BOSTON — White Sox starter Davis Martin thought something was up by the comfortable swings the Red Sox were taking during their six-run first inning Tuesday.
“Some of the adjustments we made there after, we started getting a lot more weak contact, a lot more swing and miss,” Martin said. “I definitely think there’s something to it. So something we have to go look at in between starts and see if we can clean it up.”
That something is tipping. If it seemed like the Red Sox knew what was coming early in their 14-2 pounding of the White Sox, it’s probably because they did. In that fateful first, the Red Sox hit two singles, a double and two home runs, including a grand slam by Caleb Durbin.
“We’re going to go back and see what the tip is and how long we’ve been doing it and if that’s going to answer some questions,” said Martin, who allowed nine earned runs in the game and has given up 23 in his last 25 ⅔ innings, covering five starts. “If it doesn’t, we still have to make some better pitches. But it would explain some things.”
Injured catcher Kyle Teel caught the tipping from the dugout and alerted Martin and new catcher Joey Bart.
“It just seemed like every wrinkle we threw at them they capitalized [on],” Bart said. “A lot of times you get away with a lot of stuff, and tonight we didn’t. The Red Sox have a history of being really good with that. You know that going into the series. They’ve always been on top of that. So credit to them; it’s part of the game.”
Erick Fedde, in his first outing since moving to the bullpen, followed Martin and didn’t fare much better, allowing four runs (three earned) in the Red Sox’ second six-run inning of the game in the sixth. The Red Sox, who have 24 victories in their last 27 games, showed no signs of slowing down and no mercy. The 14 runs tied for the most the White Sox have allowed this year.
The White Sox’ hitters weren’t much better than their pitchers, though they equaled their run total (two) from the series in which the Red Sox swept them last month at Rate Field. At least the White Sox won’t face two of the pitchers who stymied them in that series, lefties Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett. But on Wednesday they get Sonny Gray, who’s 13-2 with a 2.93 ERA.
Questions with Quero
White Sox manager Will Venable shared some behind-the-scenes insight into catcher Edgar Quero’s demotion to Triple-A Charlotte. Though Quero came on at the plate in the last week, he still wasn’t doing enough to keep his spot.
“The things that we’ve asked him to do in the weight room, the training room, some of the preparation stuff, he’s really done a nice job of that, and we saw positive results from that,” Venable said. “But we really believe strongly that there’s even more of a better version of him out there, and to send him back down to work on those things I think is really important.”
Notes
In addition to Quero, the Sox optioned left-hander Tyler Schweitzer to Charlotte. He had posted back-to-back outings of three scoreless innings in relief. The Sox also activated lefty Tyler Gilbert from the injured list and optioned him to Charlotte.
• Rehabbing outfielder Austin Hays (strained left calf) has seven hits in his last 23 at-bats for Charlotte, including three homers. But general manager Chris Getz said the Sox don’t have clarity on his status. “It’s been a long road for him,” Getz said. “We have decisions ahead of us.”
• Shortstop Roch Cholowsky, whom the Sox selected with the first pick in the MLB Draft, made his professional debut at High-A Winston-Salem. Batting second against Asheville, he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a walk.