There wasn’t much to get excited about for the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night in the series finale against the Cleveland Indians.
Chris Sale turned in his worst start of the season, as the left-hander was shelled for six runs on seven hits over just three innings of work. Sale wasn’t the only Boston pitcher who struggled, though, as Cleveland collected 18 hits in its 13-6 blowout victory.
But the pitching woes weren’t the biggest cause for concern Thursday night. In the seventh inning, Mookie Betts exited the game with a right knee contusion. After the game, Red Sox manager John Farrell provided an update on Betts’ ailment.
“It’s a contusion of the right knee from two impacts tonight: one up against the wall and another one where he made a diving play,” Farrell said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “Little bit of swelling in there, day-to-day for right now. He’s gone through a number of physical examinations in the training room and nothing is limiting him, but still some soreness there. So we’ll check and see if he’s available tomorrow.”
It was a rough series for Red Sox outfielders. Jackie Bradley Jr. suffered a thumb injury in Tuesday’s contest, which forced the center fielder onto the 10-day disabled list. Boston added outfield depth Wednesday with the acquisition of Rajai Davis, but the Sox, of course, can ill-afford to lose Betts for an extended period of time as they fight for a division title.
Here are some other notes from Red Sox-Indians.
— Sale only has allowed six runs or more 12 times in his career. Five of those, however, have come against the Indians. As his struggles against Cleveland continue, Farrell noted some additional scouting could be necessary.
“Well that’s where we have to go back and look at not only the two starts this year, but maybe over the course of a bigger time period where there might be other starts where we really comb through some video and to see if there’s any common thread throughout,” he said. “We know that there are certain guys in that lineup that have had success against him and we may have to look a little bit more explicitly at how we devise a game plan against them.”
— Mitch Moreland continues to stay red-hot for Boston, as he blasted two home runs and collected four RBIs in his 3-for-4 effort at the plate. The first baseman now has 17 homers on the season and six in his last eight games.
— Rafael Devers is amid a rough slump, as the rookie only has one hit in his last 19 at-bats.
— David Price, still rehabbing his elbow injury, plans to throw from 120 feet Friday as he takes steps toward returning to the mound.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
