The Boston Red Sox dug themselves out of a hole in June to get back into the postseason race, and now they are facing more adversity.
Boston was swept by the host Los Angeles Dodgers coming out of the All-Star break last weekend, then dropped its fourth straight with a 9-8, 12-inning loss to the Colorado Rockies on Monday in Denver.
The Red Sox will try to end the skid in the middle contest of the three-game series against the Rockies on Tuesday night.
Colorado originally had German Marquez slated to start, but he was placed on the 15-day injured list on Monday due to right elbow inflammation.
Marquez started against the New York Mets on July 14 — his first outing in 15 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2023 — and he yielded three runs on five hits in four innings.
“When we came back from the break and got together on Thursday for our workout, through that Friday and Saturday, German’s arm just didn’t bounce back from the start in New York,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He was fired up in the start in New York, and he was turning the ball loose. But it was the right thing to do, to put him on the injured list. He was concerned with how he felt and he was tentative in his side session on Saturday.”
Black didn’t think the elbow ailment would keep Marquez down long.
Taking the vacant turn in the rotation on Tuesday will be left-hander Ty Blach (3-5, 5.46 ERA), starting again after four consecutive relief outings. In nine starts this year, Blach is 3-5 with a 5.83 ERA. He has no decisions and a 4.15 ERA in nine relief outings.
Blach has faced the Red Sox once in his career, when he gave up five runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings during a no-decision for the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 18, 2019.
Marquez isn’t the only Colorado player dealing with an injury. Catcher Elias Diaz missed his second straight game with a slight calf strain sustained on Saturday, and third baseman Ryan McMahon is dealing with a sore hand after getting hurt on Sunday.
With McMahon out of the lineup on Monday, Aaron Schunk played third and had two hits and a walk.
Boston also is down a key player for the series — closer Kenley Jansen, who did not make the trip to Denver. Jansen has dealt with the heart condition atrial fibrillation throughout his career and previous trips to Denver have caused him issues.
The decision to not have Jansen not make the trip was made by the club before the season started.
“In 2022 (with the Braves) was the last time I went there, and when I went back to Atlanta, I started having issues and then after a couple of weeks, I went back to afib,” Jansen said. “I’m just trying to avoid that right now and try to get to the postseason, and I don’t think that’s a great time to go there and mess things up, and next thing you know, it’s going to hurt the team more. I would rather skip that one and be ready for the Yankees series.”
The Red Sox aren’t able to replace him on the roster and are a pitcher down in the bullpen. His absence was felt in the Monday game when Boston took the lead in the 10th and 12th inning and couldn’t close it out either time.
Cooper Criswell (3-4, 4.50 ERA) will start for the Red Sox on Tuesday. The right-hander is 1-3 with a 6.94 ERA in his past five starts, most recently allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings against the Kansas City Royals on July 12.
Criswell will be facing the Rockies for the first time in his career.
–Field Level Media