Morning sports update: Red Sox injuries forcing John Farrell into a difficult position
The Red Sox stumbled in a bid to move closer to clinching the American League East, the Patriots are preparing to face yet another mobile quarterback, and Dont’a Hightower will “hopefully” be back this Sunday.
Red Sox injuries present John Farrell with a quandary in regular season’s final week: With Eduardo Nunez, Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi all dealing with various injuries, the Red Sox are not exactly sprinting to the finish line in the last few games of the regular season. Yet with the division still not clinched, manager John Farrell still has to find a way to win. The team will try to walk a narrow path in regards to its injuries.
“We’ve got to do what’s right by the individual guy and it starts with health,” said Farrell. “I can’t run a guy out there that’s walking around on one leg. We’ve got to take care of that first. But there’s a balance there that you try to strive for.” (Boston Globe)
Chris Sale might find Cy Young votes harder to come by after Tuesday night: Having surrendered four home runs in his latest start against the Blue Jays (tying a career high), Chris Sale presided over a disappointing 9-4 loss at Fenway Park. His onetime frontrunner status in the race for the 2017 Cy Young Award has all but evaporated, with Cleveland’s Corey Kluber potentially winning instead. Sale, of course, would settle for a team win.
“Just flat-out got to win games. I’m not doing that,” said Sale. “I’m as frustrated as anybody on the planet right now about that.” (ESPN)
Dont’a Hightower offered an update on his injury and a comment on kneeling during the anthem: Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower is one of the leaders of Bill Belichick’s defense, yet has been missing from the lineup since injuring his knee in Week 1. While he wasn’t able to recover in time for Sunday’s win against the Texans, Hightower remains hopeful.
“I’m feeling good,” Hightower told NESN’s Doug Kyed. “I’m working each and every day. The night’s not for that, but hopefully looking forward to moving forward this week. Hopefully, I’ll be back out there.” (NESN)
Patriots will face another challenge in a second mobile quarterback against the Panthers: Cam Newton will present the Patriots defense with a second straight matchup against a quarterback who is able to both run and pass dynamically. A week after struggling to contain rookie Deshaun Watson, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will have to draw up a game plan to slow down the 2015 NFL MVP.
“We obviously had some struggles there and we need to do a better job. The unfortunate part about it for us is Cam Newton is up next,” Patricia said. “The guy is just so dangerous — his ability to get out of the pocket, to escape tackles. A huge challenge for us.” (ESPN)
