Boston sticks with Price for Game 2
Despite struggles in ALDS, Cora keeping left-hander in postseason rotation
BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora is sticking with David Price, saying Wednesday the left-hander will start Game 2 of the AL Championship Series against Houston despite an unprecedented history of playoff struggles.
Speaking on MLB Network radio a day after the Red Sox eliminated the Yankees from the AL Division Series, Cora said he plans to use Chris Sale in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series that begins at Fenway Park on Saturday night. The first-year manager said Price, the loser in the Red Sox only defeat in the ALDS, is still in line to start Game 2.
“We trust him,” Cora said last week after Price allowed three runs and got just five outs in a 6-2 loss in Game 2. “He bounced back before. We’ll talk to him and make a few adjustments and we’ll go from there.”
Nathan Eovaldi and 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello are expected to start Games 3 and 4, after picking up wins in the same roles against the Yankees. The current Red Sox staff entered the series with a 0-19 postseason record as starters, and now everyone but Price has picked up a win. Price has won two games in relief.
In all, Price is 0-9 as a starter in the postseason and his team has lost all 10 of his career playoff starts, the longest such skid in postseason history. The latest was a five-out cameo in Game 2 against the Yankees in which he gave up homers to Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.
But Cora expressed confidence in Price afterward, claiming that Astros ace Justin Verlander and Red Sox Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez also struggled in the playoffs early in their careers. He also noted that Price pitched well out of the bullpen last year, making two appearances with 62⁄ innings of scoreless relief against Houston.
Verlander had a 5.57 ERA through his first eight playoff starts, but he won three of them; Martinez struggled in the 2003 and early in the 2004 postseason but had already posted a win in his playoff debut in 1998 and threw 18 shutout innings over three appearances in 1999.
Price said after his start he will pitch in any role that helps the team.
“I just want to win. That’s it,” Price said after his ALDS start. “My main goal is to win in the playoffs, to win a World Series. And whatever I need to do to help us do that, I’m fine with. But I know I’m more than capable of winning games as a starter in October. That’s what I look forward to doing.” Correa ‘hurting’: Carlos Correa is in pain.
Every swing and miss hurts, and on the bad days it can even be uncomfortable for the Houston Astros star shortstop to walk.
Correa often puts on a brave face but told The Associated Press how much this is affecting himastheAstrosprepare to leave for Boston.
“You’re a competitor so every time you step on the field you play it off like everything is fine,” he said Wednesday. “But obviously you’re hurting.”
Correa returned from a six-week stint on the disabled list on Aug. 10 and declared that he was better. But he has struggled to regain his top form. He hit just .180 in the second half of the season and managed a single hit — a home run — in an ALDS, looking nothing like the player who made the All-Star team last season and was the 2015 rookie of the year.
He said it bothers him most at the plate, and it’s been impossible to get back to how he felt before the injury.
“Not only to find my swing, just to feel comfortable at the plate when I swing,” he said. “Because I know every time I swing and miss it’s going to hurt. So, I try not to swing andmissandthenItrytobabymyswingandI don’t swing as hard as I usually do or as quick as I usually do. So, it’s definitely been tough.”
Correa said there’s been a domino effect of pain in other areas, most notably in his obliques, as he tries to avoid doing things that make his back hurt.
He’s receiving treatment “24/7,” but the pain remains. He’s using a foamroller at home and been sporadically taking anti-inflammatories.
“It’s just a pain down in my lower back that doesn’t let me move right,” he said. “When I bend over, when I rotate. Sometimes when I wakeupandIwalk in the morning, I knowit’s not going to be a good day.”
Despite his woes, Correa started all three games of the ALDS and continues to play stellar defense, something he takes pride in as he struggles at the plate. And though he was just1-for-10 against the Indians, his one hit was abig one— athree-runhomerintheclinching game — providing hope that maybe things are getting better. (Best-of-7, x-if necessary) AMERICAN LEAGUE All Games on TBS Houston vs. Boston Saturday: Houston (Verlander 16-9) at Boston (Sale 12-4), 8:09 p.m. Sunday: Houston at Boston (Price 16-8), 7:09 p.m. Tuesday: Boston at Houston, 5:09 p.m. Wednesday: Boston at Houston, 8:39 p.m. x-Oct. 18: Boston at Houston, 8:09 p.m. x-Oct. 20: Houston at Boston, 5:09 p.m. x-Oct. 21: Houston at Boston, 7:39 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE Fox and FS1 Los Angeles vs. Milwaukee Friday: Los Angeles (Kershaw 9-5) at Milwaukee, 8:09 p.m. Saturday: Los Angeles at Milwaukee, 4:09 p.m., Monday: Milwaukee at Los Angeles, 7:39 p.m. Tuesday: Milwaukee at Los Angeles, 9:09 p.m. x-Wednesday: Milwaukee at Los Angeles, 5:05 p.m. x-Oct. 19: Los Angeles at Milwaukee, 8:39 p.m. x-Oct. 20: Los Angeles at Milwaukee, 9:09 p.m.