Red Sox Journal: McDonough back in the booth

BOSTON — Sean McDonough returned the Red Sox booth this week, joining Joe Castiglione on WEEI Radio to call the four-game series against Baltimore. He’ll also work the two upcoming games at Yankee Stadium and about 30 games in all on radio this season.

McDonough, 56, of Quincy, Mass., called Sox games on television from 1988-2004 before moving on to ESPN. He worked a couple of Sox games for ESPN, but not in recent years. He usually [...]

BOSTON — Sean McDonough returned the Red Sox booth this week, joining Joe Castiglione on WEEI Radio to call the four-game series against Baltimore. He’ll also work the two upcoming games at Yankee Stadium and about 30 games in all on radio this season.

McDonough, 56, of Quincy, Mass., called Sox games on television from 1988-2004 before moving on to ESPN. He worked a couple of Sox games for ESPN, but not in recent years. He usually attends only about one game a year at Fenway as a fan, but he was on hand for both World Series games here last year.

When WEEI asked if he’d be interested in becoming one of a handful of announcers who would take turns joining Castiglione on Sox radio broadcasts, he quickly agreed because he thought it would be fun.

“And it has been fun,” he said.

McDonough admitted he felt a bit rusty in his first Sox game on Thursday, but he could have also been a bit tired. He called the NCAA Final Four in Minneapolis last Saturday and Monday for ESPN International in 213 countries, then hosted the Masters Par-3 Tournament on Wednesday for ESPN before announcing his first baseball game on radio Thursday since he handle play by play of the Syracuse Chiefs in 1984 as a Syracuse University student.

“It’s been a little bit of a whirlwind,” he said.

Checking the order

Mookie Betts continues to bat second in the Red Sox lineup again and manager Alex Cora said he’ll remain in that spot in the order for the remainder of the season.

The season began with Andrew Benintendi batting first and Betts second, opposite of last season, but they swapped spots for a few games before switching back again.

Right-handed hitting Steve Pearce batted third early on, but then he got injured and Cora said Betts batted first to avoid having too many batters hitting from the same side of the plate in a row.

“So now it’s easier to manage,” Cora said. “It wasn’t about panicking like some people thought. It was about managing the game.”

On Saturday, the left-handed hitting Benintendi was followed by the right-handed Betts, the left-handed Mitch Moreland and the right-handed J.D. Martinez in the first spots in the order.

Defensive lapse?

With Jackie Bradley Jr. and his .149 batting average not in the starting lineup on Saturday, Benintendi remained in left field, Betts moved from right to center and Martinez started in right. Cora prefers that defensive alignment over keeping Betts in right, moving Benintendi to center and starting Martinez in left. In the eighth, Betts failed to get a good jump on a Chris Davis double that Bradley may have caught.

Mystery solved

Boston police have seized a drone seen flying over Fenway Park during a Red Sox game this week.

The department said in a statement Saturday that the drone spotted flying over the field Thursday evening was flown by a juvenile. Police didn't say if the unidentified youth would face charges. They say the investigation is ongoing.

Red Sox officials notified police after the drone was spotted during the late innings of their game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Drone maker DJI has said the device appeared to be one their models and that the operator clearly violated Federal Aviation Administration flight restrictions in place during large stadium events.

Boston police say their investigation involved state police, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office and the FAA.

Probables

David Price (0-1, 6.00) is scheduled to oppose John Means (1-1, 2.08) in a battle of southpaws when the Sox host the Orioles at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. Hector Velazquez allowed one hit and fanned two in the ninth inning on Saturday, but Cora hopes he can still throw as many as five innings when he makes a spot start in an 11:05 a.m. Patriots’ Day start on Monday against fellow right-hander Dan Straily (0-1, 19.29), if the weather cooperates.

— Material from the Associated Press was used in this report