Bogaerts, Sawamura test positive as COVID troubles continue
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Red Sox’s COVID19 issues continue.
Shortstop Xander Bogaerts was removed from Tuesday’s game prior to the bottom of the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays because he tested positive for COVID. Bogaerts had an RBI single in the first. He was set to start the bottom of the second inning but was removed from the field by manager Alex Cora.
Jonathan Araúz, who started at second, moved to shortstop and Yairo Muñoz entered the game to play second.
Following Monday’s game, eight members of the Red Sox were sidelined because of COVID — six tested positive for the virus and two were considered close contacts. That number is now up to 10 after Cora announced Tuesday that Hirokazu Sawamura had also tested positive.
Sawamura joins Kiké Hernández, Christian Arroyo, Matt Barnes, Martín Pérez, quality control coach Rámon Vázquez, and strength and conditioning coach Kiyoshi Momose as the seventh team member to have tested positive. Josh Taylor and first base coach Tom Goodwin are the close contacts.
“I’m not going to go into details with this,” Cora said. “But I’m not as frustrated with the situation because I know everything else about it. So I’ve been saying all along, it’s their choice and you have to respect that. It just happened to us.”
Bullpen issues: The Red Sox already had a depleted bullpen heading into this road trip. Cora said heading into this series that a couple of relievers would be down a couple of days. The loss of Barnes, Sawamura, Taylor, and Pérez hurts the team’s depth and puts even more pressure on the Boston starters to go deeper into games, though Brad Peacock was expected to throw a maximum of four innings Tuesday.
“It’s not easy,” Cora said on managing the bullpen. “But I think we have to pick and choose in certain games that we can be very aggressive, and in the other ones we have to be more patient. So that’s on us as a staff to recognize when we can go all out. And then there’s certain days that we have to step back and just let the game breathe and see where it takes us.”
The Red Sox should have some help soon with the team likely to activate Ryan Brasier off the injured list for Wednesday’s game . ... Hunter Renfroe was activated from the bereavement list and batted leadoff Tuesday, the first time in his career that he’s started a game in that spot.
Late Monday: Wander Franco extended his on-base streak to 30 games with a two-run single, fellow rookie Luis Patiño pitched neatly into the sixth inning and the American League East-leading Rays won their eighth in a row, beating Boston 6-1.
Brandon Lowe hit his career-high 31st homer on the first pitch from Boston starter Nick Pivetta, sending the Rays on their way.
Boston, which led the Rays by 1 games entering a three-game series at Tampa Bay on July 30, dropped nine game back in the division race.