Sox Juggle Rotation
Sale, Price Will Sit Waiting For Playoffs
NEWYORK— With10 games left to play, the Red Sox are starting to line up their rotation for the postseason. But it’s a plan with some big gaps because of the schedule.
The Sox finish the season with three games at Fenway Park against the Yankees starting on Sept. 28. Then there would be four days off before the start of the Division Series on Oct. 5.
With the Yankees a possible opponent in the Division Series, the Sox will hold Chris Sale and David Price out of the rotation for the final series of the regular season.
Sale is scheduled to pitch at Cleveland on Friday night and then next Wednesday night against Baltimore.
That will leave Sale with eight days off before the playoffs. The plan is for him to throw a simulated game or a full-effort bullpen session on Sept. 30 or Oct. 1.
“That would line him up for the Division Series,” manager Alex Cora said.
Price, who started Wednesday against the Yankees, is set to finish his regular season on Tuesday against Baltimore.
Chapman activated: The Yankees are back to full strength now.
Aroldis Chapman was activated off the disabled list before Wednesday's game.
The left-handed closer had been in the DL since Aug. 22 with left knee tendinitis.
Chapman is the second Yankee to come off the DL in a week. Aaron Judge was activated Tuesday night after missing 45 games with a fractured right wrist. He was cleared to hit in a game and returned to the starting lineup Tuesday night.
Chapman has 31 saves and a 2.11 ERA in 50 appearances this season.
Sox fans look for reward: Settle down, Red Sox.
The division isn't yours just yet.
But a banner marking the inevitable Boston AL East crown has already been accidentally unveiled.
Boston-area friends Louie Iacuzzi, James Amaral and Randy Baldasarri say they found the banner on a road Monday morning after it apparently fell off a delivery truck in Somerville, Mass.
But the trio held onto the banner for two days, hoping they'd be rewarded with game tickets or a chance to meet their favorite players.
Instead, the Boston Globe reports, the men brought the banner to Fenway Park Wednesday afternoon and returned empty handed.
Iacuzzi said he always intended to return the banner and rejected accusations he stole it.
Youthful offenders: Gleyber Torres’ ninth-inning error Tuesday night raised the specter of the Yankees’ two young infielders struggling at the wrong time in October. Torres has 17 errors, 12 at second base and five at shortstop. Andujar has15 at third base.
“Obviously they are really young players and really important players for us, we’re constantly working and developing and teaching and trying to help grow and addressing certain things,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Mistakes are part of it.”