The Boston Red Sox are stuck with a losing road trip to start the second half of the season, but they can salvage something before heading home for a critical series against the New York Yankees.
Boston dropped its first four games out of the All-Star break but finally got a convincing 6-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night. The Red Sox have a chance for a series win when they face the Rockies in the third and final game of the series on Wednesday.
In a matchup of right-handers, Boston will send Nick Pivetta (4-6, 3.87 ERA) to the mound against the Rockies’ Cal Quantrill (6-7, 4.15).
The Red Sox got a scare in Tuesday’s win when third baseman Rafael Devers grabbed his right shoulder after a diving attempt at Ezequiel Tovar’s single in the sixth inning. He stayed in the game, and Boston manager Alex Cora said Devers was just shaken up.
The Red Sox have 54 wins after 100 games, one more than last season and equal to 2019. They surged prior to the All-Star break, going 20-8 to get back into the playoff picture. The recent four-game skid hasn’t been entirely discouraging, in part because it includes two extra-inning defeats.
“We’re not playing bad baseball,” reliever Zack Kelly said. “We’re in these games. It’s just not going our way.”
The bullpen struggled Monday night after the offense took a 7-5 lead in the 10th inning, giving up two runs in the bottom of the inning and two in the 12th. The relief corps is without closer Kenley Jansen for this series due to a heart issue that prevents him from playing at altitude. It has left the bullpen down an arm, but Kelly insists it isn’t an excuse.
“We understand where we’re at,” Kelly said. “We understand what our jobs are. It’s kind of just show up and pitch.”
Pivetta can help by eating innings on Wednesday like Cooper Criswell did on Tuesday night. Pivetta has posted a 1.83 ERA over his last three starts, and he will try to continue that against a Colorado team that has given him problems in the past. In four games — three starts — in his career against the Rockies, he is 0-4 with a 13.85 ERA.
Quantrill is coming off a bounce-back start against the San Francisco Giants. The quality start came after he gave up five runs in two innings at Cincinnati, and he is looking for his first win since June 11 at Minnesota.
He also can earn his first win against Boston, which he has faced four times in his career. He is 0-1 with a 5.01 ERA in those starts.
Quantrill will need more offense than Colorado’s lineup produced on Tuesday night. The Rockies were shut out for the 11th time, and Tovar saw his streak of multi-hit games ended at six. He has been on a tear since a recent 0-for-30 stretch and now has a 10-game hitting streak.
He delivered the game-winning hit in the 12th on Monday night despite being under the weather.
“Stud,” teammate Sam Hilliard said. “He was sick, but a little Michael Jordan flu game for Tovy.”
–Field Level Media
