The Boston Red Sox were about 10 minutes into celebrating a tough win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday before getting a little bit of bad news.
Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters following Saturday’s 3-2 victory that Eduardo Rodriguez was scratched from his scheduled start Sunday. Henry Owens will come up from Pawtucket to make the start, and a corresponding move will come Sunday morning.
Rodriguez exited his last start against the Baltimore Orioles with hamstring tightness after four perfect innings. The left-hander threw briefly Saturday and still felt some discomfort, per the Providence Journal’s Tim Britton.
Farrell said Rodriguez will not go on the disabled list for now.
Owens was scratched from his start with the PawSox on Saturday as a result and has done well in Triple-A of late. The lefty threw seven innings of one-run ball in his last outing on Aug. 15 and has given up just four earned runs in his last four starts.
Here are some more notes from Saturday’s win.
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— On a lighter note, the Red Sox got what they wanted from their bullpen Saturday. Boston had to dip into the ‘pen early thanks to two and a half hours of rain delays, but Heath Hembree, Brad Ziegler, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel pitched well. Hembree’s solo home run to J.D. Martinez in the seventh inning was the only blemish charged to any of those four relievers over four innings of work.
— David Ortiz’s two-run homer in the fifth inning brought him to 29 home runs and 97 RBIs on the year, making it all but certain that he’ll tally a 10th 30-plus home run, 100-plus RBI season. It also gave him 1,500 RBIs with the Red Sox, a feat only Carl Yastrzemski (1,844) and Ted Williams (1,839) ever have pulled off.
— Injured left fielder Chris Young could rejoin the team as early as Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays, Farrell said before Saturday’s game. Young injured his hamstring on June 23 and is batting .217 (5-for-23) in seven rehab appearances in Pawtucket.
— Red Sox second base prospect Yoan Moncada made his first start Saturday with Double-A Portland since Aug. 12, and he showed some rust in his return from an ankle injury. Moncada went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts.
— Red Sox owner John Henry spoke to the media Saturday, and he had some input on the criticism Farrell has received this season.
“Managers are always overly blamed and John knows that comes with the territory,” Henry said, per the Boston Herald. “So do I. It’s mainly a radio and Internet thing. If you watch enough managers over 162 games, you know what’s important and a lot of it is how a manager manages the clubhouse. Is he doing everything he can to help his players be successful on the field for 162 games? Do they feel he has their backs? Are they willing to sacrifice personal goals for team goals? You often see the focus either on the field or off the field. That makes all the difference.
“In Boston both the GM and the manager have to have strong constitutions and remain above the criticism they inevitably get.”
Henry declined to answer follow-up questions about Farrell, per the Herald.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
