Christopher Morel of the Cubs looks to have avoided harm in a collision during the 17-0 rout of the Red Sox.

BOSTON – Christopher Morel, a third baseman for the Chicago Cubs, almost lost his entire effort trying to catch a popup down the left-field line at Fenway Park. In fair territory near the foul line in the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday, Morel was chased by the Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran after he hit a shallow fly ball. Alexander Canario, the left fielder, and Morel charged the ball, but Morel leaped to catch it before Canario’s left shoulder detached Morel’s legs, sending him landing hard on his right side. After the in-air collision, Morel appeared to be in pain right away, but he was able to walk off the field after being examined by a trainer with his catch.

The frightening incident was reduced to a footnote in the Cubs’ 17-0 thumping of the Red Sox, as Morel appeared to have avoided a major injury for a team already attempting to recover from numerous injuries, especially to the middle of their lineup. It was the biggest loss they had suffered since Aug. 2, 2010, against the Milwaukee Brewers (18-1) and the first time this season that the Cubs offense had been shut out. After the impact, Morel claimed he felt fine overall but that he was a little bruised, mentioning his right hip and both elbows in particular. He seemed upbeat about possibly playing in the Sunday night series finale, saying, “We’ll see how I feel,” and that manager Craig Counsell would make the final decision. ” I was a little taken aback, but

The Cubs (17-10) avoided overtaxing their bullpen despite the ugly, lopsided game, which is especially crucial now that Wicks is out Sunday. Ben Brown, a right-hander, was hurting in the first inning by not having his best command. The Red Sox’s No. 3 hitter, Tyler O’Neill, took him behind him and smashed a 3-0 fastball up and in the zone over the Green Monster for a two-run home run and an early lead. Brown explained how he can’t afford to fall behind in counts and characterized the sequence as a teaching moment. “I obviously want to reclaim some at-bats, but I have to win the first pitch I face, which is O’Neill, and I have to get 0-1 there,” he stated. “The man is observing

three 2/3 innings of scoring with four strikeouts and no walks. “Started moving a little bit better as the game went on and made some good adjustments on my fastball, and obviously my results reflected that,” Brown stated. “In any count, I must have faith in my abilities.” In the fifth, everything broke. Luke Little, a left-hander, had trouble finding his sweeper, which caused the inning to unravel. After uncorking a wild pitch and hitting two batters, he was ultimately charged with six runs. Eventually, with the Red Sox ahead 11-0 going into the eighth inning, Counsell turned to position players to close out the game.

In the eighth inning, Matt Mervis, a former Duke pitcher, came in and wisely chose not to show off his old self beyond throwing an 87.4-mph fastball to the first batter for the Red Sox. Between Duke and the Cape Cod League, Mervis pitched in 61 games between 2017 and 20. In 79 1/3 innings, he recorded a 5.22 ERA with 69 strikeouts and 40 walks. With Mervis on the mound, the Red Sox scored six more runs before Counsell decided to replace him with Patrick Wisdom in the eighth inning due to an excessive pitch count. Thanks to Mervis and Wisdom taking the final inning, the Cubs bullpen held together beyond the usage of Little and right-hander Colten Brewer. “This is how it operates, and at that time, that’s the