The Atlanta Braves completely outclassed the Red Sox 10-3 Tuesday night, driven by three homers from Braves DH Marcel Osuna.
Osuna hit one in the first, added a solo shot in the seventh and saved his best for last in the eight, with a monstrous shot to center, carrying up beyond the bleacher seats and striking a camera platform. He had six RBI for the night.
The lone bright spots for the Sox were Ryan Weber who rebounded from allowing two runs in the first and added three scoreless frames thereafter and Alex Verdugo has two hits, a run scored and an RBI.
WHO: Red Sox (12-23) vs. Atlanta Braves (20-14)
WHEN: 7:30
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: ATL 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Ryan Weber (0-2, 6.00) vs. RHP Ian Anderson (0-1, 1.50)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Verdugo RF
Vazquez C
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Chavis 1B
Bradley CF
Munoz DH
Lin LF
Arauz 2B
BRAVES
Swanson SS
Freeman 1B
Ozuna DH
Markakis LF
d'Arnaud C
Riley 3B
Duvall RF
Camargo 3B
Inciarte CF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:07 It's the Marcel Ozuna Show, folks. Ozuna hits his third homer of the night -- all off different pitchers. This one, with two runners on, was belted to straightaway center field, hitting the camera position below the scoreboard. What a shot.
9:39 Second tape-measure shot of the night for Marcel Ozuna -- this one, off Kyle Hart, in his first relief appearance, was more of a line drive.
9:18 Not much that Jonathan Arauz could do there -- big chopper to the right of the mound that Arauz charged but had to wait on, and with the speedy Ender Inciarte running, no chance of an out at first as the second run of the inning crosses the plate.
9:09 Robert Stock has gotten into the bad habit of putting the first hitter he faces on base -- often by walk. He's retired the first hitter just once in five outings.
8:34 To his credit, Ryan Weber has really settled in. After being pounded in the first inning -- three hits, all hard -- Weber has set down the last seven in a row and 10 of the last 11.
8:25 Rafael Devers continues with his run production, singling in Lin. That's five RBI in the last three games
8:18 Verdugo again -- ground ball single up the middle to score Tzu-Wei Lin from second base. Sox cut into the lead. Five hits in the last two nights from Verdugo.
7:55 Sox waste a leadoff single from Alex Verdugo, who's hit safely in 23 of his last 25 games. Reaches on a single to right, but never moves as the next three hitters go down in order.
7:40 Booming ball to the triangle by Austin Riley, played expertly by Jackie Bradley Jr, who handles the carom and fires the ball back in, holding Travis d'Arnaud (single) at third, preventing a run.
7:37 In his previous starts this season, Ryan Weber had struggled with walks and homers. So, three batters in, he's issued a one-out walk to Freddie Freeman and a towering homer by Marcel Ozuna.
PRE-GAME NOTES:by
- J.D. Martinez is out of the lineup for the second straight night after getting plunked on the left hand with a fastball late in Sunday's game. 'He's doing better, for sure,'' said Ron Roenicke. "They're treating him now. He'll try to get a bat in his hands later on and see what he can do. Hopefully tonight we can use him in a pinch-hit situation and then hopefully back in the lineup tomorrow.''
- Yairo Munoz, recalled from the alternate training site Monday, makes his Red Sox debut as the DH tonight.
- LHP (left SC joint) should be cleared to begin baseball activities "in a few days. If he's not sore at all, I'm sure he can start throwing again. But they want to wait a few days for that.''
- The Sox are officially undecided on a starter for the series finale with the Braves, but LHP Mike Kickham will be in the mix. Kickham was recalled from the alternate training site Monday afternoon. He could either start the game or be the bulk pitcher in relief of an opener. Kickham has major league appearances and three starts, but hasn't pitched in the big leagues since 2014.
- Andrew Benintendi (rib strain) remains "a ways away. He's still on the treadmill. He's better sleeping now and doesn't have as much pain as he did before, but it's still there. Any rotational activity is still painful. Unfortunately, this thing is slow, like we thought it possibly could be.'' With less than four weeks remaining on the schedule and Benintendi still not having picked up a bat, it's hardly a given that Benintendi plays again this season. "I think that's a possibility,'' acknowledged Roenicke. "I hope somewhere along the line here, we get rid of the soreness and he's able to progress quickly. But it's just too hard to say.''
- Roenicke said the Sox did discuss the possibility of recalling Jarren Duran after the trade of Kevin Pillar. "I know we talked about him,'' Roenicke said. "But Chaim and his crew feel like he is a ways away and didn't want to rush bringing him up here and playing him. I look at his reports all the time and he's doing well. But he's still got some development and he's a guy we need to take care of and do the right thing with because he could be a pretty special player.''
- Roenicke backed the job done by first-year pitching coach Dave Bush, despite the team's struggles. "It's a pretty difficult year to assess what a guy does because there's so many things that have come up this year. But just me personally, looking at what he's done, as a first-year coach having to deal with the things that he's had to deal with, he is really doing a good job. I know sometimes you may look at a team ERA or what the starters are doing and what the relievers are doing, but this is a weird year and I don't think it's fair to judge a first-year guy on something like this. For me, I know the work he puts in, I know what he's done. I know that, even when things are going really bad, how he stayed focused on what he needs to do. Very difficult year for him, no question about it. I like what he's done and I've relayed that message upstairs to let them know what I think.''