Community Picks: Boston Red Sox 0% vs Toronto Blue Jays 0%

Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber beat the shift to lead off the bottom half of the first inning during Monday night’s game against the Brewers. The pull-prone slugger, facing an infield shifted to the right side, decided to lay down a bunt on first-pitch fastball from starter Chase Anderson. It was a beaut. The ball appeared to have enough momentum to carry foul, but it slowed up just enough after leaving the lip of the infield grass. The ball hugged the third-base foul line all the way up to the bag. Third baseman Travis Shaw watched in the hope that fate carried it just an inch further to the left, but to no avail. As the Cubs put it on Twitter, Schwarber [crushed] a leadoff single. Schwarber Continue to Article

April 18, 2017 3:32:am EST

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Eric Thames is back from a sojourn in the Korea Baseball Organization, and he’s brought back his immense power. Thames has been unstoppable since returning to Major League Baseball, hitting an incredible five home runs over his past five games. With the blast, Thames tied a team record for home runs in consecutive games. Continue to Article

April 17, 2017 11:27:pm EST

BOSTON - The Red Sox’ thin starting pitching depth is being tested two weeks into the season. Lefty Brian Johnson is set to make his 2017 Red Sox debut on Tuesday in Toronto in place of Eduardo Rodriguez, who was placed on the paternity list Monday for the birth of his second child.  Righty reliever Ben Taylor was added in place of Rodriguez on Monday, but his stay is likely to be short with Johnson joining the team Tuesday.  Johnson’s one of the top depth options the Sox have next to Kyle Kendrick, whose minor league season has not had a stellar beginning. Johnson, unlike Kendrick, can be freely moved between the major leagues and the minors. Johnson was in major league camp in spring training Continue to Article

April 17, 2017 10:37:am EST

There are several ways to do it, whether it involves scuffing up a baseball to make it move, using a foreign substance on the ball, corking a bat, or stealing signs and relaying them to the batter. Recently, St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina was caught with a sticky substance on his chest protector when the ball somewhat amazingly bounced in the dirt and stuck to him. No punishment was handed down, because a catcher having pine tar or something similar on his equipment isn’t against the rules — as long as he’s not using it on the ball, which officials could not determine. Continue to Article

April 16, 2017 11:20:pm EST

Steven Wright hopes his knuckleball wakes up before Tampa Bay's hitters do when the Boston Red Sox host the Rays in the annual Patriots Day game on Monday morning at Fenway Park. Wright (0-1, 13.50 ERA) served up a career-worst four homers and eight runs in 1 1/3 innings of a 12-5 loss to Baltimore last Monday for Boston, which emerged with a 7-5 win Sunday against Tampa Bay. The 32-year-old right-hander summed up the worst start of his career succinctly: "It was terrible," Wright said. Continue to Article

April 16, 2017 10:41:pm EST