The Boston Red Sox Sunday, May 20, 2018

* The Boston Globe

With Jackie Bradley mired in a slump, what are the Red Sox’ options?

Alex Speier

After Jackie Bradley Jr. swung and missed again, as he retreated to the dugout for a second straight time, the unmistakable sound bubbled from scattered regions of Fenway Park. This wasn’t a full-throated, universal expression of dismay, but nonetheless, there it was, undeniable: The boos.

“The crowd doesn’t sway me one way or the other,” Bradley said. “I’m in my own zone when I’m out there.”

Yet on the field, the zone in which Bradley currently resides seems stifling right now. On Friday night, the center fielder saw seven pitches from Orioles starter Kevin Gausman. All were fastballs between 91 and 93 m.p.h. – average to below-average velocity in today’s game, some of them roughly down the middle.

Bradley took the one that was above the strike zone and swung at the other six. Unless one counts foul tips, he did not make contact once – not even for so much as a foul ball. Instead, Bradley waved and missed six times as part of an 0-for-2 night, his seventh game with multiple strikeouts in 10 contests this month.

“I saw fastballs. That’s it,” said Bradley. “I’m missing the pitch, missing my pitches. Timing is not there.”

Since the beginning of May, Bradley is hitting .083/.179/.083 with 18 strikeouts in 39 plate appearances (46 percent). He doesn’t have any extra-base hits in his last 20 games (18 starts), hitting just .097/.186/.097 with a 43 percent strikeout rate.

For the season, his numbers tell the tale of someone who is being overmatched. He’s hitting .164/259/.246. Twice in the last 10 days, the Red Sox have given him three straight days off to focus on behind-the-scenes work. Bradley showed up early on Friday to take extra batting practice with manager Alex Cora.

“[I am] always in a good mind-set,” Bradley said. “Every day is a new day.”

Yet his struggles are becoming so extreme – Bradley has the lowest batting average by a Red Sox non- catcher through 45 team games since 1974, when Tommy Harper hit .155/.216/.273 to start the year – that the Sox must wrestle with the question of his role, and whether to push him to something of a reserve role while having Hanley Ramirez serve as designated hitter, Mitch Moreland play first, J.D. Martinez in left, and Andrew Benintendi in center. Such an alignment would compromise the team’s defense, but the impact of that lost defense could well be offset — if not exceeded — by the addition of more offense.

If Bradley loses an everyday role, even bigger questions loom. He has the physical tools to overcome a difficult start and produce, something that happened in dramatic fashion in both 2015 and 2017. But if he can’t hit big-league fastballs, then the Red Sox must decide whether they’re best served to have him try to catch his breath in a reserve role.

Are there more extreme possibilities? Sure. The Red Sox do retain one minor league option on Bradley. As hard as it is to imagine a $6.1 million player in Triple A, if that’s the best path to getting Bradley back in position to contribute as an above-average player in the big leagues, then the Sox certainly should consider it.

The Sox are nearing an interesting roster dilemma with Dustin Pedroia’s return coming closer into view. While on the surface the most obvious logjam would appear to be with Eduardo Nunez, Brock Holt, and Blake Swihart, the Sox could go in another direction to create a roster spot for Pedroia.

Could that include sending Bradley to Pawtucket, with Martinez assuming everyday outfield duties and Holt and Swihart offering bench outfield options? Again, that all seems extreme for a player with Bradley’s resume – an All-Star in 2016, one of the team’s two best position players from the middle of last May through late August – but Bradley’s struggles are becoming sufficiently severe that extreme measures can’t be ruled out entirely.

It doesn’t appear any such conversations have transpired in the Sox organization. The fact that the top of the Sox order has been so impactful has bought the team, and Bradley, time. The Sox have a 30-15 record (.667), including a 23-11 (.676) mark when Bradley starts in the outfield. They’re still winning with him.

But if a team slump comes, if Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez ever return from whatever intergalactic realm they’ve discovered, then the Sox could face some hard questions as they try to restore Bradley to status as a productive big leaguer.

Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi strike back-to-back as Red Sox top Orioles

Julian Benbow

The almost-instant grimace on Orioles starter Dylan Bundy’s face was the product of realizing that he had not only thrown the wrong pitch at the wrong time but that he couldn’t have possibly chosen a worse hitter to throw it to.

With a runner on and the game knotted at 1 in the fifth, Bundy was in the unenviable spot of being down in the count, 2 and 1, to Mookie Betts, who was swinging arguably the hottest bat in baseball.

Bundy decided to go with his fastball, up and away.

Off the crack of Betts’s bat, he knew how monstrous his mistake was.

From the on-deck circle, Andrew Benintendi knew it, too. Hitting behind Betts all season, he knew what was about to happen.

Betts sent a shot soaring toward the Monster seats. Bundy’s head sunk immediately as Betts rounded the bases with a two-run homer.

“Him hunting pitches in the strike zone, that’s the key,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Things only got worse for Bundy a batter later. He got ahead 0 and 2 to Benintendi but tried to use a slider as his putaway pitch.

It stayed knee high and Benintendi swatted it into the Orioles bullpen.

The back-to-back homers effectively ended Bundy’s night and pushed the Red Sox to a 6-3 win on Saturday night at Fenway Park.

The Sox hadn’t hit back-to-back homers since 2016.

For the 10th time in his career and the second time this season, Betts homered in consecutive games. He leads the league in average, slugging, on-base percentage, runs, extra-base hits and total bases.

“It’s awesome,” Benintendi said. “He’s always on the base paths, scoring runs. He’s pretty much doing everything to help the team win. He’s in a groove right now. It’s not like he’s hot-hot. I feel like he can get hotter than he is right now. It seems like he squares up something every at-bat, so he’s doing everything right.”

The Sox have hit 64 homers this season. They’ve homered in 18 of their past 19 games. They’re 23-10 when they hit at least one homer.

After giving up five runs in back-to-back starts, Rick Porcello was in dire need of a bounce-back outing. He went six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and matched a season-high with nine strikeouts.

“He battled tonight,” said Cora. “He’ll tell you that.”

He overcame command issues to get out of tight situations early. He wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, allowing just one run.

The frame got off to a rocky start when Chance Sisco laced a 1-and-1 slider down the right-field line for a ground-rule double. Porcello struck out Trey Mancini for the first out, then gave up a single to Adam Jones and walked Manny Machado to load the bases.

A sacrifice fly to left by Jonathan Schoop drove in Sisco to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. But Porcello struck out Chris Davis to get out of the inning with minimal damage, which was critical, Porcello said.

“Especially against a team like that,” said Porcello. “We know they have a good lineup that can blow up on you quick, so that was kind of the key.”

A solo homer from Rafael Devers evened things in the third.

But the Sox’ three-run fifth inning gave Porcello some breathing room. Betts pushed his major league- leading home run total to 15 with his two-run shot.

Even Porcello was awestruck.

“It’s incredible,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun to watch. I don’t even know what to say. It’s pretty incredible. He gets his pitch, he’s not missing. He doesn’t get his pitch, he’s not missing it. I’m just glad I don’t have to face him.”

Benintendi’s homer was his fourth of the season.

The only other pothole Porcello ran into came in the sixth with a runner on first when he left a 2-and-2 fastball over the plate to Pedro Alvarez, who mashed it into the Monster seats for a two-run homer that cut the Sox’ lead to 4-3.

But for the eighth time in 10 starts this season, Porcello gave the Sox at least six innings, throwing 107 pitches, 67 for strikes.

Joe Kelly’s scoreless seventh inning helped keep the Orioles at bay. He got Mancini to ground out, then struck out Jones and Machado.

“He’s been outstanding,” Cora said. “Pounding the strike zone with quality stuff, mixing it up — breaking ball, changeup, fastball up. He keeps working at his craft, wants to get better. And he’s becoming one of the best relievers in the big leagues.”

Benintendi tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh with a two-run single.

Matt Barnes was just as sharp in the eighth, getting Schoop to fly out, then striking out Davis and Trumbo to bridge to Craig Kimbrel, who closed out his 13th save of the season in the ninth.

But once again Betts fueled a Sox offense that now leads the majors in runs scored.

“I think about how I’d pitch him and I have no idea,” Porcello said. “A lot of times you get power hitters, you make a mistake, they’re going to hurt you, but there’s holes. I don’t see a hole. I really don’t.”

Hanley Ramirez has carved out a niche for himself

Peter Abraham

That day’s starting pitcher has the right to decide what music plays in the clubhouse before the game. But Rick Porcello ceded those duties to Hanley Ramirez on Saturday before the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-3.

Ramirez flipped through his phone, linked up to the clubhouse speakers, and soon a lively salsa number by the late Raphy Leavitt filled the room.

“Oh, my God. I probably have 10,000 songs to pick from,” Ramirez said. “Whatever comes in my head, I have it. Porcello, [Chris] Sale, [David] Price they tell me to pick. I like to wake everybody up.”

Ramirez’s choices this season also have included Frank Sinatra, Ritchie Valens, and Paul Simon.

That’s unpredictable, but then so is Ramirez. He had a terrible 2015 season when he returned to the Red Sox as a miscast, wildly overpaid left fielder but has since posted an .805 OPS and hit 59 home runs as a designated hitter and first baseman. His contract remains a regrettable one, but at least less than it once was.

At 34, Ramirez is the oldest player on Alex Cora’s roster and feels a sense of responsibility to his teammates. Gone is the recalcitrant loner the Marlins were glad to trade to the Dodgers in 2012.

“I’m healthy, that’s a reason,” Ramirez said. “But like Alex told me, the young guys see what I do and I need to be happy. That’s what I’m trying to do, be relaxed and set a good example.”

Ramirez is only 13 of 69 (.188) this month but has a .750 OPS for the season and is third on the team with 29 RBIs, taking advantage of all the times Mookie Betts has been on base. Statistics suggest he is a little above average as a hitter and that is what your eyes tell you, too.

It’s not perfect, but it’s acceptable given the alternatives with Ramirez.

“I check on him on a daily basis where he’s at physically. Results-wise, he’d like to swing the bat better than he has in recent weeks,” Cora said “He’d like to drive the ball on a consistent basis. But it’s still a quality at-bat.”

When the Sox signed J.D. Martinez, Cora was handed the tricky job of finding playing time for Ramirez and Mitch Moreland. Through 46 games, Ramirez has started 23 times at first base and 18 as the DH. He has hit either second or third every time.

“That meant a lot to me,” Ramirez said. “The manager having confidence in you is everything. How would you feel if your boss came to you and said you’re the best? I thank him for that confidence and the energy every day to keep working to get better. It’s a good push.”

The days off have helped Ramirez, especially being able to handle first base on a semi-regular basis.

“He needs it,” Cora said. “The communication has been good. J.D. is the one who helps everything to go the way I want it to by playing the outfield, playing left and right. Then I can play Mitch. It’s working great so far.”

Cora was a little more blunt when assessing Ramirez’s fielding.

“He’s OK. He’s been good,” the manager said. “The chances that he gets, he makes. Sometimes you can see him battling. But, let’s be honest, he’s older and it’s not that easy to play first. There are certain days that he’s more aggressive than other days moving toward his right. But he’s been good for us.”

Ramirez has known Cora since 2005 when he was 21 and the Red Sox called up him to the majors in September. Cora was one of the leaders on that team and advised Ramirez on different topics.

“Like eating breakfast in the morning instead of sleeping,” Ramirez said, laughing at the memory. “All that good stuff. Alex knew his role at that time.”

Ramirez was traded to the Marlins that winter but he and Cora crossed paths on occasion. When Cora was named manager in October, he made sure to schedule an offseason visit with Ramirez to set expectations.

For Ramirez, it’s a financially significant season. He has 183 plate appearances, well on his way to the 497 needed to trigger a contract clause guaranteeing a $22 million salary for 2019. Otherwise, he becomes a free agent.

But he maintains the contract is not a factor.

“I’ve got my money already, it doesn’t matter,” Ramirez said. “I just want to win. I want to win in Boston.”

But even for a man of means, $22 million is not an insignificant amount.

“I’m telling you, it’s not in my head,” Ramirez said. “I can make that in a couple of years with what I’ve got in my pocket now. I just want to win. What else is there left for me to do?”

Ramirez said if the Red Sox win the World Series, he would ride a duck boat shirtless through the streets of Boston.

“I’ll be a cold warrior. Snowing, it doesn’t matter. I will,” Ramirez said.

I told him that would be in print. Ramirez was not swayed.

“It would be worth it,” he said. “No shirt.”

Leon or Vazquez: Cora says pitching staff comfortable with both

Julian Benbow

With Sandy Leon behind the plate on Thursday, David Price put together one of his most dominant starts of the season, coming within one Manny Machado swing of his fourth career shutout.

It was the first time Leon had caught Price all season.

Leon’s impact on the Sox pitching staff is well-documented. Nine of the 10 current Sox pitchers have a lower ERA with Leon behind the plate than with Christian Vazquez and eight of them have given up fewer homers.

“Sandy, you can see why he’s so well-liked,” manager Alex Cora said before the Red Sox defeated the Orioles, 6-3, on Saturday at Fenway Park. “There’s a calmness with him behind the plate.”

Rick Porcello had been paired exclusively with Leon in his nine starts this season. Coming off giving up five runs in back-to-back starts, he bounced back against the Orioles, going six innings and allowing three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts.

While the Sox catchers have struggled at the plate, Cora said both Leon, who was 1 for 2 with a walk on Saturday, and Vazquez have the pitching staff’s complete trust behind it.

“Everybody’s comfortable with both of them,” Cora said. “They call the game a little bit different. They go through scouting reports and they prepare. As a catcher, both of them, they’re watching the game, they have the feel.

“They know what’s going on better than us in the dugout. We provide them information and then they read it and they give it to pitchers and they make a game plan, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot deviate from the game plan.”

Tempers run short With a handful of Sox in Rochester rehabbing with Triple A Pawtucket, including second baseman Dustin Pedroia, things got testy on Friday night.

Pawtucket first baseman JordanBetts was ejected in the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Jeremy Riggs.

PawSox manager Kevin Boles nearly got the hook as well.

“I think he told the umpire, ‘Hey, I’ve got Dustin Pedroia on my team.’ ” Cora said. “That’s what Pedey said.”

Pedroia was slotted as the designated hitter. He struck out twice and walked twice in four plate appearances.

“He had issues with the strike zone,” Cora said with a chuckle.

Pedroia was back in the lineup on Saturday night, playing second base. He went 0 for 3.

The plan was to have him play seven innings again, then give him Sunday off. From there, Cora said the Red Sox will see how he responds before deciding when he’ll play next.

Having Pedroia play nine innings isn’t as important as seeing him play in back-to-back games, Cora said.

“If he plays seven, he can play eight, he can play nine,” Cora said. “It’s not a big deal. I think it’s more the back-to-back. If he’s able to go two days in a row, seven innings, I’ll be at ease.”

Tyler Thornburg, who threw one inning on Friday, pitched one-third of an inning on Saturday, walking three. Hector Velazquez, expected to throw two innings, did not pitch.

High praise for J.D. Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas heaped the highest praise possible on J.D. Martinez on Fox Sports’ “MLB Whiparound.”

“The best hitter in baseball,” Thomas said. “And I know that can be debated by a lot of people because there are so many great hitters in this game. But what he’s done over the last two years, I would say last three, four years — his consistency at the plate, .300 hitter, home runs all over the place, driving in big runs.

“In baseball the last two years, he’s led the league — he’s led all of baseball in home runs, RBIs, OPS, and total bases. That is the best hitter in baseball, and no one talks about him.

“This guy — I’m sorry to put you on front street, J.D., but it’s time to talk about this man as potential league MVP, one of the best players in the game.”

Cora, who spent three years as an analyst for ESPN, joked, “Awesome. TV at it’s finest.”

But he also saw some parallels between Thomas and Martinez.

“Coming from him, he was a guy that controlled the strike zone, was able to drive the ball and at the same time was able to take his hits,” Cora said. “So, pretty similar.”

Backing Babson The Babson College baseball team won its first two games in the NCAA Division 3 Mid-Atlantic Regional in York, Pa. Babson next plays on Sunday.

The Beavers have won 13 consecutive games, matching a program record. They also have a fan in Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel.

“I saw they’ve been winning. I hope they keep going,” the righthander said. “That’s great.”

Kimbrel worked out at Babson with the players and coach Matt Noone for part of February and March after he left spring training to be in Boston when his daughter had heart surgery. When he’s not coaching, Noone is one of the Red Sox’ batting practice pitchers.

Jake Peavy has been through a lot, and he wants to pitch again

Nick Cafardo

He still has the duck boat he bought after the 2013 World Series parade, an event he described as one of the greatest moments of his life. If Jake Peavy never pitches another inning in major league baseball, he will have that memory and being part of “the most unique baseball team I’ve ever seen.”

Peavy, however, is still hopeful of pitching in the majors again. He received some calls and interest earlier this year, but Peavy, who is closing in on his 37th birthday, wanted to coach his son’s high school baseball team. When scouts have come to watch some of the talent near his home of Catherine, Ala., he’s let them know he’s interested in a comeback and that he’s kept throwing and working out.

“In the next three weeks I’ll make a decision,” said Peavy, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since September 2016. “I haven’t thrown for anybody yet because I wanted to wait until my [four] kids are out of school and then I want to talk to them about getting back into the game. I think they want me to. I think they miss what comes with it, like being around a major league clubhouse and traveling and things like that. But I want to make sure they understand the commitment that I need to make if I do it.

“I feel that I can help a team in the second half. My arm feels great. I’ve had a chance to rest it so I feel as strong as I’ve felt in a long time. I’ve kept in shape. I throw bullpens. So I’m hoping that once I make the decision to do it, that the interest will be there.”

Peavy said he understands that he’d have to pitch in the minors for a while.

“It’s not about the money for me,” Peavy said. “I know I’d have to sign an incentive-based deal. And I’m good with that. I know teams need reinforcements in the second half of the year and if I can offer them a fresh arm and someone who has the experience I have, I think I can help someone.”

Peavy says his life is now “in a good place” after one of his closest friends and financial adviser Ash Narayan was accused of steering about $20 million of Peavy’s money in a Ponzi scheme. Peavy, who made $128 million in his big league career, according to Baseball-Reference, said he could not discuss the details of the situation because of a nondisclosure agreement, but Peavy said his financial situation is in a more positive place.

At around the same time he was being bilked out of his money, his wife divorced him. Those were the toughest days of his life. Now between coaching his kids, overseeing business interests — including the Jake Peavy Foundation — and coming up with new business ideas involving baseball, Peavy’s days are busy and filled with positive thoughts.

“I’m in a good place. I’m truly blessed,” Peavy said.

Peavy was able to win a championship with the Giants in 2014, as well. He always talks about his friend Jonny Gomes, who he says is the one who convinced him to buy the duck boat.

“When I was traded to Boston,” Peavy said, “he was the first one who came up to me when I stepped into the clubhouse and I said, ‘How are you doing?’ and he said, ‘I’m now a lot closer to a World Series.’ ”

Nice way to be greeted.

“That team was so special. We’d get the biggest suite the hotel would give us on the road and all get together and just talk baseball all night. I’ve never seen such a tight-knit group of guys with so many veteran guys coming together like that and creating such a cohesive unit. The guys who came in just joined the guys who were already here and had come up through the organization and it was like everyone had been together forever. I never saw that before and I never saw that after on any team I was on,” said Peavy who also played for the Padres and White Sox.

Peavy was a huge voice in the Boston Strong movement along with Gomes and Mike Napoli. They created a heartwarming story line following the Boston Marathon bombings that April. Peavy didn’t join the Red Sox until July 30, when he was acquired from the White Sox in a three-team deal also involving Dave Dombrowski’s Tigers. The Red Sox traded Jose Iglesias to Detroit in that deal.

Peavy went 4-1 with a 4.04 ERA in 10 starts for Boston in 2013, and went 0-1 with a 7.11 ERA in three starts that postseason. Peavy struggled with the Red Sox in 2014, going 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA in 20 starts before he was dealt to the Giants before the trade deadline for Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree. Peavy went 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA down the stretch and helped the Giants win it all.

If it is indeed over for Peavy, he has a 152-126 record and 3.63 ERA for his career. He won the 2007 NL Cy Young Award with the Padres (19-6, 2.54 ERA, 240 K’s), was a three-time All-Star, and won a Gold Glove.

What’s interesting is Peavy’s career splits for the second half of the season (76-51, 3.43 ERA) are better than his first-half numbers (76-75, 3.81). He hopes there’s another second half in his future.

Working relationship

Melvin, Yankees would have fit You wonder what might have been had A’s ownership decided to allow Bob Melvin to interview for the Yankees’ managing job last offseason. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was very selective as to whom he invited for interviews, and Melvin was the one current manager that Cashman chose.

Normally, when a team feels strongly enough to ask permission to speak to a manager who’s under contract, it usually means that’s the guy it wants to hire. While A’s executive vice president Billy Beane would have allowed it, ownership said no.

Melvin, who has won Manager of the Year in both leagues, loves being with the A’s, so what happened, happened. But being Yankees manager has perks that don’t exist in Oakland, simply because of the market sizes.

Melvin works in an organization that was at the forefront of the analytics boom, and the Yankees are very much into it as well. Melvin would have fit in nicely with the Yankees’ philosophy.

Melvin is signed through the 2019 season. He’s 56 and has 15 years of managerial experience, the last eight with the A’s. He’s had to endure constant roster turnover.

“He’s been tremendous. In all phases,” said veteran second baseman Jed Lowrie. “He lets the players play and grow. He’s great on the bench. He’s great with communication. He’s really solid. I think the players respect him and really enjoy playing for him.”

Communication has become such a big aspect of the job. Melvin played in a day when managers didn’t have to tell you if you were playing the next day. But he’s adapted to that. He’s always had the reputation of letting players know where they stand.

Which is why the Yankees thought so highly of him.

Apropos of nothing 1. Three Astros pitchers entered Friday 1-2-3 in the AL in ERA: Justin Verlander at 1.05, Gerrit Cole at 1.75, and Charlie Morton at 2.03. According to Elias, the last time a team had the top three pitchers in its league in ERA through at least 45 games was the Red Sox in 2002. Through 157 games, Pedro Martinez was at 2.26, Derek Lowe at 2.45, and Tim Wakefield at 2.75. Martinez finished first and Lowe second, but the A’s Barry Zito edged out Wakefield for third.

2. The Tigers are doing better than expected, but their goal remains the same — pare payroll. Toward that end, they’ll listen on just about anyone, including Jose Iglesias, Miguel Cabrera (on the DL), Jordan Zimmermann (on the DL), and Michael Fulmer.

3. The Rays have a chance to return to the old days, when they built their team through draft picks. They have the 16th, 31st, 32nd, 56th, and 71st picks in the June draft. The Royals also have five early picks (18th, 33rd, 34th, 40th, 58th). The Cubs (24th, 62nd, 77th, 78th) and Indians (29th, 35th, 41st, 67th) each have four selections in the first two full rounds.

4. Scouts watching the Cubs describe them as a “hit-or-miss offense,” with most of the lineup having no hitting plan to speak of. The Cubs hired former Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis for the same position during the offseason. In two losses in Atlanta last Tuesday and Wednesday, Cubs hitters struck out 26 times.

5. J.D. Martinez reminds me of Hall of Famer Jim Rice in how he hits hard line drives to the opposite field. A power guy who can hit for average. That was Rice.

6. How about Jonny Venters winning his first game in 2,096 days after three Tommy John procedures and a fourth elbow surgery? The Rays reliever and former Braves setup man to Craig Kimbrel is one of the great stories in major league baseball. His previous win prior to last Tuesday came Aug. 17, 2012.

Updates on nine 1. Kyle Barraclough, RHP, Marlins — The Marlins are expecting a team like the Red Sox to come calling for the big reliever. While the Red Sox will be content with their bullpen if Tyler Thornburg can become Carson Smith’s replacement, Barraclough, who is under team control until 2022, sticks out as an attractive option. He has a 1.83 ERA in 19⅔ innings (20 appearances), with 26 strikeouts and 12 walks. And he makes only $1.113 million. The Marlins would need a decent minor leaguer in return. The Marlins are trying to sell off relievers Brad Ziegler (5.89 ERA) and Junichi Tazawa (9.00 ERA), two former Red Sox who are making $9 million and $7 million, respectively, this season. Tazawa was designated for assignment Friday.

2. Blake Swihart, C/DH, Red Sox — Swihart remains a hot topic in baseball, but which teams does he truly fit? The Rangers had expressed interest in Swihart about a week ago and that avenue may still be available. There’s still much consternation within the Red Sox organization as to whether it’s prudent to deal the switch-hitter, even though his agent has requested a deal and the team refuses to let him catch. The Red Sox may very well designate Swihart for assignment to force interested teams to come forward. Whom could the Red Sox get from the Rangers? The fit doesn’t seem great. There are lefty relievers Jake Diekman and Alex Claudio, but neither have been trustworthy.

3. Mike Moustakas, 3B, Royals — There’s a growing feeling among talent evaluators that Moustakas could become a Braves target. The Braves are currently using Jose Bautista at third. His defense has been fine, but he’s still not hitting like the Bautista of old. GM Alex Anthopoulos isn’t known to sit still.

4. Cole Hamels, LHP, Texas — Hamels has a $23.5 million salary for 2018 and a $20 million option with a $6 million buyout for 2019. The Rangers would love to move him at the deadline and would expect to pick up some of the tab. Hamels, who missed his last start with neck stiffness, is 2-4 with a 3.48 ERA. Not his best work, but the feeling is the motivation of a pennant race should help his numbers. You could see a team like the Braves or Phillies or Yankees show interest in the veteran lefty. Hamels would likely waive his no-trade provision. The Rangers could also move former Red Sox righty Doug Fister.

5. J.T. Realmuto, C, Marlins — The Red Sox keep getting linked to Realmuto, but if that’s true, the Marlins don’t know about it. The Sox committed to Christian Vazquez with a three-year, $13.55 million deal in spring training. You’re not going to pay that to a backup, which is what Vazquez would be if the Sox were to acquire Realmuto.

6. Robinson Cano, 2B, Mariners — With Cano suspended for 80 days due to a PED violation, the Mariners are scrambling to figure out second base. Center fielder Dee Gordon is taking grounders at his old position, but the M’s are looking around. Could the Mariners be a possible landing spot for Jackie Bradley Jr. if they decide to put Gordon at second? The Red Sox would likely want bullpen help and/or a prospect. If the M’s shop for a veteran second baseman, the Yankees have Neil Walker and Brandon Drury while the Red Sox have Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt.

7. Jose Abreu, 1B, White Sox — There may be some regret by some White Sox officials about their rebuild, but Abreu is likely the next player to go. Abreu will be a powerful bat for a contender at the deadline, though he will come at a high cost. The White Sox had one of the better rotations in baseball before they decimated it. Their rebuild is going to take awhile.

8. Joey Gallo, 1B/LF, Rangers — Gallo spent most of his minor league career as a third baseman, but when asked last week if he was willing to play third with Adrian Beltre (hamstring) looking at a long-term injury, Gallo said, “I don’t like it . . . I hate it, no joke. I hate third base . . . I’d rather catch.” Then he backtracked, “I have no problem playing there . . . It’s a tough spot to be in. No one has even asked me, but if I did, I’d tell them I’m playing.”

9. Zach Britton, LHP, Orioles — When Britton returns in June, the countdown will be on as to when he gets moved. The pending free agent should be in demand if he shows he’s healthy. If the Red Sox don’t re- sign Craig Kimbrel this offseason, Britton could be a target.

Extra innings

From the Bill Chuck files — “Since the start of last season, Drew Pomeranz and Chris Sale each have 12 no-decisions. Pomeranz has a 3.63 ERA in his games and Sale has a 2.27 in his.” . . . Also, “On May 25, 2016, Jackie Bradley Jr. was hitting .350 on his way to winning Player of the Month. Since that date, in just over 1,000 ABs, he has hit .232 with 38 HRs and 269 whiffs.” . . . Happy birthday, Wayne Housie (53) and David Wells (55).

* The Boston Herald

Mookie Betts stays red-hot as Sox drop Orioles

Jason Mastrodonato

The Red Sox have seen a lot of great Mookie Betts moments in his five years as a major leaguer, but they’ve never seen him this hot.

Betts walloped his 15th homer in the Red Sox’ 46th game Saturday night, blasting a two-run shot over the Green Monster in the fifth inning and leading the Sox to a 6-3 victory over the lifeless Baltimore Orioles.

He’s now all alone atop the major league home run leaderboard and on pace to hit 53 of them, all while batting .368 and leading the majors in more than a dozen offensive categories.

“He’s in a groove right now, but it’s not like he’s hot-hot,” said Andrew Benintendi. “I feel like he can get hotter than he is right now. It seems like he squares up the ball every at-bat. He’s doing everything right.”

Betts’ home run came at a key moment, with the Sox tied 1-1 and Rick Porcello dueling Dylan Bundy on a rainy night.

Sandy Leon led off the fifth inning with a double, his first of the year, and then the slumping Jackie Bradley Jr. failed to advance Leon while striking out in his fourth straight trip to the plate.

But Betts picked up his teammate with a big swing on a high fastball on the outer half of the plate, sending it over the left-center field wall in a hurry.

“He definitely hunts mistakes and when they make a mistake pitch he doesn’t miss it,” Benintendi said. “That’s what you want as a hitter. His hands are so quick and he makes good contact it seems like every at- bat so it doesn’t really surprise me.”

His home run brought life to Fenway Park and the Sox offense, as Benintendi followed with a big jack to right field for his fourth dinger of the season.

Porcello needed the help.

Coming off two rough outings after he began the season with a 2.14 ERA through seven starts, he looked much more in control vs. the Orioles, using a full assortment of pitches to strike out nine in six innings.

But Eduardo Nunez couldn’t handle a hard Mark Trumbo grounder, and then Porcello gave up a high fly ball to Pedro Alvarez that just got over the Monster for a two-run shot.

“He actually mis-hit it,” manager Alex Cora said of Alvarez’ pop-up home run.

Holding a 4-3 lead in the seventh, Joe Kelly recorded one of his most dominant outings of the year, striking out Adam Jones and Manny Machado in a 1-2-3 inning.

Orioles rookie reliever Tanner Scott did the Sox a favor by walking Leon and Bradley to start the bottom half. Both runners moved up on a Betts fly ball to right, then both scored on a two-run single by Benintendi.

Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel pitched clean innings in the eighth and ninth to finish the win.

Among the many amazing feats of Betts’ start to the season is this: He’s been hitless in only nine games in which he’s played at least five innings, and in six of those games he’s drawn a walk. He’s been held off the bases just three times all year.

“It’s incredible,” Porcello said. “It’s a lot of fun to watch. I don’t even know what to say. It’s pretty incredible.

“When he gets his pitch, he’s not missing it. When he doesn’t get his pitch, he’s not missing it. I’m sure as hell glad I don’t have to face him.”

And what if Porcello did have to face him?

“I think about how I’d pitch him, and I have no idea,” Porcello said. “A lot of times, you get power hitters that, if you make a mistake, they’re going to hurt you, but there are holes. I don’t see a hole. I really don’t. Honestly, J.D. Martinez is the same way. We have two right-handed hitters that are tough outs.”

Slumping CF puts Cora in difficult spot

Jason Mastrodonato

There wasn’t any progress for Jackie Bradley Jr. at the plate, but he found a way to contribute.

Getting his second consecutive start after sitting for three straight games on two different occasions in the last two weeks, Bradley had another rough night, going 0-for-2 and striking out twice in the Red Sox’ 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles Saturday night.

But he drew a walk in the seventh inning, then did something rarely seen on a baseball field: he tagged up from first base.

Mookie Betts hit a fly ball to right and Mark Trumbo approached it too casually, so Bradley took off from first and slid into second just in time. He then scored on a two-run single to center from Andrew Benintendi that might not have gotten through the infield had Bradley still been on first and the infield been in double play depth.

“Outstanding job,” said manager Alex Cora. “I mean, walks against a tough lefty. He’s able to read the outfielder. He was flat-footed and actually kind of like, drifting back, and he took advantage of it.”

Cora had to be proud of Bradley. He’s been putting a lot of faith in him.

The struggling center fielder is 8-for-72 (.111) with 30 strikeouts over his last 23 games, but has often been in the lineup ahead of Mitch Moreland, a Gold Glove first baseman who is hitting .319 with a 1.010 OPS.

In a one-run game in the fifth inning, Bradley failed to advance Sandy Leon to third base, striking out after Leon hit a leadoff double. Cora said Bradley had the option to bunt, but chose not to and “didn’t do his job.”

Friday night, Bradley was pinch-hit for with Brock Holt in the seventh inning, the first time all season Cora pinch-hit for Bradley.

Making daily lineup decisions has been difficult.

“It’s hard,” the manager said. “But (Friday) wasn’t the perfect day. Two at-bats and we pinch-hit for him in the seventh down three. . . . It’s one of those that I know he takes a hit (to his confidence) because it’s only two at-bats, but at the same time I still have to manage a game. I do feel that was a spot we needed to hit for him. He just swung and missed (Friday) and it was tough.

“Going back to Mitch, he was swinging the bat well. We know what he can do. That pinch-hit appearance (Friday), very similar at-bat to the one he had in Toronto. He’s been good. Really good.”

Not depth deprived

Dustin Pedroia is nearing a return, which will add to a crowded roster.

“Whenever Pedey comes in we have to see how the rest of the rotation goes,” Cora said. “It’s going to benefit everybody, (Rafael Devers), Xander (Bogaerts), Eduardo (Nunuez), even Brock (Holt). We’ll find a way to make everything work. One thing for sure, we’re going to be a more complete team when Pedey comes back.”

Pedroia was 0-for-3 with some hard-hit line drives while making solid plays at second base while on rehab assignment with Triple-A Pawtucket Saturday night.

He’ll be off Sunday and the Red Sox will get feedback from Pedroia about how he’s feeling before deciding the next step. He’s likely to continue his rehab assignment Monday in Pawtucket.

The Sox would like to see Pedroia play back-to-back games at second base and come through that OK before they bring him back to the big league squad.

Austin Maddox “pitched good” in his rehab outing Friday, according to Cora, but Tyler Thornburg “was inconsistent with his breaking ball,” Cora said.

Catching on

Leon had a solid night at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a walk and a double. He made eight starts in all of April but already has eight starts in May, when he’s 7-for-21 with a double and a homer.

“Staying on the ball, not pulling off,” Cora said. “Seems like he’s not chasing either. There were some pitches tonight, border-line, breaking balls on the outside part of the plate and he didn’t offer. He got a good pitch to hit and drove it the other way.

“Both of them. Christian (Vazquez) had a great night (Friday) night, Sandy has been swinging the bat well. We want them to contribute offensively.”

Quality, not quantity

Over the last 11 games, Red Sox starters have gone more than 51⁄3 innings just four times.

The major league average for a start is 51⁄3 innings this season, down from 52⁄3 innings in 2008 and down from six innings in 1998.

Cora said he knows the average length of a start is down, but said, “I hope they didn’t listen to me because they want more. They want more, actually, than a quality start (at least six innings, no more than three earned runs). We want them to go deep into the games. We do feel our guys are capable of doing that on a consistent basis.”

Sunday’s starter, Eduardo Rodriguez, is averaging less than 51⁄3 innings in eight starts with a 4.68 ERA.

Now in his fourth major league season, the lefty has a career 4.28 ERA and has yet to reach his potential. Pitching deeper into games is one way to get there.

“Honestly, with Eduardo, he’s in the strike zone,” Cora said. “There’s been a few games that 0-2, 1-2, they foul off pitches, they get to 3-2, and he gets the out or the strikeout, but it’s seven more pitches than what he wanted. We saw him in New York. He was great that night. He was able to put guys away right away.

“We want him to be more aggressive, even with two strikes. If he does that, his stuff is good, his talent is up there with the best lefties in the league, so just bury people with two strikes.” . . .

Saturday was the 10-year anniversary of Jon Lester’s no-hitter against the Royals at Fenway Park. Cora entered the game in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement for Julio Lugo at shortstop.

Hanley Ramirez fights through May slump

Jason Mastrodonato

Hanley Ramirez usually gets better as the year goes on, but May hasn’t been his month.

Ramirez entered last night 13-for-65 (.200) with three home runs and a .601 OPS over 15 games in May after he hit .330 with three homers and an .874 OPS in April.

“Results-wise, obviously he would like to swing the bat better than he has the last few weeks,” manager Alex Cora said. “Although he hit the home runs, he knows he hasn’t been able to drive the ball on a consistent basis. It’s still a quality at-bat. We do feel if you look at the numbers, he’s still a guy that, well, RBI are whatever, with (Andrew Benintendi) and Mookie (Betts) getting on base he’s getting a lot of chances and he’s still driving them in.”

Ramirez continues to hit third behind Betts and Benintendi, even though J.D. Martinez, in the No. 4 spot, is the hottest hitter in baseball since April 13.

“He showed up early (yesterday) to work on a few things,” Cora said of Ramirez. “We expect him again to start hitting line drives. One thing with him we have to remind him, if it’s .300 with less home runs and a lot of RBI or hitting .200-whatever with (more) home runs, I like the complete hitter better than the home run hitter.”

That was often a reminder former Red Sox hitting coach Chili Davis had to give Ramirez. The belief was that Ramirez often was trying to pull the ball over the Green Monster. He’s had much more success when he’s an all-fields hitter who makes hard contact.

Over his career, he’s been much better in the summer months.

His OPS in April and May is .837 and .803, respectively, but in August and September it’s .877 and .909.

The Sox do need to be aware of his workload. He’s started in 41 of the first 46 games, 23 of them at first base.

“He’s been good at first,” Cora said. “Any chances that he gets, he makes. Sometimes you can see him battling the body. Let’s be honest, he’s older and it’s not that easy to play first. There are certain days he’s more aggressive than other days, moving to his right, but he’s been good for us.

“The communication has been good. J.D. is the one helping everything to go the way I want it to by playing the outfield. He can play left, play right, he DHs, and then you can play Mitch Moreland. He’s been great so far. The way Mitch has been swinging the bat also, that helps.”

Baseball Notes: Red Sox caught off base again in 2018

Jason Mastrodonato

The Red Sox might be too fast for their own good. If they don’t slow down, they’re going to run themselves out of contention.

They’ve developed a reputation as a team that will run itself into losses from time to time. They set a 14- year record with 81 outs on the bases in 2017, and they’ve got a chance at breaking that this year.

“I’ve heard,” said Tom Goodwin, the first base coach who is also in charge of the team’s baserunning. “Oh I’ve heard, trust me. I was hoping we wouldn’t get that high, but it looks like we might break that record.”

Goodwin spent the last six seasons in the same job with the New York Mets. In those six years, the Mets made just 270 outs on the bases, an average of 45 per season and fewer than every team but Baltimore’s 267.

Now he has to figure out how to curtail the Red Sox’ self-inflicted wounds. This has been tricky.

To Goodwin, it’s all about mentality. The Red Sox have a lot of young players with good speed. Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts and Brock Holt all have above-average speed with the ability to swipe bases. Eduardo Nunez, Blake Swihart and Hanley Ramirez are at least average.

“That’s what you get when you have a team that can run,” Goodwin said. “You’re going to get guys that are overaggressive and sometimes they’re going to run into some outs. That’s really what we try to preach. Without taking their aggressiveness away, you just try to get them to do a little more thinking out there on the bases as far as, ‘Is this a good time for me to take that chance?’

“There are times we don’t need to be as aggressive, where that 90 feet is not worth the risk and reward.”

But all that speed lends itself to confidence. Perhaps too much confidence.

On Tuesday, an out on the bases might’ve cost the Red Sox the game. It was an ill-advised play for Benintendi to round third as aggressively as he did, taking a turn for home while a slow grounder was rolling toward the third baseman in the first inning.

The play started with men on first and second and two outs. The ball was hit softly enough to make it difficult for Oakland’s Matt Chapman to throw Bogaerts out at first base. Had Benintendi just ran to third and stopped, the bases would’ve been loaded for Mitch Moreland, who has reached safely all four times he’s been up with the bases loaded this year, including a grand slam.

Instead, Chapman was able to field the grounder, notice Benintendi off the bag and tag him for the final out of the inning.

The Red Sox lost by two runs.

“I’m just looking for answers,” manager Alex Cora said afterward. “He’s anticipating the play, it’s a slow roller, an average runner, there’s not going to be a play at first. I don’t know if he thought Chapman was going to throw on the run to first, but you’ve just got to be careful, you’ve got to be smart in that situation. (It could have been) bases loaded, two outs. I don’t think there’s a chance to score on that play.

“We’ll go back and talk to them and keep working. I’ve been saying this every night. That’s not good. But hopefully they get it and they’ll understand there’s a value of outs and it’s very important. We’ll keep preaching that.”

With their 22 outs on the bases through Friday, the Red Sox were on pace for 78 for the season. Prior to their disastrous effort last year, no team had made 80 outs on the bases since the 2004 Angels, a team that won 90 games, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Red Sox.

A look at the last 30 years of aggressive/poor baserunning reveals a similar pattern: Teams that run into outs are not serious contenders. Not since the 1987 Cardinals has a team that made at least 80 outs on the bases during the regular season won a playoff series.

In the last 20 years, nine of the 10 teams to make 80 outs on the bases were fast enough to steal 100-plus bags. Their average win total was 86. But again, none of them won a playoff series.

The Red Sox know it’s a problem, but they aren’t sure what to do about it.

“You just keep preaching it,” Goodwin said. “You’re not going to go out here and run the bases (before the game) or do anything like that. You just keep preaching it. Sooner or later, experiences usually have to happen where you have to go through that, fail at it a little bit before it finally sinks in and you say, ‘OK, this is not the time to do or this is the time to do it.’ ”

Goodwin said he’s yet to call groups of players in for a meeting to talk about it.

“When you’re in the heat of the battle, all that stuff goes out the window,” he said. “You’re using your instincts now. And that’s one of the things that’s gotten these guys to where they are now, because they have good instincts. Whether it be hand-eye coordination or reacting to things that happen on the field, you can’t take that away from them because they aren’t going to be the player you want them to be.”

In theory, it makes sense. Major leaguers are overloaded with information as it is. Too much of it, and they can get in their own heads. The Red Sox want their guys to play free, which is seen as one reason why they got off to a hot start this year. They were comfortable.

But if the Red Sox aren’t more careful, they’re going to end up like every other over-aggressive team in the last 30 years: On the couch, watching the World Series from home.

“Alex tells the guys, ‘Hey, you might think the extra 90 feet is doing us a big deal, but it’s not moving the scale like this (big margin), it’s moving it like this (negligible margin),” Goodwin said.

Split’s becoming it

Last Sunday, Matt Barnes threw a pitch mix that could not have been on the scouting report for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Five splitters?

Barnes had never thrown more than two splitters in a game before. And until this year, he’d never thrown a single splitter in a major league game.

As the Red Sox look to settle on roles in a thin bullpen that badly needs to replace Carson Smith (self- inflicted shoulder subluxation), Barnes and Joe Kelly have stepped up as the two most trusted late-game relievers ahead of Craig Kimbrel.

Barnes’ new pitch is looking like a big reason why.

“I messed around with it and threw it a little bit in college (at UConn) until I got a blister on my finger and stopped,” Barnes said. “In 2016, I messed around with it in the middle of the season, but didn’t have any time to throw it to hitters in a game because we were in a pennant race and I didn’t want to mess with that. I said I was going to do it going into last year, but I never did it and just kept with the slider/cutter. Finally after last year, I decided I was going to throw it in spring training and see what I had.

“It definitely takes time. It’s just an easy pitch for me to throw. Just throw it and don’t have to be fine with it. I threw it twice to Gary Sanchez earlier in the year when we were at Fenway. I threw it in Texas a few times. It’s a pitch that’s coming along and gaining more trust with it.”

Usually armed with a high-90s fastball, a slider/cutter and a curveball, Barnes figured he could use another pitch that adds more deception without looping as big as his curve.

Through Friday, Barnes was having his best career season with a 2.89 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 182⁄3 innings.

The only problem? The 12 walks. Barnes too often walks the leadoff batter when he enters the game, setting himself up to walk a tightrope in the late innings.

But Barnes, who turns 28 in June and has four years of relief experience at the big league level, says he’s not concerned.

“There are certain situations where walking a guy is fine because I know who is coming up,” Barnes said. “That’s part of it a lot of the time. And there are times I’m walking a guy and I’m not intentionally trying to pitch around him, but in a situation like in New York where Neil Walker was on third base and I had Gleyber Torres up, people might get on me for walking that guy, but I was intentionally trying to get him to chase stuff. Every pitch I threw was planned to be there. People may not see that because they have no idea what my game plan on the mound is or what I’m trying to do.

“A lot of time when I fall behind a guy, there’s a game plan. I know who is coming on deck and how my stuff matches up against the next two or three hitters. I know I can attack certain guys and go for the strikeout.”

Only sometimes does Barnes get annoyed with himself.

“Some of it is definitely frustrating, but it’s the frustration of not getting ahead of a guy, as opposed to walking a guy because I’m being smart and being careful,” he said. “Because walking a guy and putting him on first base is much better than a guy hitting a ball in the gap and now you’ve got a guy on second with nobody out in a one-run game. I’d rather have a guy on first base who I can go get a punchout or get a double play.”

Mesmerizing Martinez

Entering the weekend, J.D. Martinez led all big league hitters with 44 homers and 110 RBI since the 2017 All-Star break.

What’s it like to hit behind the hottest hitter in the majors?

“It’s pretty impressive what he does with me behind him, looking at him,” Bogaerts said. “I have to be ready. Normally I’m a guy that gets to the on-deck circle a little bit later. With J.D., I have to get there early because he swings at the first pitch and gets a hit. I have to be there earlier and get my stuff going so I can hit. There was a streak he was just swinging at first pitch and hitting hits and bombs. It’s pretty amazing.”

Martinez had 13 homers in his first 43 games with the Red Sox. He also struck out 48 times.

“I strike out a lot still,” Martinez said. “That’s kind of the new wave of baseball. The new wave of general managers and how they target pitchers and how they target players nowadays. The game is kind of repetitive and everybody sees it. It’s either a home run, a strikeout or a walk. That’s kind of how the game’s been going over the years.”

Hector Velazquez shines in relief role for Red Sox

Jason Mastrodonato

The transition from the Mexican League to the major leagues has brought out the best in Hector Velazquez.

So, too, has the transition from starter to reliever.

Even though he’s on the disabled list with a lower back strain — he’s rehabbing with Triple-A Pawtucket this weekend and is expected to return to the Red Sox bullpen next week — Velazquez is still holding the best ERA on the Red Sox with a 2.10 mark in 252⁄3 innings of work.

“It hasn’t been too tough because I kind of like doing both,” Velazquez said through a translator earlier this week. “I’m here for whatever role they want to put me in and mentally prepare myself for any role.”

Last spring he was signed out of the Mexican League as a 28-year-old who had posted a 3.85 ERA in eight seasons in his homeland. He then posted a 2.92 ERA in eight appearances with the Red Sox while spending most of his season in Pawtucket, where he had a 2.21 ERA in 19 starts.

“I’ve learned a lot,” he said. “Just being surrounded by all these guys who have been in the league a long time. They’ve shown me how to be more disciplined and what it takes to be in the big leagues.

“I feel a lot more comfortable, more confident. I know more guys in the clubhouse and the coaches, they know me. Having a Latino manager helps a lot in terms of being able to communicate with him.”

Velazquez has been even better this year. His average fastball velocity has jumped from 90 mph to 92 mph and he’s showing better command, walking just 1.8 batters per nine innings, down from 2.6 last year.

Many on the Red Sox have commented how they like playing behind him because he pitches so aggressively.

“You definitely want to be aggressive, but at the same time you want to be more intelligent as well, in terms of how you attack certain guys,” Velazquez said. “I think the combination of picking my spots when to be aggressive and when to be more intelligent on the mound has contributed to how I’ve been pitching.”

Asked what he misses most about Mexico, Velazquez said the food and his parents.

He’ll throw two innings with Pawtucket today and two more early next week before he returns to the Sox once again as a reliever, manager Alex Cora said.

“Right now given my current situation, my goal is simply to help the team win any way I can, starting or relieving,” Velazquez said. “Hopefully one day win a World Series.”

* The Providence Journal

Dombrowski’s big-ticket acquisitions paying off

Brian MacPherson

BOSTON — Signing J.D. Martinez didn’t require Dave Dombrowski to think outside the box at all. The Red Sox had a need. Martinez was the clearest fit for that need. Martinez was the best hitter on the free- agent market — and is now, Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas asserted on Fox Sports last week, “the best hitter in baseball.”

Signing Martinez didn’t require outside-the-box thinking — just as trading for Chris Sale didn’t require outside-the-box thinking, just as trading for Craig Kimbrel didn’t require outside-the-box thinking, just as signing David Price didn’t require outside-the-box thinking.

In an era in which the best executives have as much name recognition as the best players, Dombrowski is an outlier in the way he seeks the most straightforward solution, and not what might be perceived as the most clever solution. He’s not afraid to pay a steep price for the most obvious fix to the problem that ails his roster.

And that approach is working. It’s also not much more expensive than the failures that plagued his predecessors, as well as other front offices.

Signed to a five-year, $110-million deal with player-friendly opt-outs, Martinez indeed has been one of the game’s best hitters this season, if not the best. He’s one of six hitters with an OPS north of 1.000. He’s one of three slugging better than .650. Only the presence of the otherworldly Mookie Betts has overshadowed the spectacular way Martinez has begun his Red Sox career.

Similarly, Sale has been everything the Red Sox paid a premium price for him to be. He has the best Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) mark (2.53) among starting pitchers since the start of last season; in the American League, only Cleveland’s Corey Kluber and New York’s Luis Severino rival what Sale has done.

Kimbrel, likewise, has the fourth-best FIP (2.28) among all relief pitchers and the game’s best strikeout rate (43.5 percent of hitters) since Dombrowski acquired him before the 2016 season. Price has had a more uneven tenure in Boston, to say the least, but his 95-pitch complete game on Thursday night was a reminder that, when healthy, he, too, ranks among baseball’s best.

Dombrowski, in other words, has gotten exactly what he’s paid for. That in itself doesn’t appear worthy of praise — until you consider just how rare it is for teams to get what they pay for these days, particularly in free agency.

It was just two years ago that big-league teams lavished more money on Jason Heyward ($184 million), Chris Davis ($161 million) and Justin Upton ($132 million) than the Red Sox did on Martinez. Heyward has slugged .352 in his three seasons with the Chicago Cubs. Davis has slugged .423 in the three seasons since Baltimore gave him his monster contract, including a woeful .279 this season. Only Upton has been a relative success, even making a trip to the All-Star Game a year ago. But the Detroit team that signed him traded him away less than two years into his contract.

A year before that, of course, it was the Red Sox who broke the bank on hitters, giving Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval $95 million and $88 million, respectively. Sandoval was a spectacular bust, slugging just .360 in his three seasons with Boston before being cast aside. Ramirez hasn’t been as disappointing but has slugged better than .450 just once in three-plus seasons — and the outside-the-box decision to sign him as a left fielder was a big part of the reason Red Sox owner John Henry brought Dombrowski aboard.

Ramirez and Sandoval weren’t outliers, either. It took a miracle of a trade with Los Angeles to get rid of Carl Crawford’s $142-million deal. It took three years for John Lackey’s $82.5-million contract not to look like a pile of cash lit aflame. The less said about the Daisuke Matsuzaka era, the better.

In contrast, Dombrowski has enjoyed resounding success with three of his four major acquisitions since he took over the Red Sox — and there’s still time for Price to make good. None of the moves makes Dombrowski look more clever than his peers. In fairness, he’s probably not more clever than his peers, not when it feels like every new general manager could launch a successful tech startup in his spare time.

But Dombrowski is capitalizing on the resources he has available to him, and that in itself is nothing to sneeze at.

Red Sox Journal: As others struggle, Moreland ready to fill in

Brian MacPherson

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora has a hitter at his disposal with a better batting average than Xander Bogaerts, a better on-base percentage than J.D. Martinez, and a slugging percentage more than 150 points higher than that of Hanley Ramirez.

That hitter was watching from the bench to start Saturday’s game — just as he was on Thursday and Friday.

Mitch Moreland always looked like the odd man out after the Red Sox signed Martinez in late February. Martinez was going to get regular at-bats as the designated hitter, which would push Ramirez to first base full-time, which would leave Moreland as a part-time player.

That hasn’t quite come to pass, in large part because Cora has made a commitment to getting Martinez regular time in the outfield. Moreland has appeared in 32 games, not too far off the 40 in which Ramirez has appeared.

But a time when Jackie Bradley Jr. has struggled to the point that he’s almost unplayable is an odd time for Moreland to go three straight days without getting a sniff of the starting lineup.

Moreland this season is hitting .319 with a .404 on-base percentage and a .606 slugging percentage. He has hit nine doubles and six home runs in just over 100 plate appearances, most memorably a grand slam in the sixth inning of a tie game in Oakland in late April.

That comes on the heels of a debut season in Boston that saw him hit a career-best 34 doubles — and lived up to his reputation as a plus defensive first baseman, too.

“He’s been great so far,” Cora said.

Moreland should benefit as Bradley sees less playing time — as appears inevitable, given how distant a memory his last productive period as a hitter is getting to be. The less Bradley plays in the outfield, the more Martinez plays in the outfield — which in turn opens up at-bats at designated hitter for Ramirez, which in turn opens up at-bats at first base for Moreland.

But Moreland could have benefited from a downturn in performance from Ramirez, too. Ramirez has seen his OPS drop nearly 300 points from April to May; the three home runs he hit in a four-day span on Boston’s last road trip represent almost the totality of his production over the last three weeks.

Still, it’s Ramirez, not Moreland, who’s in the batting order every day.

“Results-wise, obviously (Ramirez) would like to swing the bat better than he has the last few weeks,” Cora said. “Although he hit the home runs, he knows he hasn’t been able to drive the ball on a consistent basis.”

Roster moves coming

The juggling act Cora has performed so far this season could get more complicated soon.

Dustin Pedroia came to the plate four times as the designated hitter for Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday night and was slated to play seven innings at second base on Saturday. Pedroia struck out twice and walked twice on Friday; he apparently “had issues with the strike zone,” Cora said with a smirk, in a game in which PawSox manager Kevin Boles come close to getting ejected for dissent.

With Pedroia going through his own version of spring training as he rehabilitates his surgically repaired knee, Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt have split time at second base. When Pedroia does return, Nunez almost certainly will see his playing time decrease — though he could get more reps at third base, given that youngster Rafael Devers has appeared in all but one of Boston’s games this season.

The return of Pedroia might also force the Red Sox to make a decision on marginalized catcher Blake Swihart; either Holt or Swihart will have to be the odd man out to make room for Pedroia.

To the rescue

Thanks to David Price and Steven Wright, Boston’s bullpen is back at full strength.

Cora leaned heavily on his bullpen in the back half of his team’s 10-day road trip to Texas, New York and Toronto. The loss of Hector Velazquez and Carson Smith to injury last week didn’t make things any easier on the bullpen.

But then Price tossed a complete game on Thursday and Wright mopped up 4 2/3 innings behind Drew Pomeranz on Friday, allowing Cora to rest Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel.

“For a while there, we pushed some guys hard, obviously,” Cora said. “It seemed like every other day, somebody was down, and that’s not perfect. We know we’re going to go through stretches like that, but what David did two nights ago and what Steven was able to accomplish yesterday helped us out.”

How often the Red Sox can use Wright in relief remains to be seen — though the knowledge that Wright would need at least three days made Cora comfortable sending Wright out for a fifth inning of work on Friday night.

* MassLive.com

Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi go back-to-back, Boston Red Sox beat Orioles; Rafael Devers also homers

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Struggling Jackie Bradley Jr. (.161 batting average) failed to advance Sandy Leon from second to third base after the catcher led off the fifth inning with a double.

Bradley struck out swinging, but it didn't matter at all.

Mookie Betts, the next batter, belted a 406-foot two-run homer 104.7 mph over the Green Monster. Andrew Benintendi then went back-to-back.

Benintendi's homer to right field traveled 386 feet and at 102.9 mph. The Red Sox won 6-3 here at Fenway Park.

Benintendi also delivered a two-run run single to make to put Boston ahead 6-3 in the seventh inning.

Kelly delivers in seventh

Reliever Joe Kelly pitched the high-leverage inning in the seventh against the middle of the order with the game tied 4-3.

The righty retired Trey Mancini on a groundout right back to him. He struck out Adam Jones swinging on an 87.5 mph changeup and Manny Machado swinging on an 86 mph changeup.

Matt Barnes hurled a scoreless eighth inning. Craig Kimbrel recorded his 13th save with a perfect ninth.

Devers belts his eighth homer

Porcello K's 9

Rick Porcello tossed 6 innings, allowing three runs, six hits and three walks while striking out nine.

Pedro Alvarez took him deep in the sixth for a two-run homer that just cleared the Green Monster.

Andrew Benintendi has busted out of slump; Boston Red Sox star now needs to remain consistent, alert

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- "I don't know what I'm hitting right now. .240, .2--. I don't even know but it feels like I'm hitting .150."

Andrew Benintendi said that May 5, before the Red Sox played the Rangers in Texas. He added, "It's just a matter of one falling and kind of getting in a groove."

Two hits fell that game for Benintendi. Here exactly two weeks later, he officially has busted out of his slump.

He's 20-for-58 (.345) with three homers, four doubles, one triple, 12 RBIs, a .409 on-base percentage, .603 slugging percentage and 1.012 OPS over the past 14 days.

Benintendi went 2-for-3 with a homer, two-run single and walk to lead the Red Sox 6-3 over the Orioles here at Fenway Park on Saturday.

"I'm starting to feel a little better," Benintendi said. "I wouldn't call it like a groove or anything. But just starting to make better contact, hard contact more often."

He kept his routine the same the entire time he slumped. He didn't adjust anything mechanically.

"Maybe just swinging at bad pitches and just borderline strikes (before) rather than looking for something more over the plate," Benintendi said.

He's also 6 for his past 13 with runners in scoring position. But he has been doing the job with runners in scoring position all year with a .366 batting average (15-for-41).

He has his season OPS up to .816.

Now that he's hot, he needs to remain consistent. He obviously doesn't have to bat .345 every month. But his lows can't sink too low.

Expect for him to remain the No. 2 hitter when Dustin Pedroia returns. Manager Alex Cora hasn't revealed where Pedroia will hit in the lineup but it likely will be sixth or seventh.

Benintendi needs to hit with the consistency of a No. 2 hitter. It's his spot in the Red Sox lineup now.

During spring training, he pointed out that he slumped "every other month" as a rookie in 2017.

He's correct. He hit well in April (.333), June (.295) and August (.333). But he struggled in May (.204), July (.222) and September (.238).

Consistency also comes with hitting left-handed pitching better. He's 6-for-38 (.158) with three doubles against southpaws. Nobody is asking him to hit .300 vs. lefties. Just don't hit below .240.

He also needs to remain smart and alert on the base paths. That's a big part of his game that needs improvement.

Benintendi was tied for the second most outs on the bases (11) in the majors during 2017. He has made three outs on the bases already this year.

Benintendi still is only 23 years old. He has the chance to be a perennial All-Star but he still must improve certain areas of his game.

"Benny was good early in the season, too," Cora said. "He was taking his walks and getting on base, which is what we want. There was a stretch there where he started expanding. But now since he's not expanding, he's not missing his pitch."

Dustin Pedroia nearing return to Boston Red Sox; 'I think it's going to benefit everybody,' Alex Cora says

Christopher Smith

BOSTON -- Dustin Pedroia is scheduled to play seven innings at second base for Triple-A Pawtucket today at Rochester.

Manager Alex Cora wants Pedroia to play back-to-back days, seven innings each game, before returning.

Pedroia doesn't need to play a complete, nine-inning game.

"If you play seven, you can play eight, you can play nine," Cora said. "I think it's more the back-to-back thing."

Cora will "be at ease" when Pedroia plays back-to-back days, meaning the second baseman could return within the next week. He'll take tomorrow off. Don't be surprised if he plays back-to-back games this coming week. Pawtucket is home at McCoy on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday while the Red Sox are on the road at Tampa.

Pedroia could return to the lineup Friday when the Red Sox open a home series vs. the Braves.

"Whenever Pedey comes in, we have to see how this rest of the rotation goes," Cora said. "But like I said before, I think it's going to benefit everybody: Raffy (Rafael Devers), Xander (Bogaerts) and Eduardo (Nunez). Even Brock (Holt). We'll find a way to make everything work. One thing's for sure: We're going to be a more complete team when he comes back."

Interesting that Cora didn't mention Blake Swihart.

Swihart could be traded soon.

Eduardo Nunez will continue to play a lot when Pedroia returns, Cora said Friday. He and Holt can move around the infield and give days off to Devers, Bogaerts and Pedroia.

* The Lawrence Eagle Tribune

Mason: Tim Hyers details approach that has Red Sox hitters slugging up a storm

Chris Mason

BOSTON — Hatfields and McCoys. Montagues and Capulets. Pitchers and hitters.

It's an inherent rivalry, and with more information available than ever, baseball's great chess match has intensified.

After struggling a year ago, Red Sox hitters have been winning their battle early in 2018. Coming into the weekend no team in the majors had scored more runs.

The Sox have been slugging up a storm, too. They tied a franchise record with 61 homers in their first 44 games.

So what's the secret?

The launch angle revolution is sweeping through big league clubhouses — J.D. Martinez was a pioneering member — and the Red Sox certainly subscribe to the metric, but hitting coach Tim Hyers explains the concept isn't a new one.

"Launch angle is nothing more than, because we have new technology or whatever, it can put a number to what we've always tried to do, and that's tried to hit a line drive," Hyers said. "I mean, from the beginning of this game everybody's been trying to get a hit and line drives are the best way to get a hit.... but what it's shown us is a little miss up is showing a lot more production with the slugging and giving the team some impact."

Because of increased shifting within infields, hitting the ball on the ground is more likely to wind up in an out than ever before.

"I think the game forced us to get the ball in the air more often," Hyers said.

So that's what Red Sox hitters strive to do. Martinez says he wants to put the ball in the air to center or right center, and then whatever happens happens.

Just hit it hard

While exit velocity makes for good batting cage banter — the metric measures how hard the ball is hit off the bat — the Red Sox don't use it in their coaching. For Hyers and assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett, it's usually just an affirmation of what they've already seen.

Still, the players like lighting up the radar gun.

"I think the golden number that hitters like to see is that 100 mph," Hyers said. "I don't study what our guys are hitting, the exit velocity, all the time... When we do go and look and say, 'Man, that ball was hit really hard,' it's usually 95 and above."

Last week Blake Swihart hit a ball on the screws. It was came off the bat at 108 mph and BaseballSavant.com measured that it'd be a hit 90 percent of the time, but the liner was squarely at the right fielder and went for an out.

"Blake's ball the other night was a prime example," Hyers said. "He hit it what, 108, 109 mph? We knew it was hit hard and he's not up there trying to go 'Man, I'm trying to hit it at a perfect angle.' He hit it hard.

"We just know that if he'd gotten under it just a hair more and the angle was a little higher, that's a home run," Hyers continued. "But he hit it to the track and it was an out. So, there's a prime example of the numbers identifying what happened. We can see what happened from the naked eye."

The actual approach

The real focus for Red Sox hitters is trying to "get on plane" with the baseball.

No, not airplanes. Baseballs are still fine in your carry on. Hyers is talking about a geometric plane.

Essentially, they're trying to get on the same level as the ball. If a pitcher throws a curveball that's falling through the strike zone, hitters want to swing up and through it, meeting the ball at the angle its coming in at.

But it's not as simple as Ted Williams' old advice to just "swing up."

"All those guys are not swinging up, they're matching the plane of the ball that's way it's coming in," Hyers explained. "I think that's where the misconception is. It's not launch angle, 'I'm just tying to hit empty fly balls.' Really, when I think launch angle I'm trying to hit a line drive to right outside the dirt of the infield. Anything that hits the grass out there."

A sinking feeling

Notice there aren't as many pitchers throwing sinkers and sliders as there were five or six years ago?

Hyers explains that's because hitters got a move ahead in their chess match.

With so many pitchers pounding the bottom of the strike zone, batters began to get on plane sooner and adjust their swing paths to to greet the sinkers.

"When they did, they started to launch some balls and hit more slug and more home runs," Hyer said. "More hitters started to follow because it created success. Now, 2018, you're seeing a lot more pitchers that throw up and the zone and down. We call that north and south. So the game is going to change. I tell people, 'Hang on, five years from now there's going to be something else.'"

Home run happy?

Over the past couple seasons, strikeout and home run rates have been astronomically high. The three true outcomes — homers, strikeouts and walks — have surged.

Is this new attack method why?

"I challenge also that, yes, hitters go for the gusto a lot more, but also clubs are getting really good at identifying those pitchers that have good stuff that make it difficult for hitters to get on plane," Hyers contends. "That's where I think there's a gray area where some people just like really talk about the strikeouts. And I agree, strikeouts are at an incredible rate right now, but I also give some credit to organizations for finding and not getting rid of those arms that make it really difficult for us hitters to identify.

"They're picking out guys that have the swing-and-miss stuff, have those pitches that are really tough to square up," Hyers continued. "So I give them a lot of credit. Us hitters, we have to adapt to that."

In the battle between hitters and hitters, that Darwinian approach is a necessity.

*The New Hampshire Union Leader

Mike Shalin's Working Press: Red Sox are better than this

Mike Shalin

It's a Sunday of baseball notes and quotes:

. They have not one, but two MVP candidates through the season's first quarter in Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. They have one of the few pitchers in the league not on the Astros who is an early Cy Young candidate in Chris Sale. The starters, as a group, have been above average, with David Price rebounding his last two times out. Craig Kimbrel has been mostly Craig Kimbrel. They LIKE their manager, who isn't the guy who led them to the last two division titles. They are healthy, except for the still-missing Dustin Pedroia. The shortstop, Xander Bogaerts, is hitting for more power.

Then why were the Red Sox, 17-2 out of the gate, 13-13 in their last 26 games as they faced the Orioles at Fenway Park Saturday night?

Think about that. It can't be all Jackie Bradley Jr.'s fault. Or the lack of offense from the catchers. Or Blake Swihart, the new Michael Bishop (remember that Pats backup quarterback everyone loved?) not getting enough playing time.

In short, it's perplexing.

. Are you ready to give up on Drew Pomeranz and bring Steven Wright back into the rotation? Not so fast. Pomeranz was a 17-game winner last season and was injured this spring training. Give the lefty some time.

. Alex Cobb finally got his first win as an Oriole Friday night - and didn't hide his enthusiasm.

"I know the win is overrated and it's kind of not looked that way anymore, but when you see a goose egg next to your name in the win column, it just kind of turns your stomach the wrong way," he said. "It's ugly. Baseball is a crazy game and you could have won some of those games, but I believe that when you have the ball in your hand, you have the ability to win a ballgame.

"I love the win. I love that column next to your name when you feel like you really show that you put your team in a position to win multiple nights."

. Betts through Friday, from the Red Sox post-game notes: "No player since 1908 has had as many games with 3+ XBH through this point in his career (549 games)...Tied Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx for the most such games at the age of 25 or younger in that time."

. From our pal Christopher Smith of MassLive: "Jalen Beeks, who's on the 40-man roster, has dominated at Triple-A Pawtucket with a 1.93 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, .191 batting average, 59 strikeouts and 10 walks in seven starts (37 1/3 innings)."

. From @StatsByStats Thursday: "David Price of the @RedSox needed just 95 pitches to finish his complete game against Baltimore tonight. The only other time in the last 25 years a lefty threw a CG in under 100 pitches at Fenway Park: Price on 7/24/2013 as a member of the Rays.

. Twenty years after his perfect game for the Yankees, David Wells again talked about being hung over after a night of partying with Saturday Night Live cast members, telling Yahoo Sports, "It was a rough night and that's probably why it happened. I think I overdid it. Thank God for coffee and water. You would never think in a million years that you're going out, hung over as (expletive) and throw a perfect game."

. While people have tossed Betts into the best in baseball mix with fellow outfielders Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, don't sleep on Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado. Through Friday, Machado was hitting .347, with 14 homers, 42 RBIs and a 1.093 OPS, Arenado was at .324 with 8/23 and a .991 OPS. Both, like the outfielders, are brilliant fielders.

. Jason Heyward came off the seven-day concussion disabled list Friday following his first concussion. "It made a believer out of me," he said. "Not that I wasn't a believer before. You feel for anyone that goes through it. That stuff is scary. You don't feel like yourself, and you don't see anything wrong with you physically, but there is something that's not right."

. K.C. catcher Drew Butera dyed his hair PINK - after making a promise to a 7-year-old boy who beat cancer. "He was in the hospital battling cancer and going through chemo," Butera said of Dagan Lingenfelter. "I made a promise to him, he had his hair dyed, that when he beats cancer he could dye my hair. So today, cancer free and we're dying some hair."

. Former teammate Mark Teixeira, interviewed on ESPNNY Radio Thursday, was asked about Robinson Cano's drug suspension. "Yeah, I don't really want to get into too much detail. I love Robbie. I'm just not surprised," said Teixeira, a baseball analyst for ESPN since retiring after the 2016 season. "I don't really want to go too much further, but I think a lot of people are kind of saying the same thing."

. Bartolo Colon, he of the BobbleBelly giveaway, stopped a 102 mph line drive with his bobble belly last Wednesday. "It hit me more on the side than in the middle," Colon said. "I have a lot of big belly, so I can take it." By the way, at 45, he has a 2.82 ERA in nine starts.

. The Yankees failed to play a game to completion in Washington, a two-day stay between two off days, then couldn't get out of D.C. Wednesday night, some of them sleeping in Dulles Airport and the rest sleeping on the plane, with the AC running. Luckily for them, they had an off day Thursday before losing Friday night.

. The Cubs are said to be seeking Machado as their top trade deadline priority, apparently willing to go all in like they did when they acquired Aroldis Chapman two years ago and ran him into the ground to finally win a World Series.

. Didi Gregorius, the AL player of the month for April, was 1-for-45 through Friday night as his average had dropped from .372 to .248. "I'm not happy with the at-bats," he said, "because I'm not helping the team."

. Count this guy as one who hopes Wade Boggs will get to throw his knuckleball, said to be nasty when he was playing catch during his playing days, in next Sunday's alumni game at Fenway.

. The Blue Jays did something this week they had never done before: win a game in Flushing. After losing the first game of a two-game series, they made it 1-12 at the two Queens stadiums (0-9 at Shea Stadium, 0- 3 at Citi Field) with a win. In that victory, JA Happ became the first Jays pitcher ever to reach base three times in the same game.

. Buck Showalter raised eyebrows the other night when he crossed the third base line to remove his pitcher - before Bogaerts completed his home run trot. Then, after the game, Showalter criticized home plate umpire Tony Randazzo for making Kevin Gausman's night difficult with his balls and strikes calls. But Friday, the manager, after watching the tape, said, "I was wrong, he was good. That was one of the better games we've had this year."

. Oakland's Daniel Mengden pitched well and beat the Red Sox last week. The next day, he broke down pitching to the Boston hitters to our pal Dave Laurila from FanGraphs. Good stuff. Here's the link: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/daniel-mengden-on-pitching-to-red-sox-hitters/.

. If you didn't feel great for Stephen Piscotty hitting that home run at Fenway this week after returning from his mother's funeral . well, you're a heartless partisan fan.

. Last year, AJ Hinch had to take one of the leads when Houston was devastated by hurricane. Friday, the 'Stros manager had to manage a home game after the latest school shooting occurred in his backyard, Hinch again took the lead (along with the Texans' JJ Watt, who is paying for the funerals). Among the things he said were, "There's no reason for our schools to be combat zones" and "Thoughts and prayers are great, they're not fixing the problem."

. The Indians were 21-22 through Friday night - and were still in first place in the miserable AL Central, a game and a half ahead of the 20-24 Tigers.

. The flailing Dodgers,17-26 through Friday, lost six straight games to the REDS and MARLINS before winning in Miami in the series finale. You don't think Don Mattingly was happy to go 4-2 against his former team, do you?

. More milestones for Justin Verlander as he rolls merrily along toward the Hall of Fame. This week, he became the 33rd pitcher ever with 2,500 strikeouts, and did it in a shutout that lowered his ERA to 1.05. He then tweeted, "Thank you to everyone for the congratulatory tweets on 2,500 K's. So honored to be able to play this game and compete against the best in the world for as long as I have. #thankyou". Verlander, in response to the Cano suspension, also tweeted, ""Aaaand excuse coming in 3... 2.. 1.."

. Jordan Lyles pitched 7 1/3 perfect innings against the Rockies, his old team, this week, but a single and walk ended his day. It came in the Padres' 7,857th game without a no-hitter.

. Entering the weekend after a Friday rainout in Washington, the Dodgers had hit 14 straight solo home runs.

. After a long career as a catcher and even a third baseman, Russell Martin got to play an inning at shortstop in a blowout game this week.

. From the Red Sox' post-game notes Friday night, Martinez: "Leads active hitters at Fenway with a .390 AVG, .686 SLG, and 1.112 OPS (min. 100 PA).

. And Bogaerts: "Since 2015, his 318 hits at home rank second to Mookie Betts (320) for the most in the AL ... Is a career .308 hitter at the venue (389-for-1,262)."

. Kudos to buddy Dan Roche, who tweeted, "Today's #WBZ 70th anniversary flashback - On this day in 1951, Ted Williams hit his 300th career home run. It was the same year Curt Gowdy began broadcasting Red Sox games on WBZ-TV. Mr. Gowdy gave me my first job in this business back in 1984 at WCCM/WCGY in Lawrence, MA"

. Also, from Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register: "Just when you thought you'd seen all of the stories about the amazing feats of Shohei Ohtani, a reader just pointed out to me that he's the only one who spits his sunflower seeds into a cup instead of on the floor."

. Finally, I will be joining Steve Babineau signing our new book, The Hometown Team, at the Manchester Barnes & Noble next Saturday at 1. Come see us - and if you miss us there we'll be at the Salem store on June 1.

*The Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Bill Ballou: How different would the Red Sox be if Douglas mill magnate Winfield Schuster didn’t balk at the asking price in 1932?

Bill Ballou

While local baseball fans are excited by the prospect of having a team in town named the Worcester Red Sox, four score and six years ago, there was talk of something even more profound.

The Douglas Red Sox.

OK, so there was not going to be a professional baseball team in Douglas, a town of about 2,500 back in 1932. But it could have been the home of the owner of the Red Sox — the American League variety, not the International League kind.

In July of 1932, 26-year-old Winfield A. Schuster of Douglas investigated the possibilities of buying the Boston Red Sox, his overtures to Sox owner Bob Quinn creating a wave of interest in an otherwise dreary baseball Summer of ’32.

Schuster would have headed up a group of Massachusetts sportsmen in purchasing the team at the end of the season, newspaper accounts of the day said, but his interest weakened when told of the asking price — $1,200,000, not including Fenway Park.

“The price reported now asked is ridiculous,” Schuster said. “If we obtained control of the club we would have to pay plenty for the property and about half a million more on the team itself.” He added that he could purchase a controlling interest in the Philadelphia Phillies for $200,000.

Six months later, on Feb. 25, 1933, Quinn sold the team to Tom Yawkey for $1.25 million, and the Red Sox remained in his hands — then the Yawkey Trust’s after his death in 1976 — through 2001.

How different would Red Sox history have been if Schuster had bought the team and not Yawkey?

There is absolutely no way to know, but for starters, Schuster was right about the purchase price.

The Red Sox were probably not worth $1.2 million — about $22 million in today’s dollars. In 1932, both the franchise and ballpark were decrepit, among the worst operations in Major League Baseball.

When the Schuster story broke on July 20, the Red Sox were 21-67 and on their way to a 43-111 finish that left them 64 games out of first place. Boston’s average attendance at Fenway Park was fewer than 2,500 fans a game.

Still, Quinn was quoted as boldly saying about Schuster’s offer, “I hope the report is true because we have the makings of a far better ball club than at any other time.”

What was a 26-year-old from Douglas doing, anyway, thinking about buying a MLB team?

First of all, he had money. He was described in newspaper articles as a millionaire, having recently assumed control of the family’s textile enterprises based in East Douglas.

Schuster was a member of Central Mass.′ most prominent baseball family. His father, Walter, was the driving force behind the Blackstone Valley League of the 1920s, and brought major leaguers to play in and for Douglas.

Walter Schuster died at age 55 in June 1932, and had expressed interest in buying the Red Sox a year earlier, but had been advised against it by his doctor as he grew increasingly ill.

Win Schuster and the man who eventually did pay Quinn’s price had some notable similarities down to the fact that the both belonged to the same college fraternity Phi Gamma Delta — Schuster at Brown and Yawkey at Yale. Both came from wealth and both were highly educated, with Schuster having gone from Worcester Academy to Brown to Harvard Business School.

One other thing — Schuster was a native New Englander and through their 117-year history, the Red Sox have only been owned outright by one native New Englander, John I. Taylor, from 1904-11.

Both Schuster and Yawkey loved baseball, but while Yawkey was an avid but unexceptional player, Schuster was a star. In fact, he may have been as good as some of the players Quinn had on the ’32 Sox. An infielder, Schuster was captain of the Brown team in 1928, and starred for Douglas in the Blackstone Valley League of the 1920s, a league as good or better than many of the country’s professional minor leagues.

By the way, Schuster’s manager for those Douglas teams was Bill Mellor, the grandfather of Dave Mellor, the longtime head groundskeeper at Fenway Park.

Could Schuster have been an owner AND player for the Sox? That’s a reach, but he was very, very good.

In 1932, Yawkey was incredibly wealthy and there is no way of knowing how that compared with Schuster’s resources. The $1.25 million that went towards buying the franchise was a small portion of the several million Yawkey wound up spending to rebuild Fenway Park and acquire players like future Hall of Famers Lefty Grove, Jimmie Foxx and Joe Cronin.

How different would Red Sox history be if Schuster had decided to pay Quinn’s price, or Quinn had asked for less?

One thing seems clear — their management styles would have been entirely different. While Yawkey was a benevolent owner, accused by some of running a “country club,” Schuster was a pretty hard-nosed businessman with his industrial holdings and as an accomplished player, would likely have been less starry- eyed than Yawkey.

One of Schuster’s daughters, Sue Cave, lives in South Carolina and has personal memories and scrapbooks from her dad’s life. She had not been born when Schuster bid on the Red Sox.

“He never talked about it,” she said by phone, “but you know something? He once bought a race horse and lost money on that. And he once bought a newspaper (The Worcester Evening Post) and lost money on that. He did not dabble well.”

Schuster remained an avid Red Sox fan after Yawkey bought the team and was so influential in baseball circles, that he was able to get the Sox and Yankees to play a memorable exhibition game in Douglas in September, 1946, just days before Boston opened the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Eventually, though, his allegiances changed.

“He didn’t like Tom Yawkey,” Cave said, “and he became a Yankees fan in later years because he liked the way the organization was run. He didn’t like Yawkey’s style of management. He felt that his wife, Jean, had a lot of influence and that was no way to run a baseball team.

“My dad was very close to Ted Williams, and Ted was Tom Yawkey’s boy, so he never really said anything about it to him.”

Win Schuster died in 1983 at age 77, having spent almost his entire adult life running the family business in Douglas while Yawkey became one of the most famous men in the world of sports.

“My dad said,” Cave recalled, “that two things he regretted were that he wasn’t able to play baseball for a living, or be an architect.”

And that $1.2 million that Quinn wanted for the Red Sox in 1932? When the Yawkey Trust finally sold the team to John Henry in 2002, the sale price was $700 million. The franchise is currently valued at about $2.1 billion.

And one last time — how might the Red Sox have fared under Schuster’s stewardship given how the economics of the game changed with television, free agency and expansion?

Well, the Schusters always played to win as this story from a few decades ago relates.

In 1925, Douglas and its archrival down the Mumford River in Whitinsville were scheduled to play one summer evening and there was a lot riding on the outcome. So much so, that Irving Dalton, business manager at Whitinsville, drove up to Worcester, where Casey Stengel was in his first managerial job running the Double A Worcester Panthers.

Dalton offered Stengel some cash — maybe $50 — to send his best pitcher down under phony name to throw against Douglas in the big game at Vail Field. So, two innings into the afternoon, Douglas had already built something like a seven-run lead and went on to win comfortably.

The next day, Dalton paid Stengel a visit to demand an explanation, which was forthcoming.

The day after Dalton’s first trip to Worcester, Walter Schuster drove up with a similar proposition. Informed of the deal with Whitinsville, Schuster offered Stengel twice the money if he sent his worst pitcher down for the game, not his best.

With that kind of commitment to winning, maybe the Red Sox wouldn’t have gone 86 years between World Series triumphs if Win Schuster had bought them in 1932.

Baseball Jeopardy

Answers:

1. The last time the Red Sox had two relief pitchers with 10 or more saves in the same season.

2. This pitcher holds the record for most career wins recorded for the same team.

3. The last year in which Boston led the American League in home runs.

Answers below.

Catching up with...

Several recent Red Sox players are in the minors, including Allen Craig (2014-15) with Triple A El Paso where he is hitting .235 with five homers and 12 RBIs, and reliever Jonathan Aro (2015), a teammate of Craig’s, is 2-2 with saves in four chances and a 4.87 ERA.

Infielder Chase d’Arnaud (2017) is playing for the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League and is hitting .272 with three homers and 16 RBIS; Josh Rutledge (2015-17), whose Red Sox career was derailed by injuries, is on the Sacramento roster, but had only 17 at-bats before going on the disabled list again; and outfielder Alejandro De Aza (2015) was hitting .373 for Triple A Syracuse before going on the DL early this month.

Jeopardy answers

1. What is 2005? Boston got 15 saves from Keith Foulke and 13 from Mike Timlin, as it tied the Yankees for first place in the AL East.

2. Who is Walter Johnson? The Hall of Fame right-hander won 417 games for the original Washington Senators. Cy Young divided his 521 career wins among five teams, including the Red Sox.

3. What is 1979? Red Sox batters hit 194 home runs that year, nine more than the Brewers. Fred Lynn and Jim Rice tied for the team lead with 39 each as Boston finished third in the AL East.

Red Sox 6, Orioles 3: Betts, Devers and Benintendi homer for Boston

Jennifer Toland

BOSTON – Rick Porcello’s recent record against the Orioles has not been great, to say the least.

In three starts last season, Porcello was 0-3, and entering Saturday’s game, Porcello had lost each of his four career starts versus Baltimore at Fenway Park.

On a foggy and soggy night, Porcello and the Red Sox helped brighten the damp mood.

The Red Sox clubbed three home runs off Orioles starter Dylan Bundy and Porcello earned his team-best sixth win of the season as Boston beat Baltimore, 6-3.

Porcello (6-1, 3.39) went six innings and allowed six hits and three earned runs. He tied a season high with nine strikeouts and issued his first three walks of the season at Fenway Park. His four consecutive starts with zero walks at Fenway marked the longest season-opening streak by a Red Sox pitcher in the last 100 seasons.

Porcello, who threw 107 pitches, upped his career record against the Orioles to 5-11.

“He battled,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We know when he goes out there most of the time he’s going to give us a quality start. It doesn’t matter what kind of stuff he has that night; he finds a way to compete. If the sinker isn’t working, he’ll throw the cutter. If the change isn’t working, he’ll use his breaking ball. He finds a way to compete whenever he goes out there.”

With his seventh quality start of the season, Porcello matched Chris Sale for the team lead.

Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi homered and the Red Sox tied the club record, set in 1977, with 65 home runs through 46 games.

The Red Sox had won seven straight against Orioles before Friday night’s 7-4 loss. The Red Sox have won five of six this season. The teams conclude the series at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.

In the fifth, Betts snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer into the Monster Seats. It was Betts’ MLB- leading 15th home run of the season. Benintendi followed with a solo homer to right. It was the second time this season the Red Sox hit back-to-back home runs in a game. Brock Holt and Betts achieved the feat April 17 at the Angels.

Benintendi drove in three runs and is 8 for 18 (.444) in his last five games.

“I’m starting to feel a little better,” Benintendi said. “I wouldn’t call it a groove or anything, but just starting to make better contact, harder contact more often than not.”

In the sixth, Mark Trumbo reached on a one-out infield single and Pedro Alvarez, the next batter, hit his eighth home run of the season off Porcello to make it a 4-3 game.

Porcello retired the final two batters of the inning and gave way to Joe Kelly to start the seventh.

Porcello was coming off his first loss of the season in the Red Sox’ 6-5 setback to Oakland last Monday while allowing five earned runs for the second consecutive start.

After Trey Mancini’s leadoff single, Porcello retired six of the next seven batters before Chance Sisco’s ground-rule double to right got things started for the Orioles in the third.

With one out, Adam Jones singled to left and Manny Machado drew a walk to load the bases. Sisco scored on Jonathan Schoop’s sacrifice fly to left, but Porcello got out of the inning with his fifth strikeout.

“Limiting the big inning,” Porcello said, was the biggest difference between Saturday and his previous two starts. “And a little bit better location on certain pitches,” he said. “The biggest thing was the (third), when I had the bases loaded and we were able to get out of there with one run. That was kind of the key.”

Devers’ eighth home run of year, into the first row of Monster Seats, tied the score 1-1, in the fourth.

In his second start of the year against the Red Sox, Bundy (2-6, 4.70) also went six innings. He allowed 5 hits and 4 earned runs, while walking 2 and striking out 8.

Orioles reliever Tanner Scott issued consecutive walks to Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr. to open the seventh. Both runners moved up on Betts’ fly out to right and scored on Benintendi’s single up the middle. That was the end of Scott’s brief night.

Kelly, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel combined for three perfect innings of relief. Kimbrel earned his 13th save of the season.

*The Portland Press Herald

Help wanted? Red Sox bullpen may have internal options

Kevin Thomas

After a costly tantrum, the Boston Red Sox may be looking for bullpen reinforcements.

When Carson Smith threw his glove in anger and separated his shoulder last week, the Red Sox lost one of their setup options – the bridge to closer Craig Kimbrel.

That leaves Joe Kelly, who is on a roll, and Matt Barnes, who always seems on a tightrope.

Meanwhile, Blake Swihart is just sitting around as a useless No. 3 catcher. Why not trade him? The Red Sox soon will need to make room on their roster when Dustin Pedroia returns from the disabled list.

An impact trade is doubtful. Few teams are ready to give up on the season and trade a quality reliever. And a quality reliever won’t be cheap. Ask the Orioles about the price of Andrew Miller in 2014: They sent Eduardo Rodriguez to the Red Sox.

The Reds have closer Raisel Iglesias (asking price: the moon, plus two prospects) and veteran setup right- hander Jared Hughes (on a two-year contract with a 2020 option). The Padres have an enticing group of relievers. Closer Brad Hand and Craig Stammen are under contract beyond this year. Right-handed setup man Kirby Yates (0.64 ERA/0.86 WHIP) is up for arbitration next year and could be a target.

Advertisement But are the Red Sox desperate for help? Heading into Friday’s game, Boston relievers ranked fourth in the American League in ERA (3.66) and third in WHIP (1.23).

Kelly had that meltdown in the season opener (four runs in one-third of an inning). Since then, in 20 innings: one earned run, 10 hits and five walks (0.75 WHIP) and 21 strikeouts.

Batters are hitting only .159 against Barnes (2.89 ERA/1.18 WHIP), but he’s yielded 12 walks in 182/3 innings.

Left-hander Bobby Poyner (2.08 ERA) has looked steady in his brief appearances, unlike right-hander Heath Hembree (5.31 ERA).

Hector Velazquez (1.80 ERA) has been a solid long reliever but is currently on the disabled list with a lower back issue. Former starters Brian Johnson and Stephen Wright are still searching for a role.

The Red Sox also have right-hander Tyler Thornburg, still rehabbing from shoulder surgery. He’s supposedly close to being activated, but anything he gives Boston will be a bonus. (Meanwhile, one of the players Boston traded to Milwaukee for Thornburg, Travis Shaw, has 10 homers this year.)

TRADING FOR relievers during the season can be a crapshoot. Think of Eric Gagne in 2007.

Bullpen help could come from Triple-A Pawtucket, and two lefties come to mind – Jalen Beeks and Robby Scott.

Beeks, a starter, is dominating with a 1.93 ERA and 59 strikeouts, and just 10 walks in 371/3 innings. Not sure how Beeks would adapt to relieving – but think back to 2013 when Brandon Workman began the season as a Sea Dogs starter and ended as a reliable reliever in the playoffs.

Scott has major league time and is dealing in Pawtucket (2.08 ERA, 21 strikeouts and two walks in 13 innings). Lefties are hitting .118 against him.

Austin Maddox, who surprised last year in a call-up to Boston (0.52 ERA in 13 games), is on the DL but is expected to begin rehabbing in Pawtucket.

Ty Buttrey, put on the 40-man roster during the offseason, has 30 strikeouts in 17 innings.

Workman is back in Pawtucket (1.03 WHIP in 211/3 innings).

REMEMBER WHEN Jeremy Barfield emerged last year with the Portland Sea Dogs while others, notably Cole Sturgeon, continued to grind away in the shadows?

Barfield hit 27 home runs in 92 games for Portland and was rewarded with a minor league free-agent contract and a starting assignment this spring in Triple-A.

Sturgeon hit .264 with a .705 OPS last year. Even though he was stellar in spring training, Sturgeon again was sent back to Portland.

Seven weeks into the 2018 season, the two outfielders have reversed directions.

Sturgeon was hitting .365 with six home runs in Portland and the Red Sox could no longer ignore him.

He was promoted to Triple-A on Monday.

An opening had to be created and Barfield – with his .132 average and two home runs – was vulnerable. The Red Sox planned to send Barfield back to Portland.

Barfield, who turns 30 in July, did not see that as a strategic career move. He asked for his release and eventually the Red Sox agreed. Now Barfield can look for new opportunities – maybe in Japan – while Sturgeon continues his underdog quest toward the major leagues.

*Redsox.com

Betts (15th HR), Benintendi back Porcello in win

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- Perhaps Mookie Betts will cool off at some point this season. But it hasn't happened yet. As if Betts doesn't prevent enough of a problem to Boston's opponents as the leadoff man, No. 2 hitter Andrew Benintendi is now getting hot also.

The 1-2 punch supported a strong pitching performance by Rick Porcello in leading the Red Sox to a 6-3 victory over the Orioles on Saturday night at Fenway Park.

Betts and Benintendi changed the momentum of the game by smashing back-to-back homers in the bottom of the fifth to snap a 1-1 tie. For Betts, it was his MLB-leading 15th homer of the season, passing Baltimore's Manny Machado.

"It's incredible," Porcello said of what Betts is doing. "It's a lot of fun to watch. I don't even know what to say. It's pretty incredible. When he gets his pitch, he's not missing it. When he doesn't get his pitch, he's not missing it. I'm sure as hell glad I don't have to face him."

And when the Orioles drew close again on Pedro Alvarez's two-run homer in the sixth, Benintendi opened up breathing room again with a two-run single up the middle.

The Killer B's at the top of the order provided the Red Sox with five of their six RBIs in the game. This was what Red Sox manager Alex Cora envisioned when he decided well in advance of Spring Training that the lineup would start with Betts-Benintendi.

After an unspectacular start, Benintendi has eight hits in his last 18 at-bats with a double, two homers and six RBIs.

"I'm starting to feel a little better," said Benintendi. "I wouldn't call it a groove or anything, but I'm starting to make contact -- harder contact more often."

Hard contact is what it seems like Betts does in just about every at-bat. Benintendi knows better than anyone from watching him from the on-deck circle.

"It's awesome," Benintendi said. "He's always on the basepaths scoring runs. He's doing everything to help the team win. He's in a groove right now, but it's not like he's hot-hot. I feel like he can get hotter than he is right now. It seems like he squares up the ball every at-bat. He's doing everything right."

For the season, Betts is slashing .368/.439/.767 and has 18 doubles and 32 RBIs to go with all the homers.

"We like everything about the player," said Cora. "What he brings on a daily basis and him hunting pitches in the strike zone, that's the key."

While Betts and Benintendi made most of the impact at the plate, Rafael Devers was responsible for the other run by belting an opposite-field solo shot over the Green Monster to tie it at 1 in the fourth.

Betts got all of his homer to untie it, ripping his blast a projected distance of 406 feet, according to Statcast™, against Orioles righty Dylan Bundy.

"I think about how I'd pitch him, and I have no idea," Porcello said. "A lot of times, you get power hitters that, if you make a mistake, they're going to hurt you, but there's holes. I don't see a hole."

Other than the blast by Alvarez, Porcello (6-1) turned in an effective start. The righty went six innings and scattered six hits while striking out nine.

The setup crew of Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes provided a clean handoff to closer Craig Kimbrel, who earned his 13th save of the season.

MOMENT THAT MATTERED Bradley's hustle pays off: Though Jackie Bradley Jr. (0-for-2, .161 average) continues to be mired in one of the worst slumps of his career, he worked a key walk against lefty Tanner Scott in the seventh and made a heads-up play tagging up from first on a fly ball by Betts that didn't even reach the warning track in right. That set up runners at second and third with one out, enabling Bradley to score on Benintendi's single up the middle.

"Outstanding job," said Cora. "I mean, he walks against a tough lefty. Then he's able to read the outfielder [Mark Trumbo]. He was flat-footed and actually kind of like, drifting back, and he took advantage of it. Second and third, he did a good job."

SOUND SMART After ranking last in the American League with 168 homers last season, the Red Sox are second so far this season with 65, and are tied with the 1977 squad with the most long balls through the first 46 games in team history.

HE SAID IT "Not really. His hands are so quick, and he makes good contact it seems like every at-bat, so it doesn't really surprise me." -- Benintendi, asked if he is surprised by the power Betts is displaying

UP NEXT Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will try to get the Red Sox a win in the finale of this seven-game homestand when he pitches Sunday against the franchise he was originally signed by as an international free agent -- the Orioles. Rodriguez has struggled to be consistent this season, and last time out in a loss to the Athletics, his main issue was the inability to put hitters away with two strikes. David Hess starts for Baltimore, and first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.

Pedroia, at Triple-A, inching toward return

Ian Browne

BOSTON -- A night after he saw 22 pitches in four plate appearances as the DH for Triple-A Pawtucket in Rochester, N.Y., Dustin Pedroia started at second base on Saturday and was expected to play seven innings.

At this juncture, every step Pedroia takes is pivotal in setting up the timetable for his imminent return to the Red Sox.

View Full Game Coverage The veteran, who is coming back from major surgery on his left knee, will get a down day on Sunday.

Pedroia will resume what should be the final portion of his rehab when Pawtucket plays a home series Monday through Thursday against Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

As long as Pedroia is able to play back-to-back games at second base during that time, he should be poised to be activated by the Red Sox at or near the start of the next homestand, which is Friday night against the Braves.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said it's fine if Pedroia stays on a seven-inning progression in his rehab.

"You play seven, you can play eight, you can play nine, it's not a big deal," said Cora. "I think it's more the back-to-back thing."

Pedroia has provided comedy for Cora via text messages.

"He had issues with the strike zone yesterday. That was funny," said Cora. "Not only him, I think [Jordan] Betts got thrown out and [manager Kevin Boles]. I think KB told the umpire, 'Hey man, I've got Dustin Pedroia on my team.' He was like, 'OK.' That's what Pedey says anyways."

When Pedroia returns, it will allow Cora to rotate all of his infielders to keep everyone fresh. Eduardo Nunez will roam between second, short and third. Third baseman Rafael Devers, who has struggled at the plate of late, can get some more rest.

"Whenever Pedey comes in, we have to see how the rest of the rotation goes," said Cora. "It's going to benefit everybody. Raffy, Xander, Eduardo, even Brock. We'll find a way to make everything work. One thing for sure, we're going to be a more complete team when Pedey comes back."

*WEEI.com

J.D. Martinez offers telling reaction to Frank Thomas' proclamation that Sox' slugger is best hitter in baseball

Rob Bradford

It would have been easy for J.D. Martinez to downplay Frank Thomas' statement, proclaiming the Red Sox' slugger has been the best hitter in baseball since 2017.

Martinez knows how high the bar is, how early it is in the season, and how many hitters could enter into the conversation.

But the identification from Thomas clearly hit home for Martinez, who explained his thoughts on the honor to WEEI.com prior to the Red Sox' Saturday night game against the Orioles.

"It was really cool," said Martinez of Thomas' ranking on FoxSports. "My whole career, even in the offseason, everyone is kind of like, ‘Who is this guy asking for all this money? Nobody knows who this guy is.’ I’ve always been living in the shadows of Miggy [Cabrera> and all these guys in Detroit. It’s cool to get some recognition for it.

"Me and Goldy (Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt) used to laugh about it in Arizona because whenever somebody would do something good, MLB would blow it up. They would put it on their Instagram. Put it on Twitter. Put it on MLB Network. ESPN would talk about it. Me and Goldy would be like, ‘Didn’t you do that two days ago and nobody said anything?’ We would just laugh about it. Goldy would hit three home runs a game and it would be like, ‘Oh, Goldy hit three home runs.’ But one of these other guys, it would be monumental. That’s kind of the way it’s always been."

Was it perceived as a small market thing, with Martinez having only excelled in Detroit and Arizona before coming to the Red Sox?

"I don’t know what it is," he said. "To me, baseball has their guys and they’re going to advertise them. If you’re not one of those you better walk on water. That’s what we always laughed about, saying, ‘Bro, you have to walk on water to make that show.’ It’s cool to at least get some recognition."

Martinez certainly has a strong case when it comes to the debate.

Since the beginning of last season, Martinez is a hair behind Mike Trout for best OPS (1.064 to 1.063), carrying the seventh-best batting average (.315; Trout is 22nd at .302), the seventh-most RBI (142), the seventh-most extra-base hits (100), with the very valued MLB's best weighted on-base average (.442).

As for this season goes, the righty hitter has positioned himself to make a run at the Holy Grail of statistical accomplishments, the Triple Crown.

Heading into Saturday, he was one back in the American League home run race (13), sitting second in the RBI chase (38) and carried .345 batting average, good for second the league.

So who does Martinez think is the best hitter in the big leagues?

"It’s kind of hard to beat [Cincinnati's Joey> Votto. He really goes under the radar," the outfielder/DH said. "He plays in a hitter’s ballpark, I get it. But what he does every day. The way he walks. The way he executes at-bats. He never gives an at-bat away. I admire that."

*NESN.com

Red Sox Notes: Mookie Betts’ Stellar Season Continues In Saturday’s Win

Lauren Campbell

Mookie Betts now is the sole leader of home runs in Major League Baseball.

The Boston Red Sox outfielder lifted his 15th home run of the 2018 campaign into the Green Monster during the fifth inning of his team’s 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.

The homer broke the 1-1 tie and gave starting pitcher Rick Porcello some breathing room as he continued his outing, picking up his sixth win of the season in the process. After the game, Porcello was almost left speechless at the production of his teammate.

“It’s incredible. It’s a lot of fun to watch,” Porcello said after the game, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “I don’t even know what to say … he gets his pitch, he’s not missing. He doesn’t get his pitch, he’s not missing.”

Sox skipper Alex Cora agreed, saying Betts is “so consistent with his approach,” while doing “an outstanding job” in the batter’s box.

What’s even more incredible is that the slugger leads the majors in essentially every category, including hits (60), average (.370), runs (48) and doubles (18).

Here are some other notes from Saturday’s Red Sox-Orioles game:

— Boston’s 31st win is the best in the MLB and the team now is a half game ahead of the New York Yankees for first place in the American League East.

— Porcello turned in a quality start, tossing six innings with nine strikeouts on the night. Cora praised the right-handed pitcher, saying he was able to mix up his pitches throughout the O’s lineup.

“When he goes out there, most of the time he’s going to give us a quality start,” Cora said after the game. “It doesn’t matter what kind of stuff he has that night … he finds a way to compete whenever he goes out there.”

— Andrew Benintendi was red-hot at the dish, going 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs and a solo home run.

— Jackie Bradley Jr. went hitless on the night, but he got on base via a walk and was able to score a run for the Sox because he was “able to read the outfielder and took advantage of it,” Cora said.

— Sox pitching collected 13 strikeouts in total on the night.

“They (Orioles) have a good lineup and can blow up on you quick,” Porcello said after the game, who was able to keep the damage at a minimum when the bases were filled with O’s in the fourth inning, allowing just one run.

— Right-handed starters have a 6.82 ERA against the Red Sox lineup going 3-10 on the season while giving up 130 earned runs, per MassLive’s Christopher Smith.

Red Sox Wrap: Three Home Runs Power Boston To 6-3 Victory Over Orioles

Lauren Campbell

Not even a rain-soaked night at Fenway Park could slow the Boston Red Sox down.

Thanks in part to three home runs courtesy of Rafael Devers, Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi, along with six innings from Rick Porcello that featured nine strikeouts, Boston was able to pick up a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.

Baltimore tried to battle back, bringing the game within a run, but Boston’s bats came through in the seventh to put the game out of reach for the O’s.

With the win, the Red Sox climb to 31-15, while the Orioles slip to 14-31.

Here’s how it all went down:

GAME IN A WORD

Wet.

The Sox battled through rain showers through nine innings but were able to come out victorious.

ON THE BUMP

— Porcello found himself in some trouble in the third when Baltimore loaded the bags after Chance Sisco led off the inning with a ground-rule double, followed by an Adam Jones single and Manny Machado walk. The O’s were only able to get one run out of it from a Jonathan Schoop sacrifice fly, however.

The righty seemed to settle down after that and had a three-run lead to work with, but Baltimore would not go away as it scored two more runs in the sixth on a two-run shot by Pedro Alvarez to cut Boston’s lead to one.

— Joe Kelly pitched a 1-2-3 seventh that ended with back-to-back strikeouts.

— Matt Barnes came in for the eighth and pitched a clean inning, ending it the same way Kelly did — with consecutive K’s.

— Craig Kimbrel closed the game out with a scoreless ninth to earn his 13th save of the season and secure the Red Sox’s win.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX

— Devers got the Sox on the board in the fourth inning with his eighth home run of the year that he sent into the Green Monster to tie the game.

— With the game knotted at a run apiece in the fifth, Betts smacked his 15th home run of the season into the Monster after Sandy Leon doubled earlier in the frame.

— Benintendi got in on the home run fun and went back-to-back with Betts to give the Red Sox a 4-1 lead.

— After the O’s came within one, Boston added some insurance in the home half of the seventh when Benintendi used his power again to drive in two runs with a single to center.

— Hanley Ramirez, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. all went hitless on the night.

UP NEXT The two sides will wrap up their four-game set Sunday afternoon. Boston will send Eduardo Rodriguez to the mound, while Baltimore is expected to counter with David Hess. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 1:05 p.m. ET.

*BostonSportsJournal.com

BSJ Game Report: Red Sox 6, Orioles 3 – Bad weather didn’t stop the ball from leaving Fenway

Anthony Gulizia

Andrew Benintendi didn’t have much faith that the fly ball Rafael Devers hit was going to leave Fenway Park. He even thought Pedro Alvarez’s hit was going to clank off the Green Monster, so he positioned himself in left field to make a play.

Benintendi had doubts about his own luck, too.

The conditions were nasty Saturday night. It rained steadily– not hard enough to cancel the game but consistent enough to make it a challenging night. The winds shifted directions at times but mostly blew in toward the Orioles dugout.

Still, there were four home runs hit, three by the Red Sox, and one all but certain two-run smash from Mookie Betts in a 6-3 win against the Orioles.

That’s what the Red Sox have come to expect from their red-hot leadoff hitter, who leads the league with 15 home runs and tops six other batting categories.

“Mookie pulled his and I thought it went way further than it ended up,” Benintendi said. “Rainy and cold. Pedro Alvarez’s ball barely went out. I was surprised and all, but Mookie’s went out. He’s in a groove right now, but it’s not like he’s hot-hot. I feel like he can get hotter.”

Bett’s home run gave the Red Sox a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning and Benintendi went back-to-back to make it a three-run game.

Benintendi followed through in the bottom of the seventh with a two-run single that gave the Red Sox a comfortable cushion after Alvarez’s two-run shot made it 4-3 in the top of the sixth.

Together Betts and Benintendi could become a dangerous duo at the top of the lineup. It’s hard enough for opposing teams to get Betts out, especially when he can make them pay for mistakes like he did on the 2-1 fastball Dylan Bundy left at the top of the zone.

After Saturday’s effort, Benintendi improved his average to .275. He’s gone 8 for 18 in his last five games. A bigger sample size is the last 21 games. Benintendi is hitting .314, a turnaround from the first 21 games of the season when he hit .218.

“I wouldn’t call it a groove or anything, but just starting to make harder contact more often than not,” Benintendi said. “It’s just one of those things, really nothing to it. Maybe swinging at bad pitches rather than looking for something more over the plate. It’s just one of those things.”

Everything else you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox’ 6-3 win against the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight.

BOX SCORE

HEADLINES

Porcello gets Orioles swinging: The third inning could have been ugly for Rick Porcello. He allowed a leadoff ground-rule double to Chance Sisco, the Orioles’ No. 9 hitter. A single and a walk loaded the bases, and Jonathan Schoops’ sacrifice fly put the Orioles ahead first. He shut down the inning when he struck out slugger Chris Davis with a fastball on the inside half of the plate. He allowed three runs but, by then, the Red Sox had accumulated enough of a lead to soften the blow. More importantly, Porcello showed good command of his pitches in the sloppy conditions and finished with a season-high nine strikeouts. He leads the team with six wins, but had allowed nine runs in his last two outings and Saturday was a positive step for the righty. “I think eliminating the big inning, a little bit better location, but the biggest thing was when they had the bases loaded and we were able to get out of there with one run,” Porcello said. “They have a good lineup and can blow up on you quick so that was the key.”

Price to pay: It helps to have key players that can bail the team out in dire instances. Sustained success comes stems from those players producing constantly in routine scenarios – the type of consistency that can power a team late into the season. The Red Sox hitters did that Saturday. Tanner Scott issued consecutive walks to Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr. in the seventh inning at the bottom of the Red Sox lineup. That’s potential for two big outs and weak hitters while protecting a 4-3 lead. Instead, Betts hit a sacrifice fly to move the runners over. Benintendi followed it with his one-out single and that all but ended the Orioles’ night. “The lefty, a guy throwing 97, 98, threw a few sliders, and he was able to see it,” manager Alex Cora said. “Put the ball in play with the infield in which was very important and got those two RBIs.”

SECOND GUESS

Leon led off the fifth inning with a double, which brought Bradley up to the plate with the score tied, 1-1. It seemed like a good situation for Bradley, who had entered the game hitting .164 with 37 strikeouts in 37 games, to bunt. Instead, he struck out. It hardly mattered with Betts coming up because he hit a two-run home run. Still, it would have helped to move the runner to third. Cora said after the game that players always have the option to bunt in that situation and that he trusts each player to make the decision whether to swing away. “He knows he has to get the guy over,” Cora said. “However they’re comfortable with it. We trust their judgment and he decided to swing but he didn’t do his job. But he had a big walk [in the seventh].”

THREE UP

Mookie Betts: Seems repetitive at this point but hard to ignore the tear Betts is on. He had two doubles and a home run Friday. Another home run Saturday. His league-best 34 extra base hits are the most by a Sox through 48 games since 1908. That’s a lot of years, and a lot of good hitters to wear a Red Sox uniform.

Sandy Leon: The Red Sox have mixed in their catchers, but Leon has exclusively caught Porcello this season. He had another hit Saturday and is now batting .318 in eight games in May.

Joe Kelly: Stellar inning from Kelly in the seventh inning to protect the one-run lead. He came in to face the top of the Orioles order and struck out Adam Jones and Manny Machado to end it after getting a groundout. He threw 19 pitches and 16 of them were strikes.

ONE DOWN

Jackie Bradley Jr.: It’s been rough for the center fielder. He struck out three times Friday and twice again Saturday. His walk was important in the seventh inning, but Scott also issued a four-pitch pass after walking Leon.

QUOTE OF NOTE

“It’s incredible, it’s a lot of fun to watch. I don’t even know what to say. He gets his pitch, he’s not missing. He doesn’t get his pitch, he’s not missing. I’m just glad I don’t have to face him.” – Rick Porcello on Mookie Betts

UP NEXT

It’s going to rain again Sunday, but the Red Sox are scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. start against the Orioles before playing in Tampa Tuesday. Eduardo Rodriguez (3-1, 4.68) is slated to face David Hess (1-0, 4.50). Hess was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

MLB Notebook: An early look at possible Red Sox bullpen trade targets; Harper and Machado not feeling the pressure and more

Sean McAdam

Even before Carson Smith went down with what’s likely a season-ending shoulder injury — self-inflicted, of course; his complaints about usage to the contrary — the Red Sox were likely going to be in the market for bullpen help come July. Rare is the contending team, looking to address needs, that doesn’t seek to improve its bullpen in the final third of the season.

But Smith’s injury has effectively upped the ante. If you thought reinforcements were needed to supplement what was on hand with Smith, that need has only intensified with him shelved long-term. It seemed the Sox were short in the high-leverage spot in the bullpen to start the season; with Smith presumed gone until 2019, that more assuredly is the case.

It’s difficult to see the Red Sox being able to do much about this shortcoming anytime soon, as recent history suggests that not much gets talked about — much less consummated — until after the amateur draft in the first week of June. General managers and scouting staffs are too consumed with the immediacy of the draft to get a head start on major trades.

(Then again, it’s possible that with the long list of teams invested in “tanking” this season, the sheer quantity of teams looking to sell will prompt a flurry of deals earlier than usual. Perhaps some will jump- start the trade season, both to get out in front of their similarly-minded competitors and, by offering an extra month or so on a rental, obtain a higher return. But we digress…).

Where can the Red Sox look for help? There is no shortage of candidates, but let’s focus, for now, on relievers toiling for clubs who aren’t part of — as they like to say in hockey — the playoff structure.

In the A.L. East, the Orioles have plenty of relievers to market. Most intriguing will be Zach Britton, who is expected to return sometime in early June after tearing his Achilles over the winter. But Brad Brach, a durable righthander also headed to free agency, will attract interest and so could sidewinding Darren O’Day.

With the Chicago White Sox, veteran righty Nate Jones is an intriguing possibility and one the White Sox would certainly discuss, given that he’s 32 and unlikely be a significant part when the team starts to contend again. For the Red Sox, there’s the added benefit that Jones has two team options years on his contract, which would allow the Sox to control him for another season or two if they so chose. The buyout ($1.25 million) is hardly onerous.

Kansas City has closer Kelvin Herrera, also headed for free agency this winter and unlikely to be very helpful to a team already out of contention.

Both Herrera and Britton would have to be happy pitching in a set-up capacity since, barring something completely unforeseen, Craig Kimbrel will remain the closer no matter whom the Sox obtain. History teaches us that can be a tricky ask, with both Billy Wagner and Eric Gagne having a tough time adjusting to the eighth inning in mid-season trades to Boston. Still, the Yankees once managed to have Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances in the same bullpen and somehow made it work.

In the National League, it’s expected that the Padres, Reds and Marlins — to name three — will be looking to auction off their roster. The Padres’ Brad Hand is sure to be made available, though it remains to be seen whether the Red Sox and Padres can get together on a deal after the ill-will resulting from the Drew Pomeranz/medical records mess.

Another tact the Sox could take in their trade search: obtaining a closer for the future.

With Kimbrel eligible for free agency this fall, the Sox could use a Plan B to close in the event that can’t come to terms with Kimbrel on a new deal. Under that scenario, they could target someone like Raisel Iglesias with Cincinnati and have him serve as the eighth inning man this season, then be ready to take over closing duties if Kimbrel moves on.

A lot can happen between now and the deadline. Tyler Thornburg could return and be the dominant weapon he was in Milwaukee in 2016. Austin Maddox could be activated and build on the success he had the last six weeks of last season.

But more than likely, the Red Sox are going to be forced to look outside the organization to bolster their bullpen. That seemed likely when Addison Reed wasn’t re-signed over the winter, and now Smith’s situation all but guarantees it.

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It’s not uncommon for high-profile players to struggle under the weight and expectations of impending free agency. Some try a little too hard to bolster their value in their walk years and end up underperforming.

That, however, is not happening to either Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, the twin stars of next winter’s free agent class.

Playing for a contender in Washington — albeit, one that got off to a brutal start — Harper can be secure in the knowledge he won’t be dealt over the course of the season. The Nationals have too much invested in 2018 to deal him at the deadline. The same can’t be said for Machado, whose Orioles already find themselves 17 games out of first before the end of May, with little hope for improvement. If Machado isn’t moved, in fact, it will be the result of dereliction of duty on the part of the O’s, or, more likely, an ownership family that has demonstrated an almost unmatched record of mismanagement.

Harper went into the weekend among the National League leaders in homers, runs scored and RBI. Machado was tied for A.L. home run lead, leading in RBI and was fourth in average, making him a legitimate Triple Crown candidate.

So why haven’t Harper and Machado fallen prey to the pressures?

First, it helps that Harper made it to the big leagues as a teenager while Machado arrived a month after his 20th birthday, putting them in the prime of their respective careers, at 25. They’re in great shape and good physical health, less susceptible to the injuries that might slow down others heading to free agency.

A bigger contributing factor, however, might be their experience.

“Think about it,” said a baseball executive. “You’re talking about two guys who have always been in the spotlight. They’re used to being the focus of attention at every level, so they’re not about to get flustered by being asked about free agency, or get too wrapped up in putting pressure on themselves. At every step of the way, they’ve always dealt with those expectations There’s not much that they haven’t dealt with.”

Indeed, Harper was famously on the cover of Sports Illustrated while in high school, while Machado was the third overall pick from the noted baseball breeding ground of Miami and favorably compared to Alex Rodriguez from the time he signed with the Orioles.

Both Harper and Machado each promised they would treat this season the way they have all the others they’ve played, and so far, they’ve made good on those vows.

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Just how important is spring training? And, more to the point, how critical is it for veteran players to take part in Cactus League or Grapefruit League games in preparation for the regular season.

Most people in the game agree that spring training — which lasts close to seven weeks — is too long, but is necessary in order to properly build arm strength.

This spring, more than any other, saw a record number of free agents sign contracts in February or March, and didn’t have the benefit of taking part in anywhere near a full spring training.

Did it matter? In a relatively short sample size, the answer would appear to be: yes.

Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn were ranked as the third- and fourth-best free agent pitchers available and have gotten off to horrendous starts with their new teams. Cobb was 0-5 with a 7.06 ERA with the Orioles heading into Friday’s start against the Red Sox, while Lynn was 1-4 with 7.47 ERA and a 2.036 WHIP for the Minnesota Twins.

Greg Holland was among the most valued relievers on the market and didn’t agree to deal with the St. Louis Cardinals until Opening Day. It took Holland about 10 days to forfeit his job as closer. In 15 games with the Cards, Holland had a 6.17 ERA and more walks than strikeouts.

It stands to reason that pitchers may be more dependent on spring training that hitters, but even position players have struggled.

Neil Walker has just five extra-base hits (all doubles) and a .547 OPS with the Yankees. Logan Morrison sports a .373 slugging percentage with the Twins after slugging .516 with Tampa Bay. Jonathan Lucroy has no homers and 10 RBI in 35 games with the A’s.

There are a couple of hitters who have performed up to or near expectations. Eric Hosmer has a career-best OPS-plus of 139 and, of course, J.D. Martinez has been everything the Red Sox had hoped.

But those are, by far, the exceptions to the rule.

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MCADAM’S TOP FIVE

1. Houston: Demonstrating their pitching dominance, the world champs allowed eight runs over a period of six games. 2. New York Yankees: Strange week for the Yankees, who thanks to two off-days and two rainouts, went four days without playing an official game. Hard to argue with the best winning percentage in either league, though. 3. Red Sox: A .500 week exposed some flaws, but they do have the most wins in baseball 4. Atlanta: The Braves keep winning series and maintaining the top spot in the East. 5. Pittsburgh: In a tough division, the Pirates weren’t expected to be factors, but they’re outpacing the Cardinals, Brewers and Cubs.

Live Coverage: Red Sox 6, Orioles 3 (Final) – Benintendi, Betts boost offense

Anthony Giulizia

The weather was nasty, but the tarp came off the field in time for the scheduled 7:10 p.m. start and the Red Sox bounced back to beat the Orioles, 6-3, at Fenway Saturday night.

Boston was left scratching its head Friday night after a 7-4 loss to the Orioles, a team that had not won a road game in their previous 13 tries. Baltimore was its woeful self again Saturday, even after to closing a 4- 1 deficit to one run. Tanner Scott was stumbled in relief, however, and the Red Sox were able to pull ahead.

Scott walked Sandy Leon and Jackie Bradley Jr. in the seventh inning. The second one hurt the most, considering it was a four-pitch walk to Bradley, who had previously struck out in his last four at-bats.

Mookie Betts, who continued to stay hot with a two-run homer earlier in the game, hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Andrew Benintendi, who went back-to-back with Betts in the fifth inning, delivered a two-run single to cushion the lead.

Rick Porcello struck out nine batters in six innings. Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, and Craig Kimbrel were efficient and closed out the win.

The Red Sox took their second of three games against the Orioles, which made Friday’s game feel all the more like an anomaly. They’ll play again Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

In-game observations

9:33: Benintendi gives the Sox some breathing room with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh. Tanner Scott put himself in a rough spot when he issued consecutive walks to Leon and Bradley Jr. at the bottom of the order. Betts should have walked on ball four, but a 3-0 outside pitch was called a strike. Betts eventually flied out to right field, but it moved the runners to second and third to set up Benintendi’s hit.

9:20: Heck of an inning from Joe Kelly. He threw 19 pitches, but was pounding the strike zone and struck out Adam Jones and Manny Machado to get out of the top of the seventh.

8:56: Orioles aren’t going quietly. Nunez couldn’t come up with a hard-hit ball to his left. Alvarez piles it on by going opposite field into the Monster seats for a two-run shot. Porcello seemed to know it right off the bat and buckled to his knees, but the ball barely cleared the wall.

8:43: Don’t make mistakes at the top of the Red Sox order. Bundy is learning the hard way. Betts smacked a high 2-1 fastball for a two-run home run. Benintendi followed it with a homer on an 0-2 slider. At least Showalter waited for Benintendi to score before making his mound visit.

8:25: Devers gets it going for the Sox with an opposite-field homer into the Green Monster seats. Bundy left a changeup fat over the plate.

8:03: Porcello hits trouble in the third inning. Jonathan Schoop sacrifice fly scores a run. He was missing outside early in his counts. Gave up a double and a single before the sac fly, but got out of it before the damage was worse.

7:35: Tough first inning for Bundy. He needed 29 pitches to get out of the inning but strands Benintendi at second base by striking out Bogaerts. Really good at-bat from Martinez. He fouled off three consecutive pitches after falling behind, 1-2, and drew a full-count walk. He showed good patience, especially on the last two pitches of the count, which missed low.

7:11: First pitch of the night. It’s a brisk 50 degrees out. The skyline behind right field Sam Adams deck is hardly visible through the fog.

The details

WHO: Red Sox vs. Baltimore Orioles WHEN: 7:10 p.m. WHERE: Fenway Park WHAT’S UP: The Red Sox are 2-3 on their current homestand. The Orioles won, 7-4, Friday for their first win in 13 road games. Boston has won the last seven of eight against Baltimore. The next nine games against the Orioles will be played at the lovely Camden Yards. STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Rick Porcello (5-1, 3.28) vs. RHP Dylan Bundy (2-5, 4.53) TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM

LINEUPS

Orioles

Trey Mancini LF Adam Jones CF Manny Machado SS Jonathan Schoop 2B Chris Davis 1B Mark Trumbo RF Pedro Alvarez DH Jace Peterson 3B Chance Sisco C

Red Sox

Mookie Betts RF Andrew Benintendi LF Hanley Ramirez 1B J.D. Martinez DH Xander Bogaerts SS Rafael Devers 3B Eduardo Nunez 2B Sandy Leon C Jackie Bradley Jr. CF

News and notes

Dustin Pedroia continues his rehab with Pawtucket and is expected to play seven innings at second base against Rochester, according to Cora. Pedroia made his first appearance with Pawtucket last Monday and played five innings. He was the designated hitter Friday night and struck out twice and walked twice. It’s more important that Pedroia feels good playing consecutive games, rather than a full nine-inning game. “He plays tonight and we’ll see how he reacts to it and go from there,” Cora said. “I would like that[ to see him in back-to-back games at second]. If you can play seven, you can play eight.” Tyler Thornburg, who’s yet to pitch for the Sox, also pitched an inning for Pawtucket Friday night and is scheduled to throw again Saturday. Steven Wright ate up 4.2 innings of relief Friday, a huge effort to spell the Red Sox bullpen. “What Steven was able to accomplish yesterday helped us out,” Cora said. “We want our starters to go deep in the game. The Red Sox are on the tail end of a brutal stretch where they’ve played 13 straight days with a game from May 8 until Sunday. They’re off Monday, and then play 13 more consecutive games between the Rays, Blue Jays, Braves, and Astros. Only five players are batting over .300 with an OPS of 1.000 or higher. Three of them are Betts, Martinez, and Mitch Moreland. The other two are the Orioles’ Machado and Kris Bryant. Martinez did not hit a home run Friday, which is actually more surprising than him hitting a home run. He’s been on an absurd tear, with homers in four of his last six games.

*The Athletic

Jennings: Mitch Moreland is finding ways to beat the infield shift, and teams are noticing

Chad Jennings

Head down at his locker, Mitch Moreland thought about the question for a few seconds before answering. It had sparked something in his mind.

The Red Sox first baseman isn’t one for spray charts and defensive alignment maps. He doesn’t do deep dives into underlying data, and he still finds it kind of funny that there’s a daily card telling him where to position himself in the field for each hitter. He’s an old school baseball player, and he likes it that way.

But now that you mention it, he actually has noticed teams shifting him a little differently.

“You know, I didn’t know the reason why,” Moreland said. “But I feel like I have noticed that teams haven’t shifted me as much this year. But I don’t know their reasoning behind it, if it might be some of the computer stuff that everybody is going by now or what. But, yeah, I’ve noticed it being a little less, it seems like.”

Across the board, Moreland’s putting up the best offensive numbers of his career. He’s getting on base more often, hitting for more power, and thriving with runners in scoring position. He’s hit his way into more playing time beyond platoon at-bats against right-handers.

And it seems opposing teams have noticed that he’s become a more complete, diverse hitter, no longer shifting against him as often or as drastically.

“I do think he’s doing a better job in certain at-bats to go the other way,” manager Alex Cora said. “He doesn’t need to do that all the time, but as you can see, throughout the season — man in scoring position, and they have the shift — you can see that he’s making a conscious effort to stay inside the ball and go the other way. Which is important.

“If you look at the numbers – and I saw this in the offseason — the shift basically, I think he’s one of those that it affects him the most. He hits into it more than anybody in the big leagues.”

Forcing teams to ease away from the shift can only help a hitter like that.

According to Statcast data, Moreland faced the third-most shifts in baseball last season. Teams sent three infielders to the right side of second base in 77 percent of his plate appearances, and that was actually an improvement from 2016 when Moreland faced such a shift in 77.9 percent of his at-bats.

It’s hard to verify Cora’s clam that Moreland was affected “the most,” but there’s little doubt the shift affected him. It’s not in the Red Sox’ interest to share their full internal metrics, but after checking his own analytics, vice president of baseball research and development Zack Scott said the numbers were clear.

“It definitely had a big impact on him,” Scott said.

Cora’s broader point is there for all to see in publicly available data. Moreland most certainly went the other way more often last season, and teams have responded with different defensive alignments as they try to figure out the best way to play against Moreland Version 2.0. The reason why is easy enough to assume.

In his first year with the Red Sox last season, Moreland pulled the ball less, particularly on the ground and with line drives. Moreland’s pull percentage, typically in the mid-40s, dropped to the mid-30s last year (the exact numbers are different on different sites).

Below are the FanGraphs spray charts for Moreland’s 2016 and 2017 seasons. The green dots represent ground balls and the red dots are line drives.

Notice Moreland hit just a smattering of ground balls up the middle two years ago, but he left sizeable blobs of green around second base last season. And beyond second base, the 2017 chart shows 12 more green dots in the outfield where he hit up-the-middle, ground-ball singles.

Also, notice the red dots in left field. They’re few and far between in 2016, but they’re all over the place in 2017. Those are line drives, some of them outs, but most of them singles and doubles.

Moreland maintains he hasn’t been trying to hit the ball towards the middle of the field in order to beat the shift, but he’ll happily take the results.

“I don’t know if I’ve noticed the hits up the middle as much, but it’s not something that I’ve consciously done. Obviously, everybody is always saying try to stay through the middle of the field. Maybe the fact that I was able to do it and get some hits out of it, it worked out, I guess.”

Instead, Moreland thinks that his success staying towards the middle of the field may actually be a result of playing in Fenway, with its unique dimensions. He’s rewarded for hitting balls towards the middle now with wall-ball doubles, so instinctively, he has moved towards that approach.

“I think a lot of it is, maybe, the stadium here with Fenway,” Moreland said. “Most of my career in Texas, you could hit a ball 385 (feet) into left center and it’s an out. Here, that works out for you, you know? … If you come out here and it works out, it helps you stay in that approach of your (up-the-middle) mindset a little more, and keeps you a little more comfortable in those spots. Maybe that’s led to it. That would probably be my take on it.”

Whatever the reason, other teams have come to respect his burgeoning all-fields skillset. The impact of that ability to go up the middle or to the opposite field can be seen in the defensive positioning data from Baseball Savant.

These three charts show how Moreland was defended in 2016, 2017 and so far in 2018. Notice the ’16 and ’17 charts are nearly identical, but 2018 shows less commitment to extreme positioning. There’s more dark blue around the shortstop position, and the red spot in shallow right field is not as deep.

Non-shift positioning data – which includes slight shifts, when infielders stay on their sides of the diamond — shows shortstops and third basemen playing slightly more straight up. The mild shifts are even milder.

Moreland has faced a full over-shift in just 73.8 percent of his at-bats this season, and the shifts he does see are less extreme.

Source: BaseballSavant.mlb.com

Hitters who face extreme shifts are often faced with another question – why don’t they just bunt for hits against the shift? Cora says Moreland has that capability, and that may be another reason why teams aren’t shifting him as hard.

“Even in spring training, you see him working on bunts,” Cora said. “Some people know already (that he can go that way), and you can see the shortstop and third baseman stays around, which helps him.”

But Moreland isn’t interested in laying bunts down too often. He sees bunting as too much sacrifice for too little reward. He bunted for a hit once last season.

“I’m not fast, for one,” Moreland said. “So, if I do get to first, it’s probably going to take at least two hits to score me. Also, if I go up there, you can always say, ‘Just bunt.’ Well, if I bunt and the pitcher fields it and throws me out at first on a fastball that’s middle away or a fastball down the middle that I can drive, I’m going to be just as upset if not more than if I hit a line drive into the shift and I’m out. I would rather take my chance on sticking to what’s got me here and what I’ve done my whole life than try something that I’m not known for doing.”

Known for doing. That’s a key phrase in this era of readily available data. There’s a lot of it available to the public, and there’s even more being studied by savvy front offices looking for any sort of advantage. They know exactly what Moreland is capable of doing.

The numbers show Moreland pulling the ball a lot more often again this season, but based on the way teams are playing him, they seem to have recognized that he’s capable of doing even more.

“It wasn’t anything that was a conscious effort,” Moreland said. “It was just maybe the approach I’m working with or getting results back.”

That’s what he’s seeing. And the numbers back it up.

*Associated Press

Betts, Benintendi power Red Sox past Orioles 6-3

BOSTON -- Sloppy, rainy and downright lousy weather didn't cool down the fast start Mookie Betts is off to this season.

Betts hit a two-run homer before Andrew Benintendi followed with a shot of his own in the fifth inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Saturday night.

Betts is hitting a major-league best .368 with 15 homers and 32 RBI out of the leadoff spot for the Red Sox.

"It's incredible. It's a lot of fun to watch. I don't know what to say," winning pitcher Rick Porcello said. "When he gets his pitch, he's not missing it. When he doesn't get his pitch, he's not missing it."

Benintendi added a two-run single and Rafael Devers a solo homer for the Red Sox, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-1 against Baltimore this season.

But it's Betts' torrid start that continues to impress his teammates.

"He's in a groove right now. But, it's not like he's hot-hot," Benintendi said. "It feels like he can get hotter."

Pedro Alvarez hit a two-run homer for Baltimore, which snapped a 13-game road losing streak a night earlier against Boston.

"Keep them in the park, that's been a challenge for us in the starting pitching department," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "It's pretty obvious."

Porcello (6-1) gave up three runs in six innings, matching his season high with nine strikeouts while walking three. He rebounded from two straight rough starts when he allowed five runs in each after opening the season by allowing three or fewer in his initial seven.

Craig Kimbrel, the third reliever, got three outs for his 13th save.

Dylan Bundy (2-6) allowed four runs in six innings, walking two and striking out eight.

"I had a good game plan, just got one fastball that leaked out middle and (Betts) was able to take advantage of it," Bundy said.

Boston snapped a 1-1 tie with three runs in the fifth on the back-to-back homers by Betts and Benintendi. Betts turned on a 90-mph fastball, sending it into the Green Monster seats for his 15th homer after Sandy Leon had a leadoff double.

Four pitches later, Benintendi hit his into Baltimore's bullpen.

Alvarez's two-run shot sliced it to 4-3 in the sixth, but Benintendi's single through a draw-in infield made it 6-3 in the seventh.

Devers' drive went into the Monster seats.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Orioles: Showalter said reliever Darren O'Day (10-day disabled list, hyperextended right elbow) is "close" to returning, but outfielder Colby Rasmus (DL, left hip flexor) "was a little sore from all the action. We had to back a little bit off."

Red Sox: Second baseman Dustin Pedroia (recovering from offseason left knee surgery) went 0 for 3 in a rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday and is scheduled to have Sunday off. Manager Alex Cora said he'd like to see him play consecutive games before coming back to the majors.

HOMER HAPPY

The Red Sox were last in the AL in homers last season, but entering Saturday they were second in majors with 62.

HOMER UNHAPPY

Bundy gave up three homers. He has allowed three or more in three of his last four starts after giving up just three total in his first six.

SLOPPY TRACK

The game was played with light-to-steady rain falling most of the night, forcing the grounds crew to bring out bags of a drying agent many times for the mound and infield.

UP NEXT

Orioles: Showalter said after the game that RHP David Hess (1-0, 4.50 ERA) would start the series finale Sunday.

Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-1, 4.68 ERA) is scheduled to start against his former team. He's 4-5 with a 4.35 ERA against Baltimore in 11 career starts.