Home Care In Paxton, MA

PAXTON, Mass. - Four nursing students at Anna Maria College are being recognized for their quick thinking when an employee at a local deli collapsed last week while the students were ordering lunch.

What You Need To Know

Brianna Tooley, Melissa Auger, Abbey Bazinet and Kiyiana Minton are regulars at Ten West Market in Paxton, but last Friday was far from their typical lunch break.

"We came in and I went up to the counter to order a sandwich, but there was a loud bang and someone started saying 'please call 911," Tooley said. "That's when we realized an emergency was taking place."

The employee who had collapsed is now recovering. All four students are trained how to handle emergency situations, but they had never encountered one before. Two of them went outside to call 911, while the other two stayed behind the counter with the employee who collapsed.

"When me and Brianna called 911, we stepped outside, but there was no service," Minton said. "That took a bit to connect to the phone, and Melissa and Abbey ran behind the counter and they kind of took action to help respond to the situation, make sure everyone was safe and okay."

Ten West Market owner Darlene Walsh was working when the incident happened, and said the students handled everything with a stunning amount of teamwork and level-headedness, considering they're still in school.

"It was the middle of lunch, so if you can picture it, a lot of people here ordering sandwiches," Walsh said. "Thank God the girls were here because it was filled with people, they walked around, stepped right in and were very professional. They handled everything so good until EMS came."

In nursing school, it's hard to fully recreate the chaos and confusion of a real emergency, but when it became clear they had to step in, these students were ready.

"At first I didn't know it was an emergency," Auger explained. "And then once I realized that this was actually a dire situation, I feel like all of the training kicked and I remembered how to do all of the assessments on the patient and make sure she was safe."

"We all know what's going on and we all know how to take care of a situation," Bazinet said. "First, we didn't know what was happening, but when we got behind the counter, we were like 'we know what to do, it's going to be okay."

The experience will help all four Anna Maria seniors prepare for their careers - Tooley wants to be an intensive care nurse, Auger has goals to become a midwife, Bazinet wants to work in an operating room and Minton would like to work in an emergency department.

The free-agent pitching market is heating up, and all eyes are on the Red Sox, who’ve already been on the hot seat for almost two months after chairman Tom Werner promoised a “full throttle” offseason.

There’s mutual interest in a reunion with James Paxton, who was arguably Boston’s best starter from his season debut in early May until the the All-Star break, even earning American League Player of the Month honors in June. Yet the veteran left-hander’s lengthy injury history, which includes missing the entire ’22 Red Sox season and nearly two months of ’23 (between his late debut and season-ending injured list stint at the start of September) is cause for concern. Signings such as Paxton’s are one of the key reasons the Red Sox finished last three times in the past four seasons. They need durability from their starting rotation, and Paxton, who only pitched 21 2/3 innings between the ’20 and ’21 seasons, hasn’t been able to offer a team that in nearly half a decade.

The Red Sox need to sign two starters, but after losing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, are apparently pivoting to scrimping despite their ample financial flexibility. They’ve been linked to several unfamiliar arms, including Jordan Montgomery. Fresh off a World Series championship with the Rangers, Montgomery is wintering in Boston while his wife, a doctor, does her residency at a local hospital, but apparently, his asking price is too high for the Red Sox. They were “interested” in Blake Snell, but as reigning National League Cy Young – and only the seventh pitcher in MLB history to win the prestigious award in each league – he’s also likely out of their price range. They are also engaging with Lucas Giolito, but his upside is intriguing to several teams.

Secret Santa

After signing his historic $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Shohei Ohtani played Secret Santa to thank a new teammate’s wife.

Earlier this week, Ashley Kelly, wife of former Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly, opened her front door to find a brand-new Porsche from Ohtani.

“That’s yours from Shohei,” the delivery man said. “He wanted to gift you a Porsche.”

The generous surprise was Ohtani’s way of thanking her for her “#Ohtake17” social media campaign, which went viral earlier in the offseason. Joe Kelly previously wore No. 17, but his wife shared on Instagram that she’d be willing to give Ohtani all of their numbered gear. They’d even change their baby’s name from “Kai” to “ShoKai,” she said.

What’s the catch?

Despite a close relationship with Alex Cora, Martín Maldonado will be wearing different color socks next season. The veteran catcher is “close to an agreement” with the Chicago White Sox, reports MLB insider Robert Murray.

The 37-year-old’s contract is for one year with an option for 2025. He spent the last four-and-a-half seasons with the Houston Astros, who replaced him with Víctor Caratini (two-year deal) earlier this month.

While Maldonado would’ve offered defensive excellence behind the dish, the Red Sox can do without him. Connor Wong and Reese McGuire have split catching duties well, and 2023 first-round pick Kyle Teel is already rising rapidly through the farm system.

BOSTON — With James Paxton’s season over due to a knee injury, right-hander Nick Pivetta will join the Red Sox’ rotation for the rest of the season.

Pivetta started the year in the starting five before being demoted to the bullpen in mid-May, then became a dominant bullpen force for most of the summer. In recent weeks, he has served a hybrid starter/reliever role, starting four of the six games he has pitched in since July 31. In the final three weeks of the season, he’ll exclusively be used as a starter.

Manager Alex Cora believes the move back to the rotation is well-earned by Pivetta, who owns a 3.62 ERA in 77 innings dating back to May 21, which was his first bullpen appearance of the season. The right-hander has struggled recently (5.97 ERA since Aug. 1) after posting a 1.88 ERA mark in 16 outings from May 28 to July 31.

“That’s good for him,” Cora said. “He has been solid throughout and we’ll give him every chance to start every five days.”

Pivetta’s chance to start again comes at the expense of Paxton, who was placed on the 15-day injured list before Sunday’s game due to right knee inflammation. His season is all but certainly over. The left-hander, who was rocked for six runs in 1 ? innings in a blowout loss to the Royals on Sept. 1, was skipped the next time through the rotation.

“He’s been barking for a little bit,” said manager Alex Cora. “We tried to push him back to see if he can bounce back but I don’t think it makes sense to push him. First thing’s first, the player. He’s been through so much in his career that at this point where we’re at, it doesn’t make sense. We’ll just put him on the IL, get another arm here and keep moving forward.”

Paxton’s season ends after 19 starts. He went 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 96 innings. After missing the first six weeks of the season due to hamstring strain he suffered in spring training, Paxton made his Red Sox debut on May 12 and pitched very well in the first half of the season, posting a 2.73 ERA before July 15. He struggled to a 7.62 ERA in his last six starts.

For much of the summer, Paxton was Boston’s best pitcher. He is set to hit free agency after the winter but could return to the Red Sox on a short-term contract.

“It was good,” Cora said of Paxton’s season. “I think the medical staff did an outstanding job the last two years to get him to the point where he was one of the best pitchers in the big leagues. Towards the end, his mechanics were off. The breaking ball, he lost, and he became a one-dimensional pitcher.

“Very proud of him. He was amazing. We’ll see what happens in the future.”

The Red Sox will start Kutter Crawford, Pivetta and Tanner Houck for the first three games of their four-game series against the Yankees this week. Chris Sale is a candidate to pitch Thursday’s series finale if he bounces back from his Saturday start.

A healthy James Paxton would go a long way toward helping the Boston Red Sox climb into a playoff spot

Paxton will try to string together a fourth consecutive stellar start when the left-hander takes the mound in the opener of a four-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Monday night in Minneapolis

Paxton (2-1, 3.09 ERA) allowed just one unearned run in six innings in his most recent outing, last Monday against the Colorado Rockies, a game the Red Sox lost 4-3 in 10 innings

Before that, Paxton gave up only two runs in seven innings against Cleveland on June 6 and one run in five innings vs. Cincinnati on May 31.

"We feel really confident whenever Paxton is taking the bump right now," Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder said. "He's got pretty special stuff, as you see. A high 90s fastball, kind of just bearing in. He gives us ace-caliber stuff.

Paxton did not appear in a major league game last season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. In early March, he was diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring strain and didn't make his season debut until May 12.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora believes Paxton's command will only get better

"Early on, he's going to know if it's the cutter or the curveball (that's most effective), but the fastball, it will play late in games," Cora said. "That's the guy I remember seeing in '17."

That was the year Cora and Paxton were both in the American League West -- Cora as bench coach of the Houston Astros and Paxton pitching for the Seattle Mariners.

Paxton went 6-0 with a 1.37 ERA in July of that season before an injury again sidelined him for a long stretch, and he finished 12-5 with a 2.98 ERA.

Paxton has made six starts against the Twins in his career and is 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA

The Twins plan to send right-hander Pablo Lopez to the mound for the series opener

Lopez (3-3, 4.27) hopes to take advantage of an extra day's rest granted by Twins manager Rocco Baldelli when he implemented a bullpen game Saturday against the Detroit Tigers. That strategy paid off with a 2-0 win

"As the season goes on, if you can grab them an extra day, it gives them an extra day to recover, an extra day mentally," Baldelli said. "As pitchers' (velocity) has continued to climb, workload-wise, that extra day helps."

Lopez pitched well enough to win his past two starts, both against division leaders.

He held the Tampa Bay Rays to one run and five hits over seven innings on June 7 but left with the Twins trailing 1-0, and the Rays eventually won 2-1

Lopez came back on Tuesday and limited the visiting Milwaukee Brewers to three runs and four hits in six-plus innings but did not factor in the decision in Minnesota's 7-5 win.

After spending five seasons in the National League with the Miami Marlins, Lopez was traded to the Red Sox in January for second baseman Luis Arraez

The Marlins have come out ahead on the deal so far, as Arraez enters Monday's games leading the majors with a .388 batting average.

Lopez hasn't faced Boston in his career.

The Boston Red Sox have been getting better starting pitching lately. We all know in the game of baseball, starting pitching is key. So for this team to be getting quality starts from their starters is a good sign.

The Red Sox took on the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night and ultimately lost 8-6. But if there was a silver lining that could be taken out of a tough loss, it’s that you got a great Red Sox debut from James Paxton.

The left-handed starting pitcher has had it rough for the past few seasons, while as a member of the Boston Red Sox.

Constant injuries had sidelined him and delayed his Red Sox debut. Some were wondering if he’d ever actually pitch an inning in Boston.

Friday night put a lot of those questions to bed. But honestly, after last night; the Boston Red Sox could have something with James Paxton.

Boston Red Sox starter James Paxton delivered a lot of swings and misses

Now I know it was against the Cardinals and they are playing below .500 baseball, I get that. But looking at the numbers from James Paxton, he was missing a lot of bats last night!

Paxton finished his first Red Sox outing with nine strikeouts in five innings of work. Nine out of 15 outs were strikeouts in his return!

Sure, Nolan Arenado made Paxton pay in the first inning on a missed spot. But all things considered, you have to love the fact that “Big Maple” was able to throw it by MLB hitters last night.

Plus, the fastball was in the upper 90’s. If you told me before the start that James Paxton would be hitting 96 and 97, I’d be happy with that result 10 out of 10 times.

Red Sox bullpen will benefit from the addition of Paxton

With the way that Paxton threw last night, it probably means that a starter is going to get demoted to the bullpen. And that’s a good thing for this Red Sox team!

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If the Boston Red Sox starting rotation can count on James Paxton to be healthy and perform at a somewhat consistent level, then that can give the bullpen more fresh arms to use.

Nick Pivetta is a logical candidate to get the demotion. Even though he’s made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t think the bullpen is an option for him!

Tanner Houck is another name in the conversation. But who knows how Alex Cora wants to use him moving forward.

But you can make an already good bullpen an even better bullpen. Win-win!

What to expect from Paxton in the Red Sox starting rotation

Am I expecting James Paxton to do what he did against the Cardinals in every start? Obviously not! That’s just unrealistic. But can he be a solidified piece in the rotation? Yes, he can!

This team seems to be getting better and better talent-wise, as the days progress on. Now you hope that they can put it all together and make a run at a playoff spot.

James Paxton could be a missing link that the Boston Red Sox didn’t even realize they needed for the 2023 season.