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<\/p>\nBALTIMORE \u2013 With 28 games left in the regular season, at a time when wear and tear on big league bullpens is setting in, the back of the Boston Red Sox bullpen keeps getting better. And the group is about to get a major boost.<\/p>\n
Reliever Justin Slaten, who\u2019s been out with shoulder\/neck inflammation, is expected to be activated on Thursday after missing 76 games.<\/p>\n
The right-hander who played an important eighth-inning set-up role the last two years has slowly worked his way back from a prolonged absence, but is rejoining the team for the stretch run as the Red Sox fight to secure a postseason spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s go-time now,\u201d manager Alex Cora said before a 3-2 comeback win over the Orioles, in which the bullpen played a key role. \u201cAdding another high-leverage arm (in Slaten) is important. We\u2019re going to manage the game aggressively to win games, and we need everybody in the bullpen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Closer Aroldis Chapman is in the midst of a historic streak. He set a Red Sox franchise record of 14 consecutive hitless appearances, the longest in the majors since 2016, and Boston\u2019s bullpen overall has been one of the best in baseball.<\/p>\n
Boston\u2019s relievers own a 3.39 ERA, leading the American League and ranking third in the majors.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Aroldis Chapman has faced 41 straight batters without allowing a hit. (Patrick Smith \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the bullpen overall, they\u2019re doing a great job,\u201d said starter Brayan Bello through a translator. \u201cWe\u2019re going to need them if we want to get where we want to go, which is the World Series.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slaten\u2019s addition will continue to fortify a group of high-leverage arms led by Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Wilson and Greg Weissert. Wilson, Weissert and Chapman held the Orioles at bay as Ceddanne Rafalea hit a clutch two-run homer in the ninth on Wednesday to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. Chapman closed it out, albeit needing 12 pitches to strike out the final batter Coby Mayo. It marked Chapman\u2019s 41st straight batter without allowing a hit.<\/p>\n
That Slaten, with a fresh arm, enters at this juncture in the season is crucial.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old posted a 0.90 WHIP and 17 percent strikeout rate in 24 appearances to start the year, though wasn\u2019t as sharp as his rookie season when he had a 2.93 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 27 percent strikeout rate over 44 games.<\/p>\n
Slaten initially landed on the IL with shoulder inflammation in late May. The Red Sox eventually found a bony protrusion in his neck, one with which he was born, that was restricting blood flow and causing numbness and spasms in his arm as it pressed on the nerves. Through a lengthy rehab process for what\u2019s considered a rare ailment, Slaten worked with trainers to calm the nerves and inflammation and correct his posture to alleviate strain on his shoulder.<\/p>\n
He finally returned to the mound in early August and progressed quickly, making three rehab appearances with Triple-A Worcester, hitting his upper 90s velocity while striking out five of 12 batters he faced.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sucks not contributing,\u201d Slaten said earlier this month, \u201cbut at the same time I\u2019m not going to be selfish. It\u2019s a testament, not only to the guys in the lineup and in the field every day, but guys in the bullpen to be able to turn it up lately. It\u2019s been awesome. It\u2019s super exciting to get back on the mound.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the trade deadline, the Red Sox only added one reliever to the bullpen in Steven Matz. He has been a fine addition, allowing one run across nine appearances, but Slaten is a late-inning difference-maker who could be a weapon in the postseason.<\/p>\n
The win moved the Red Sox to a season-high 14 games over .500 at 74-60. They sit 3 \u00bd games behind Toronto for first place in the AL East and hold the top wild card spot by a half game over the Yankees.<\/p>\n
With Garrett Crochet on the mound Thursday, the Red Sox have a chance at a four-game sweep of the Orioles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to turn the page and be ready for tomorrow,\u201d Cora said. \u201cWe have a chance to make it a huge trip. It\u2019s a good one already. And whatever happens, happens tomorrow. But come here, and if we win tomorrow with the big guy, it\u2019s a tremendous road trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Top photo: Winslow Townson \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BALTIMORE \u2013 With 28 games left in the regular season, at a time when wear and tear on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[374,363,99],"class_list":["post-116578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}