icing and doing all this stuff to get ready for the next day, now it’s just, ‘Let’s see what we’re going to do.’ So I think it’s refreshing for him and something the family, they needed that.”

Bradley’s back

Jackie Bradley Jr. extended his hitting streak to six games with a second-inning single. Entering Saturday, he’d homered in back-to-back games and three times in his past seven. After slogging through the early part of the season, Bradley has a .279/.380/.581 slash line in June.

“What he’s doing now is unreal,” Cora said. “You can see it. The cool thing now is he’s smiling, he’s happy. Like he said, it’s not cool to smile when you’re struggling. It’s not easy.

“I want them to have fun, whatever, but I understand. I went through that. Probably three-quarters of my career, I struggled offensively, so I wasn’t happy. But I had to show up. But it’s good to see him. You see his body language. He’s in a great place.”

Bradley’s been a mainstay in the bottom third of the lineup, and Cora didn’t seem like he had reason to make any chances.

“You never know,” Cora said. “He stays this way and we might [move him up], but, as of now, I think it feels right and it gives us somebody who’s getting on base for those guys at the top of the lineup and a guy that can drive in runs with traffic. So we’re just happy that we stuck with it.

“What he does defensively is a plus. We know he’s going to bring that on a daily basis. But we know that he’s going to get it, he’s going to find it, it’s just a matter of when. And it seems like this year it’s going to be sooner than last year, so it should be fun. Just stay with it.”

Minor matters

Darwinzon Hernandez was promoted Sunday to Triple A Pawtucket. The 22-year-old lefthander will be used as a starter with the PawSox. He’s made 10 appearances (nine starts) for Double A Portland this season, going 1-4 with a 5.13 ERA in 40⅓ innings. He made two appearances for the Red Sox this season. He threw 2⅓ scoreless innings against the Tigers in April. Then, on June 11 against the Rangers, he made his first major league start. He last three-plus innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on three hits and five walks with seven strikeouts. . . . The Red Sox signed their first pick of the draft, University of Arizona’s Cameron Cannon, for a below-slot $1.3 million. The 21-year-old , who will be assigned to Single A Lowell, was the 43rd overall pick — an assigned value of $1,729,800. The team also signed seven other picks: Jacob Herbert (18th round), righthander Dylan Spacke (21st round), Dominic D’Alessandro (22nd round), center fielder Leon Paulino (23rd round), Dean Miller (24th round), lefthander Brandon Walter (26th round), and righthander Devon Roedahl (27th round).

Wright progressing

Steven Wright, who is eligible to return from his 80-game PED suspension June 25, will make another minor league start Sunday. In his first outing June 9 with Triple A Pawtucket, he threw 1⅔ innings, giving up a solo homer while notching two strikeouts. He went out again June 12 and threw three scoreless innings. With the plan being for Wright to come out of the Red Sox’ bullpen, Cora said the next step will be for Wright to see situations with runners on base, which was a point of emphasis a year ago. “For him, it’ll be good,” Cora said. “But in the end, we have to do it here at the big-league level.” . . . Hector Velazquez made his first rehab start with Single A Lowell, going just one inning, with one hit and two strikeouts. Steven Pearce was back in the Lowell lineup, batting third and playing first base . . . is expected to return from the bereavement list Monday.

Chris Sale dominant again, this time with run support

Julian Benbow

Alex Cora’s Wall of Wins took an entire season to build. Not the photos themselves. But the moments frozen in time.

A year later, the memories still mean something, but it’s also a reminder of all the footprints on a long journey.

Cora was shuffling through packed boxes in his new office when he came across a gift from a friend back home. It was a block-shaped keepsake, the kind with phrases packed with just the right dosage of pith (“If everything’s seems under control, you’re not going fast enough”) and inspiration (“Go as far as you can see; when you get there, you’ll be able to see further”) to remind them why they wake up in the morning.

When Cora read the message on the block — “Talent wins games. Teamwork wins championships” — a light bulb went off.

“I decided to take it out,” Cora said.

After J.D. Martinez blasted two homers and threw out a runner at home plate in the Red Sox win over the Orioles on Friday, the block was sitting above his locker.

Then Saturday, when Chris Sale got back to the visitor’s clubhouse after striking out 10 Orioles over six innings in a 7-2 win, the block was sitting above his stall.

“Some cool things going on right now,” Cora said. “We can’t share all the secrets.”

He didn’t have to. spilled the beans.

“It’s just a little player-of-the-game thing we’ve got going,” Chavis said.

As they stretched their winning streak to four games and reached a high-water mark by getting to four games above .500 at 38-34, the message above Sale’s locker couldn’t have been more well-timed.

The Sox have scored 27 runs in the past three games, they’ve won six straight on the road, and they’re 4-1 at Oriole Park this season.

“We’re still getting better,” Cora said. “We have our own goals, and to achieve what we’re planning on achieving, we’ve got to get to our smaller goals or short-term goals first . . . We’ve been talking about five over for a while. I think it’s been like a month, a month and a half. So we’ve got a shot now.”

Chris Sale continued the tear he has been on, dominating the Orioles with his ninth double-digit strikeout performance of the season. All nine have come in his past 11 outings.

The difference this time was the run support that allowed him to walk away with his third win of the season.

Over that 10-start stretch, Sale only left the mound with a lead four times, going 2-3. He didn’t have to worry about that Saturday.

While Sale was shredding through the Orioles lineup — two runs on six hits and one walk — the Sox scored three runs in the sixth to give Sale some breathing room. stroked an RBI double to left, Brock Holt ripped a single to right that scored Bogaerts, and Sandy Leon stroked a ground ball to the left side that Orioles third baseman Hanser Alberto booted, allowing Holt to score and make it 3-0.

It was just the fifth time in 15 starts this season that Sale (3-7, 3.49), third in the majors with 130 strikeouts, received three or more runs of support.

“They control what they can control, just give us a chance to win,” Cora said. “He’s been pitching great and he hasn’t won a game. There’s been other guys around the league that they give up four or five in five innings and they get W’s. So that really doesn’t matter. He always talks about going out there as soon as possible and dominate. Tonight, he did a good job.”

He kept Baltimore quiet for the first five frames, stretching his streak of scoreless innings to 22⅓ going back to his May 31 start against the .

Even when he ran into turbulence in the sixth, giving up an RBI double to Renato Nunez and then a Jonathan Villar sacrifice fly that scored , he struck out Keon Broxton to get out of the inning and preserve the lead.

“Good Lord, I’m glad I’m not on the other team,” Chavis said. “He’s special. Every day he goes out there, aside from the actual pitches and stuff he makes, just his essence and his presence on the mound is second to none. He doesn’t want to hit a ground out. He’s trying to strike everybody out and it’s awesome.

“He might not actually be trying to strike everybody out, but just how he goes about his business and how intense he is, I mean, I’m playing first base and I’m intimidated. It’s very impressive, to say the least.”

Martinez tacked on an insurance run in the seventh with a solo homer off Richard Bleier. It was his team- leading 16th of the season and his fourth in the past three games.

It was the eighth time he’s homered in three straight games, and the second time he’s done it this season.

“Wow,” Chavis said. “The thing that’s most impressive about him is the behind-the-scenes stuff. I mean, obviously, on the field he’s second to none. He hits for power, he hits for average, he stays within himself all the time. But the work and the dedication that he has behind closed doors — he leaves the field and watches video, he’s studying non-stop — I think that’s more impressive than what he does on the field because what he does on the field is different.

“Not only is he really talented, but he enjoys what he does and that’s what makes him so incredible.”

Marcus Walden (two strikeouts), (three, around a single, walk, and two wild pitches), and Brandon Workman closed out the win.

The Sox padded the lead before Workman entered in the ninth with three runs via a Bogaerts sacrifice fly, a Holt single, and — when Holt broke to steal second — raced home on ’s throwing error .

Cora’s message block will bounce around the Red Sox clubhouse, following them as far they go this season. It’ll be another way of marking all the footsteps along the way.

Omaha on the mind of more than a few Red Sox

Peter Abraham

The College World Series got started on Saturday, and while had no rooting interest in the game between Michigan and Texas Tech, he was watching anyway in the visitor’s clubhouse at Camden Yards.

Johnson helped lead the University of Florida to the CWS three times from 2010-12, and he treasures the memories that spring up every June when the best teams gather in Omaha.

“Some of my teammates from those years are like members of my family even today,” Johnson said before the Sox’ 7-2 win over the Orioles on Saturday. “It was really cool. Such a great experience.”

Florida was the national runner-up in 2011 when Jackie Bradley Jr. and the University of South Carolina won the championship. Gamecocks fans still occasionally ask Bradley to autograph memorabilia from that season.

For Bradley, there’s a direct line from his experiences with South Carolina to winning the World Series with the Red Sox last fall. The Gamecocks advanced to Omaha twice during his time in college.

“You’re playing against the best talent, the best teams, and in the biggest venue in all of college baseball,” Bradley said. “If you succeed at that level, you’ll have eyes watching you. It was vital for me.”

Andrew Benintendi (University of Arkansas in 2015) and Brandon Workman (University of Texas in 2009) also participated in the CWS.

“We lost two games and were out,” Benintendi said. “But it was a great experience even though we didn’t do very well. We got walked-off in the last game, so that wasn’t a great memory. But it’s so much work to get there that you still have a lot of pride.”

Workman’s Longhorns lost in the championship game against an LSU team that included D.J. LeMahieu and future Sox teammate .

“We worked real hard to get there,” Workman said. “A lot goes into it. It was an awesome experience, and playing in Omaha was a lot of fun. It was the biggest crowd I had ever played in front of to that point.”

After the Red Sox drafted Workman in 2010, the facilities and crowds in the lower levels of the minor leagues seemed second-rate by comparison.

“It was helpful to have played for a program like Texas. But as far as the non-baseball side of it, it was a step backwards,” he said. “The hotels, food, the fields, the travel and all that, it wasn’t as good as college. But I was prepared for the pressure of playing and the competition.”

From a scouting standpoint, players who advance to the highest level gain some value.

“They’re typically ready for biggest venues and bigger stages than some of the other kids,” Red Sox scouting director Mike Rikard said. “That’s part of their portfolio.

“Obviously talent is what matters. But all things being equal, which from a draft standpoint can happen, you’d like a player who has performed at that level a little more.”

The amateur draft is usually before or at the same time as the CWS, which lessens its impact as an evaluation period. But players not yet draft-eligible can benefit. That was the case for Bradley, Johnson, and Workman.

The Sox have only one draft pick still playing, power-hitting Vanderbilt outfielder Steve Scott. The senior was a 10th-round pick and will likely sign once his season ends.

“The SEC schools, the power conference schools, those players are often playing in front of crowds of 8,000 on a weekend,” Rikard said. “They’re certainly very comfortable with the pressure that comes from an environment like that. It all plays into it and gets considered when we look at players.”

Sox Alex Cora was part of three College World Series teams when he played for the University of Miami from 1994-96. One of his teammates in 1996 was Laz Gutierrez, now the mental skills coordinator of the Red Sox.

The ’96 team lost in the championship game on a walk-off by LSU and Cora collapsed on the infield dirt crying.

Cora considers Omaha a special place in his career. He traveled there for a youth tournament, then returned three times with the Hurricanes. He still has friends in the area and returned a few years ago while working for ESPN.

“It prepared me for the majors, honestly,” he said. “You have the media and all the attention. You go there and there’s national exposure. It was a cool experience and I was lucky enough to go there three years in a row.”

Cora would like to see the NCAA return to a one-game championship instead of the best-of-three format that was adopted in 2003. But that’s a small point.

“It’s more than just the games. The atmosphere there, the fans, it’s something you never forget,” he said.

Cora is usually too busy to watch the games now. But he’s rooting for Florida State.

“I’ll watch when I can. It’s still fun,” Johnson said. “I’d like to think I’d still be here anyway. But that experience helped me. It’s one of the best events in baseball.”

* The Boston Herald

Chris Sale strikes out 10 as Red Sox stomp Orioles, 7-2

Jason Mastrodonato

It was the fifth inning when Chris Sale let it rip.

He struck out all three batters on 16 pitches. And he threw his hardest fastball of the day at 95.6 mph.

It was 6 mph slower than his hardest pitch one year ago against the White Sox, when he touched 101.1 mph.

The velocity hasn’t come back, but the results have been about the same.

Sale kept his double-digit strikeout streak alive with a 10-strikeout game as the Red Sox knocked off the last-place Orioles, 7-2, for their fourth straight win.

“He’s in a good place,” manager Alex Cora said afterward.

Sale went six innings and allowed two runs, both in his final inning of work, to continue his run of dominance that now spans nine starts since May 3.

In that time, Sale has struck out 98 batters in 60-⅓ innings with a 2.09 ERA. And he’s never thrown a pitch harder than 98 mph.

He’s typically sat around 93-94 mph, as he did again on Saturday in Baltimore, when the temperature hit as high as 84 degrees. Not even the perfect conditions changed his output, and the Red Sox have been in awe over what he’s done this year without putting too much stress on his arm.

“Last year after that Texas start (on May 6), it was all-out,” Cora said. “I’m not saying that was the reason he went on the DL, but we have to be smart. We’re here for the long run and he can get people out like (with lower velocity). Induced people to weak contact using change-ups and he’s going deeper into games.”

Sale’s 14.6 strikeouts per nine innings over this nine-game stretch is better than his rate of 13.2 strikeouts per nine over his first 22 starts in 2018 before he hurt his shoulder. And he’s throwing significantly slower this time around, but with similarly effective command of his fastball and slider.

“I feel like I’m pitching a little better with my fastball location-wise, been able to throw a change-up for strikes more,” Sale said. “Mostly I feel like (catcher Sandy Leon) has been able to get me through games even though sometimes it’s not there. Sometimes I get a little off-track and he gets me where I need to be. Just a combination of everything. Just grinding it out.”

The 30-year-old had his best inning in the fifth, when he got Keon Broxton swinging through a 94-mph heater right over the middle for strike three to start the frame. Stevie Wilkerson chased a 93-mph heater for the second out of the inning, then got fooled on a handful of sliders as Sale struck out the side.

Asked if he’s been tempted to reach back and find 100 mph, Sale said, “Not when you’re getting results.”

Finally the Sox offense employed a more simple and productive two-strike approach in the sixth inning, when they broke a 0-0 tie with three runs against Dylan Bundy. Rafael Devers hit a two-strike single to the opposite field, then scored on a two-strike double by Xander Bogaerts, who yanked one down the line. Brock Holt singled to score Bogaerts, then Holt scored on an error for a 3-0 lead.

Sale faded in the sixth. After two singles to start the frame, Renato Nunez chased a 92-mph heater outside and smoked it for an RBI double. A sacrifice fly scored the O’s second run before Sale struck out Broxton on five straight sliders to strand two runners with a 3-2 lead.

“He lost his release point the last inning but he made pitches and gave us a chance to win,” Cora said.

J.D. Martinez continued his power streak with another long ball in the seventh extending the Sox lead to 4- 2. He’s got four homers in his last three games and 17 on the year.

Marcus Walden and Matt Barnes combined to strike out five in the seventh and eighth before some bad Baltimore defense allowed the Sox to tack on three more in the ninth.

Brandon Workman shut the door with a scoreless ninth to lower his ERA to 1.65.

This is the third time this season the Sox (38-34) have a four-game winning streak. They’ve yet to be as many as five games over .500.

“We’re still getting better,” Cora said. “We have our own goals to achieve. If we plan on achieving it all we have to get our short-term goals first. We’ve been talking about five over for a while. We have a shot now.”

Red Sox notes: Rest was worth it for red-hot J.D. Martinez

Jason Mastrodonato

It wasn’t easy for the Red Sox to rest J.D. Martinez for a crucial four-game divisional series against the last weekend.

Manager Alex Cora thought the Sox had no choice but to rest him for that series, which they lost to fall seven back in the AL East. Back spasms have been bothering him all year, creeping up for moments at a time and interrupting his season.

But the rest was worth it. Martinez has come back strong.

After hitting his 17th homer of the year in the Sox’ 7-2 win over the Orioles on Saturday, he’s 9-for-24 with four home runs in his last six games.

“For how much we missed him for that weekend against Tampa, you have to be smart,” Cora said. “You can’t push these guys if they don’t feel right. We made the right decision. Obviously you want him to play but it was the smart thing to do and now we see the benefits.”

Other than an 0-for-4 game with four strikeouts against the Rangers on Wednesday, Martinez has been in top form.

“He had a rough one toward the end against Texas with the swings and misses but I think it all comes down to dominating the strike zone,” Cora said. “He hasn’t chased too many pitches… He’s staying within in the zone, driving the ball to right-center. The weather helps too.”

Are offensive problems fixed?

Heading into Saturday’s game, the Sox had hit 11 home runs and scored 20 runs in their last two games. They had scored 21 runs total in their previous seven games.

But it’s the way in which they’re scoring — almost exclusively by the long ball, with 17 of the 20 runs coming via homer — that doesn’t suggest a whole lot has changed.

In the two homer-filled games, the Sox were a remarkable 12-for-39 (.308) with two strikes, a sizable difference from their .180 season average with two strikes. And their strikeout rate in those situations dropped from 45 percent to 36 percent.

But Sox hitters still appear to be swinging for the fences in those spots. Of those 12 two-strike hits, five were home runs. Two were doubles. Five were singles.

“There’s a lot of talk lately,” Cora said before Saturday’s game. “It hasn’t been translated on the field but I think the mindset is where we want it to be. If we keep trying and doing that and preaching, we’re going to be in a good place. We just have to keep grinding and keep going.”

The Sox used a pair of two-strike hits to key a three-run rally in the sixth inning on Saturday.

JBJ hot but not moving up

No matter how hot he gets, Jackie Bradley Jr. seems to always find himself at the bottom of the order.

Will the Red Sox consider moving him up in the order or keep him at the bottom?

“It’s just the nature of who we are in our lineup,” Cora said. “I think Christian Vazquez has swung the bat well the whole season. Hitting him in front of Jackie is good. I mean, sometimes you think about it and you’re like, ‘how, why does this happen?’ Because what he’s doing now is unreal. Driving the ball all over. He took one swing in Toronto. That ball he hit yesterday, not too many people go up there. He’s controlling the strike zone. Even the strikeouts are very competitive.”

Bradley was 1-for-4 on Saturday but entered the day hitting .316 with a 1.109 OPS since May 20.

“Get it off the ground, that’s always the key,” Bradley said. “So anytime I can not only pull the ball, but get it off the ground. Going the other way, getting it off the ground is pretty easy for me. Just need to do better with pulling it.”

Bradley hit eighth on Saturday.

“The cool thing is he’s smiling and he’s happy,” Cora said. “Like he says, ‘it’s not cool to smile when you’re struggling. It’s not easy.’ I want them to have fun but I understand. I went through that.

“He’s in a great place. You never know what can happen. We might (move him up). But as of now it feels right. It gives us somebody who is getting on base for those guys on top of the lineup and a guy that can drive in runs with traffic. We’re just happy we stuck with it. That’s why. That’s the reason. What he does defensively is a plus. We know he brings that on a daily basis. But we know he’s going to find it. It’s just a matter of when. It seems like this year is sooner than last year.”

Pedroia enjoying life

Dustin Pedroia has remained in contact with Cora while taking time to himself and deciding on what to do with his baseball career.

“We’ve been texting, but we talked a week ago,” Cora said. “They went to visit his parents in California, hanging out with the kids. I think he was at a lake or something. A Holiday Inn Express, he’s staying there. I’m like, ‘you’re staying there?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah this is life.’”

Pedroia FaceTimed the players during a hitters’ meeting the other day, Cora said. Pedroia has yet to make decision about his future.

“I think he has an awesome family,” Cora said. “(His wife) Kelli has been there the whole time. He needed that time with the kids instead of the kids watching Dad icing and do all this stuff to get ready for the next day. Now it’s like, let’s see what we’re going to do today. I think it’s refreshing for him and something the family needed.” . . .

The Red Sox announced the signing of shortstop Cameron Cannon, their top draft pick this year (second round, No. 43 overall). . . . Left-handed pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez was promoted from Double A to Triple A.

Six women broadcasters making history in

Jason Mastrodonato

The captain of the Emerson softball team until she graduated last spring, Jill Gearin spent the entire 2018 Red Sox season in the WEEI broadcast booth, working as an intern alongside and Tim Neverett as they chronicled a World Series season for radio listeners.

Not even a full season covering one of the best teams in Red Sox history could prepare Gearin for her next job, the play-by-play voice of the Visalia RawHides (the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Single-A affiliate), and the first woman broadcaster in the California League.

“I puked before my first broadcast,” said Gearin, 22, originally from Hermosa Beach, Calif. “I’m an anxious person… And I don’t want my mess-ups to affect the next woman who tries to make it. That’s my thing. I think men get the luxury of being like, ‘well, if I screw up, I only screw over myself.’ But for me, it could be that I screw it up for the next woman who is trying to make it. That makes me nervous.”

The trailblazing women of Minor League Baseball have nobody to show them the answer key. There are no written rules explaining what they can and cannot do. They’re supposed to have the same rights as men, but complications are inevitable.

There are only six of them.

Across the entirety of the minors, which is estimated to umbrella 256 teams across 17 leagues, there are six women broadcasters in regular roles. That number was just two before the 2018 season, increased to four last year and added two more in 2019.

One of them was Gearin, who moved to a town in central California that she jokingly called the “dairy capital of the world, or something. It smells like cow poop a lot.”

After making $25 per game in her last job, the frugal salaries of minor league employees didn’t scare her away from her Visalia job that could be considered a demotion, going from MLB to Single-A. Her official title is “director of broadcasting and media relations manager.” She coordinates media interviews, works in sales, takes care of advertising and submits over 70 hours a week, on average.

All that while trying to launch a broadcasting career in a male-dominated field.

“I’m in over my head,” she said.

Shock to system

Dr. Charles Steinberg, who has worked for the Red Sox, Orioles and Padres during a 40-year career in baseball front offices, remembers the Washington Post sending Betty Cuniberti to cover the Orioles “in 1976 or ‘77, and it was a shock to the old system at that point. They didn’t know what to do. Does everybody get dressed? When does she walk into ’s office? And is it chivalrous to carry her IBM electric typewriter or is that an offense?”

Times have changed for the better, said Steinberg, who taught Gearin in his role as a professor at Emerson in 2017: “If there are any remnants of a glass ceiling, it seems to be they’re becoming few and far between.”

It wasn’t until 2013 that Kirsten Karbach became the first woman in a regular minor league broadcasting role with the Phillies’ High-A affiliate in Clearwater, Fla., though she was promoted to the voice of the Reading Fightin Phils (Double-A) this year.

Now there are six: Gearin, Karbach, Emma Tiedemann of the Lexington Legends ( High-A affiliate), Suzie Cool and Melanie Newman of the (Red Sox High-A) and Maura Sheridan of the Fayetteville Woodpeckers ( High-A).

“I think Minor League Baseball as an industry is changing a little bit,” said Salem Red Sox general manager Allen Lawrence. “I started in the industry 18 years ago. And 18 years ago, I don’t know what the ratio was, but it seemed like it was 90 percent male. And that’s changing across all levels.”

According to data shared by the University of Central Florida, which put together a “racial and gender report card” after reviewing last year, MLB received a “C” in their gender grade for hiring about 30 percent women in the central office.

Though women are taking on more and more leadership roles in front offices throughout the minor leagues, women remain underrepresented in the broadcasting booths.

“The hardest part was breaking in,” said Tiedemann.

Her resume was stacked when she was looking for work after graduating from the University of Missouri in 2015. She had broadcasting experience at Mizzou, the University of Texas, the Alaskan Baseball League and the American Association of Independent , among others. But when it came time to interview, one club told her directly she wouldn’t get hired because of her gender.

“Isn’t that crazy?” she said. “And that was for an assistant position for a Single-A team. And the major league club told them no, because they heard they were interviewing a woman. I’m not going to say which club but I know who they are and I don’t plan on applying for anymore jobs there.”

When Tiedemann compared notes with her male counterparts who were interviewing for the same jobs, she noticed quite the discrepancy.

“The way they answered questions was very different when I would ask about traveling with the team,” she said. “My interviews were vastly different from theirs.”

After latching on with Lexington and having her role expanded in her second year this season, Tiedemann said the Royals organization does “a really good job of teaching the guys to be respectful.”

Some clubs’ callous outlook on hiring women has opened the doors for others to be more aggressive.

“I think it’s almost been beneficial that I’m a woman at this point,” Gearin said. “It’s like an upcoming trend. That’s been a positive. There have been some negatives since I got the job, with different things going on, but getting the job, it was almost a positive for me.”

Different story

The Red Sox’ story was a bit different.

They never had a specific plan to hire women broadcasters, but while Cool was functioning as a marketing intern in High-A Salem last year making just $500 a month (and this after getting experience with the and the Pittsburgh Penguins), she was looking for more fulfilling work. At that time, Newman was gaining publicity for her talent in front of the camera and behind the microphone.

Inspired, Cool approached the Salem front office and suggested they let her take some swings in the broadcast booth.

“I said, ‘hey, let me go on a couple road trips and if I completely suck I’ll never go again,’” Cool said. “‘I’ll pay for my hotel, drive myself, will pay for the food. Just give me the opportunity.’”

The Red Sox obliged and Cool was suddenly working endless hours, fulfilling her duties in marketing while traveling the road (paying her own way) and gaining valuable radio experience. Overnight, she became the first female broadcaster in the , though she was not always welcomed with open arms.

“At that point I’m pretty sure I was not allowed to ride the bus,” she said. “I drove myself, did what I was asked and just did my job. There were some restrictions.”

While her male broadcast partner entered the clubhouse often for his job, Cool never entered during the 2018 season.

Generational thing

In Fayetteville, N.C., “the farthest south I’ve ever been,” Sheridan felt at ease in her transition from Syracuse University, where she graduated in 2018 from one of the most well-respected broadcast journalism schools in the country (while picking up additional experience around the Northeast), to the minor leagues as the play-by-play voice for the Woodpeckers. The players are the same age as they are in college, and there was never a sense of confusion about her presence on the field, up in the booth or down in the clubhouse.

“It’s a generational thing,” she guessed.

But the coaches and managers, often those who have been around the game much longer, left Sheridan feeling something else entirely.

“There have been a couple times where it was very clear I’m not welcome in the clubhouse,” Sheridan said. “I totally understand it’s uncomfortable for a lot of people, but it’s the way the discomfort is addressed. It’s always people screaming at me. And I just think in any other professional environment, that would not be tolerated.”

Entering the clubhouse is a procedure that’s been part of the business as long as there has been coverage of the games. Player interviews and manager interviews can take place inside, where the men of broadcasting have long built relationships with upcoming superstars and team personnel.

Charlie Blaney, the president of the Cal League (where Gearin broke ground this year), said the expectation from MLB and MiLB is that women and men are treated equally as it pertains to journalistic access, and the leagues do not have to give teams warning when women will be entering the clubhouse for the first time.

“I haven’t,” he said. “It’s been a non-issue. I haven’t been made aware of any issues at all. There’s been no reason to address it. Because it hasn’t come across my desk. That’s my job to address anything and everything if it does. But I haven’t at all. And if I did, I would address it because we believe in total equality.”

But as smoothly as things have gone for Gearin in Visalia, where the RawHide have a female general manager in Jennifer Reynolds, who has fostered openness and respect for women around the team, that hasn’t been consistent around the Cal League. And she wonders if some guidelines would be helpful.

“The visiting teams will always say ‘oh (expletive)’ when they see me enter (the clubhouse) for the first time,” Gearin said. “I’ve had one guy say ‘enjoying the show?’ And last series a guy liked to stand in the middle of the clubhouse to dry off (after a shower), and all of the guys would laugh as I walked by.”

Some teams have been welcoming. Others haven’t. Gearin tried talking with one team’s manager and said, “if the players are uncomfortable with it, all they have to do is tell me. They can take the paperwork I’m carrying in. But I’m not going to ask someone to do my job for me.”

The issue of handling confrontation is one that plagues women trying to survive in a male-dominated field: Face it head-on and try to make it better, or ignore it?

“There’s this weird double-edge sword where you don’t want to make a huge fuss, but you also don’t want it to happen again,” Sheridan said. “It’s confusing. I wasn’t sure what to do… My job is to get lineups, bring in box scores, things like that. So I do have to go in there. And I’m really, really careful about checking three or four times before I just barge in there.”

There is hope

In Salem, Cool and Newman became somewhat famous after their first-ever female-only broadcast of a baseball game.

“There’s obviously some appeal to being the first at anything you do,” said Lawrence, the Salem GM. “Any of our fans, we just told them, ‘you’re going to be lucky to hear two talented people call a baseball game. And oh, by the way, they’re both female.’ The response we’ve had on social media and here in the community has been tremendous.”

That minor league teams are now taking a chance on women is enough to inspire hope. And because these women realize how rare these opportunities are, they’ve made an extra effort to help nurture the next generation who hope to join them in the booth.

“I have high school girls coming to shadow me and if it’s something they want to pursue, I welcome them into a suite for the night and we call the game into the phone and then we critique it,” Teidemann said.

The dream is to reach the majors, however slim their chances, and better the odds for those behind them. The pressure is not only to perform, but to do so without disrupting the longstanding culture that baseball has been stubbornly trying to preserve.

“I try not to think about the pressure of being a woman in the booth because that can make you sick,” Sheridan said. “That puts extra weight on your shoulder. I can’t think, ‘hey, I butchered someone’s name on air, I just letdown all of female-kind.’ That’s not true.”

She continued, “In the moments you’re doubting yourself, you don’t have a good call, you think, ‘maybe I don’t deserve to be here. Maybe I’m not that good.’ But I try to stay positive. I’m lucky that I have a lot of friends and family that are supportive. I’m lucky they’re proud of me for being here. And if this is as far as I go, they’ll be proud of me for that. And if I make it to ESPN, they’ll be proud of me for that too.”

* The Providence Journal

Red Sox 7, Orioles 2: Boston poised to bury Baltimore

Bill Koch

Now is the ideal time for the Red Sox to be greedy.

Winning the first two games of their weekend series with the Orioles isn’t enough. Sweeping Baltimore aside at Camden Yards should be the lone acceptable outcome.

Boston is in position to do exactly that thanks to Chris Sale and some late power from J.D. Martinez. Sale extended his dominance in the Inner Harbor and Martinez provided some insurance with one swing as the Red Sox scored a 7-2 victory over Baltimore on Saturday afternoon.

Sale turned in six strong innings and was backed out of the bullpen by Marcus Walden, Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman. Martinez doubled a one-run lead in the top of the seventh by crushing a solo homer to right-center field. That was enough on a day in which a crowd of 30,050 fans descended on a ballpark that took on something of a Fenway Mid-Atlantic feel.

Boston, which has won four in a row, is back to four games over .500 for the third time this season. The Red Sox have been chasing that fifth game — and the 10th, the 15th and more — since going 3-8 on their season-opening 11-game West Coast swing. Sunday’s matinee finale gives Boston a fourth chance to reach it before a three-game series at Minnesota beginning on Monday.

“We’ve been talking about five over for a while,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It’s been like a month, a month and a half — we’ve got a shot now. Show up tomorrow, keep the energy going, play a good baseball game, see what happens and move on to Minnesota.”

It was the third round-tripper of the weekend for Martinez and the 12th in his last 28 games. He picked on a 1-and-1 sinker from Richard Bleier and hammered it 427 feet with his patented inside-out swing. The Red Sox salted this one away on a Xander Bogaerts sacrifice fly, an RBI single by Brock Holt and an error by the Orioles in the ninth.

“[Martinez] had a rough one toward the end against Texas — the swings and misses,” Cora said. “It all comes down to dominating the strike zone, and he hasn’t chased too many pitches.”

The breakthrough for Boston in a scoreless game finally came in the sixth. The Red Sox knocked out four straight hits to chase Dylan Bundy, including an RBI double to the corner in left by Bogaerts and an RBI single to right by Holt. Hanser Alberto’s error at third base on a Sandy Leon bouncer gave Boston a 3-0 lead.

“We put some runs on the board and pitched well,” Sale said. “Our guys in the bullpen held it down. That’s what we’re looking for.”

The Orioles got back a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning, finally reaching Sale after he’d retired 15 of his previous 16 men. Renato Nunez lined an RBI double to the corner in right and Jonathan Villar lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right to make it a 3-2 game. Sale dropped a slider down in the zone to strike out Keon Broxton and escape the threat, the left-hander’s 103rd and final pitch of the game.

“He had to grind that last one, but he did enough,” Cora said. “Good fastball, the breaking ball was OK. He lost his release point the last inning, but he made pitches and gave us a chance to win.”

Sale reached 10 strikeouts on the number, hitting double figures for the fourth straight outing and the ninth time in his last 11. Baltimore’s rally in the sixth plated the first earned run against Sale in his last 23 innings. He’s allowed just 14 earned runs in his last 69 2/3 frames against the Orioles. Sale’s teams have won his last eight starts at this venue, including all six since being traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox prior to the 2017 season.

“I’ve always liked playing here,” said Sale, who made his major-league debut in Baltimore in 2010. “It’s a cool ballpark. It’s a good mound. I guess I just get a little bit more lucky here than other places, too.”

Red Sox Journal: Devers fitting right in at cleanup spot

Bill Koch

With the Red Sox lineup apparently set for the time being, Rafael Devers appears comfortable in the cleanup spot.

Devers is part of a right-left-right-left-right construction after was returned to batting leadoff. Devers and sandwich J.D. Martinez. The third baseman has certainly performed like a hitter worthy of a prominent spot.

“Having him between J.D. and Xander is a good challenge,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We talk about him hitting third early in the season because (Benintendi) was leading off, but now that we’re going this way I think that’s a good place for him.”

Devers went 3-for-4 in Friday’s 13-2 demolition of the Orioles, raising his batting average to .303 and his OPS to a career-high .854. His single to right field in the top of the fourth inning was clocked at 114.7 mph off the bat, a one-hop bullet to the wall. Per the account @redsoxstats, only 10 balls have been hit harder by Boston batters since exit velocity became available for tracking.

“There was a lot of hard contact, which was good,” Cora said. “We’ve just got to keep improving. We’ve got to keep preaching to them that there are certain situations where we’ve got to put the ball in play.”

Devers continued his solid contact in Saturday’s game. He went 2-for-5, both singles, and raised his average to .304 and OPS to .855.

Shining in the field

Devers evoked memories of his idol, fellow Dominican Republic native Adrian Beltre, with a running catch on a pop to left field in the fourth on Friday.

Davis sliced the ball to the opposite field and Devers took off running along the foul line. Per Statcast, the official service governed by Major League Baseball, Devers covered 111 feet before making an over-the- shoulder grab.

“He reminded me of Adrian on that one,” Cora said. “It seems like he made that play every time. He’s becoming a beast at third base with the plays that he’s making. The confidence, you can see it. We’re very proud of him.”

When told of the comparison with Beltre, a five-time Gold Glove winner who played for the Red Sox in 2010, Devers flashed a sheepish grin.

“Obviously seeing Adrian Beltre do that, he was my favorite player growing up as well,” Devers said through translator Bryan Almonte. “It was pretty cool to do something like that.”

Signing news

Boston formally announced the signing of top draft pick Cameron Cannon and seven other players on Saturday.

Cannon, an infielder from the University of Arizona, was selected in the second round at No. 43 overall. Per Jim Callis of MLB.com, Cannon signed for a bonus of $1.3 million. That’s $429,800 below suggested slot value, as the Red Sox put their limited pool to good use.

Cannon will report to Boston’s spring training home in Fort Myers before joining Class-A Lowell. The Red Sox will send their other signees to the Gulf Coast League, including catcher Jacob Herbert (18th round), right-handed pitcher Dylan Spacke (21st), first baseman Dom D’Alessandro (22nd), center fielder Leon Paulino (23rd), outfielder Dean Miller (24th), left-handed pitcher Brandon Walter (26th) and right-handed pitcher Devon Roedahl (27th).

Benintendi, and all have a personal stake in this year’s College World Series.

Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State have all advanced to Omaha and will battle for the national championship over the next two weeks. Benintendi reached the event with the Razorbacks in 2015 and Moreland advanced with the Bulldogs in 2007.

“That’s the goal,” Benintendi said. “That’s the goal you try to set every year. From my time there, it was only two games but it was a good experience.”

Texas Tech, Michigan, Florida State, Louisville and Auburn round out the field. Half of the club hails from the SEC, with the Tigers joining the alma maters of the three Red Sox players. The Wolverines upset No. 1 overall national seed UCLA to advance.

Red Sox’ power game rounding into form

Bill Koch

Eduardo Rodriguez had some work of his own to do on the mound, so you’ll excuse the left-hander if he missed out on some of Friday’s offensive fireworks.

The Red Sox smashed a season-high six home runs while blowing out the Orioles, 13-2, at Camden Yards. The previous night saw Boston pump five balls out of in a 7-6 rally past the Rangers. The Red Sox hadn’t enjoyed back-to-back efforts like this since July 2002.

“They hit what, six homers today?” Rodriguez said. “I lost count after the third one. It felt good that they scored runs like that today. It was homers everywhere.”

Boston piled up 74 home runs over 42 games between April 30 and Saturday’s middle game of the weekend series with Baltimore. Only the Twins have hit more, bashing 83 while running out to a comfortable lead in the Central. Jackie Bradley Jr. has connected on all seven of his round-trippers during that span, including a two-run shot on Friday.

“I think that’s what good ball clubs do,” Bradley said. “They’re able to put things together as a team. Everybody is pulling in the same direction.”

The Red Sox did this on a night when Mookie Betts rested, Mitch Moreland (right quadriceps strain) remained on the and Xander Bogaerts failed to go deep. J.D. Martinez notched his third multi- homer game of the season, driving a two-run shot to left and a solo homer to center. He’s totaled 11 of his 15 home runs this season over his last 27 games.

“There are certain guys who are getting close to who they are,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “J.D. has put good swings. Jackie, he’s been very consistent the last month. Keep preaching. Keep talking to them. We still have a way to go to get better.”

Boston signed Martinez in free agency prior to last season to address its power outage in 2017. The Red Sox finished last in the A.L. in home runs, a surprising development for a franchise that has traditionally been power-rich and pitching-poor. They’re just 4-13 when failing to go deep this season and 33-21 when they notch at least one homer.

“We’re just focusing on our game plans and putting it together,” Bradley said. “We know what we’re capable of. Now we just have to prove it.”

Boston has hit at least five runs in three straight games just once. That came from June 17-19 during the 1977 season. Those Red Sox won 97 games and finished second to the Yankees in the A.L. East, boasting power bats like , George Scott, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk and Butch Hobson.

“We know we’re good offensively,” Cora said. “We haven’t been close to who we are. That’s a cool thing. For how bad or inconsistent or whatever you want to call that we’ve been, we’re in the hunt. We’re in the hunt.”

* MassLive.com

Red Sox’s Chavis calls slump ‘embarrassing’ but he’s heating up (and he makes another diving play)

Christopher Smith

Michael Chavis batted .181 with a .253 on-base percentage, just three extra-base hits, 33 strikeouts and five walks in 19 games from May 21-June 9.

But he’s 7-for-21 (.333) with two homers, one double, four RBIs, six strikeouts and two walks in his past five games.

He went 2-for-5 in Boston’s 7-2 win over the Orioles on Saturday here at Camden Yards.

“I feel a lot better," Chavis said. “Cleaned up my head a little bit. Kind of got out of my own way. That was a lot of the problem. To be honest, I was horrible lately. It’s been embarrassing if I’m being honest. But I’m kind of proud of how I’ve bounced back and how I handled the failure.”

He continued to play strong defense during his slump.

“We had a conversation two days ago about hitting and all that,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Kind of like Pedey (Dustin Pedroia) early in his career in ’07 (April). He was hitting .150, .160. But on a nightly basis, he went out there and played great defense. Throughout this stretch, the swings-and-misses and not hitting, he (Chavis) never stopped playing good defense at first and second. And that says a lot about the player. He hasn’t stopped. Now you see the at-bats are a lot better. So we’re very pleased with him.”

Chavis made another diving play at first base Saturday.

“It’s just one of those reactionary plays,” Chavis said. “I got a good read off of it immediately. It was kind of like a step and a dive. And I look up and I know (Stevie) Wilkerson is fast, especially hitting from the left side. So I’m trying to get there as quick as possible. Diving into the bag was my best option.”

Chavis understands how important it was for him to play strong defense during his offensive slump.

“It’s been huge,” Chavis said. “Part of it’s just tricking yourself into staying positive even though everything was kind of negative, if we’re being honest. It was a tough little run there. And I figured if I wasn’t going to drive any in, I might as well try to keep the other ones from scoring. So just kind of took pride in my defense and knew I would come out of it. I know I’m a talented and gifted hitter. So I knew I was eventually going to come out of this. So just staying positive and focused was the main goal.”

Boston Red Sox’s Chris Sale thinks about ‘terrible’ MLB debut every time he visits Camden Yards

Christopher Smith

Chris Sale has dominated at Camden Yards during his career.

The Red Sox won 7-2 over the Orioles on Saturday behind Sale who improved to 7-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 12 outings (nine starts) here. He has struck out 95 and walked 16 in 64 1/3 innings.

Pitching here hasn’t always been a piece of cake though.

“This is where I made my major league debut. And it was terrible,” Sale said after the victory Saturday. “So I always told myself that I’d try to clean it up here. I probably still have my fair share of bumps in the road here.

“I always like playing here. It’s a cool ballpark. Good mound. I guess I just get more lucky here than other places, too,” Sale added.

Sale made his major league debut at Camden Yards on Aug. 6, 2010. He entered for the White Sox in the bottom of the eighth with the score tied 1-1. He gave up a walk to Brian Roberts and a single to Nick Markakis.

Then-White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén pulled him. Reliever Tony Peña took over and escaped the jam without allowing a run. Baltimore won 2-1 in the 10th.

“I think about it every time I come here,” Sale said. “I got called up when () was in Detroit. Didn’t pitch there, and then I made my debut. Yeah, it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Sale allowed two runs in 6 innings Saturday. He struck out 10. He gave up six hits and one walk.

He posted an 8.50 ERA in his first four starts this season. He has a 2.24 ERA in his past 11 starts. He also has struck out 10 or more in nine of those 11 starts.

His ERA is down to 3.49 for the season.

“Early on I got into some bad habits,” Sale said. “We were able to kind of figure that out. I feel like I’m pitching a little bit better with my fastball location-wise. Able to throw my changeup for strikes more. But mostly, I feel like Sandy (Leon) is able to get me through games when sometimes it’s not there. Sometimes I get a little off track and he can kind of get me back."

Sale’s fastball averaged 93.1 mph and topped out at 95.6 mph.

His four-seamer averaged 95.2 mph last year. He still isn’t throwing as hard as last year when he also maxed out in triple digits during multiple starts. But he doesn’t need to.

He also doesn’t feel tempted to ramp it up to triple digits.

“Not when you’re getting results,” Sale said. “I think more so than anything the most important thing about a starting pitcher is A). getting deep into games and throwing up zeros. As long as I can keep doing that, I’m just trying to pitch effectively and get deeper into games because early on I wasn’t doing that.”

Chris Sale strikes out 10, J.D. Martinez homers as Boston Red Sox win their 4th straight

Christopher Smith

Chris Sale went without allowing an earned run in 17 straight innings entering his start against Baltimore on Saturday.

Sale ran the streak to 22 straight innings before allowing two runs in the sixth.

The lefty earned the victory. Boston won 7-2 over the Orioles here at Camden Yards. It marked Boston’s fourth straight win.

Sale pitched 6 innings, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out 10. Both runs were earned.

He posted an 8.50 ERA in his first four starts this season. He has a 2.24 ERA in his past 11 starts. He also has struck out 10 or more in nine of those 11 starts.

His ERA is down to 3.49 for the season.

J.D. Martinez homers again

Martinez bashed his fourth homer in his past three games. His 109.2 mph, 427-foot blast to right field put Boston ahead 4-2 in the seventh inning.

It was an important insurance run at the time after Sale struggled during the sixth, allowing two runs on two singles, one double, one walk and a sac fly to right field.

Sale allowed both runs in the sixth after the Red Sox put him ahead with three runs in the top half of the inning.

Boston added three more insurance run in the ninth when Xander Bogaerts delivered a sac fly to center and Brock Holt hit an RBI single. Boston scored another run on a errant throw by catcher Pedro Severino.

Red Sox score three runs in sixth

Sale has received minimal run support, just 3.29 runs per start entering Saturday. Orioles starter Dylan Bundy held the Red Sox offense scoreless through the first five innings.

But Boston scored three runs in the sixth.

Rafael Devers singled to begin the inning. He scored from first on Xander Bogaerts’ double to left field.

Bogaerts, who advanced to third base on the throw home, scored on Brock Holt’s single to right field.

The Red Sox scored another run on an error by third baseman Hanser Alberto.

Boston Red Sox sign 2019 top draft pick Cameron Cannon, seven other players

Christopher Smith

The Red Sox have signed shorstop Cameron Cannon, their 2019 top draft pick.

Cannon, a second-round selection and the draft’s 43rd-overall pick, signed for $1.3 million, per MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis.

That’s under the slot value of $1,729,800.

Cannon batted .347 with 16 homers, 113 RBIs and a 1.004 OPS in three seasons (531 at-bats) at the University of Arizona.

Cannon is the second Wildcats second baseman to join the Red Sox organization in the past three years.

He batted .397 with a .478 on-base percentage, .651 slugging percentage, eight homers, 29 doubles, three triples and 56 RBIs in 56 games for Arizona this year.

The Red Sox officially announced the signing of Cannon as well as seven others: catcher Jacob Herbert (18th round), right-handed pitcher Dylan Spacke (21st round), first baseman Dominic D’Alessandro (22nd round), center fielder Leon Paulino (23rd round), outfielder Dean Miller (24th round), left-handed pitcher Brandon Walter (26th round) and right-handed pitcher Devon Roedahl (27th round).

Brasier likely to rejoin Red Sox on Monday; Wright to throw 2 innings at Pawtucket on Sunday

Christopher Smith

Boston Red Sox reliever Ryan Brasier is expected to rejoin the team Monday in Minnesota.

Boston placed Brasier on the bereavement/family medical emergency list Tuesday afternoon.

A major leaguer has to remain on the bereavement for a minimum of three games and a maximum of seven.

The righty has posted a 3.77 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 31 outings (28 2/3 innings) this season. He has walked eight and struck out 25.

Wright pitching Sunday

Steven Wright will pitch two innings for Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday.

Wright is eligible to return from his 80-game performance enhancing drug suspension June 25 at home against the White Sox barring any rainouts in the meantime. The Red Sox are playing game No. 72 here Saturday against the Orioles at Camden Yards.

The righty began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday. He pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief, allowing one run, one hit and no walks while striking out two. He pitched again Wednesday, hurling 3 scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and no walks while striking out one.

Pearce and Velazquez playing Saturday

Steve Pearce (back) will play five or six innings Saturday at first base as his rehab assignment resumes for Short Season Lowell. He also played Friday, going 1-for-3 with a double, RBI and run.

“He felt fine yesterday swing-wise,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “All the feedback was good. So we’re in a good place.”

Righty Hector Velazquez (back) will start in a rehab game for Lowell today.

Mitch Moreland update

Mitch Moreland (right quad strain) hasn’t started baseball activities.

Boston Red Sox top pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket

Christopher Smith

The Boston Red Sox have promoted top pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez to Triple-A Pawtucket.

Hernandez struggled with his command at Double-A Portland where he walked 32 and struck out 59 in 40 1/3 innings. He posted a 5.13 ERA and 1.61 WHIP in 10 outings (nine starts) but he held the opposition to a .217 batting average.

The 22-year-old lefty from Venezuela made his first major league start Tuesday at Fenway Park. He again struggled with command, walking five and striking out seven in 3 innings. He allowed three earned runs.

The promotion to Pawtucket has a chance to help Hernandez’s development. As Boston Globe’s Alex Speier noted on Twitter, “The ball is the same as in MLB, and he’ll work with veteran Juan Centeno and Oscar Hernandez, whose experience should be a development asset.”

Dustin Pedroia has enjoyed family vacation at Holiday Inn Express during Boston Red Sox hiatus, is 'in good place,’ Alex Cora says

Christopher Smith

Manager Alex Cora has spoken with Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia via the phone since the 35-year-old left the club for an indefinite break.

“We’ve been texting but we talked a week ago,” Cora said. "They went to visit his parents in California. Hanging out with the kids. I think it was like a lake or something. A Holiday Inn Express. I was like, ‘You’re staying there?’ He was like, ‘Yeah. This is life.’

“But he’s paying attention,” Cora added. “I think the other day in one of the hitter’s meetings he FaceTimed the guys and all that. He’s in a good place, hanging out with (wife) Kelli and the kids and disconnecting himself from this madness. Just relaxing, which is good.”

Pedroia announced during a Fenway Park press conference May 27 that he was taking an indefinite break. He admitted he’s unsure if he’ll ever play again because of his knee issues.

He has appeared in just nine major league games since the start of the 2018 season after undergoing a left knee cartilage restoration procedure Oct. 25, 2017. He also had scar tissue removed during an arthroscopic surgery in late July 2018.

Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia (knee) announced Monday at Fenway Park that he’ll take an indefinite break from baseball. He’s unsure if he’ll ever be able to return.

Indians manager also has said Pedroia, who he managed from 2006-11 in Boston, is “in a good place."

Cora isn’t surprised Pedroia is in such a good place after such a frustrating two years.

“He has an awesome family,” Cora said. “Kelli, she’s been there the whole time. And he needed that time with the kids. Instead of the kids watching dad just icing (his knee) and doing all this stuff to get ready for the next day, now it’s, ‘Let’s see what we’re going to do today.’ I think it’s refreshing for him and something the family, they needed that.”

* RedSox.com

Sale still fueled by rough MLB debut against O's

Zachary Silver

Chris Sale didn’t always like pitching at Camden Yards. In fact, he hated it, and still does … kind of.

The year was 2010, and Sale was just called up just months after he was drafted 13th overall by the White Sox. After not appearing during a series against Detroit, he entered a 1-1 tilt in Baltimore in the eighth inning for his first taste of Major League action.

What unfolded still haunts him: a walk to Brian Roberts and a single to Nick Markakis before recording one out and getting yanked. The White Sox ultimately lost that game, 2-1, in extras.

“I think about it every time I come here,” Sale said. “It’s something I'll never forget.

“I always told myself after that I would clean it up here.”

Sale has emphatically done just that since his first Camden Yards experience nine years ago. After Saturday’s 7-2 win over the Orioles -- Boston’s fourth consecutive victory -- the lefty owns a 7-1 record with a 1.97 ERA and 95 strikeouts across 64 1/3 innings in Baltimore.

The last time Sale was here, in May? Fourteen strikeouts in eight innings. The time before that, in 2018? Twelve strikeouts in five.

“Guess I get a little bit more lucky here than other places, too,” he said.

His two runs in six innings Saturday were solid but not what he’s become accustomed to based on his recent starts. Sale entered Saturday with 17 consecutive scoreless innings, which he extended to 22 before facing trouble the third time through the Orioles lineup.

A pair scored on his watch in the sixth inning before Sale rebounded to punch out Keon Broxton for his 10th strikeout on the afternoon to end the inning, stranding two Orioles and securing double-digit strikeouts in four consecutive games in the process.

“Good lord, I’m glad he’s not on the other team,” said first baseman Michael Chavis. “Just how he goes about his business and how intense he is, I’m playing first base and I’m intimidated.”

What’s been most impressive in the eyes of Boston manager Alex Cora is how Sale has gone about this season. From a 6.30 ERA at the beginning of May to a 3.49 ERA after Saturday’s outing, his resurgence is based on an emphasis on pitch selection, movement and placement more than velocity. Cora hinted Saturday that the last component -- uncontrolled velocity -- is what contributed to him going on the injured list last season.

Sale topped out at 95.6 mph Saturday; not a concern -- in fact a positive -- for those in the away dugout.

“We talked about it in the offseason,” Cora said. “Last year, after that Texas start it was all out. I’m not saying it was the reason he went on the [IL], but we have to be smart. We are here for the long run and he can get people out like that, induce people to weak contact using changeups and all that and go deeper into games. He’s in a good place.”

Sale was backed up Saturday by teammates who also enjoy playing against the black and orange.

After the Red Sox plated three in the sixth before the Orioles’ mini rally in the bottom of the frame, one swing of the bat by J.D. Martinez induced a collective sigh in the dugout. His solo shot, his third homer of the series, gave Boston some breathing room. They extended their lead by three more runs in the ninth.

Martinez entered Saturday slashing .373/.497/.865 with 17 homers and 39 RBIs in 36 games against the Orioles since the start of 2016.

“It all comes down to dominating the strike zone, he hasn’t chased too many pitches,” Cora said of Martinez’s recent performance. “He’s staying within the zone, staying within himself and driving the ball to right-center, which is important for him.”

Chavis, for his part, had a productive 2-for-5 day at the plate after a stretch of offensive output in which he said he has been feeling “horrible lately. Embarrassing, if I’m being honest.”

But an impressive snag and tag of first base to open the bottom of the ninth took the wind out of any sort of Baltimore comeback.

“It all happened so fast, it’s just one of those reactionary plays,” Chavis said. “I’m just trying to get there as quick as possible, and diving to the bag was the best option.”

Perhaps Sale’s intensity in Baltimore is getting to him.

Red Sox sign top Draft pick Cannon, seven more

Zachary Silver

The Red Sox announced Saturday that they have agreed to terms with Cameron Cannon, a second rounder who was their top pick in the 2019 Draft, as well as seven additional Draft picks. Cannon's deal is worth $1.3 million, according to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis.

The signing of the University of Arizona shortstop at that amount, which is well under the slot value of $1.73 million at 43rd overall, gives Boston some additional flexibility with its remaining unsigned picks. The deal also comes a day after the club made six other Draft signings official, including its third-, fifth-, seventh- and eighth-round picks, among others.

Boston’s first pick was moved 10 spots down in this year’s Draft after going $40 million over the luxury tax threshold in 2018.

With a deal now in place, the Red Sox have secured themselves a middle-infield prospect known for having an astute ability to control the strike zone and secure consistently hard contact on line drives.

On defense, Cannon is seen by scouts to be reliable with his hands, but he projects to perhaps one day make a move to second base given his average arm from the left side of the infield. Cannon has been stretched around the infield during his amateur career, including spending time at both short and second for Arizona.

Cannon will report to Boston’s training facilities in Fort Myers, Fla., before joining Short-Season Lowell.

“We like a lot about him,” Red Sox vice president of amateur scouting Mike Rikard said of Cannon after drafting him. “He’s a very good hitter. We like his swing path. He does things as far as controlling the strike zone and limiting his strikeouts that we value. He’s got good power now and we think there may be more evolving power he has a chance to grow into as he continues to mature as a hitter.

“One of the real pluses for him in that regard is he’s very versatile,” Rikard added. “He’s played quite a bit of shortstop at the University of Arizona, but he’s also played some second base as well as playing some third base last summer at the Cape [Cod League]. Not exactly sure what’s going to be the best fit for him, but we do like the fact that he’s been able to move around throughout his career. We’ll give him an opportunity to kind of prove himself at shortstop. But we do know that he’s got a chance to fit at some other spots as well.”

Cannon’s most recent amateur season was not too shabby. An Arizona native, Cannon had a big junior campaign, when he hit .397 with 29 doubles, three triples, eight homers, 56 RBIs and a 1.129 OPS in 56 games. His 29 doubles were the most in the NCAA this season.

Cannon’s junior season came after a summer that earned him All-Star honors in the Cape Cod League. During that summer, he took part in a workout at Fenway Park that planted the seed of what it might be like homering over the one day.

“I think it’s going to translate great,” Cannon said June 4, when asked how his swing could play at Fenway. “I’m excited to get out there. I actually did a workout there last summer playing in the Cape Cod League. I got a good feel for playing on the field. I’m excited to get out there, work those gaps, and pepper the Green Monster out in left.”

As far as the seven additional signings, the Red Sox announced they have come to terms with catcher Jacob Herbert (18th round), right-handed pitcher Dylan Spacke (21st round), first baseman Dom D’Alessandro (22nd round), center fielder Leon Paulino (23rd round), outfielder Dean Miller (24th round), left-hander Brandon Walter (26th round) and right-handed pitcher Devon Roedahl (27th round).

All seven will report to the Gulf Coast League Red Sox.

Brasier expected back Monday

Reliever Ryan Brasier is expected to re-join the Red Sox Monday after being placed on the bereavement list on Tuesday, manager Alex Cora said Saturday. He’ll help bolster a bullpen that was heavily relied on entering the series in Baltimore.

Cora speaks with Pedroia

Cora said Saturday that he’s been in touch with ailing second baseman Dustin Pedroia and said the former MVP is “separating himself” from the madness of a Major League season but still keeping tabs on the squad.

“He’s paying attention,” Cora said. “I think the other day in one of the hitter’s meetings he FaceTimed the guys. He’s in a good place with [his wife] Kelli and the kids … and just relaxing, which is good.”

Worth noting

Steven Wright will pitch two innings with Triple-A Pawtucket Sunday, Cora said. The pitcher is still awaiting the expiration of his 80-game suspension for PED use, and when he’s back Cora is eyeing the knuckleballer as a middle-of-the-inning, runners-on-base reliever.

“To bring him on with second and third with two outs with the , sometimes you have to think about it,” Cora said. “For him it will be good, but at the end we have to do it here, at the big league level.”

First baseman went 1-for-3 with an RBI double in his first rehab game with Class A Short- Season Lowell since landing on the injured list with a lower back strain. Next for the reigning World Series MVP is five to six innings at first base, Cora said.

“We are in a good place,” the manager said overall.

* WEEI.com

Is Dustin Pedroia wristband giving Brock Holt good fortune?

Rob Bradford

It's been a few weeks now since Dustin Pedroia decided to step away from the Red Sox in order to reflect on his knee injury. That has also been the exact same amount of time Brock Holt has been wearing a particular wristband.

Holt has made sure that while Pedroia is gone he isn't forgotten.

The infielder continues to don a picture of Pedroia on his left wrist as part of his game-day equipment. And for whatever reason, the choice in outerwear has coincided with Holt going on an absolute tear, as was evident once again Saturday with a 3-for-5 performance in the Red Sox' 7-2 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards. (For a complete recap, click here.)

"A little shoutout," Holt explained to NESN's Guerin Austin in his postgame interview. "I’ve been wearing it ever since he went back home. We’re always thinking about him. I’m obviously thinking about him. Wearing him. This actually might be the reason I’m doing so well. I’ve got a little bit of him with me so just part of our team still no matter where he’s at. We’re thinking about him."

Holt's performance during this stretch is a nice story, but it has also been somewhat of a necessity.

Originally Michael Chavis was able to stabilize the second base position once Pedroia went down, but then he was needed at first base due to the injuries to Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce. That's where Holt came in.

In his 12 starts, Holt has failed to notch at least one hit just twice. He has hit .396 with a .984 OPS in the 14 games he has appeared in since returning from the injured list. And during this four-game win streak the second baseman has a team-best 1.455 OPS while going 6-for-12.

Holt's presence has allowed Chavis to focus on first base while helping crawl out of a reason slump. During the Sox' run of success Chavis has hit .353 with a 1.127 OPS and two home runs while playing a stellar first.

There are other obvious reasons the Red Sox have suddenly found themselves now just 5 1/2 games in back of the Yankees.

Martinez homered for the third straight game Saturday, giving him a team-leading 16 for the season. And a good majority of the rest of this lineup has found themselves on fire over the past four games, including Jackie Bradley Jr. (1.404 OPS), Rafael Devers (8-for-17), Christian Vazquez (5-for-13) and Xander Bogaerts (1.229 OPS).

"We’re still getting better," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters. "We have our own goals to achieve. If we plan on achieving it all we have to get our short-term goals first. That was the first time we’re four games over .500 all season. We’ve been talking about five over for a while. We have a shot now."

Chris Sale continued his run of solid starts, giving up two runs over six innings while striking out 10.

Brandon Workman's reunion with son a Father's Day reminder

Rob Bradford

What is it like being a father and big league ballplayer? It's complicated.

The opportunity to have a child around a major league team can be priceless. The images of assistant hitting 's teenage son working out with the Red Sox represents a unique opportunity for any aspiring big leaguer. And seeing some of the younger set -- such as Brock Holt's son Griff -- run around the clubhouse in Red Sox gear should hit home.

But this life isn't always easy for a father. We were reminded of that a few weeks ago when pitching coach Dana LeVangie had to miss a series finale against the Yankees in order to attend his son's high school graduation. And then came the moment Brandon Workman offered in the Fenway Park bullpen.

"We had been on the road a while and I hadn’t seen in for a little bit so he just came out and said, ‘Hi!’ That was the first I had seen him," Workman said of his reunion with 2-year-old son Grayson. "They had got into town that day but I was already out on the field so that was the first chance I got to see him.

"We were on the road a lot, came home for a couple days and then back on the road again so I hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks. It was nice to have him out there. He was excited to see me. He knew I was out there in the bullpen."

It might have been unorthodox, but Workman wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for his mother to hand off Grayson just for a few minutes, game or no game. Priorities.

It's something Workman can appreciate a whole lot better now than when he first entered the big leagues six years ago.

"At the time I was a young guy and I didn’t know about any of that stuff so it’s definitely different," Workman said. "It’s definitely difficult at times, especially when he was a baby and he didn’t sleep well, having to come out and do your job. But like with any job, that stuff happens."

Unique jobs necessitate unique parenting moments. Welcome to fatherhood in baseball.

Red Sox notes: Alex Cora catches up with Dustin Pedroia

Rob Bradford

Dustin Pedroia is out of sight, but, as Alex Cora pointed out to reporters Saturday, that doesn't mean he's out of mind.

Cora passed along that he has been in communication with the Red Sox' second baseman recently, even with Pedroia spending time away with his family in Northern California.

"I talked to him. We’ve been texting," Cora said. "But we talked a week ago. They went to visit his parents in California, hanging out with the kids. I think he was at a lake or something. A Holiday Inn Express, he’s staying there. I’m like, you’re staying there? He’s like, ‘Yeah this is life.’ I think the other day in the hitter’s meetings, he face-timed the guys. He’s hanging out with Kelli and the kids and disconnecting himself from this madness and just relaxing, which is good."

Cora talked about how healthy Pedroia's mindset seems to be despite continuing to deal with a career- threatening knee injury.

"Kelli has been there the whole time. He needed that time with the kids instead of the kids watching Dad icing and do all this stuff to get ready for the next day," the Red Sox manager said. "Now it’s like, let’s see what we’re going to do today. I think it’s refreshing for him and something the family needed."

There is no timetable for Pedroia's next step, with the 35-year-old choosing to take a break from attempting to rehab his left knee in order to spend time at home in Arizona with his family.

- Cora surmised that Ryan Brasier, who is currently on the bereavement list, will make his return to the 25- man roster Monday in Minnesota.

Brasier last pitched June 10.

- Rehabbing Hector Velazquez (back) pitched Saturday for the Single-A Lowell Spinners, with Steve Pearce joining him at LeLacheur Park to play five innings in the field at first base.

Steven Wright, who is eligible to come off the suspended list June 25, will make his third appearance with Triple-A Pawtucket Monday. The knuckleballer is coming off a three-inning stint in which he didn't allow a run or walk, giving up two hits while striking out a pair.

- Despite Jackie Bradley Jr.'s recent hot streak, Cora noted that there are no plans to move the lefty hitter up in the order.

"It’s just the nature of who we are in our lineup," the manager said. "I think Christian (Vazquez) has swung the bat well the whole season. Hitting him in front of Jackie is good. I mean, sometimes you think about it and you’re like, how, why does this happen? Because what he’s doing now is unreal. Driving the ball all over. He took one swing in Toronto. That ball he hit yesterday, not too many people go up there. He’s controlling the strike zone. Even the strikeouts are very competitive. (Friday) he took a pitch up in the zone and he thought it was up. He went in and it was borderline. But you can see it. The cool thing is he’s smiling and he’s happy. Like he says, ‘It’s not cool to smile when you’re struggling. It’s not easy.’ I want them to have fun but I understand. I went through that. About three-quarters of my career I struggled offensively so I wasn’t happy but I had to show up. It’s cool to see him, his body language. He’s in a great place. You never know, never know what can happen. We might. But as of now, it feels right. It gives us somebody who is getting on base for those guys on top of the lineup and a guy that can drive in runs with traffic. We’re just happy we stuck with it. That’s why. That’s the reason. What he does defensively is a plus. We know he brings that on a daily basis. But we know he’s going to find it. It’s just a matter of when. It seems like this year is sooner than last year. Should be fun. Just stay with it."

Bradley Jr. entered Saturday hitting .211 after having bottomed out at .142 in May 8. Starting with the first game in Toronto on May 20, he has totaled a .316 batting average and 1.109 OPS in his previous 24 games.

* Bostonsportsjournal.com

MLB Notebook: Why baseball is stuck with umpire Angel Hernandez

Sean McAdam

The last few weeks have not been kind to umpire Angel Hernandez.

In Toronto two weeks ago, he was roundly mocked — by players, fans and media alike — for missing an obvious strike, right over the heart of the plate, in a game between the Yankees and Blue Jays.

Replays of the pitch — and the reaction of players on the field — were repeated endlessly on social media and TV.

Then, Tuesday night, Hernandez drew the ire of both the Red Sox and — in the same half- inning. First, fellow umpire Vic Carapazza felt duty-bound to eject Andrew Benintendi for badmouthing Hernandez as he walked to the dugout. Then, minutes later, Hernandez enraged the entire Texas dugout by disallowing a replay challenge, claiming that Rangers manager had exceeded the 30- second time period to launch a review.

The missed pitch could be chalked up to human error, a mistake any umpire could make (though Hernandez seems to make them more frequently than others). The decision to cut off Woodward’s replay challenge, however, speaks to a certain institutional arrogance on the part of Hernandez. Umpires routinely warn managers that their time is close to expiring in order to hasten the replay process; Hernandez didn’t do so, then unilaterally cut off the ability to challenge.

So, why does Hernandez get away with his poor on-field performance and demeanor? The answer is a complicated one, involving, among other things, the current umpires’ contract with Major League Baseball, Hernandez’s pending lawsuit against baseball and other factors, industry sources claim.

Thanks to the current labor deal between the umpires’ union and MLB, it’s become virtually impossible for umpires with Hernandez’s tenor to be disciplined, much less dismissed.

Umpires are graded on their work on the bases and behind the plate, with their performance on balls and strikes graded against StatCast, which determines the accuracy of their calls.

An umpire who falls below a 92 percent grade on balls and strikes is subject to probation. But a source with knowledge of the situation said that currently, no umpire — Hernandez included — has graded out below 96 percent accuracy.

The introduction of replay has provided another evaluating tool for MLB supervisors, though it’s not known what Hernandez’s history is here, or his rate of overturned calls.

Still, the absence of any empirical data to suggest that Hernandez is performing below standards means he can’t be disciplined or reprimanded.

Further complicating matters is Hernandez’s lawsuit alleging that, as a minority — Hernandez is Cuban — he was discriminated against when it came to postseason assignments and becoming a crew chief. (Ironically, Hernandez is operating this year as an “interim” crew chief due to a season-ending knee injury to Jerry Meals and last year was selected to work the Division Series). The title of crew chief, according to a source, is worth another $100 daily.

While the lawsuit is awaiting resolution, MLB has its hands tied.

Hernandez, 57, has plenty of reasons to keep umpiring. Now in his 26th year, he earns a base salary of $400,000; with 30 years of service time, he would jump to $430,000, the current top step on the pay grid. The base salary does not include the umpires’ annual share of MLB’s current TV deals, worth another $30,000 each. And, of course, there are the bonuses earned for postseason assignments, which are worth tens of thousands more, depending on the event.

(Nominally, postseason umpire assignments are based on merit, and given Hernandez’s reputation, players, managers and executives are perplexed by Hernandez’s presence on the October stage. But another source suggests that, more than anything, MLB values experience for its playoff and World Series games, helping to partly explain Hernandez’s presence in the postseason.)

Thanks to the protection offered by the union contract, it’s virtually impossible for an umpire to lose his job. Major League Baseball began to take a harder line against the umpires during Sandy Alderson’s tenure as executive vice president of baseball operations from 1998-2005. Alderson asserted himself more fully in dealing with umpires and helped ensure a less confrontational approach by the umps on the field.

But since he left the post — umpires now come under the jurisdiction of chief baseball officer and senior vice president of baseball operations Peter Woodfork, who once worked in the Red Sox front office under Theo Epstein — the commissioner’s office has appeared less assertive with its umpires.

There are two avenues of possible relief for Major League Baseball.

The current umpires’ contract with MLB expires this winter, and the Commissioner’s office could push for tougher language in the next pact to make umpires more accountable for their on-field performance and interactions.

Further, it’s expected that the retirement benefits under the new deal — with a more generous pension and health benefits for retirees — could induce Hernandez to call it a career. Baseball officials are already braced for a slew of its veteran umpires — perhaps in double digits — could retire before the start of 2020, paving the way for the hiring of many new, younger ups currently working in the minors or as fill-ins among its 78 full-time slots.

Until then, Hernandez remains on field, largely unaccountable and untouchable. ______

Two former first-round selections by the Red Sox have been sidelined this season — Trey Ball, chosen seventh overall in 2013 and Jayson Groome, tabbed 12th in 2016.

Groome, considered the Red Sox top pitching prospect, underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2018 is still recovering, though he has begun throwing. Recovery time from Tommy John ranges anywhere from a year to 18 months, but the Sox are being understandably cautious, given Groome’s potential.

“He’s progressing well,” reported Ben Crockett, the Red Sox vice president of player development. “He’s throwing long toss and feeling good.”

Crockett said it was “too soon to tell,” whether Groome will end up appearing in minor league games for an affiliate this season, or whether the Sox will keep him under a more structured, controlled environment for the remainder of the summer.

“His mound progression and the timing will help dictate that,” he said.

As for Ball, he’s been in extended spring training since March as he makes the transition from pitcher to outfielder. Ball has been a major disappointment on the mound, going 34-47 with a 5.04 ERA over six seasons. He stalled out at Double-A Portland and not even a move to the bullpen helped last year.

Accordingly, Ball is giving it a second go as a hitter, something that began in the Instructional League last fall. His progress was slowed this spring by a variety of nagging injuries, but he’s healthy now and about to be sent to an affiliate soon — likely Fort Myers of the Gulf Coast League.

“He should start playing games in games in the next couple weeks,” Crockett reported. “His development has been slowed by limited reps but he keeps working and feels he’s progressing. It’s tough when you’ve been away from it for so long, but he needs to keep improving.”

Crockett noted that Ball continues to throw some on the side, just to keep his arm in shape.

“But pitching in games will depend on (where he gets assigned),” Crockett said. “The priority remains hitting and playing the outfield at this point.” ______

Don’t think the game is changing?

Part One: In 2013, just six short years ago, exactly one MLB team hit 200 or more homer.

This year? Twenty-two — or approximately three-quarters of the teams — are on pace to do so.

And one team, the godforsaken , are on pace to allow 300 homers as a staff. Previous to this season, the allowed 258 in 2016. It’s worth noting that Dan Straily was a member of those Reds and is now part of the Orioles staff. He continued to do his part Friday night in allowing four of the six Red Sox homers.

Part two: This week marked the 45th anniversary of a pitching matchup between Nolan Ryan (California Angels) and Luis Tiant (Red Sox).

In a game played on June 14, 1974, the Angels edged the Sox in 15 innings, 4-3. Ryan went 13 innings, struck out 19 and walked 10, while throwing — please sit down for this one — 235 pitches. Tiant, for his part, pitched into the 15th and was said to have thrown at least 165 pitches.

And of course, Ryan made his next scheduled start — on three days rest.

The List/Top 3

In honor of Father’s Day, the best father-son duos to have played Major League Baseball. Undoubtedly, there will be other contenders in the years to come, since this year alone, we’ve seen the sons of Hall of Famers Vladimir Guerrero and Craig Biggio make their major league debuts — with the same team, no less.

But for now, there are the three best pairs.

1. Ken Griffey/Ken Griffey Jr.: Over a 19-year career, Senior amassed a .296 average and was a three-time All-Star, but Junior eclipsed him with 10 Gold Gloves, an MVP and 630 homers en route to Cooperstown.

2. Bobby Bonds/Barry Bonds: Bobby played for eight teams and amassed 332 homers, but was easily eclipsed by Barry, who hit 762 homers and a staggering seven MVP awards.

3. Felipe Alou/Moises Alou: Felipe Alou collected 2,101 hits over a 17-year career, then went on to manage. He even managed Moises, who had 31 more hits than his dad and belted 332 homers.

* The New York Post

Dominican authorities promise to reveal motive, mastermind in David Ortiz shooting

Sara Dorn

Dominican authorities say they’ll announce this week who wanted “Big Papi” dead — and why.

In a new statement about the botched shooting of revered former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, the Dominican Republic’s Attorney General’s office promised release a “full narrative of how the case happened,” ABC News reported.

Meanwhile, the nine suspects so far indicted in the case will remain behind bars for at least a year before their case even goes to trial, The Boston Globe reported.

And Dominican prosecutors say they will seek the maximum 40-year sentence for the alleged triggerman, Rolfi Ferreira Cruz.

The suspects were led into a Dominican courtroom Friday wearing vests and helmets to protect them from an angry mob upset about the attack on the local sports hero, the Globe reported.

A judge cited the case’s complexity for the unusual decision to order a lengthy jail term before trial.

Ortiz remains in stable condition at a Boston hospital a week after he was shot point blank in the back at a bar in Santo Domingo.

Authorities believe it was a coordinated assassination bid. Cops are still looking for other suspects.

A defense lawyer for one of the suspects slammed the judge’s decision to remand his client, the Globe reported.

“I feel defrauded by my own country’s justice system,” said Bella Brea, who represents Carlos Rafael Alvarez.

“Every day it becomes clearer that anybody can be sent to prison without there being any kind of evidence against them.”

The father of the suspected gunman expressed doubt his son was responsible for the attack.

“These are the little guys, if they did it,” said Felicito Rodriguez Disla, the father of alleged gunman Rolfi Ferreras Cruz, said.

“There has to be a strong person behind this, and that’s the person they need to find.”

* The Baltimore Sun

Dylan Bundy solid again, but Red Sox ace Chris Sale is too much for Orioles in 7-2 Boston win

Peter Schmuck

It probably didn’t matter how well Dylan Bundy pitched Saturday. When Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale is on his game, anyone starting against him has to be better than good.

Bundy was very good for five innings. He allowed just four hits and equaled his season high with eight strikeouts. But the Red Sox reeled off four straight hits to open the sixth and knocked him out of the game on the way to a 7-2 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 30,050 at Camden Yards.

Sale, who gave up just three hits over eight innings and struck out 14 in his previous start against the Orioles (21-49), wasn’t quite as overpowering this time, but Bundy blinked first.

Orioles prospect Yusniel Díaz's homers highlight progress at plate; Brandon Hyde shuffles rotation Bundy (3-8) allowed a single to Rafael Devers to start the sixth and a double to Xander Bogaerts to break the scoreless tie. When Brock Holt and Michael Chavis followed with consecutive singles, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had seen enough and Bundy had thrown enough — 98 pitches.

“I thought he was throwing the ball good,’’ Hyde said. “First of all, he battled through five innings and was fantastic, pitched out of jams and left it out there for us. The sixth inning, he was still not getting hit hard, but did allow four consecutive base hits.”

Reliever Richard Bleier took over and gave himself a chance to get out of the inning, but the Red Sox scratched out an unearned run when third baseman Hanser Alberto let a ground ball off the bat of catcher Sandy León get by him for an error.

The Orioles offense did not go down without a response. Alberto and Trey Mancini, who tried to start an early scoring rally with back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the first inning, began the Orioles sixth with consecutive hits and — this time — Sale could not leave them stranded.

Sale (3-7) allowed a one-out RBI double to Renato Núñez and a sacrifice fly to Jonathan Villar to make it a one-run game before ending the inning with his 10th strikeout.

It was the fourth straight start in which Sale rolled up a double-digit strikeout total, and the eighth time in his past nine games. His 130 strikeouts this season rank him third in the majors behind Houston Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole (140) and ace Max Scherzer (136).

Orioles vs. Red Sox, June 15, 2019 Bundy was charged with just two earned runs and has allowed three or fewer in all but two of his starts this season, including eight straight. But high pitch counts have limited his innings and explain his 4.44 ERA.

He did not give up a home run for the first time since a May 17 win at the , but the four- hit sixth inning took him to his highest hits allowed total (8) of the season.

“I made a couple mistakes to a couple of hitters there and they were able to get the ball out in the outfield,” Bundy said, “but for the most part, I was making most of my pitches there and they were just able to squeeze them through the infield and it didn’t go our way.”

The Red Sox (38-34) added a run in the seventh inning on J.D. Martinez’s third home run of the series and fourth in five games at Oriole Park this year. But it was a tight game until the Orioles’ defense unraveled in the late innings and the Red Sox padded their lead with three runs off reliever Miguel Castro in the ninth.

Alberto continues to rake against even the best left-handed pitching. He had two hits in three at-bats against Sale to raise his major league-leading average against lefties to .424.

Mancini’s two-hit performance moved him into a tie at the top of the American League total base rankings with shortstop , who entered the day also leading the league with a .335 average and 88 hits.

* Associated Press

Sale fans 10 to help resurgent Red Sox beat Orioles 7-2

After getting off to a miserable start, Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox are beginning to perform to their usual high standard.

Sale struck out 10 over six sharp innings, J.D. Martinez homered in a third straight game and the surging Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 on Saturday.

The defending World Series champions opened the season with nine losses in 12 games and were 9-15 on April 23. Now they're 38-34 and can move five games over .500 for the first time by completing a three- game sweep Sunday.

"We're still getting better. We have our own goals we plan on achieving," manager Alex Cora said. "We've got to get to our short-term goals first."

Sale lost his first five decisions and still isn't close to getting his record to the break-even point, but he too is on a roll.

The only run Sale allowed came in the sixth, after the left-hander extended his streak of innings without allowing an earned run to 22.

Sale ended his outing by blowing a third strike past Keon Broxton with runners on the corners and Boston nursing a 3-2 lead. The seven-time All-Star has reached double figures in strikeouts nine times this season and 73 times in his 10-year career.

He gave up six hits, walked one and looked every bit like the pitcher who entered the season with a 103-62 record.

`Early on, I got into some bad habits and we were all able to figure that out," he said. "I feel like I'm pitching a little bit better with my fastball, location-wise."

Martinez hit his 16th home run, the fourth in three games, to provide the Red Sox with a two-run cushion in the seventh. The slugger has 12 homers in his last 28 games.

Boston pulled away to its fourth straight victory with a three-run ninth against Miguel Castro, much to the delight of the thousands of Red Sox fans among the announced crowd of 30,050.

After hitting 11 homers and scoring 20 runs in its previous two games, Boston managed only four singles through five innings before finally breaking through against Dylan Bundy (3-8) in the sixth.

Xander Bogaerts doubled in a run and scored on a single by Brock Holt before third baseman Hanser Alberto botched a grounder to let in an unearned run.

Baltimore got an RBI double from Renato Nunez and sacrifice fly from Jonathan Villar in the bottom half before Sale struck out Broxton for the third time.

The Orioles have now gone winless in 15 straight series (0-14-1) since taking two of three from the White Sox on April 22-24. In this one, Baltimore played "real sloppy defense," according to manager Brandon Hyde, who proceeded to rattle off almost every one of his team's miscues.

After he was finally done, Hyde referred to the list as "a lot of things that we can't do because we can't overcome them." He added: "We're not talented enough offensively, we don't have shutdown guys on the mound to be able to win. So we have to play almost perfect, and we just didn't play well."

Baltimore owns the worst record in the majors (21-49) and worst record at home (9-27).

MENTAL LAPSE

After crossing from center to right field to make a catch next to teammate , Broxton took a moment to discuss the outfield coverage. Noticing this, Boston's Andrew Benintendi tagged up and went to second base. Fortunately for Broxton, Bundy subsequently struck out Rafael Devers to end the first inning.

ROTATION SHUFFLE

Orioles right-hander (1-9, 7.20 ERA) has been sent to the bullpen after making 12 straight starts without a victory. Rookie Josh Rogers, who pitched in relief on Friday night, will start Wednesday in Oakland.

The rotation now stands as Andrew Cashner, Bundy, and Gabriel Ynoa. As for No. 5, Hyde says, "We're going to be playing with that spot all year long."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Red Sox: RHP Hector Velazquez (lower back strain) began a rehab assignment on Saturday by pitching a scoreless inning for Class A short season Lowell. ... Steven Wright, recovering from knee injury as he nears his return from an 80-game suspension for violating baseball's PED policy, will pitch two innings on Sunday for Triple-A Pawtucket. ... 1B Steve Pearce (back) played first base and went 0 for 3 with Lowell on Saturday after being the DH on Friday in his first rehab game. ... Closer Ryan Brasier (bereavement) is expected to return Monday.

Orioles: Cashner, who was scratched Friday because of a blister, will start Monday in Oakland.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: Brian Johnson (1-0, 12.71 ERA) makes his first start of the season Sunday. The lefty was activated from the injured list Friday after dealing with elbow inflammation.

Orioles: John Means (6-4, 2.60) is 1-1 with a 0.69 ERA over 12 innings in two starts against Boston this year.