Plawecki lost to COVID list
Wong called up to fill backup catcher position
The Red Sox experienced a COVID-19 outbreak on Monday morning ahead of their 8-3 Patriots Day loss against the Twins.
Catcher Kevin Plawecki tested positive along with two non-coaching staff members, manager Alex Cora revealed.
“I mean we’ve been through this, I’m not going to get concerned with stuff I can’t control,” Cora said. “We went through the whole protocol. There were a few close contacts. They got tested. They’re good. We live today. We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Plawecki, who is vaccinated, was placed on the COVID-related injury list. Connor Wong recalled from Triple-A Worcester to be the backup catcher.
The news came one day after Tanner Houck told the Globe he would not be traveling to Toronto next week for the team’s series with the Blue Jays because he’s not vaccinated.
Cora said Houck wasn’t the only player who would miss the key series with a division rival. The Jays started Monday in first place, one game ahead of the Red Sox.
Good and bad
The Red Sox played perhaps their best series of the young season against the Twins, but a pair of bad outings from their starting pitchers cost them a 2-2 split of the four games.
The Sox offense didn’t have a bad day, collecting 11 hits in total, but the Sox went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and struck out 11 times to just two walks.
Christian Vazquez hit his first homer of the year in the seventh.
Jackie Bradley Jr. has had some impressive at-bats. He was down 0-2 then drew a walk in the seventh, and was down 0-2 again in the ninth, worked it full and hit a double to left field. He saw 27 pitches in four trips to the plate.
“It doesn’t look great because we’re swinging and making outs, but we’re attacking where we want to attack, which is important,” Cora said.
The Sox’ offense had scored just 26 runs on 44 hits through their first six games, but scored 19 runs on 47 hits in the four-game set with the Twins.
“I do think we’re close to who we are,” Cora said. “As far as attacking in the zones we like or what we’re looking for, the last two days have been pretty solid.”
A hot corner for Devers
Rafael Devers had another great game, though his best moments were not while at the plate.
He perfectly timed up a dive to his left to rob Gary Sanchez of extra bases in the first inning, then somehow managed to avoid a tag with an acrobatic swim move while going first to third and sliding into the bag in the sixth inning.
“Unreal,” Cora said. “I don’t know how he was safe to be honest with you. You saw the first play he made today and the way he was moving and he’s a great athlete… I want to see it again because it looked like ‘The Matrix,’ the movie. I didn’t know he was able to move that way.”
Devers said he had never before tried the swim move, a slide perfected by former Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
“You never know when you will get another chance,” Devers said. “You might never get another chance. So I was just trying to play 100 percent. Play really hard.”
Jays on deck
The Sox will get their first taste of the American League East-leading Blue Jays, who are in town for three games starting on Tuesday.
Nathan Eovaldi takes on Yusei Kikuchi on Tuesday, then Nick Pivetta against Jose Berrios on Wednesday and Tanner Houck vs. Kevin Gausman on Thursday.
The Jays have already hit 14 homers through 10 games, one away from the Angels for the MLB lead.
“It’s one of the best teams in the big leagues,” Cora said. “Obviously very powerful, and one of the best players in the big leagues in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But they were good last year. They were really good. A team that kept getting better.
“We’re 10 games into the season and it’s going to be a battle. Every game counts in this division, not only this division, in baseball, because you start looking around and there are some good young talented teams. But that team coming is one of the best so we play them a lot of times the next two weeks so we’ll see how we match up.”