Bad news still prevails
Price healthy, but Sox take tough loss
CHICAGO — David Price’s return to the Red Sox yesterday was worthy of a congratulatory handshake and high praise from manager John Farrell.
Maybe it’s because when the left-hander had to visit Dr. James Andrews in March for an elbow examination, expectations plummeted like the stock market in 2008. Those expectations dropped further when his rehab stalled and sunk beneath sea level after he made two poor starts for Pawtucket in which he allowed nine runs (six earned) on 12 hits while recording just 17 outs.
While yesterday’s outing was enough to lift the spirits of most fans regarding Price, it wasn’t enough for a Red Sox team that is talented but not perfect. Price allowed three runs in five innings and took a no-decision in a 5-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
Dustin Pedroia was injured and exited after one inning with a sprained wrist, the offense was (yet again) one clutch hit short, and Matt Barnes fumbled the lead in the seventh inning.
The Red Sox, now 27-23, received no answers in this one. Only more questions.
Here’s the good news: In his season debut, Price appeared totally healthy, just like he’s been saying all along. His fastball sat around 92-94 mph, average for him, and while his secondary pitches might not have been in midseason form — nor should they be at this point — he had enough to get by.
“There’s no doubt in my mind where I stand right now healthwise,” he said. “It was good to go out there and feel as good as I did.”
And for Price to allow just two hits against a major league lineup has to be considered improvement after what happened to him against Triple-A hitters.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” he said.
Unfortunately, this type of game doesn’t inspire confidence that Price is going to save the Sox’ mediocre season, though it’s a lot to expect that to happen. His mistakes were costly — like they usually are in the major leagues — and the Red Sox didn’t play well enough to overcome them.
They took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Mookie Betts led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly Xander Bogaerts. Price was in control until the third. It shouldn’t have taken him six pitches to retire Adam Engel, who was playing in just his third major league game. Instead, Price missed his sixth pitch and walked the No. 9 hitter to bring up Tim Anderson, who entered the game with a .278 on-base percentage and .661 OPS. Seven pitches later, Anderson was on first with another free pass.
Price then mistakenly challenged Melky Cabrera on a firstpitch fastball belt-high on the inside part of the plate, and the left fielder crushed it 402 feet for a three-run homer.
“I was trying to go two-seam down and away. I just yanked it middle-in,” Price said. “I’ve got stuff to work on.”
Bogaerts started an impressive double play to save Price in the fifth, falling to his right then popping up and firing to second base. Josh Rutledge, who came in to play second for Pedroia, turned it nicely.
Price needed 88 pitches (58 strikes) to go five innings. He allowed two hits and struck out four.
“He had quality stuff, and with the exception of one pitch he pulled to the inner part of the plate against Cabrera for the three-run homer, I thought he delivered the ball well,” Farrell said.
After the Sox tied the game with two in the fourth, Betts homered in the fifth to put them ahead 4-3. But Barnes came on in the seventh and gave the lead back.
Barnes allowed a leadoff triple to Yolmer Sanchez, who scored on a double by Kevan Smith. With two outs, Cabrera lifted a blooper that landed behind second, and Smith darted for home. Rutledge made a quick play and accurate throw, but it was too low, and Christian Vazquez couldn’t handle it.
“I mean, that’s baseball,” Barnes said. “Overall, I don’t think I threw the ball terrible.”
It would be out of line to call anyone on the Red Sox terrible yesterday. But with the exception of Betts’ two-hit game and a solid mop-up inning from Blaine Boyer, nobody was amazing, either.