Ranger Suarez (groin) won’t start Tuesday vs. O’s

Not wanting him to face Shohei Ohtani for a third time, the Red Sox employed a surprisingly quick hook with Suarez after a walk and two singles in the fifth. So, Jovani Moran replaced him and gave up a homer to Ohtani anyway. Suarez threw just 65 pitches before exiting, and his stuff was fine. It would have been just fine to keep him in. Maybe he’ll be allowed to complete five innings next week against the White Sox.

Suarez struck out six without walking anyone, lowering his ERA to 3.02. It was Boston’s 22nd victory in 26 contests. The left-hander was making his first start since July 5 due to a groin issue. He signed a five-year pact with the club over the offseason and will resume operating as one of their top starters. However, Suarez’s next start lines up as a tough one at Dodger Stadium.

The 30-year-old southpaw had been sidelined since the first week of July due to a left groin strain, and then had his return delayed slightly while battling an illness. He’ll rejoin the Red Sox’ rotation for Sunday afternoon’s series finale against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy confirmed that Suarez is finally ready to take the ball after his return from the injured list was delayed by an illness earlier this week. The 30-year-old All-Star southpaw will return to a red-hot Boston squad after missing exactly three weeks with a groin strain. He got off to a bit of a slow start in his Red Sox debut, but finished the first half with a sparkling 3.15 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 97/26 K/BB ratio across 91 1/3 innings. It’ll be rookie Peyton Tolle drawing the starting assignment for Monday’s series opener against the Athletics out in West Sacramento.

Suarez was on track to return from the injured list earlier this week before an illness disrupted those plans. Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters that the veteran southpaw is feeling better and could potentially take the ball for Sunday’s series finale against the Blue Jays since they want to keep rookie Payton Tolle on schedule for Monday’s series opener in West Sacramento against the Athletics.

It appears the Red Sox are going to give Ranger Suarez a couple extra days to rest while battling an illness before activating him from the injured list. Sandoval has allowed six runs over 9 1/3 innings of work across a pair of starts since making his season debut earlier this month.

No surprise here. Rivera heads back to the minors after surrendering four runs and recording just two outs during the second game of Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Orioles. It’ll be Alec Gamboa sticking around as long relief depth for Boston after serving as the club’s 27th man for the twin bill.

Rivera was wild and just not good at all, but he probably would have gotten out of the first unscathed if not for Caleb Durbin making a bad call on a grounder to third with one out. Durbin could have ran to third for a forceout or thrown to first, but he instead tried for an unlikely double play and didn’t get any outs. Rivera struck out the next batter, but then just couldn’t get a third out afterwards. He might head back to Triple-A after this.

Boston will attempt to notch their franchise-record 16th consecutive victory with rookie lefty Eduardo Rivera on the mound and Alec Gamboa coming up from Triple-A Worcester as long relief depth for Wednesday’s nightcap at Fenway Park. Suarez won’t be able to take the ball due to an illness. It’s challenging to pinpoint his exact return date given everything that has transpired in the last few days, but Suárez appears likely to return for either Friday’s series opener against the Blue Jays or Monday’s matchup against the Athletics, if the Red Sox opt to give him a few extra days.

The Red Sox are going to wait until the last possible second before making a decision whether to activate Ranger Suarez (groin) for the nightcap at Fenway Park. Bennett was brilliant in his previous outing, tossing six scoreless innings to defeat the Rays last Friday. He’s a viable option in all fantasy leagues at this point.