Author Archives: @MrMac91

Sox Optimistic Following Tyler Thornburg’s Rough Outing

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After allowing three earned runs in the sixth inning during Saturday night’s 5-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers, right-hander Tyler Thornburg’s ERA rose to 10.38 in five games since making his long-awaited debut with the team on July 6.

The big blow off Thornburg was a two-run shot by light-hitting Jose Iglesias, who drove in four of Detroit’s five runs. The homer was Iglesias’ third of the year, and third overall against his former team.

A Decent Start

Prior to Saturday, Thornburg was coming off consecutive scoreless appearances after allowing a single run in each of his first two outings. Additionally, Thornburg’s allowed at least one hit in all five games he’s pitched. He is still looking for that clean inning.

It was certainly not the start Thornburg and fans were hoping for.

Working Out The Kinks

Despite Thornburg’s rocky start to the season after missing all of 2017, the Red Sox are optimistic he’ll turn things around. Following Saturday night’s loss, team coaches Dana LeVangie and Craig Bjornson studied video of Thornburg during the game. They compared it to video of him during his breakout 2016 campaign with the Milwaukee Brewers.

According to MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, LeVangie and Bjornson identified a mechanical flaw with Thornburg. Manager Alex Cora chimed in, saying he’s hopeful it’ll be “the last hurdle” for Thornburg to overcome in his road back from thoracic outlet sydrome surgery.

Prior to Sunday’s series finale, Thornburg was working to correct the flaw with LeVangie and Bjornson.

Help Is On The Way

Assuming Thornburg fixes the problem, it should be nothing but good news for the Red Sox. The bullpen has gone through a stretch of unreliability as of late, and an effective Thornburg can no doubt help fix that situation.

Xander Bogaerts’ Walk-Off Slam the First for Sox in Almost 18 Years (@MrMac91)

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On Saturday afternoon, shortstop Xander Bogaerts hit his third grand slam of the season. It came in the bottom of the 10th to give Boston a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Bogaerts’ slam was his second huge hit in the game. Previously he hit a leadoff double to begin the bottom of the ninth to set the stage for Jackie Bradley Jr.’s game-tying double two pitches later. Closer Craig Kimbrel then came on to pitch a scoreless tenth inning to earn the win.

With the win, the Red Sox improved their MLB-best record to 67-30.

The walk-off shot was Boston’s ninth grand slam of the season, which ties the Cincinnati Reds for the most in baseball. It’s also Bogaerts’ third this year. In 2017, the Red Sox were unable to muster even one grand slam.

This was Boston’s first walk-off grand slam since August 14, 2000, when Rico Brogna smashed one against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Bogaerts, 25, continues to rake this year as he enters Sunday’s first-half finale with a .284/.355/.529 slash line. He also has 15 homers and 62 RBIs, which is impressive considering he was out for three weeks in April.