Dombrowski turns to Fister again, this time in Boston

Doug Fister is again pitching for Dave Dombrowski, a reunion between a pitcher and an executive with plenty of history.

Dombrowski made a number of big trades when he was with the Detroit Tigers, and two of them involved Fister. One came in 2011, when the Tigers acquired him from Seattle. The other was after the 2013 season, when Fister was dealt to Washington. Those deals had a significant impact on contending teams, and that’s what the Boston Red Sox — Dombrowski’s current employer — are hoping for after bringing in the 33-year-old starter to help an injury-plagued rotation.

“It’s definitely a good feel- ing to get back out here,” Fister said after pitching six innings in Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. “I hold myself to a higher standard t han what I had out there, so I’ve got some work to do.”

This was Fister’s first major league start of the season. The Red Sox claimed him off waivers this past week,inamovethatunder- scored how much has changed for Fister since he was such a crucial part of three AL Central-winning teams in Detroit.

In 2011, Dombrowski acquired him from Seattle, with outfielder Casper Wells and left-hander Charlie Fur- bush going to the Mariners. It turne d out to be a steal for the Tigers when Fister went 8-1 for them. He won 10 more games in 2012 and 14 in 2013, emerging as a dependable contributor in an excellent Detroit rotation.

Then, Fister was dealt to the Nationals in a move that shocked many Detroit fans. The players the Tigers received — Robbie Ray, Ian Krol and Steve Lombar- dozzi — contributed little in Detroit, and Fister won 16 games with a 2.41 ERA his first season in Washington.

The deal was almost a total loss for the Tigers. Ray eventually became a promising starter — but in Arizo- na after Detroit traded him there.

Fister, meanwhile, is trying to revive his big league career after his effectiveness declined in 2015 and 2016. He went 12-13 with a 4.64 ERA for Houston last year, and he was released from a minor league contract with the Angels at his request last week. He hadn’t started in the majors since last Sep- tember.

The trades involving Fister were two of Dombrowski’s most significant deals in Detroit. It remains to be seen whether this latest move has anything close to thesameimpact.

“I thought he held his stuff really well through the e ntire time that he was on the mound,” Red Sox man- ager John Farrell said Sunday. “Good life to his fast- ball, good sink. Threw a number of good cutters. I thought he pitched in to both lefties and righties effectively. That was a very good start on the part of Doug today.”

Here are a few other developments from around baseball:

The Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to overcome unexpected challenges from Arizona and Colorado in the NL West, but they lead the divisionby21/2g ames after their 10th straight win Sunday. That was a wild 12-6 victory over the Rockies in which Colorado reliever Adam Ottavino threw four wild pitches.

The Dodgers and Houston Astros are both on pace to win at least 107 games.

Joey Gallo isn’t known for his speed, but the 6-foot-5 Texas Range rs third b aseman legged out an insidethe-park home run Wednesday night in a 7-5 loss to Toronto. Gallo, who does have two triples this season, came around and scored easily when Blue Jays left fielderStevePearcecrashed into the wall while chasing thedeepflyball.

While Cody Bellinger’s home run binge has received much of the attention, it was Los Angeles teammate Corey Seager who went deep three times as the Dodgers routed the New York Mets 12-0 on Tuesdaynight.