Red Sox option Zack Kelly to Triple-A Worcester; Fitts start spoiled by bullpen
The Red Sox are optioning right-handed reliever Zack Kelly to Triple-A Worcester, according to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
In the bottom of the seventh with the Red Sox leading 4-0, Kelly imploded. He would walk the eighth and ninth hitters in Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo. Then leadoff man Gleyber Torres laced a single through the left side, scoring Volpe from second, making it 4-1.
“It’s a 4-0 lead with the eighth and ninth hitter up, and we did throw strikes,” said manager Alex Cora.
Cora saw enough and went to lefty Cam Booser to face Juan Soto, whom he promptly walked on four pitches. Aaron Judge would come to the plate with the bases loaded and having not homered in 75 plate appearances (16 games).
Booser left a 2-0 heater over the heart of the dish, and Judge obliterated the pitch, sending it over the left field wall for a grand slam. As Judge rounded the bases, 45,292 fans chanted “MVP” as he rounded the bases. The blast was Judge’s 52nd homer of the season.
“I put [Booser] in that situation,” said Kelly. “Tough situation for anybody. You know, he’s been a workhorse for us this year. So my mentality is that the situation never should have happened in the first place. I take ownership of that. I don’t blame any of it on anybody but myself.”
The Red Sox have allowed an astonishing nine grand slams this season, while not hitting one of their own.
“We ran ourselves into a corner with the best hitter in the American League,” said Cora. “He did what he’s been doing the whole season. Just a tough one. If you throw strikes and they get hits, it’s [OK]. But we didn’t do that.”
The loss felt like a backbreaker for a team trying to remain relevant in the playoff hunt.
“It’s up there with some of them,” said Cora on where this loss ranks in terms of crushing defeats. “But then you look up and you’re like, ‘Man, how,’ right? I mean, I hate to say it, but it’s still there for us. We just got to win a few games and make it interesting next week. Are there other teams that are playing better than us? Yeah. Are there other teams that are playing just like us. Yeah, it’s true.”
The Sox (74-74) didn’t lose ground in their wild-card chase, remaining 4 1/2 games behind the Twins for the final wild-card spot. Time is running out with just 14 games remaining on their schedule.
Aaron Judge’s grand slam was the eighth of his career and snapped his homer drought. The All-Star had no idea he hadn’t hit a home run in 16 games until it was pointed out by the New York media after the game.
"Was it 16 games? I didn't really know that," Judge said. "It's just another day. I really don't focus on hitting homers. I don't focus on any of that. I've got a job to do.
"Sixteen games—is that a lot or was it not? I don't know."
The 16 games between blasts was the longest streak of his career.
"It's the most?" Judge asked. "It'll probably be longer at some point in my career. So, we'll definitely break that."
Richard Fitts made his second start of the season and his first against the Yankees, the team that traded him and two pitchers for outfielder Alex Verdugo last December.
Fitts pitched well, tossing five scoreless innings, giving up two hits while walking three and striking out two. His two strikeouts were Juan Soto and Aaron Judge.
The rookie was announced as a last-minute starter for Tanner Houck, who is dealing with right shoulder fatigue. Boston was hopefully their best starting pitcher could make his scheduled start; Houck has gone 0-4 with a 4.78 ERA over his last nine starts since the All-Star break. If he had started for Boston on Friday night, it would have been his 10th career start against the Yankees; Houck is 3-3 with a 2.38 ERA with 43 strikeouts over 53 innings.
“I’m just super blessed and super thankful to have the opportunity to wear a Red Sox uniform now and hopefully for a long time to come,” Fitts said.
Fitts would retire the first two hitters he faced in the first inning and then walked three straight batters. The righty then fell behind Jazz Chisholm 3-0 but ultimately got him to fly out to center field.
“That’s something I don’t want to do—walk three guys in the inning or walk three guys in general,” Fitts said.
He put only two more hitters on base and ended his outing having retired 12 of 13. Fitts has allowed two unearned runs over 10 2/3 frames over his first two starts.
