Eduardo Rodriguez tossed a dud Thursday night against the Baltimore Orioles, but it could have been a lot worse.
The Boston Red Sox left-hander gave up seven runs, including four home runs, during Boston’s 7-5 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards. Rodriguez fell while warming up in the bullpen before the game, and while that might have affected his outing, the young lefty pinned the poor performance on a lack of execution and said he was not affected by the slip.
“I just missed my pitches,” Rodriguez said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Those guys (Orioles), when you miss that’ll happen, they made good contact and hit homers. I just missed my pitches. Got too much of the strike zone. ”
While Rodriguez claims there were no ill effects from the fall, it appeared that it might have caused him to alter his delivery. Rodriguez’s normal high leg kick appeared to turn into a slide step, which could cause his hips to open up early, giving the hitters a better look at the ball coming out of his hand.
But manager John Farrell seconded his pitcher’s evaluation of the outing.
“He didn’t have his usual stuff that we’ve seen over the past half dozen or so starts,” Farrell said on NESN’s postgame coverage. “But taking away from Eddie’s start (Thursday night), maybe not the consistent finish to his pitches that we’ve seen from him.”
It appears the Red Sox can breathe a sigh of relief.
Here are more notes from Red Sox-Orioles.
— The Red Sox reversed Robbie Ross Jr.’s option to Triple-A Pawtucket and placed him on the major league disabled list with left elbow inflammation.
— Farrell announced the swelling in second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s wrist has gone down, according to Mass Live’s Christopher Smith.
— Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez is hitting .429 during his current seven-game hit streak.
— Red Sox relief pitcher Fernando Abad struck out Jonathan Schoop with a 60-mph pitch during the eighth inning Thursday. You don’t often see that.
Thumbnail photo via Patrick McDermott/USA TODAY Sports Images
