NEW YORK — Brayan Bello threw 28 pitches in his abbreviated start last night in Game 2, and Garrett Whitlock threw a season-high 47 pitches over his 1.2 innings in the seventh and eighth.
If needed, both will be available to pitch again in Game 3.
Prior to first pitch Red Sox manager Alex Cora said everyone will be available out of the bullpen on Thursday, Bello and Whitlock included, and that they will use everyone in whatever fashion it takes to win.
Would that include multiple innings for Whitlock?
“We’ll see where he’s at and we’ll use him however we feel is good for us,” Cora said, giving a similar response regarding closer Aroldis Chapman as well.
The only Red Sox pitcher who likely won’t be considered is Garrett Crochet, who threw 117 pitches in Game 1 on Tuesday night. Asked about the ace’s availability in the late innings, Cora was initially evasive before acknowledging that they’ll likely stay away from him.
“I’ve seen weird stuff happen in this stadium before, so we’ll see,” Cora said. “I can’t say maybe, nah, we’ll see. Probably not.”
After using seven relievers in Wednesday’s Game 2 loss the Red Sox would no doubt prefer a lighter workload for the bullpen in the series finale. To that end, the club will be counting on 23-year-old rookie Connelly Early to pitch deep into the game and on the bats to give the team an early lead.
“Hopefully today we can score a bunch of runs and they keep me out of it,” Cora said. “I joked with them like score a lot, pitch well and I’ll stay away from it, hopefully that happens and we can hop on a plane to Toronto.”
