Kelly has allowed 20 hits and eight earned runs in 16 1/3 innings in the three games, but only three runs in 11 1/3 in the last two. At 25 years and 118 days, Bradley was the youngest big leaguer ever to have five extra-base hits in a game.
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Lovullo claims to have seen improvement out of Ramirez. but says the team is still working with him to kick some of his infield instincts such as wanting to come in on balls hit his way. Since that date, he leads the majors in total bases (32), slugging (1.143) and OPS (1.705).
Trevor Bauer (9-10) was pulled early from a second straight start for the Indians. In his last 49 games after that date, he had 3 extra-base hits, all doubles.
When the Red Sox figure out a solution that takes Ramirez off the field, and lets Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts handle left field and center field full time, the team will be way better off. But for now, you’ll have to deal with polar opposites bringing both joy and misery to the Fenway field.
While Bradley and Castillo were swinging hot bats during Ramirez’s seven-game absence – especially Bradley, who hit. Granted, it’s a small pool of players who have played all three outfield positions in such a short span, but you probably could count on one hand the number of outfielders who have matched that feat in a century-plus of big-league hardball. He has, however, doubled in each of his last two starts. It was Bradley’s turn Tuesday.
Amazingly, he makes Manny Ramirez look like a Gold Glover.
Ramirez’s defense has been legendarily bad, and with the Red Sox going nowhere this season they should nearly leave him out there just for the sheer entertainment value. The lineup card is a collaborative effort, a fancy way of saying GM Ben Cherington has plenty of input. “Hanley Ramirez is our left fielder and I think we’re going to stay with that, ” Lovullo said before the game. “So no he’s not getting any type of work at first base at this point”, Torey Lovullo said of Ramirez.
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Cleveland’s only run came on Michael Brantley’s homer in the seventh. The Sox want to gather more intelligence the rest of the way to determine whether the past few weeks are a mirage or not, and how the trio fits into their vision for next year: to be an overall better defensive squad without sacrificing offense.
