Painful exit for E-Rod
Injures ankle in 1B collision
The Red Sox’ to-do list before the trade deadline may have grown longer than they wanted after starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez sustained a sprained right ankle in yesterday’s 6-2 win against the Toronto Blue Jays.
X-rays were negative, but Rodriguez is undergoing more tests before the team knows the exact severity of the sprain.
But it is the landing leg of the 25-year-old southpaw, who last October had surgery on his right knee.
He had pitched inconsistently but was very effective his last two starts, including yesterday’s 51⁄3 shutout innings (four hits allowed, five strikeouts, no walks).
“It looks bad, but he’s moving it around, which is encouraging,” manager Alex Cora said. “We have to go through the tests and all that and see what happens.”
Cora said there was nothing wrong with Rodriguez’ knee.
“No, no, no, probably he was thinking about the knee, just to make sure, but he was fine,” said Cora.
Rodriguez was unavailable after the game because he was undergoing more tests on the ankle.
On the sixth-inning play, Rodriguez ran to cover first base and received a throw from first baseman Blake Swihart. The batter/runner, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., dove for the base as Rodriguez got there and the burly pitcher had to leap over him. Rodriguez’ left foot kicked Gurriel in the helmet and then his right foot got twisted as he landed on it and Gurriel slid over it.
Rodriguez remained on the ground, on all fours, for a minute or two, gathering himself before walking to the mound. After throwing one practice pitch, Rodriguez walked off the mound and his day was done.
Kelly in rut
Reliever Joe Kelly is struggling. He allowed the Blue Jays to score twice off two hits and a walk in the seventh inning after he started the frame trying to protect a 1-0 lead. Kelly allowed three runs Friday night. After allowing runs in only two of his first 25 appearances, Kelly has now given up runs in eight of his last 17 games.
Cora was blunt about it. “Another bad one,” the manager said. “I think the two-out walk, that was the one that made me make the move right there (lifting Kelly). Talking to (catcher) Sandy (Leon), it seems like his breaking stuff is not as sharp as early. It’s either a ball out of the hand, or it just hangs in the zone. It’s not as sharp. So, we’ll take a look at it and go from there, but he’ll be the first one to tell you that he didn’t do his job.”
Swihart swindled
Swihart ran into an out in the seventh inning. On first base after singling with one out, Swihart took off on Leon’s fly ball but instead of following the flight of the ball, he got faked out by the infielders and ran past second before realizing he had to get back to first — where the throw from left fielder Teoscar Hernandez beat him.
“He didn’t know where the ball was, and they did a good job faking the double play — we’ve got to be better than that,” said Cora. “You take off, you peek, and you know where the ball is. If not, you have to pick up the third base coach. He will let you know where the ball is. Obviously the shortstop and second baseman, they have a job to do, it’s to do the opposite — and they were great, don’t get me wrong, but he knows it. He was pretty upset about it.”
Wright now no good
Steven Wright’s sore knee is not getting better.
“Not having great days — he’s been throwing and all that but he’s still sore, we have to see what we’re going to do next week,” said Cora. “It’s taking longer than expected. …
Cora said he expected both Mitch Moreland and Steve Pearce to be in the starting lineup today. …
The Red Sox are tied with the Yankees with the best home record in the majors: 33-13. … The Sox have won seven straight day games to up their daylight mark to 23-5. …
Xander Bogaerts’ walkoff grand slam was the first by a Red Sox since Rico Brogna in August 2000. … Jackie Bradley Jr. tied the game in the ninth with an RBI double. He has eight RBI in his last nine games.
J.D. Martinez hit his 29th home run and became the sixth player to hit 60 or more home runs in between AllStar Games, joining Albert Belle, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and Jose Bautista.
Southpaw switch
Before the game, the Sox optioned left-hander Robby Scott to Triple-A Pawtucket and recalled lefty Bobby Poyner.
“A guy we trust,” said Cora of Poyner. “Robby went two (innings Friday) so trying to reset the bullpen. Bobby can go two or he can match up with a lefty or switch hitter.” …
Left-hander Drew Pomeranz will remain with Pawtucket after another uninspiring appearance on Friday.
“We want him to go deeper in the games,” said Cora. “He’ll pitch again on Wednesday. The reports, he was OK.
“Velocity is not up. It’s been 89, 90, I think. Inconsistent with the breaking stuff. I read something (Friday) about, 3-0 count somebody swung and hit a home run. Well, they swing at 3-0 counts here, too.”