Tag: rays

RECAP: David Price Pitches Seven Shutout Innings as #RedSox Pick up First Win of the Season.

That is how you get it done. After blowing a four run lead in the eighth inning on Thursday, David Price and the Red Sox made sure not to let that happen tonight.

Making his first regular season start since July of last season, David Price got the nod against his former team in the Tampa Bay Rays for the second game of this series. Tropicana Field is a place Price has owned in the past, and that was evident tonight. The lefty tossed seven scoreless innings, scattering four hits and striking out five along the way. The most impressive part of Price’s night? No walks, and that made things decently simple. To complete those seven innings, Price only needed 76 total pitches, 55 of which he threw for strikes. He very easily could have gone back out for the eighth inning, but I respect the approach new manager Alex Cora has had with his rotation so far. Save your top starters for later in the season, preserve them as much as possible now. Speaking of the rotation, Chris Sale and David Price have combined to pitch 13 total innings without giving up a single run. The best part about that is the fact that the Red Sox bullpen didn’t implode for Price like it did for Sale.

Matt Barnes got the call for the start of the eighth inning. Appearing in his second game in two days, Barnes pitched another scoreless inning while walking one and striking out another. That made way for the return of Craig Kimbrel, the 2017 American League Reliever of the Year. In his 2018 debut, Kimbrel was lights out. He struck out all three batters he saw, needing only 15 pitches to notch his first save of the season.

Offensively, the Red Sox couldn’t do much against Blake Snell and the Rays bullpen, but luckily, they didn’t need to. It wasn’t until the top of the seventh when they scored their first and only run of the game. After a Xander Bogaerts leadoff double, Rafael Devers followed that up by driving in his third run of the season on a single to center off of Rays reliever Jose Alvarado. That was it for scoring, still some positives to take away though. Like how Xander Bogaerts has hit four doubles in two games and has a 1.750 OPS. Hanley Ramirez also picked up his first two hits of the season tonight. Still waiting for JD Martinez to hit a home run or something, he’s 0-for-6, but I can wait a little longer.

These two teams face off again tomorrow night at 6:10 PM. Rick Porcello gets the ball for the Red Sox while the Rays have yet to name a starter.

RECAP: #RedSox Kick off the New Season by Embarassing Themselves in Tampa Bay.

It may be early, but man, did this one hurt. In their first matchup of the season, the Red Sox outplayed the Tampa Bay Rays for approximately 7.5 innings and they found a way to lose. Embarrasing stuff to say the least.

Chris Sale made his first Opening Day start in a Red Sox uniform and he was as impressive as ever. The southpaw allowed only four baserunners to reach over six innings while striking out nine. Out of those four to reach, only one was via a hit, the rest all reached on walks. This was an important start for Sale. Remember, in his last spring training start on Saturday, Sale took a line drive off the hip in the first inning of that game. He said he was going to be good to go for today and it was reassuring to see him out there performing at a high level. Perhaps that line drive off the hip was why Sale only tossed six innings today. He was at 92 pitches by the time he got out of the sixth, so they could just be preserving him for later in the season as well. Either way, it was a positive first step into the 2018 season for the Red Sox ace, it’s just too bad his team couldn’t give him the win he deserved.

With Sale’s day ending after six innings, Matt Barnes got the ball for his first appearance of the season in the bottom half of the seventh. He too got his season off to a good start, as the Connecticut native retired the side while only needing 13 pitches to do so. It was after Barnes where things got away from the Red Sox.

Joe Kelly came out to start the eighth, and he was wildly inaccurate. Facing five batters, Kelly allowed three of them to reach via walks while recording only one out before getting yanked. In that span, the Rays managed to score once to make it a 4-1 game. New manager Alex Cora went to Carson Smith next, and he was not much better than Kelly. Entering with the bases loaded, Smith walked the first batter he saw to make it a 4-2 game. After striking out Wilson Ramos for the second out of the inning, Denard Span got the best of Smith and unloaded the bases on a triple to right field, putting the Rays on top 5-4. The very next batter, Adeiny Hechavarria, scored Span from third on an infield single to give the Rays some insurance. The disaster of an eighth inning finally ended when Smith got Joey Wendle to strike out, thus ending a humiliating day for the Red Sox bullpen.

Offensively, the lineup did not need to do much with Chris Sale on the mound. Four runs seemed like more than enough to get the Red Sox a win. Unfortunately, that’s not how things went. The top of the lineup was nowhere to be found, really. Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Hanley Ramirez, and JD Martinez combined to go 1-for-11 at the plate with two walks and zero RBIs. In fact, all four runs the Red Sox scored came off the bat of either Rafael Devers or Eduardo Nunez. Devers got the Red Sox on the board in the second inning thanks to an RBI ground out, allowing JD Martinez to score from third. The very next batter in the inning, Eduardo Nunez, followed that up by hitting an inside the park home run. Yes, an inside the park home run. Check it out:

Like the tweet says, not how you draw up the first home run of 2018, but we’ll take it. That put the Red Sox up 3-0 at the time, and they didn’t score again until the seventh inning. Xander Bogaerts led the inning off with a double off of Austin Pruitt, and Rafael Devers drove him in on a double of his own a few minutes later. Bogaerts himself had a solid day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. That looked like that was all the Red Sox were going to need to pick up their first win of the season. It’s too bad the bullpen melted down, because that was a fun game to watch up until the bottom of the eighth inning.

David Price will look to even up the series tomorrow, as the lefty makes his first start in a regular season game since July 22nd of last year. He will be matched up against Blake Snell of the Rays, another lefty. First pitch is at 7:10 PM.

Full 2018 #RedSox Season Preview: Expectations and Predictions

It’s the day before the start of the 2018 Major League Baseball regular season. For the first time I can remember, all 30 clubs (except the Reds and Nationals) will be playing on Opening Day to start the season. The Boston Red Sox kick their season off in Tampa Bay to square off against the new-look Rays at 4:00 PM on Thursday.

This campaign looks to be a promising one for the Red Sox, and expectations are high as ever with the team owning the highest payroll in baseball at more than $234 million. With that in mind, losing in the ALDS this season really isn’t an option, no matter how many games they win in the regular season. I mean, John Farrell won 93 games each in the past two seasons, that clearly doesn’t guarantee anything. Now, with new manager Alex Cora at the helm, things are looking more optimistic. Although this will be Cora’s first go around managing a big league club, the native of Puerto Rico has three things going for him. One, he was the bench coach for the 2017 World Series Champion Houston Astros. Two, he has managerial experience in winter ball. And three, he spent more than three seasons with the Red Sox as a player from 2005-2008. The Red Sox needed a change from John Farrell and Alex Cora was the best managerial candidate available, so that’s a positive start.

Lest we forget that Cora is inheriting a team that has won the AL East two years in a row now. A team that won 93 games in 2017, yet it felt like they underachieved throughout the season. If he can rejuvenate this team the way I think he can, we may be looking at 95+ wins this year. I’ll get to that later, for now, let’s move on to the pitching.

The Rotation:

The rotation is going to look a bit different to start the year, as Drew Pomeranz and Eduardo Rodriguez are slated to miss time on the disabled list. When fully healthy though, a rotation of Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Drew Pomeranz, and Eduardo Rodriguez can compete with any team for one of the best rotations in baseball.

Sale is coming off a year where he struck out 300+ batters and finished second in AL Cy Young Voting. Both of those results sound good, but if you watched Sale at all last season, you know he left something to be desired at the tail end of 2017. His starts may be less entertaining, but if the lefty can leave more in the tank for September and October, the starts that really matter, it would all be worth it.

As for David Price, health is key. He missed a good portion of the 2017 season, thus explaining why he only appeared in 16 games. Off the field issues were affluent as well for Price. The Dennis Eckersley “Yuck” confrontation was ugly, and that didn’t help Price in terms of what fans think of him. In my opinion, what would be best for Price would be to put your head down, avoid the distractions, and pitch your ass off. The only way he can get fans on his side now is by performing, especially in the postseason. And if he does all that, he has the option to get out of his current contract at the end of the season. It’s hard to imagine a free agent entering his age 33 season could make more than $31 million per season, but we’ll have to wait and see how this season plays out for him first.

Rick Porcello, Drew Pomeranz, and Eduardo Rodriguez all have two things in common; Upside and inconsistency. Porcello followed up his 2016 Cy Young Award winning campaign by putting together a stinker of a season. If you look at Porcello’s WHIP each year he’s been with the Red Sox, you’ll notice that it starts at 1.36, goes down to 1.01 the season he won Cy Young, then inflates back up to 1.4 last season. Does that mean the 29-year-old New Jersey native is due for another Cy Young caliber season? I doubt it. With Sale and Price on the staff, Porcello does not need to shoulder that kind of work load. He needs to be a solid No. 3 starter. That’s it.

This thing is going to be longer than I expected. Okay, next up we got Drew Pomeranz and Eduardo Rodriguez. Both have had health and consistency issues in the past and both will miss the start of the season. Surprisingly, Pomeranz exceeded expectations last year and had stretches where he looked like a top ten pitcher in the American League. He may not go deep into too many of his starts, but if he can give this team five to six innings of quality stuff on a consistent enough basis, he will be a valuable part of the rotation. As for Rodriguez, there’s not as much pressure on him as there he used to be. The combination of missing time and acquiring guys like David Price and Chris Sale have made more Rodriguez more expandable. He’s no longer a vital lefty, the Red Sox have three of those that are all arguably better than he is. I don’t mean to put ERod down, because when he’s on he is on, but I just don’t want to set my expectations too high. I would be happy if he were able to make 20-25 starts this year.

The Bullpen:

For the sake of this blog, I’m going to include Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez in this section because that’s where I think they will be spending their time once Pomeranz and Rodriguez return from the disabled list.

The Red Sox bullpen was one of the best in the majors last year, can’t take that away from them. They finished with the second best bullpen ERA in the league, trailing only the Cleveland Indians. Craig Kimbrel is coming off one of the best seasons a Red Sox closer has ever had. Carson Smith is here for his first full season with the Red Sox since he was acquired two offseasons ago. Tyler Thornburg is alive, I think. Two of the biggest surprises of Red Sox spring training have to be Marcus Walden and Bobby Poyner making the Opening Day roster. I honestly don’t know much about them other than they performed well this month to earn those spots. All and all, I expect this unit to be just as good as they were last season. They might not be as good as the Indians bullpen, but maintaining the success they found last year would be more than enough.

The Lineup:

With the Opening Day lineup officially looking like this…

  1. Mookie Betts, RF
  2. Andrew Benintendi, LF
  3. Hanley Ramirez, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, DH
  5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
  6. Rafael Devers, 3B
  7. Eduardo Nunez, 2B
  8. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF
  9. Christian Vazquez, C

…It’s hard not to get excited for what this season could bring. The addition of JD Martinez gives the Red Sox the power threat they so very much missed last season. The success this lineup has mostly depends on if some players can bounce back from their 2017 seasons. Mookie Betts was the only everyday player to post an OPS higher than .800. Compare that to the 2016 the Red Sox lineup had and it just doesn’t make sense. If losing David Ortiz affected the team that much hopefully Martinez will revitalize them.

The top five here have a ton of potential. Betts, Benintendi, Ramirez, Martinez, and Devers. We could easily be looking at 20+ home runs for each of these guys. That may be what this lineup needs most of all, some power. Last season, the Red Sox ranked 27th in team home runs. I am hoping that the addition of Martinez as well new philosophies while at the plate will lead to a surge in those power numbers in 2018.

The Depth:

Depending on what your view is, you could make the case that the Red Sox have an above average bench and minor league depth at some positions. To start the season, it’s looking like Mitch Moreland, Sandy Leon, Blake Swihart, and Brock Holt will be coming off the bench. In Pawtucket, Tzu-Wei Lin and Sam Travis have already shown what they can do with a small sample size in the big leagues. Credit to Travis for putting together yet another solid spring training, but it’s going to be a challenge to find him any at bats with the big league club. Lin is more of an interesting case. He made the jump from Double A Portland to Boston without much notice. In his 25 games with the Red Sox, he hit .268 while playing three positions.

In terms of pitchers in the minor leagues, there really is nothing to boast about, at least not yet. Brandon Workman, Robby Scott, and maybe Roenis Elias are the only pitchers who have the most realistic chance to pitch with the Red Sox this season, and that’s mostly because all three have before. As for the others, Jalen Beeks was named the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year over the winter, and he looks to be the ace of the pitching staff in Pawtucket right now. He posted a 5.06 ERA in two starts this spring, so he may need more time to develop with the PawSox before getting a chance to start a Major League game.

Two of the biggest names to watch in the Red Sox farm system are both pitchers and both will not pitch for the Red Sox this season. Those two would be none other than Jason Groome and Tanner Houck, the last two first round selections the Red Sox have made in the last two amateur drafts. Groome’s short professional career has already been riddled with injuries, but spent his offseason training with Chris Sale. Houck spent all of the 2017 season with the Lowell Spinners, where he appeared in ten games as a starter and posted a solid 3.63 ERA and .239 BAA. They may not have been on the bubble for a roster spot this season, but I expect next spring to be very different.

The Injured:

Marco Hernandez, Dustin Pedroia, Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Tyler Thornburg, and Steven Wright. Those are all the players who will begin the season on the disabled list. For Pedroia, this will be the veteran’s first missed Opening Day since 2007, when he wasn’t on the team yet. As long as Pedroia is with the team, I’m fine. He will be traveling with the team for the start of the season, and should be making his return sometime in May, barring any setbacks.

Going into the season missing three pitchers who started for the team last year is certainly unsettling. Chris Sale, David Price, and Rick Porcello will have to carry a heavier burden on their shoulders for the time being. When everyone gets back though, I would expect Steven Wright to be the one sent to the bullpen.

My Predictions:

Here are my predictions for this year’s Red Sox team:

Record: 95-67 (1st in AL East)

Team leader in Home Runs: JD Martinez (38)

Team leader in RBIs: JD Martinez (112)

Team leader in Hits: Mookie Betts (189)

Team leader in Wins: Chris Sale (17)

Team leader in Strikeouts: Chris Sale (245)

Craig Kimbrel Saves: 32

Player most likely to win MVP: Mookie Betts

Player most likely to win Cy Young: Chris Sale

Alright, that will do it for me. Opening Day is tomorrow, get PUMPED!

 

 

Farewell, Evan Longoria. The #RedSox Will Not Miss You, but I Will.

In case you missed it, Evan Longoria got traded to the San Francisco Giants earlier today.

The 32 year-old third baseman had spent his entire career up to this point with the Tampa Bay Rays. For the Red Sox, this trade is good news. Longoria has been a thorn in the Red Sox’s side since he got called up in 2008. In 171 career games, Longoria has a OPS of .854 and a BABIP of .319 to go along with 31 long balls. This may seem odd coming from a Red Sox fan, but I am going to miss watching Longoria play more often. Outside of the Red Sox, I would say Longoria is my second favorite player to watch, only behind Josh Donaldson. I respect his game and the way he has handled things in different stages of his career. It just so happens to be that I am a bit of a Giants fan too (I started paying more attention last season), so I look forward to seeing what he can do for the Giants. This move also puts ex-Red Sox, current Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval in quite the predicament, so there’s that.

Anyway, thanks for making some bad Rays teams worth watching Evan, see you back against the Red Sox in 2019.

RECAP: David Price throws two scoreless innings for #RedSox in first appearance since July 22.

Listen, this game was not that blog-worthy, I was more invested in the Patriots anyway. What I can tell you about this game is that the Red Sox almost got no hit. Had Jackie Bradley Jr not hit that bomb in the sixth, who knows how Jake Odorizzi and the Rays bullpen would have pitched. Andrew Benintendi was the only other hitter in the lineup to record a hit today. Eduardo Rodriguez was doing pretty well, but he was left in the game too long. There is no way he should have been facing Sucre, it was just Manager John pushing his luck. ERod exited the game with 110 pitches and two outs in the sixth, and the bullpen did a solid job after that. Austin Maddox ended the sixth by only facing one batter, and David Price ended the game by tossing two perfect innings. We have not seen the lefty in live action since way back in July, so his two strikeout performance was definitely encouraging. I can’t imagine he’ll carry that much of a workload from now to the end of the season, probably more of a depth guy for now, not a weapon. If he is able to pitch in the postseason that would definitely get me excited too.

Quick little recap for you, I’m not too discouraged by this loss. The Red Sox are 8-4 in their last 12, and should be able to take care of an inferior Baltimore Orioles team to start off the week. Doug Fister gets the start tomorrow against the O’s best starter, Dylan Bundy, first pitch is scheduled for 7:05.

85 down, 9 to go. 

 

RECAP: Porcello pitches into eighth, Betts drives in two as #RedSox take series from Rays with 3-1 win.

After another marathon of a game Friday night/Saturday morning, the Red Sox took care of the Rays in a much more timely fashion tonight. Rick Porcello got the start in this one, and he must have been happy going in because he has been great at Tropicana Field this season. Prior to today’s game, Porcello owned a 1.93 ERA in two starts at The Trop. This trend continued on Saturday, as the righty only gave up one earned run over 7.1 innings pitched. The Rays could only manage to get on base six times over that span, while also striking out three times. He easily could have finished the eighth, but John Farrell pulled him after he walked Mallex Smith. So, with this being the last time he’ll pitch in Tampa Bay this season, let’s look at the numbers. 21.1 IP, 15 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, and 17 K’s. That translates to a 1.71 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 1.26 BB/9, and 7.17 K/9. Obviously, Porcello is not having a great season, but at least his performances against the Rays on the road can be seen as a bright spot.

The Red Sox bullpen was used heavily last night, so it was good to see Porcello go as deep as he did to give them some rest. The only relief pitchers that had to be used were Addison Reed and Craig Kimbrel. Reed, who finished the eighth, struck out one, while Kimbrel, who pitched the ninth, struck out two on his way to his 33rd save of the season.

Offensively, the Red Sox bats did need to do much with the way Rick Porcello was dealing against the Rays. Alex Cobb was holding them in check for a good while, and the game could have gone a different way if Mookie Betts hadn’t gone deep to lead off the second, but he did, and it was his 22nd of the season. That was just the beginning for Mookie, who drove in his second RBI of the game in the sixth, scoring Andrew Benintendi from third on an RBI single. Later in the inning, with Cobb out of the game, Rafael Devers ripped a double to left, allowing Betts to score from second. That was all the scoring, but I just want to give a shout out to Brock Holt for this gem in the seventh. It’s been a tough year for Holt, but I still love him.

Eduardo Rodriguez and Jake Odorizzi square off tomorrow at 1:10, right when the Patriots will be playing. Perfect for those multiple televisions, unfortunate for those with only one.

85 down, 9 to go. 

RECAP: The #RedSox trailed by three runs entering the ninth against the Rays; they won 13-6 in fifteen innings.

The Red Sox had themselves a pretty good week before arriving in Tampa on Thursday night. They had an off day on Monday, and that was followed by taking two out of three games from the Oakland Athletics at home. Drew Pomeranz looked great on Thursday, and that had me feeling confident about Chris Sale’s start yesterday. Unfortunately, the lefty was not at the top of his game against the Rays. He only gave up four hits, but two of those hits were home runs. The first was good for two runs off the bat of Wilson Ramos, and the second was good for one off the bat of Adeiny Hechavarria. It did not look like it was going to be like this for Sale, though. After a rough first inning, he settled down for the next two, striking out five straight at one point before allowing that home run to Ramos. His day would end with two outs in the sixth, and it was clear that he was not happy about getting taken out. September has not been too kind to Sale, as this start marks the second time in three starts where the southpaw has failed to pitch at least six innings. It looks like he’ll make his next start in Baltimore next Wednesday, if he pitches on regular rest. This may not be a popular idea, but I may consider giving Sale another day of rest next time around the rotation if I’m Manager John. I think it helped him last time it happened and it could be beneficial for the team along with Sale.

The Red Sox bullpen ended up being tasked with a lot. Austin Maddox, Matt Barnes, Fernando Abad, Craig Kimbrel, Addison Reed, Joe Kelly, Brandon Workman, and Blaine Boyer were responsible for more than nine innings of work. Kelly would be my pick for MVP out of the ‘pen. His three shutout innings were huge from the eleventh to the thirteenth. Matt Barnes gave up a home run in the eighth, and Brandon Workman gave up a home run to Kevin Kiermaier that tied the game in the fourteenth. After the Red Sox went off for seven runs in the top half of the fifteenth, Blaine Boyer locked things down with two strikeouts in a shutout inning.

I don’t know where to begin with the Red Sox offensively. The Rays were doing a pretty good job limiting the Red Sox to two runs, one being a Mitch Moreland home run, over the first eight innings. It wasn’t until the Rays closer, Alex Colome, took the mound when they got back into this game. A walk, an error, and a single closed the gap to two runs with no outs in the inning. A Sandy Leon single made it a one run game, then Kevin Kiermaier made one of the most desperate catches you’ll ever see. The Red Sox win this game sooner if this play is not made.

Kiermaier did not stop there, though. Oh no, after the Red Sox tied the game in the ninth, he did this in the tenth.

Him, Kevin Pillar, and Jackie Bradley all play in the same division. Anyway in the fourteenth, Rafael Devers drove in the then go-ahead run thanks to another error from Rays second baseman Brad Miller. That allowed Mookie Betts to score, and it looked like the Red Sox were going to win in the next inning. That’s not how things went, but they did score seven times in the fifteenth inning. I wish they did it sooner, but hey, that’s baseball. There were no big hits either, just one double, a few singles, a HBP, and capitalizing on errors. Xander Bogaerts had his best performance in a long time with four hits and two RBIs. In fact, Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi, Mitch Moreland, Rafael Devers, and Deven Marrero all drove in 2 RBIs each last night. Honestly, I did not expect Blake Swihart and Deven Marrero to play any kind of role in this game, but the Red Sox probably lose this game if not for their efforts.

Rick Porcello gets the start against Alex Cobb this evening, special 6:10 start for whatever reason. Red Sox are 7-3 in their last 10 and the Yankees are only three games back, time to pick it up and hold onto that lead.

84 down, 10 to go. 

RECAP: After scoring 18 runs in the first two games, #RedSox can only manage one in 4-1 defeat against the Rays.

The Red Sox looked great in the first two games of this weekend series, not so much on Sunday. Rick Porcello got the start in this one, and he did not look nearly as bad as he did last time out against the Blue Jays on Labor Day. In the five innings the righty pitched, the Rays managed to score twice on five hits and three walks, all to Logan Morrison. They did strike out four times though, and Porcello did not give up his first hit until the fourth. I don’t think his pitch count was that high, but he did not come back out to start the sixth inning. The bullpen struggled a little bit in the four innings they pitched, but I’d still say they kept the Red Sox in the game. Brandon Workman and Robby Scott both allowed a run, but Addison Reed, Fernando Abad, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel combined to pitch 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. The highlights of this were Fernando Abad’s eephus pitch for a K, and Craig Kimbrel striking out the side in the top of the ninth. In his next start, it looks like Porcello will face the Rays again, this time on the road, but it might not be at Tropicana Field.

On the other side of things, the bats looked lifeless similar to the way they did earlier last week against New York and Toronto. The only run they managed to score off of Alex Cobb came in the second, when Christian Vazquez drove in Mitch Moreland on an RBI single. Vazquez should have scored later in the inning, but was later ruled out after a lengthy, incorrect replay review. The call was so incorrect that the Rays players took the field after seeing the replay for themselves. Anyway, the Red Sox had one legit shot to score a few runs in the sixth, after Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts reached base with no outs, Moreland grounded into a double play and Rafael Devers grounded out to end the inning, stranding Benintendi at third. After Cobb left in that inning, the Rays bullpen did a great job of shutting down the Red Sox over the next three innings, limiting them to only one hit over that span. So, shout out to Falmouth, MA native Steve Cishek for his scoreless inning.

An off day tomorrow will give this team time to prepare a team very similar to the Rays in the Oakland Athletics. They are a club that strikes out a lot and hits the ball deep a lot. I haven;t watched him play a ton in Milwaukee or Oakland, but I like what Khris Davis has evolved into with the 39 home runs he has this season. ERod gets the first start on Tuesday, facing off against Sean Manaea, who got lit up last time he pitched in Boston last May.

81 down, 11 to go. 

RECAP: Chris Sale quietly strikes out eight as #RedSox pile on the runs en route to their fourth straight win.

Good morning, the Red Sox have won four consecutive games.

It’s the first football Sunday of this new season, so I’ll keep this light, and I think I can do a good job of that given how last night’s game went.

Chris Sale made his 29th start of 2017 on Saturday, and he didn’t have to pitch to the best of his abilities to get the win in this one. By the time he took the mound for the top of the second, he already had a three run lead, and by the time he came out for the third, he had an eight run lead to work with. He wasn’t great in the six innings he pitched, but he looked very good. No runs on six hits, a HBP, and a walk to go along with eight strikeouts. You may consider this a hot take, but Chris Sale is usually the star on the days he pitches and I honestly don’t think he was last night. That’s not a knock on him, in fact, I like that he was not put back out for the seventh, which could have easily happened back in June or July. Instead, he gets additional rest, after already receiving an extra day this past week. In the 29 starts Sale has made, he has gone at least six while allowing two runs or fewer 62% of the time. Similar to Friday;s game, the Red Sox bullpen was not put under any pressure given a nine run lead when Sale departed after six innings. Carson Smith, Heath Hembree, and Blaine Boyer combined to go for three scoreless innings of relief, with Smith being the only one to give up any hits.

Offensively, Matt Andriese stood no chance. Dustin Pedroia got the scoring started with a two-run home run, his sixth, over the monster in the first. Mitch Moreland drove in another run in the inning, and the onslaught continued into the second. Andrew Benintendi, Moreland, and Hanley Ramirez all drove in runs in the inning. Benintendi wrapped up the scoring in the third with an RBI single in the third. Eduardo Nunez, Xander Bogaerts, Dustin Pedroia, Andrew Benintendi, Mitch Moreland, and Rafael Devers all recorded multi-hit games. Unfortunately, Nunez had to leave the game in the second after getting a spike off the back while successfully stealing second. Surprisingly, Xander Bogaerts, his replacement, was borderline outstanding. Two hits on three at bats, two runs scored, and some great plays made defensively. Like Jerry Remy said, hopefully this performance Bogaerts was not prepared for will get him going.

With their 81st win of the season, the Red Sox have guaranteed that they will finish the season with a winning percentage north of .500 for the second straight season. Rick Porcello will look to rebound from his last start this afternoon, as the first place Red Sox look for the sweep over the Rays.

81 down, 11 to go. 

RECAP: Mookie Betts dominates the first inning, Drew Pomeranz and #RedSox go on to beat Rays 9-3.

After the Patriots lost on Thursday night, attention began to turn away from the Red Sox, who usually take a back seat to the Patriots once September begins. Well, the Red Sox played a game worth watching last night, as they won their third straight over an AL East opponent. Drew Pomeranz got the start in this one, and he looked levels better than Rays starter Chris Archer. In the six innings the lefty pitched, the Rays only managed two runs on two hits and two walks off of him, all while striking out seven times. It took more than four innings for the Rays to get a hit, but they also scored their only two runs of the game in that inning, on a two-run home run. That was all Pomeranz gave up, but he had to exit after six innings with his pitch count well over 100. I know wins are an overrated stat for pitchers, but Pomeranz picked up his 15th win last night, and I believe that is tied with Chris Sale for the most in the American League. Those two, for the most part, have had amazing seasons. With one of them, you kind of expected it, but with the other, his season performance comes as a total surprise. If you thought Pomeranz was going to be this good before the season started, you’re lying.

By the time Pomeranz left, the Red Sox had a 8-2 lead, so the bullpen was not put under any real pressure. Joe Kelly got the first call, but he could only record one out while loading the bases. Addison Reed came in trying to get out of that mess, and that’s what he did as he only allowed one of those runs to score on a force out. He came back out for the eighth as well, and was lifted in favor of Austin Maddox after recording the first out of the inning. Since being recalled on September 1st, Maddox has already appeared in four games and has yet to allow a walk or a run to score in the 5.2 innings he has pitched this month. He got the last five outs of the game, securing the team’s 80th victory of the season.

Offensively, Mookie Betts put the Red Sox on the board in the first, and they never looked back. After making a great defensive play in the top of the inning, Betts took his friend, Chris Archer deep? to right for his 19th home run of the season, his first career opposite field homer at Fenway Park. Here are both of those plays in the same video:

Archer settled down after that for a while, but the Red Sox really got to him in the fourth, scoring five times in total while Arhcer left the game. Jackie Bradley Jr., Andrew Benintendi, and Hanley Ramirez all had RBIs in the inning while Dustin Pedroia and Mitch Moreland drove in two runs without picking up an RBI. Archer was pulled in the fourth inning after failing to record one out, and it shows that pitching in Boston has not treated Archer well. The Red Sox managed to tack one more run off the Rays bullpen in the seventh on a Christian Vazquez RBI double that resulted in this:

Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley seemed to take offense to this because of the whole Apple Gate thing, but I don’t think it’s that serious. Anyway, the Red Sox won their third straight game and the Yankees lost last night, they are now 4.5 games back.

Chris Sale gets the start tonight against Matt Andriese as the Red Sox look for their fourth straight win.

80 down, 12 to go.