He’s expected to have surgery Monday for a medial meniscus tear. With Ziegler not yet available to Boston, Uehara converted yet another save on Saturday in a 4-1 win over the Rays.
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“We’ve been trying. It’s just, they were ready to do it today”, Dombrowski said to WEEI. “It’s just something that has to happen”.
Kimbrel is 1-3 with a 3.55 ERA and 17 saves in 19 chances. Tazawa last pitched Sunday and is 1-1 with a 3.62 ERA in 35 appearances.
The move bolsters the Red Sox bullpen, which entered Saturday with a 3.92 ERA, eighth in the American League. But the Rays were able to manufacture two runs on RBIs by Brad Miller and Longoria in their half of the fifth to tie it up again.
Thankfully, after that first inning, Porcello did start to keep it down, and while the Rays were able to lift the ball, they weren’t able to put all that much on it. There was a big double from Corey Dickerson to start the second, but Porcello struck out two of the next three batters to keep him from scoring, and kept the Red Sox nice and close even as the offense put up zeroes in the first three frames. Uehara has performed well in the role the last three seasons but has had some problems this year coming out of the bullpen with a 4.81 ERA and two blown saves. In the top of the 4th Xander Bogaerts ended up making a throwing error that luckily didn’t end up turning into runs and then he immediately when he hit a 2 run home run in the bottom of the inning to give the Sox the lead. He was not placed on the DL but is not expected to play before the break. But at least he wasn’t Brock Holt or Hanley Ramirez, both of whom left Fenway Park in various states of discomfort with freshly sustained injuries.
May 21, 2016: Milwaukee Brewers Infielder Aaron Hill (9) [4171] throws out New York Mets Catcher Kevin Plawecki on a ground ball during the game between Milwaukee Brewers and the New York Mets at Citi Field in Flushing, NY. The two played ball against each other in the Cape Cod league and were teammates in Arizona.
INF/OF Michael Martinez was added to the 25-man roster after being acquired from Cleveland on Friday.
Dombrowski will also be looking to improve his rotation.
In the peak of his Red Sox career, he left a good impression, letting up little to no hits in his first few games.
He told reporters he plans to join the Red Sox on Saturday.
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Brad Ziegler joins the Red Sox at a very intriguing time, as in the last 32 hours Dombrowski has successfully pulled off 3 trades, all with a very specific goal in mind. Although hampered in the past two seasons by injuries, mostly due from getting hit on the wrist in the same spot by multiple pitches, he has stayed healthy this season and his game has benefitted as a result. “You can get starting pitching…but is it a starting pitcher that helps you?”
