All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 4-0 win over the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Chris Sale heads to IL with elbow inflammation: A bad season for the Red Sox' ace got worse on Saturday night as the team announced about an hour before the opening pitch that Sale was headed to the injury list with elbow inflammation. The starter felt stiffness after his last start and the team gave him an MRI on Saturday.
“We’re not taking any chances and putting him on the injured list,” Dave Dombrowski told reporters before the game.“There’s going to be further evaluation. Our doctors looked at the MRI. We’ll have other doctors look at the MRI. We’re in a situation where I don’t really know where it’s going to take us at this point. People will further read the MRIs and then they’ll make their diagnosis.”
Sale, 30, has struggled with late-season injuries during much of his Red Sox tenure and Dombrowski would not commit to the ace pitching again this year. The injury puts an already shorthanded pitching staff in a bind as the team fights to make up ground in the wildcard race.
Eduardo Rodriguez delivers a gem: The lefty starter delivered a season-high 7.1 innings in the combined shutout, his longest outing since 2017. Rodriguez scattered just four hits and two walks while striking out four Orioles on his way to a career-high 14th win. Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman shut the door on the hapless Orioles in relief, which improved the Red Sox to 18-5 in Rodriguez’s last 23 starts. With all the strong arms on the staff this year, Rodriguez has surprisingly been the most reliable name all year long.
Sox win fourth straight but fail to make up any ground in wildcard race: A pair of home runs from Brock Holt and Rafael Devers gave the Red Sox all the offense they needed in the middle innings to finish out their fourth straight win and guarantee a second straight series win. The strong stretch has produced plenty of solid starting pitching for a change but the timely streak has not been able to help much in the wildcard standings. Wins by the Rays and A’s kept the Sox trailing the final wildcard spot by 6.5 games still with just 37 games left to play.
TURNING POINT
Devers crushed a two-run home run in the seventh inning to push the Sox lead up to 4-0, giving the bullpen plenty of breathing room to close out the win. The third baseman now has 10 RBIs during his 7-game hitting streak.
TWO UP
Mookie Betts: The outfielder recorded multiple extra-base hits for the second consecutive game and has nine overall in his last eight games. He’s hitting .390 in his last 21 games at Fenway Park with a .768 slugging percentage over that stretch.
Rodriguez: The left-hander has a 14-3 record in his last 24 starts with a staff low 3.65 ERA. He has now delivered three scoreless starts this season.
ONE DOWN
Mitch Moreland: The first baseman went 0-for-4 and is now hitting just .231 on the season, which is on pace for his career-low.
QUOTE OF NOTE
“Somebody has to step up. It’s always tough no matter who the player is,. We’ve got to get going. That’s the way it is. We’ll see what happens in the upcoming days and we’ll go from there, but as of now he’s on the IL.” — Alex Cora on Sale’s injury
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The Red Sox have homered in 43 of their last 47 games and in 10 straight overall.
- This was the 7th shutout win of the season for Boston.
- Mookie Betts leads the MLB with 113 runs scored and is on pace for 145 on the year.
- The Orioles have lost six straight games and 11 of their last 12.