BOSTON — Things didn’t go so hot for the Red Sox against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night, and they weren’t much better down on the farm.
Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez made his first rehab appearance with Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday after hyperextending his knee in spring training, and it certainly wasn’t the Rodriguez Boston got used to seeing last season. The left-hander lost 3-1 to the Syracuse Chiefs after surrendering three runs — though just two of them were earned — and six hits with three walks and two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings of work and 75 pitches.
Rodriguez gave up the first run in the first inning after allowing Washington Nationals outfielder Ben Revere, who’s also rehabbing, to score on his own throwing error. Rodriguez then gave up three straight singles in the second to load the bases with no outs and allowed two more to score on another single by Revere and a sacrifice fly. He did settle down and retire six of the last seven batters he faced, though.
Red Sox manager John Farrell said before the Red Sox’s 5-3 loss to the Braves on Thursday that Rodriguez would start again Tuesday and the team would re-evaluate from there. Based on that, it wouldn’t be surprising if Rodriguez gets a third rehab start before returning to the team.
Here are some more notes from Thursday’s loss.
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— The Red Sox could have had some more runs in the first inning, if it wasn’t for a very confusing play involving Xander Bogaerts. The Red Sox shortstop walked and made it to second after David Ortiz reached first on an error. Bogaerts was originally called safe when Braves shortstop Erick Aybar didn’t touch the bag, but Bogaerts got up and started to walk off when Aybar tagged him out.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Bogaerts said. “The play was right in front of me … so I couldn’t see him say anything, but I just assumed I was out because I didn’t hear anything.”
— Starter Clay Buchholz is on a streak, but it’s not a good one. The Red Sox now have lost the last seven of his starts dating back to July 10, 2015, which is the longest stretch of his career without a team win.
—Â The Red Sox took three out of four against the Braves but have yet to win a home series after the first two games against Atlanta took place at Turner Field. They’re 0-2-2 in series at Fenway Park in 2016.
— Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez caught Braves center fielder Mallex Smith stealing third in the sixth inning for his third caught stealing in five attempts this season. He’s 6-of-8 on attempted base stealers dating back to Sept. 14, 2014, so, yeah, it’s probably not a good idea to run on Vazquez.
— Here’s an interesting tidbit about Dustin Pedroia: The Red Sox second baseman added to his interleague average, going 2-for-5 to put it at .338. That’s good for second all-time behind Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza (.340).
— Hanley Ramirez went through a dry spell but went 3-for-4 with two RBIs on Thursday, and he’s driven in a run in each of his last four games and six of his last seven. The first baseman has brought his average up to .287.
— Back to Pawtucket, catcher Blake Swihart made his first appearance in left field. He caught both fly balls that went his way, including a sinking liner he had to tumble to catch. He went 0-for-4, however, bringing his Triple-A average down to .205 (8-for-39).
Thumbnail photo via Kelvin Kuo/USA TODAY Sports Images
