Boston’s initial plan appears to be to split closing duties between the 36-year-old Ziegler and 41-year-old Koji Uehara, the latter of whom preceded Kimbrel as Boston’s closer and has converted all three of his final-inning save chances this season, two of them coming in the last two weeks.
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Koji Uehara, returning to the closer role after the Kimbrel injury, let up a leadoff single down the left field line to Evan Longoria.
RHP Brad Ziegler was acquired in a trade with Arizona on Saturday morning, with Boston sending back RHP Jose Almonte and 2B Luis Alejandro Basabe.
Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts slides safely home as the ball gets past Tampa Bay Rays catcher Curt Casali during the fifth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Saturday, July 9, 2016. Zielger doesn’t strike many batters out, but he has nonetheless posted a 2.49 ERA (164 ERA+) over eight-plus major league seasons split between both leagues. “The first time that he had been away from the Tigers after six full years in the big leagues there”. “We should have played better and these things wouldn’t be happening”. “It’s something that I feel like we can go in, get it scoped out, get it cleaned out”.
David Ortiz hit his 21st home run of the season, and recent call-up Bryce Brentz had two hits and broke a tie with an RBI single in the sixth to help the Red Sox beat the Rays 6-5 on Friday night.
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To create a spot on the 40-man roster for Ziegler, the Red Sox transferred left fielder/catcher Blake Swihart to the 60-day disabled list. First, by adding Aaron Hill to provide a right-handed bat to come off the bench and potentially split time with Travis Shaw, and Michael Martinez to bring more versatility into the fold. That said, in May and June he was excellent, allowing just four earned runs in 19 appearances. That will play well in Boston, as the home run has been a problem for Uehara and other Boston relievers this season. Tampa Bay LHP Dana Eveland cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Durham. At 10-5 with a 2.68 ERA, knuckleballer Steven Wright – who was not even expected to make the team out of spring training – has been Boston’s most reliable and consistent starter. I don’t really care what my role is, I’m just excited to be on a contender and try to help the team win. Farrell also said 1B Hanley Ramirez was “sore”. “Something he’s been battling for some time, and he needs some downtime to recover from this”, Red Sox manager John Farrell said. O’Sullivan is 2-0 with a 6.75 ERA in five games (four starts) with Boston this season.
