Patrick Sandoval gets first win of comeback

Sandoval struck out two, needing 80 pitches to record 12 outs. The left-hander was making his 10th start since returning from elbow surgery, and he’s up to a 4.41 ERA. A seven-run debacle against the Pirates in mid-August is doing a lot of the damage. Still, Sandoval doesn’t have much fantasy upside next time out against his former team, the Angels.

On most nights, allowing just one earned run would be enough for a pitcher to, at worst, get hit with a no-decision. Unfortunately for Sandoval, when the opposing pitcher is Cam Schlittler, as it was on Friday, one earned run can prove to be too much. Sandoval’s lone blemish came in the third inning when he allowed a solo homer to Paul Goldschmidt to put the Yankees up 1-0. Sandoval wouldn’t allow another run the rest of the night and was pulled in the sixth inning after loading the bases after recording just one out. It’s a tough way to close out the month for Sandoval, who allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of the five starts he made this month. If he can replicate tonight’s outing in his next start, Sandoval could find himself on the winning side of things when he toes the rubber on Wednesday at home against the Mariners.

Sandoval surrendered a solo homer to Willy Adames in the first inning. Andrew Knizer later went yard for a solo homer in the third. The two solo homers would be all the damage the Giants would do as Sandoval pitched into the sixth, collecting six strikeouts. The 29-year-old left-hander will take a 4.54 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, and a 41/18 K/BB ratio across 39 2/3 innings into a start against the Yankees in New York on Friday.

Sandoval struck out six and walked three as his ERA ballooned to 4.76. This was only his seventh start since returning from a multi-year absence due to elbow surgery. It was also the second straight in which his velocity was down. Brayan Bello has thrown well out of the bullpen lately, which could put pressure on Sandoval to pitch well enough to stick in the rotation. His next start lines up at home against the Giants.

Sandoval gave up eight hits despite allowing just two hard-hit balls, as the Boston’s infield defense was not at its best tonight. The Red Sox dropped to 5-1 in Sandoval’s six starts. Sandoval is 1-1 with a 3.30 ERA during that span. He’s due to face the Pirates on Sunday, if the Red Sox are willing to let him work on four days’ rest. They weren’t last Sunday, which is why they used a bullpen game that day instead.

The runs both came on solo homers. Sandoval allowed only three other hits and finished the night with 18 whiffs and a fine 36 percent CSW. In four turns to date, he’s done a nice job of keeping the Red Sox in games without showing a ton of fantasy potential. He has a 3.32 ERA and a 20/6 K/BB in 19 innings. That has yet to get him a win, but Boston is now 4-0 with him on the mound. He’ll likely face the White Sox next week.

Sandoval allowed a single and a double with one out in the fourth. He was given the chance to face George Springer afterwards and got a popup for out No. 2, but he was pulled with Alejandro Kirk up and a potential win one out away. Sandoval has a 3.21 ERA in three starts, all of which have seen him get between 13 and 15 outs and all of which have resulted in no-decisions for him and wins for the Red Sox. He figures to make his next start Wednesday in Sacramento.

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.

The three-run fourth could have been worse, but Yandy Díaz was thrown out at the plate to end the frame. Sandoval struck out five and walked only one, so that’s good. He gave up the nine hits but only five hard-hit balls. The Red Sox figure to stick with him for now and start him against the Blue Jays on Friday.

Sandoval got through four scoreless before giving up a single to Luisangel Acuña to start the fifth. Drew Romo tried to bunt him over afterwards, only to pop it up foul for an out. Acuña went on to advance to second on a wild pitch and steal third while Sandoval was walking Chase Meridoth. Sandoval was pulled at that point, and Acuña went on to score on a swinging bunt. Sandoval struck out five and walked just the one. He averaged a rather stunning 94.3 mph with his fastball. That’s an improvement on his career-best 93.7 mph from 2024, before he hurt his elbow, and a big step forward from the 92.8 mph he averaged in six outings in Triple-A. If he keeps that up, he could be at least a streaming option in mixed leagues. There’s a good chance we’ll see him again in the series against the Rays after the break.