Red Sox Notebook: Chris Sale staying in the rotation, but Nick Pivetta likely for Game 4

Chris Sale has hardly pitched at all these last two weeks.

At the most meaningful point in the season, Sale has put up three consecutive stinkers against the Orioles, Nationals and Rays, throwing just 8 2/3 innings total while allowing 10 runs.

Because his pitch count has been so low, with just 62 pitches last Sunday and 30 pitches on Friday, there was some thought that the Red Sox could fire him up as a high-octane reliever for one of these games at Fenway Park.

But manager Alex Cora put the kibosh on that Saturday, when he said because of Sale’s injury history, the Sox wouldn’t use him out of relief this postseason. He’s a candidate to start a potential Game 5 in Tampa Bay on Wednesday, if the series lasts that far.

Nick Pivetta is likely to take the ball in Game 4 on Monday, though he’ll also be available out of relief on Sunday. He’d probably only have an inning in him after throwing 73 pitches out of relief in Game 1 on Thursday night, so it likely makes more sense to hold him for a Game 4 start on three days of rest.

Cora said that Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez are also candidates to start Game 4.

Tanner Houck, who threw 61 pitches Friday, will be in the bullpen for both games at home.

Eovaldi making history

Nathan Eovaldi will take the ball in Game 3 on Saturday for the 4:07 p.m. start on MLB Network. His 1.63 ERA in 27 2/3 innings in the postseason is the 16th-best mark of any pitcher with at least 25 playoff innings in the last 75 years.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s my favorite time of the year. Game 3’s huge. If we win tomorrow, then we need one more and we’re going to be at home. So having split the series over there in Tampa 1-1 and then having the opportunity to take it here again in Boston, it’s huge for us.”

Rays manager Kevin Cash got to know Eovaldi when he pitched for Tampa Bay before the Rays traded him to Boston in 2018.

“Happy for Nate,” Cash said. “What a great person, great teammate, all of that we experienced. I’m sure the Red Sox have experienced the last three or four years now as well.

“Look, he’s a power pitcher. I think he’s evolved here over the last couple seasons being able to use the cutter, the curveball, the split a little bit more. He’s learned about himself, but the adjustments that he makes from start to start, it was talked about from the adjustments he made from the Yankee game during the regular season to the Wild-Card game. I would anticipate that he’s going to have his own adjustments that he is going to want to use against us.”

Eovaldi has faced the Rays four times this year and held them to a .160 average and .537 OPS while posting a 2.39 ERA. The Red Sox are 3-1 when Eovaldi starts against them.

X factor

Asked about Xander Bogaerts on Saturday, Cash joked, “I’m tired of seeing him.”

Bogaerts is 5-for-9 with a homer and two RBI in the series so far and torched the Rays with a .429 average and 1.109 OPS in 58 plate appearances against them this year.

“He’s very talented, just a special player, superstar,” Cash said. “You look at the Red Sox teams from the past, and there are many names. I think Xander kind of blended with — he was a young guy, and now he’s taken over.

“You know where he’s hitting in the lineup. He never seems to get out of the moment. He stays in it so well. Just a really, really good player.”

Eovaldi called Bogaerts “our top leader in the clubhouse. He communicates with everybody.”

Unexpected relief

One of the surprises over the last month for the Red Sox has been Ryan Brasier, who didn’t make his season debut until Sept. 3 but has quickly become Cora’s first choice out of relief.

He threw a perfect inning Friday, striking out all three batters he faced.

“Honestly, man, it’s super gratifying,” Brasier said. “Working hard to get through the calf thing and then taking the line drive and adding another couple months to the rehab and trying to get back to normal, and then kind of struggling a little bit when I first got back to finding it, now back to where we planned on being before I got hurt in Spring Training. That’s pitching in big games in the playoffs.”

Hansel Robles, acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline, has also skyrocketed into the high-leverage spots out of the bullpen. He hasn’t allowed a run since Aug. 28, throwing 15 2/3 scoreless innings with 20 strikeouts in that span.

“Both have been amazing,” Cora said. “They made some adjustments throughout the season. I think Hansel had thrown more strikes, and he settled down. His stuff has always been great. It’s just a matter of throwing more strikes and then use certain pitches in certain situations.”