BALTIMORE — The Boston Red Sox have had the road trip to Baltimore and Houston in mid-August highlighted since the start of the second half.
It’s the last road trip in a brutal stretch since the All-Star break in which 25 of 34 games are against teams squarely in the postseason hunt. So far, they’ve managed a 12-16 record, with Houston looming this week and a home series against wild card-contending Arizona next week. The Red Sox haven’t made up much ground during this stretch, but they’ve hung around in the playoff race, sitting three games back of the American League’s third wild-card spot.
The weekend in Baltimore wasn’t a perfect one, but after falling 4-2 on Sunday, the Red Sox viewed the series split as a mark of progress against a team they’d beaten just once in six previous games.
“Every game is a big one for us,” manager Alex Cora said. “We’ve been saying that since (the trade deadline against) Seattle. It felt that way at home. Every pitch matters, every pitch counts, and we’re going to keep doing that. We have a good team. We’re in the hunt, so nothing changes. We split here. It doesn’t matter what happens around us. You’ve got to take care of yourself.”
Houston swept Boston at home last week, but after the Red Sox face the Astros again and take on Arizona, their schedule eases with series against Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets and Chicago White Sox on tap.
A few takeaways from four games in Baltimore:
The rotation may be turning a corner
Tanner Houck threw 6 2/3 strong innings before the trip, Nick Pivetta posted five solid innings on Thursday, Brayan Bello had his best start of the second half on Saturday and Kutter Crawford has looked better his last two starts, despite his inability to complete six innings.
Brayan Bello, Filthy 89mph Changeup. 👌 pic.twitter.com/VEYzPwLf34
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 18, 2024
But to stay in the playoff hunt, the Red Sox will need more than one week of improved pitching, and Crawford’s sixth-inning issues are the next hurdle to tackle.
Early last week, Crawford had a perfect game through five innings before unraveling in the sixth. On Sunday, Crawford once again cruised through five innings, with an Adley Rutschman solo homer his only blemish. But like in his previous start, the sixth inning halted his momentum.
Crawford allowed a leadoff walk, then hit a batter to put two on. He induced a ground out, but in attempting to turn the double play, Ceddanne Rafaela’s throw sailed past first base, allowing a run to score, making it 2-0. It knocked Crawford out of the game and reliever Bailey Horn promptly allowed a two-run homer to Gunnar Henderson.
“It’s just annoying and frustrating,” said Crawford. “I just have to be more aware and attacking the zone once I get ahead of that (leadoff) hitter and not not shy away from contact. But yeah it’s most definitely frustrating not being able to get through the sixth.”
The Red Sox offense has largely been a strength throughout the season — despite a rash of injuries — and the line-up got two big pieces back over the weekend with the returns of O’Neill and Casas. O’Neill had missed 12 games with an illness and leg infection, and Casas had been out since April after a rib cage fracture.
O’Neill contributed a big hit on Saturday in his first game back but went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Sunday. Meanwhile, Casas did not look like a player who’d missed 98 games, going 5-for-13 in three games after rejoining the club on Friday. All of his hits have been singles, but Casas is expecting more out of himself despite the long layoff.
“I didn’t like the way I controlled the plate,” he said. “I felt like I could have swung at more strikes and let go of some balls, found some holes with some hits, but I’m looking for better swing decisions, for sure.”
But even if Casas isn’t producing at his normal clip right away, his bat isn’t one opponents can take easily.
“I think there are certain guys that are going to benefit from having Triston in the lineup,” Cora said. “(Rafael Devers), hitting behind him, because Triston is going see pitches and Raffy can do whatever he wants and be aggressive. (Masataka Yoshida) is going to benefit from those two at-bats, just watching.”
Pitching reinforcements could be coming: Rich Hill and Liam Hendriks updates
Hendriks began his rehab assignment on Sunday in Triple-A Worcester, pitching in his first game since undergoing Tommy John surgery a year ago. The veteran right-hander pitched a clean inning, recording outs on a fly out to center, a soft ground out fielded by the catcher and a ground out to short. He threw nine of 11 pitches for strikes and hit 95 mph on his four-seamer while mixing in his cutter, curveball and slider. The Red Sox are planning for him to make six-to-eight rehab appearances and it appears as long as he has no setbacks in between outings, he could be major-league ready some time in September.
Meanwhile, Hill, another veteran big-league pitcher, reported to Worcester on Sunday after officially signing a minor-league deal with the club.
The lefty threw a bullpen to catcher Kyle Teel.
Hill has been throwing bullpens since before a workout he held for major-league teams two weeks ago. According to WEEI.com, Hill also had faced hitters in the Cape Cod league in early August, taking a few trips to Falmouth to get a feel for how his stuff played while also using the team’s Trackman equipment for feedback.
Kyle Teel was 3 years old when Rich Hill made his MLB debut in 2005.
Now he’s catching his bullpen. pic.twitter.com/iP8CfSUY90
— Los Wepas de Worcester (@WooSox) August 18, 2024
Cora tried to temper expectations for Hill.
“Let’s see what happens,” Cora said. “Obviously, going to Worcester, and there’s no promises first. Second, role-wise — if it happens — he can start, he can open, he can come in in leverage, but first things first, let’s get him back on the mound, back to competing, and then we’ll go from there. But I do believe, he’s so diligent with his work and throughout the year, he’s staying on top of everything. He had the workouts, but he was throwing bullpens and all that. I don’t know how long he’s gonna take, if that’s the case, if we need him, but I know the person, the pitcher, he’ll be ready.”
(Photo of Rafaela making a throw from second base on Sunday: Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)
