A layer of trickiness for Early: It's the same opponent he faced last week when he struck out 11 -- matching the franchise record for a pitcher's first game in the big leagues -- across five scoreless innings. That often raises the degree of difficulty for the pitcher, with the hitters benefitting from having seen the delivery and repertoire so recently.

In the minors, Early, 23, faced the same opponent in consecutive starts just once, in Double A this past April. He held Hartford (Rockies) to one run in seven innings in the pair of pitch-limited outings.

Lucas Giolito will get the ball Wednesday, with Brayan Bello starting the finale Thursday.

By skipping during this series lefthander Payton Tolle -- who allowed two home runs in two innings against the Athletics last week -- the Sox are more quickly getting back to their top three starters, conveying a sense of urgency in the penultimate week of the regular season.

It would line up Garrett Crochet to pitch on four days of rest Friday, when the Sox open a series at the Rays. They would need a fifth starter, probably Tolle, by Saturday.

Among the implications of that rotation order, if the Sox stick with it: Giolito, Bello, and Crochet are slated to face the Blue Jays in Toronto next week. Giolito would be available on regular rest to start the regular-season finale on Sept. 28, against the Tigers, if that game is important to the Red Sox. And Crochet should be good to go for a postseason opener Sept. 30.

One other pitching subplot this week: Giolito is four innings shy of 140 on the year, the contractually stipulated threshold that would allow him to become a free agent this offseason (by virtue of a team option that would become a mutual option).

In this best year of his career, Romy Gonzalez has learned a lesson: Sometimes, one must play even when not feeling his best.

"Throughout the two years he's been here, you can see him understanding," Cora said. "In his role, you have to post. If you're a little bit banged up, you still have to avoid the IL and try to help the team as much as possible. Last year, he went on the IL early on, probably twice. After that he's been able to stay on the roster and contribute."

Gonzalez has been on the IL thrice in two years with the Sox, each time for no more than three weeks or so: wrist and hamstring issues in 2024, followed by a quadriceps problem this past May.

Gonzalez has learned, he said, from watching the likes of Alex Bregman and Trevor Story in recent months. Both are veteran stalwarts who often limp around the clubhouse after games, refusing to let aches and pains prevent them from playing virtually every day.

"There's being hurt," Gonzalez said, "and there's being injured."

Liam Hendriks is the Red Sox' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award, MLB's top philanthropic honor. This is the seventh time Hendriks is up for the award. In addition to meeting with cancer patients and military members, Hendriks, who beat Stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2023, is set to total more than $750,000 in donations to charitable causes, mostly related to cancer research and treatment, and support for veterans and their families. That has remained the case even as Hendriks hasn't pitched since May because of a hip problem and more recently forearm/elbow soreness. He is unlikely to return this season ... In line with their school-year norm, the Sox will start at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday ... Garrett Whitlock has a 0.35 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in his past 27 starts dating to early July ... Entering play Monday, FanGraphs assessed the Red Sox as having a 90 percent chance of making the playoffs. ESPN pegged it at 93 percent.

What can Red Sox lefthander Connelly Early do for an encore? How about facing the Athletics again Tuesday at Fenway? - The Boston Globe