Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora emerged from the dugout to remove his starting pitcher with just one out in the third inning of Wednesday’s game two against the New York Yankees. It worked out for him as Justin Wilson worked his way out of a jam, keeping the score tied at two.
After Wilson, Cora used five more pitchers from his bullpen. Justin Slaten threw 2/3 of an inning, Steven Matz threw one, Zack Kelly covered another and Garrett Whitlock threw 1 2/3. Payton Tolle recorded the final out of the eighth inning as well.
While Wilson, Slaten, Matz, Kelly and Tolle all should be available for game three on Thursday. Garrett Whitlock, however, might not be.
“We’ll check with [Whitlock], he’ll get a lot of treatment and we’ll see where we’re at tomorrow, but the rest are in good shape,” Cora said.
The Red Sox righty threw 47 pitches on Thursday. His season high entering the game was 43, all the way back on April 6. The last time he exceeded 30 pitches was back on June 23.
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Whitlock has worked on back-to-back days eight times this season. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in those games and has struck out 13 over six innings. If he isn’t available, the Red Sox will have to lean on other arms. Greg Weissert and Kyle Harrison have yet to appear in the series.
Connelly Early is set to start Thursday’s series finale. Cora is typically aggressive in postseason games, so Early might have a short leash, much like Bello.
