Smith delivers strong spot start to help PawSox win
PAWTUCKET – Tyler Thornburg had already thrown 20 pitches when Rochester cleanup hitter Danny Vargas made his way to the plate with two down in the seventh inning on Wednesday afternoon.
Just like his first outing on Monday, the plan was to cap Thornburg at 25 pitches. PawSox manager Kevin Boles elected to err on the side of caution and went to get Thornburg after throwing 14 fastballs that ranged between 93-94 miles per hour and six curveballs that sat in the 76-78 mph range.
“Once you get to 20, now you’re counting on a five-pitch at-bat … a guy fouling off a bunch of pitches. We want to make sure we’re within that range given how much time he’s missed,” said Boles after the PawSox snapped a three-game losing streak with a 7-6 win over the Red Wings before a McCoy Stadium gathering of 2,342 fans.
Thornburg did conclude his outing on a positive note – a swinging strikeout on a 78mph outing. He ran into trouble during the majority of his appearance, both of his own creation and the result of an error made by PawSox shortstop Chad De La Guerra. Given the nature of the injury he’s working his way back from – right shoulder surgery that he underwent to treat thoracic outlet syndrome – it’s almost unrealistic to think Thornburg was going to pick up where he left off after turning in a dazzling show in his first rehab appearance with Pawtucket.
Thornburg struck out the side on Monday as his fastball registered 97 miles per hour. He followed up with an outing that should serve as a reminder that this is going to take some time. As Thornburg said before Wednesday, right now it feels like the middle of spring training as far as location and command. Thornburg is not traveling with the PawSox for the twogame series to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, meaning the earliest he will be back on the mound in Pawtucket uniform is Saturday night.
Thornburg opened Wednesday’s outing with eight straight fastballs. He fell behind 3-0 against the first batter he faced before eventually walking him. A hard line out to second base was followed by a surefire double-play ball that De La Guerra bobbled. Thornburg then fell into a 3-0 hole with ball four resulting in a wild pitch that allowed a run to score.
Thornburg did settle down with a strikeout that also spelled the end of his day with the PawSox.
“He peeled out of his delivery a few times, but said he felt fine,” Boles said. “It wasn’t about his stuff. It wasn’t a health issue. Just looked like the effort level as far as the delivery … the command was a little bit suspect. We did see some [pitches] where his delivery was synced up and it was on time, but today you could tell there was definitely an uptick in his effort level.
“It’s just good to see him health-wise, the arm is looking pretty clean, it’s working well. But we didn’t make a play behind him,” added Boles.
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With Wednesday’s scheduled starter, Marcus Walden, rejoining the Red Sox at Fenway Park, Pawtucket turned to left-hander Josh Smith to make his second spot start of the season (and just his second professional start overall in his 194th appearance). Unfazed, Smith spun four shutout innings in which he only allowed three baserunners to reach (two hits and a hit batter).
“(Pitching coach Kevin Walker) told me I was starting as soon as I walked in at 9:15,” said Smith. “Any time I have to make a spot start, the goal is to get quick outs and give the team as many innings as possible.”
Boles and trainer Eric Velazquez went out to check on Smith before the top of the fourth. The lefty appeared to be dealing with a cramping issue – the temperature at first pitch was 86 degrees – but he continued and give the PawSox one more inning before turning things over to the relievers. In six appearances now with Pawtucket, the crafty 28-year old has given up just one run in 15.1 innings (0.59 ERA) with 16 strikeouts, one walk and only 10 hits.
“He pitched well,” Boles said. “He’s kind of our swing man here a little bit. He can do a variety of roles. To do that on short notice, he’s just always ready to pitch. He doesn’t care what the innings are.”
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Kyle Martin was a definite bright spot out of the Pawtucket bullpen, reaching 96 mph in the ninth inning en route to picking up his first save of the season. Martin spun out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth to toss 1.1 scoreless innings with one strikeout.
“There were times earlier this season where we protected him from certain situations, but once Robby (Scott) couldn’t get through the eighth, we were going to Martin,” said Boles. “He’s taken hold of it and it’s been a great start to the season for him.”
Neither Scott nor Brandon Workman were sharp. Both were tagged for home runs and combined to allow five Rochester runs. Workman did get the win while Scott found himself stepping out of a familiar cocoon.
“He’s been a three-to-four out guy for us. We had him finish out the seventh, had him sit, and brought him back out for the eighth,” said Boles. “It looked like he was getting a bit gassed at the end, but we haven’t played in conditions like this in a long time.”
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Aneury Tavarez’s 2017 season was limited to just 58 games due to wrist troubles. The outfielder, who never seems to have a bad day, went 4-for-4 against the Red Wings (10-11) and helped get the Pawtucket offense back on track after scoring just two runs over the previous two games.
After collecting singles in his first two at-bats, Tavarez laced a solo home run that put Pawtucket (12-11) up 5-3. Tavarez went back-to-back with Jordan Betts, who blasted a three-run shot. Betts went 3-for-4 with two runs.
For good measure, Tavarez sent a shot behind the first-base bag for a two-run double that put Pawtucket up 7-5 in the eighth. His big day saw his batting average climb from .215 to .253.
“I had to wait a long time before I could play baseball again, but it’s about continuing to work hard” said Tavarez. “Weather-wise, today was a perfect day to play baseball.”