Aroldis Chapman picks up 15th save against Yankees

Chapman allowed a couple of singles with one out, but Jo Adell then grounded into a double play to end the game. It was his first appearance since he gave up two runs and blew a save Sunday against the Yankees. He threw only 13 pitches, so he should be good to go again on Saturday.

Whitlock got the call to protect a three-run lead in the final frame with Aroldis Chapman unavailable after pitching three of the previous four games, including back-to-back outings against the Yankees over the weekend. He struck out Dylan Crews and got pinch-hitter Daylen Lile to pop out before giving up a two-out single to a red-hot Luis García Jr. He prevented things from getting interesting by whiffing pinch-hitter Jorbit Vivas to extinguish any hopes of a Washington comeback.

We thought Chapman might have this one off after 23 pitches on Thursday and 20 pitches on Saturday, but manager Chad Tracy trotted him back out to try to complete a four-game sweep. Chapman went on to give up a single and a walk before getting Ben Rice to fly to right. Unfortunately, Wilyer Abreu had eyes on throwing out the runner tagging up from second and made a horrible throw that allowed one run to score and put the tying run on third. Paul Goldschmidt then hit a little chopper to tie the game. Chapman looked fine, even while losing a couple of strikes because the Red Sox were out of challenges. He’ll definitely get Monday off now, so Garrett Whitlock might get a save chance.

Chapman today had his best stuff since hurting his hamstring last month, averaging 99.8 mph with his fastball. That’s 3.2 mph better than his season average. Cody Bellinger did manage to work an 11-pitch walk against him, which might be enough to take him out of commission for Sunday. It’d be three appearances in four days for the 38-year-old, so the Red Sox could stay away and rely on Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten instead.

Chapman has lost back-to-back games. The last one was mostly bad luck in a tie game against the Blue Jays. He didn’t have any luck tonight, either, but it was more the defense coming up a little short on a couple of hits and a bunt single on a sacrifice attempt on which Willson Contreras vacated first base and second baseman Andruw Monasterio was late to cover. Chapman allowed just one hard-hit ball, which was a Hunter Goodman single. Still, his ERA more than doubled from 0.83 to 2.08, and he gave up four hits in an outing for the first time with the Red Sox and the fifth time in his 886 career appearances.

Chapman gave up two hits; a tapper down the third-base line from Ernie Clement and then a wind-aided double that bounced off the Green Monster. Even the hitter, Brandon Valenzuela, thought it was just a routine fly off the bat. Earlier in the at-bat, Valenzuela popped up a ball at the plate, but Connor Wong struggled to deal with it in the sun and the wind and it fell foul. It has to go down as one of the cheapest losses of Chapman’s career. The run he allowed was his first since Apr. 4.

Chapman was summoned to protect a three-run lead in the final frame at Fenway Park and managed to work around a leadoff single from Wyatt Langford to pick up just his second save since the start of June. The 38-year-old southpaw would be a logical trade candidate if Boston falls out of playoff contention. He’s converted all 14 of his save chances this season to go along with an absurd 0.44 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 28/9 K/BB ratio across 20 2/3 innings of work.

Whitlock has rejoined the Red Sox down in Tampa Bay after wrapping up a minor league rehab assignment with scoreless inning for Triple-A Worcester over the weekend. The 29-year-old could wind up getting the occasional save chance with Aroldis Chapman dealing with a minor hamstring issue that could limit his availability for back-to-back situatuins.

Chapman was able to power through the minor ailment to fire a scoreless ninth inning against the Yankees on Friday night to record his 13th save of the season. It sounds like the 38-year-old veteran closer will be able to manage the issue for now, but fantasy managers should keep a close eye on the situation. It’s possible the Red Sox will try to stay away from him on back-to-back days, which would likely result in Justin Slaten getting a look in a save situation.

Chapman walked the first and third batters he faced, both on four pitches, but the three outs all proved pretty easy. It was his 16th straight scoreless appearance, and he still hasn’t blown a save this year.