C2 Sports The Boston Globe MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2019
By Peter Abraham
GLOBE STAFF
It will be an eventful day off for the Red Sox
on Monday withChrisSalescheduled to travel to
Gulf Breeze, Fla., to have his sore left elbow ex-
amined by Dr.JamesAndrews.
Red Sox head athletic trainer
BradPearsonwill join Sale on
the trip. The fear is Sale tore a
ligament during his last start and will need Tom-
my John surgery.
Sale has not been available to reporters since
the Sox placed him on the injured list on Satur-
day.
“He just wants to make sure he has all the
facts before he talks to [the media],” managerAl-
exCorasaid before a 13-7 victory against Balti-
more on Sunday. “He wants to see where we’re at
with it and all the opinions and go from there.”
Sale was injured in his start against the Cleve-
land Indians on Tuesday.
The Sox have not named a starter in Sale’s
place for Tuesday’s game against the Philadel-
phia Phillies. They also will need a starter for
Sunday’s game in San Diego against the Padres.
LefthanderBrianJohnsonis a candidate for
Tuesday, or the Sox could try a pitcher from the
minors. That Johnson was not used this weekend
suggests it could be him.
DavidPrice, who is on the injured list with in-
flammation in his wrist, is scheduled for a bull-
pen session on Tuesday. He is a possibility to
start next Sunday at San Diego.
Price threw 30 pitches in the bullpen on Sat-
urday.
Sale is 6-11 with a 4.40 earned run average in
25 starts. The seven-time All-Star is 35-23 with a
3.08 ERA in three seasons with the Sox.
Bullpenchipsin
Six relievers held the Orioles to one earned
run over seven innings afterNateEovaldial-
lowed five runs over the first two.
DarwinzonHernandez,RyanBrasier,Josh
Taylor,MarcusWalden,AndrewCashner, and
TravisLakinscombined to allow only six hits and
struck out nine.
Brasier struck out two in the fourth inning. It
was his first game in the majors since July 15.
Cashner allowed a single in the seventh, then
started an inning-ending double play. He has
pitched three scoreless innings and struck out
four without a walk since coming out of the rota-
tion. The Sox seem inclined to keep him in the
bullpen as a result.
Sox relievers have allowed five earned runsover 31„ innings in the last seven games.FanconnectswithDavis
HenryFrasca, a 9-year-old Red Sox fan from
Sudbury, was on the field with the Orioles for
batting practice on Saturday, a guest ofChrisDa-
vis.
In April, Henry wrote Davis a letter wishing
him well in breaking an 0-for-54 slump.
“How many hits you get has nothing to do
with how good a person you are,” Henry wrote.
“You weren’t a better person when you were hit-
ting more home runs. You aren’t a worse person
now.”Henry, the son of noted chefGabrielFrasca,
was able to give the letter to an Orioles staffer at
Fenway on April 13 and it found its way to Davis,
who was touched by the sentiment.
With the letter in the back pocket of his uni-
form pants, Davis went 3 for 5 with two doubles
that day to break the slump. He has since kept
the letter in his Bible.
“Kind of made me step back and take a look at
the bigger picture,” Davis told the Baltimore Sun.
“Just knowing that he was keen enough to pick
that up and bold enough to say something about
it, it meant a lot to me.
“He’s definitely a lot sharper than I was when
I was 9 years old. He’s probably sharper than I
am right now.”
The Orioles invited Henry to the game on Sat-
urday, and had him in the dugout and on the
field before the game. He caught a fly ball in BP
and signed his name inside the Green Monster.Comebackkids
Sunday was the first time this season the Sox
came back from a six-run deficit. It also was the
first time since 2007 the Sox won a game by six
runs after trailing by six runs. That was in a 16-
10 victory against the Rays... The Sox are 11-
against the Orioles this season and have aver-
aged 6.3 runs... The Sox have homered in 11
consecutive games, hitting 21 in that stretch...
Orioles catcherChanceSiscohad a rough sixth
inning. He was knocked down bySamTravis
while reaching across the plate for an errant
throw, but stayed in the game after being attend-
ed to by a trainer. Four batters later, Sisco was
struck in the groin by a foul ball off the bat of
XanderBogaerts. Cisco collapsed and was re-
placed byPedroSeverino.Peter Abraham can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow him on
Twitter @PeteAbe.Sale scheduled for examination on elbow
RED SOX
NOTEBOOK
By Nicole Yang
BOSTON.COM STAFF
Orioles third baseman Re-
nato Nunez thought he was
pitched ball four and looked to
take his free base in the first in-
ning of Sunday’s matinee at
Fenway Park. But Nunez’s slow
jog to first was quickly halted
before it could begin, as home
plate umpire Jansen Visconti
deemed Red Sox starter Nate
Eovaldi’s 97.2 miles-per-hour
fastball a strike.
So, instead, Nunez retook
his spot in the batter’s box and
proceeded to pummel Eovaldi’s
very next pitch, a hanging cur-
veball, over the Green Monster
for a three-run homer.
“Boy, you hang it, they bang
it,” color commentator Dennis
Eckersley said on the NESN
television broadcast.
The 415-foot blast was the
most glaring of the several
blemishes on Eovaldi’s showing
— his first start in four months
— and prompted pitching
coach Dana LeVangie to visit
the mound.
Though manager Alex Cora
said before the game he was
hoping for 55–60 pitches from
the 29-year-old righty, he pulled
the plug after 43.
Eovaldi lasted just two in-
nings, surrendering three hits
and five earned runs. The of-
fense bailed him out, erasing a
6-0 deficit en route to a 13-
win, but the performance left
much to be desired from a
pitcher set to be a regular part
of the rotation moving forward.
“I felt fine physically, but I
was just all over the place,”
Eovaldi said after his no-deci-
sion. “I wasn’t able to execute
my pitches when I needed to.
They needed me to go out there
and go a little deeper in the
game.”
Signs of trouble emerged
early.
Eovaldi’s second pitch of the
afternoon was a 95.5 m.p.h.
fastball that Orioles shortstop
Jonathan Villar pounded off the
wall for a double. His third was
a curveball ruled a wild pitch.
While velocity seemed to be
a non-issue, Eovaldi walked
three of the 11 batters he faced
— all of whom scored. He fin-
ished with 23 strikes in those
43 pitches, a 53.5 percent strike
rate well below his season aver-
age of 63 percent.
“Location-wise, he was off,”
Cora said. “Just one of those
[days] that he wasn’t as effec-
tive or throwing pitches in the
zone like he usually does.”
Eovaldi had been used exclu-
sively in relief since returning
from the injured list July 20. He
said he doesn’t think the transi-
tion from the bullpen was a fac-
tor in his struggles on Sunday.
Since logging a 1.61 ERA
during last year’s World Series
run, the Red Sox winning five of
his six appearances, Eovaldi has
struggled. Before undergoing
right elbow surgery in April, he
posted a 6.00 ERA, and gave up
six home runs in four starts.
Sunday’s outing certainly didn’t
help his case.
With ace Chris Sale’s elbow
inflammation muddying his fu-
ture, the Red Sox will need
Eovaldi to channel some of his
2018 postseason energy for po-
tentially 7–8 starts in their play-
off push.
Cora noted he doesn’t plan
to use Eovaldi in the bullpen
this week; he is scheduled to
start at the San Diego Padres on
Sunday.
“He’ll be back in San Diego,”
Cora said. “He’ll be OK.”Eovaldi out quick
in rotation return
Righty lacks control against Orioles
At Fenway Park, Boston
BALTIMORE AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Villarss3 22021.
Mancinidh 421211.
Santander rf 501001.
ReNúñez3b 321401.
Peterson lf 5 0 1 0 0 1.
Alberto2b 402100.
Davis1b 211021.
Wilkersoncf 400003.
Siscoc 300001.
Severinoc 100000.
Totals 34797510
BOSTON AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Bettscf 321111.
Devers3b 524400.
Bogaerts ss 5 1 2 2 0 0.
MHernández2b 000000.
Martinezrf 513200.
Benintendilf 400011.
Travisdh 421111.
Vázquez1b-c 422112.
Leónc 200002.
a-Morlndph-1b 323100.
Owings2b-ss 410013.
Totals 39 13 16 12 5 10
Baltimore .................... 321 000 001 — 7 9 1
Boston ......................... 002 106 40x — 13 16 1
a-singled for León in 6th. E —Villar (19), Mo-
reland (2). LOB —Baltimore 7, Boston 8. 2B —
Villar (28), Alberto (17), Betts (35), Devers 2
(46), Bogaerts (42), Martinez (28), Vázquez
(19). HR —ReNúñez (27), off Eovaldi, Devers
(27), off Armstrong, Travis (6), off Blach. SB —
Villar 2 (28). SF —ReNúñez, Betts. Runners left
in scoring position —Baltimore 4 (Santander,
Peterson, Wilkerson 2), Boston 3 (Martinez,
Travis 2). RISP —Baltimore 2 for 9, Boston 6 for- Runners moved up —Sisco, Devers, Bo-
gaerts 2, Benintendi. GIDP —Alberto. DP —Bos-
ton 1 (Cashner, Owings, Moreland).
Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Blach 5‚555369210.
Ynoa 011100 26.
Fry BS 3; L 1-5 ‚ 3 3 3 1 1 26 5.
Armstrong 1‚64412355.
Givens 1 1 0 0 0 1 18 4.
Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Eovaldi 235531436.
Hernandez 1 1 1 1 1 3 32 3.
Brasier 1 0 0 0 1 2 19 4.
Taylor 1 2 0 0 0 1 22 3.
Walden W 8-2 1 1 0 0 0 0 11 3.
Cashner1 100019 4.7 2
Lakins 2 1 1 0 0 2 32 4.
Ynoa pitched to 1 batter in the 6th. Inherit-
ed runners-scored —Ynoa 2-1, Fry 2-2, Arm-
strong 2-1. HBP —by Hernandez (ReNúñez).
Balk —Walden. WP —Eovaldi 2, Lakins. Um-
pires —Home, Jansen Visconti; First, Will Lit-
tle; Second, Brennan Miller; Third, Eric Coo-
per. T —3:38. A —36,350 (37,755).
HOW THE RUNS SCORED
FIRST INNING
ORIOLES — Villar doubled to left. On Eoval-
di’s wild pitch, Villar to third. Mancini walked
on a full count. Santander popped out to
catcher León. R.Núñez homered to left on a
full count, Villar scored, Mancini scored. Pe-
terson flied out to center fielder Betts. Alber-
to lined out to pitcher Eovaldi.
SECOND INNING
ORIOLES — Davis walked on a full count.
Wilkerson struck out. Sisco grounded out,
first baseman Vázquez unassisted, Davis to
second. On Eovaldi’s wild pitch, Davis to third.
Villar walked. Villarstole second. Mancini sin-
gled to center, Davis scored, Villar scored.
Mancini was out advancing, center fielder
Betts to catcher León to shortstop Bogaerts,
Mancini out.
THIRD INNING
ORIOLES — Hernandez pitching. Santander
struck out. R.Núñez was hit by a pitch. Peter-
son struck out. Alberto doubled to center,
R.Núñez scored. Davis walked on a full count.
Wilkerson struck out.
RED SOX — Owings walked on a full count.
Betts doubled to left, Owings to third. Devers
grounded out, second baseman Alberto to
first baseman Davis,Owings scored, Betts to
third. Bogaerts grounded out, pitcher Blach to
first baseman Davis, Betts scored. Martinez
lined out to center fielder Wilkerson.
FOURTH INNING
RED SOX — Benintendi struck out. Travis
homered to center on the first pitch. Vázquez
struck out. León struck out.
SIXTH INNING
RED SOX — Martinez doubled to left. Benin-
tendi flied out to center fielder Wilkerson,
Martinez to third. Travis walked on a full
count. Ynoa pitching. Vázquez doubled to left,
Martinez scored, Travis to third. Moreland
pinch-hitting for León.Fry pitching. Moreland
singled to left, Travis scored, Vázquez to
third. On shortstopVillar’s throwing error,
Vázquez scored, Moreland to second. Owings
struck out. Betts walked on four pitches. De-
vers doubled to left, Moreland scored, Betts
to third. Severino in as catcher. Bogaerts hit
an infield single to shortstop, Betts scored,
Devers to third. Armstrongpitching. Martinez
hit an infield single to second, Devers scored,
Bogaerts to second. Benintendi walked on
four pitches, Bogaerts to third, Martinez to
second. Travis struck out.
SEVENTH INNING
RED SOX — Vázquez singled to left. More-
land singled to right, Vázquez to third. Ow-
ings struck out. Betts hit a sacrifice fly to cen-
ter fielder Wilkerson, Vázquez scored. Devers
homered to right on a 0-1 count, Moreland
scored. Bogaerts doubled to center. Martinez
singled to center, Bogaerts scored. Beninten-
di flied out to center fielder Wilkerson.
NINTH INNING
ORIOLES — M.Hernández in as second
baseman. Owings in as shortstop. Villar
struck out. Mancini safe at first on fielding er-
ror by first baseman Moreland. Santander
singled to left, Mancini to second. On Lakins’
wild pitch, Mancini to third, Santander to sec-
ond. R.Núñez hit a sacrifice fly to center field-
er Betts, Mancini scored, Santander to third.
Peterson grounded out, first baseman More-
land unassisted.Red Sox 13, Orioles 7MADDIE MEYER/GETTY IMAGESNathan Eovaldi’s first start in four months was done after
two innings, with his Red Sox trailing, 5-0.
what is most important to me
right now, us continuing to play
well,” Devers said via a transla-
tor.
Devers is the first player
with at least 100 runs and 100
RBIs before turning 23 since
Miguel Cabrera for the Marlins
in 2005.
No Red Sox player has done
that since Ted Williams in both
1939 and ’40.
“He did that twice?” Devers
said in English. “Wow.”
But even the great Williams
would be impressed with De-
vers, a hitter with power to all
fields. Sunday’s show included
a double that thudded into the
wall in left and a home run
down the line in right that dis-
appeared deep into the stands.
“It seems like everything
that is in the zone he’s hitting
hard,” Sox manager Alex Cora
said. “The quality of the at-bats
are great. He keeps working.
He’s not taking anything for
granted.”
The Sox needed the offense
on Sunday after Nate Eovaldi
put them in a 5-0 hole.
In his first start since April
17, Eovaldi allowed five runs
on three hits, three walks, and
two wild pitches over only two
innings. Renato Nunez’s long
three-run homer to left field in
the first inning was the big hit
for Baltimore.
When Darwinzon Hernan-
dez allowed a run in the third
inning, the deficit grew to 6-0.uREDSOX
Continued from Page C“We know the type of team
we have and we know we had
what it takes to get back in the
game,” Devers said.
The comeback started with
two runs in the third inning
against Ty Blach. When Sam
Travis belted a home run to
center in the fourth, it gained
steam. Then the Sox sent 12
batters to the plate in the sixth
and scored six runs.
J.D. Martinez led off with a
double to left field and moved
up to third when Andrew Ben-
intendi flied out to center.
After Travis drew a walk,
Blach was done. Christian
Vazquez then doubled off Ga-
briel Ynoa to drive in a run.
When the Sox sent up Mitch
Moreland as a pinch hitter for
Sandy Leon, Hyde countered
with lefthander Paul Fry.
Moreland’s popup to shal-
low left field should have been
caught. But it fell between
three players.
A wayward throw from
shortstop Jonathan Villar
forced catcher Chance Sisco to
reach across the plate trying to
tag Travis and the ball rolled
away. That allowed Vazquez to
score the tying run.
“I’ll take it. It works,” More-
land said. “Then it kind of was
a snowball fight there. Guys
were running everywhere.”
With two outs, Mookie Betts
walked to keep the inning go-
ing. Devers followed with a
double to drive in Moreland
with the go-ahead run.
Bogaerts reached on an in-field single and Betts scored.
When Shawn Armstrong re-
placed Fry, it appeared the Ori-
oles were out of the inning
when Martinez grounded to
first.
But when Chris Davis
looked to second base for a
force play, nobody was covering
the bag and Devers scored.
The Sox added four more
runs in the seventh, two on De-
vers’s home run.
Devers has hit safely in eight
consecutive games at 20 of 37
with eight doubles, four home
runs, and 14 RBIs.
Along with Bogaerts, More-
land has been a mentor to De-
vers, particularly in helping
him use scouting reports to
prepare for opposing pitchers.
“I’m running out of stuff to
say about him,” Moreland said.
“It seems like a bad day for him
is2for4withadouble.He’s
been incredible.”
The Sox have won five
straight and seven of their last- But they remained 6½
games behind Tampa Bay in
the race for the second wild
card in the American League
when the Rays came back from
a three-run deficit to beat De-
troit, 5-4.
After a day off on Monday,
the Sox start a two-game series
against Philadelphia on Tues-
day night at Fenway.
Peter Abraham can be reached
at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter
@PeteAbe.Devers keeps Red Sox
offense in high gear
MICHAEL DWYER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Christian Vazquez (right) is greeted by Sam Travis after scoring during the sixth inning.MICHAEL DWYER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Orioles catcher Chance Sisco was brought to his knees after he was injured by a foul tip.