One and done for Nunez
First swing levels hottest hitter
HOUSTON — The Red Sox will have to move on without their best hitter.
Eduardo Nunez, whose .321 average and .892 OPS leads the Red Sox since he was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in July, took one swing and hobbled down the first base line before he eventually fell down and had to be carried off the field during the Sox’ 8-2 loss to the Houston Astros yesterday in Game 1 of the Division Series.
Nunez swung at the first pitch against Justin Verlander before hurting himself on his start out of the batter’s box.
“I didn’t expect that,” said Nunez, who was replaced as the designated hitter by Hanley Ramirez. “We do a lot of treatment, a lot of simulated games. We do everything we can to be ready and obviously now we know my knee’s not ready yet.”
Last night, Nunez’ unavailability was made official when he was removed from the roster. The move by the Sox means he would be ineligible for the next round, should the team advance to the ALCS.
With Nunez out, Chris Young was added to the Division Series roster. Young was originally left out of the mix in favor of fellow righty-hitting outfielder Rajai Davis.
Nunez was questionable coming into the series due to damage to the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, but after a simulated game on Monday the Red Sox declared the infielder healthy enough to participate in the first round of the postseason.
In the past, Nunez had hit well against Verlander, and he was in the second spot in the batting order.
The Red Sox remain firm in their belief Nunez was ready to play, just as they thought he was ready to play last week, when he similarly left a game after hurting himself on a swing.
“No regrets, because everything that we had, everything we had available to us, we accomplished those steps, the way he felt, trying to get another bat back in our lineup that I think we needed,” Farrell said. “No, no regrets with the way things have unfolded here.”
Ramirez went 2-for-3 in Nunez’ spot.
Farrell had been planning on using Ramirez as the first baseman against left-hander Dallas Keuchel in Game 2. Nunez was likely going to DH again, and Farrell mentioned the idea of starting Deven Marrero at third base instead of Rafael Devers.
That was all before Nunez went down.
Young, who hit just .235 with a .709 OPS in the regular season, would be the obvious choice to DH in Nunez’ absence. He’s 7-for-25 lifetime off Keuchel.
Devers had a miserable Game 1, chasing fastballs at his shoulders on his way to an 0-for-3 performance with two strikeouts and a sacrifice fly.
Fister starts Game 3
Doug Fister’s playoff success is unmatched among other Red Sox starting pitchers, and that experience couldn’t be overlooked in deciding a Game 3 starter.
Fister was chosen to start the third game of the series ahead of Rick Porcello and Eduardo Rodriguez, who both began the series in the bullpen.
The last time Fister pitched in the playoffs, he threw seven shutout innings for the Washington Nationals in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Giants. He has a career 2.60 ERA in nine postseason outings.
The decision of Fister over Porcello or Rodriguez came down to “the later action to the stuff,” Farrell said.
“Just a little bit more consistent sink,” Farrell said. “A little bit more separation between sinker and curveball. That’s probably what it came down to, in addition to performance and recognizing guys have pitched well in certain spots.”
Porcello and Rodriguez are both candidates to start Game 4, Farrell said.
“Wait to see how things unfold,” he said. “Porcello will be in the bullpen the first two nights for sure, providing length if needed. And available for Game 4, depending what transpires.”
Porcello entered the game with the Sox down, 8-2, in the eighth and threw a scoreless inning on 12 pitches.
Farrell said Chris Sale could come back on short rest to start Game 4 as well.
“That will depend on what today gives us,” he said. “If this is a deep start on his part, that’s something we’ll have to work through.”
Sale threw 100 pitches over five-plus innings, allowing seven runs.
Passing on pitchers
Lefty Robby Scott was omitted from the playoff roster given that the Sox went with Rodriguez as an extra lefty in the bullpen.
Righties Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman were both left off, even though they had solid years and good numbers against righty hitters . . . .
The Astros’ pregame ceremonies included a large Puerto Rican flag draped over the field next to a bigger American flag to honor the United States territory that was devastated recently by a hurricane. George Springer brought the Puerto Rican flag out with him when he was introduced and waved it back and forth to big applause. Jim McIngvale, known as Mattress Mack, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. He turned several of his Houston furniture stores into shelters and provided brand new mattresses to victims of a hurricane that struck Houston last month.