Josh Winckowski, top pitching prospects shine: Matthew Lugo, Ryan Fitzgerald carry Red Sox offense to walk-off win over Rays
The Red Sox continued their Grapefruit League play on Sunday with the Tampa Bay Rays in town. Red Sox pitching kept them in the game early on as runs came in the bottom of the sixth off of the bat of prospect Matthew Lugo. A bases clearing double had put the Red Sox up 4-1 and that would hold up until the eighth inning.
Jacob Webb came on to pitch the eighth inning and walked the bases loaded. He ended up paying the price as he gave up a grand slam and the Rays would only have the lead for a half inning.
Matthew Lugo came through in the bottom of the eighth and delivered a game-tying triple to tie the game 6-6. The Red Sox drew a couple of walks to start the bottom half of the ninth inning as Ryan Fitzgerald, a Grapefruit League standout over the past couple of years, stepped up to deliver the walk-off RBI to end the game. Lugo carried the Red Sox offense with 5 RBIs in the game.
Josh Winckowski got the start on Sunday in his first game action of the Spring. Winckowski bounced between the MLB and AAA last year and is aiming for a bit more consistency this year. With a much improved slider heading into 2023, Winckowski pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts and only one hit given up. He is currently battling with a handful of guys aiming to get some time in the starting rotation at the big league level at some point this year.
After Winckowski, we got to see a few of the top pitching prospects in the Red Sox system in Chris Murphy, Bryan Mata, and Brandon Walter.
Murphy is coming off a full year in Worcester in 2022 and hoping to rebound after a year where he saw some of his numbers in places they haven’t been before. He finished with the highest ERA of his professional career and the lowest K/9 of his career. Murphy looked good today and pitched a scoreless top of the third. The Red Sox added him to the 40-man roster in November.
Bryan Mata is the Red Sox highest rated pitching prospect, and he showed exactly why with a scoreless top of the fourth. He might not be the first arm called up this year, but his talent is hard to deny.
Brandon Walter had his turn come around in the top of the fifth. Walter is coming off a shortened 2022 due to a bulging disk in his upper back that was originally diagnosed as a neck strain.
All four of the pitchers above are projected to start the year in the WooSox starting rotation alongside Kutter Crawford.
On the hitting side of things, Yoshida Masataka made his Grapefruit League debut with the Red Sox and recorded his first hit.
Alongside Yoshida, Alex Verdugo had went 2-2 with an RBI. Turner, Devers, Hernandez, Duvall, and Casas all went hitless in the game in two at-bats each.
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