Justin Turner's possible path to managing
Desperation is never a good look coming out of an All-Star break.
So many times, you have a team trying desperately to use the few days off to convince itself that if just a little goes right here, and a little goes right there, the path to contention will open up. The Red Sox have lived that life.
One that jumps to mind is 2015 when the Sox kicked off their post-All-Star Game schedule with series in Anaheim and then Houston, having finished the first half at 42-47. First came the 1-0 loss to the Angels. Six straight defeats later, Boston was returning home without a shred of optimism.
Or how about last season, when the Red Sox' response to J.D. Martinez said if he was a betting man he would be betting on his club? First game back ... a 28-5 walloping at the hands of the Blue Jays, who would also take the next two at Fenway.
There are plenty of teams in Major League Baseball right now which are grasping at such hope, including the one that lost to the Red Sox, 8-3, Friday night at Wrigley Field, the Cubs. Before the series opener, Chicago President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer met the media and attempted to offer how his club might be approaching the MLB Trade Deadline at the end of the month. There were no easy answers. Seven games back. Five games under .500. (Make that six games under.)
Jed Hoyer explains Cubs' approach to Deadline
So, you're saying there is a chance ...
The Mets. The Padres. The Mariners. The Angels. The Tigers. They all are hanging off the cliff, desperately hoping for a surge coming out of the break to help lift them up.
The Red Sox? Well, after winning their sixth in a row, putting them two games out of the final Wild Card spot, six games over .500 and tied with the Yankees, their footing seems as solid as it has perhaps all season.
Players who they were hoping used the rest to revitalize themselves seemed to do just that, with Rafael Devers coming out of the game with two home runs, and Adam Duvall and Triston Casas showing the best versions of themselves with a blast apiece.
“Obviously, the All-Star Game is something that everybody wants to go to. It's a big honor,” Devers said “But with those three, four days off, I was able to rest, recharge. But still, the All-Star Game is something that I would like to go to every year.”
And then there was starter Brayan Bello, the young ace who Devers promised he would deliver two home runs to prior to the game.
The line in his seventh straight quality start might not have been as spectacular as some - giving up three runs on eight hits over six innings - but it was somewhat understandable considering the conditions. The two homers to left-center field he surrendered to Cody Bellinger would have have been out of just one park in the big leagues - Wrigley.
All in all, the Red Sox righty out-dueled a pretty good starter in the Cubs' Kyle Hendricks, who came in with an identical ERA (3.06) to Bello. And that's what aces do.
Jarren Duran also kept doing his thing, as did Masa Yoshida (with each notching a pair of hits). And even Yu Chang, the shortstop who has come back to solidify defense at shortstop, popped out a late-game homer into the gusty Chicago night.
Chris Sale is throwing a bullpen Tuesday. Trevor Story is on the verge of starting his rehab assignments. John Schreiber is inching close to a a return. And the Red Sox actually won their first game out of the break, which is a whole lot better than losing by 23 runs. Been there, done that.
That momentum they garnered last week at Fenway? It turns out it made the trip to Wrigley.