Same as it ever was
Sox still looking half right
Forty-eight hours ago, the Red Sox had a walk-off win in their pocket and a long weekend of opportunity in their sights.
Thirty-four innings later, the opportunity has come and gone, and the Sox are right back where they were at the beginning of the AllStar break with the same obvious strengths and the same glaring weaknesses.
Yesterday’s doubleheader — and really, this entire four-game series to start the second half — exposed what was already known to be true. In the opener, the Red Sox missed far too many scoring opportunities for a 3-0 loss to the Yankees. In the nightcap, they leaned heavily on starter David Price for a 3-0 win.
The rotation is strong, the lineup is inconsistent, and the beat-up bullpen could use reinforcements.
“This is a series dominated by pitching (from) both sides,” manager John Farrell said. “And our starters have been on a really strong run of late. Good starting pitching in this series once again. But you know, that was a hard-fought series. A lot of baseball played in three days. So, we’re looking forward to regrouping and moving on.”
The Red Sox won Friday’s second-half opener on a ninth-inning, basesloaded walk, but they wasted a Chris Sale gem in a 16-inning loss on Saturday. The offense had gone 24 innings without producing a run before Mookie Betts hit a two-run home run in the third inning of last night’s series finale.
The rotation looks as strong as ever. Between them, Sale, Price and Rick Porcello were charged with just one earned run the past three games, and Eduardo Rodriguez is returning from the disabled list tonight. But the bullpen suffered two more injuries this weekend, and the offense has scored more than three runs in just two of the past nine games.
“Getting into the next series, there’s a possibility of a little bit of different look,” Farrell said. “Maybe try to jump start some things, shake things up a little bit (in the lineup). Have not ruled that out.”
Despite the offensive woes, the Red Sox had a chance to win all four games against the Yankees because of their pitching. And one night after Sale set the standard, Price did his best to match it.
Price pitched eight shutout innings with no walks and eight strikeouts, the first time this season that he’d pitched more than seven innings. The strikeouts were one shy of a season high.
“We didn’t finish in Tampa the way we wanted to before the All-Star break,” Price said. “And lost a tough one (Saturday) night and (Porcello) threw the ball extremely well (in the first game of the doubleheader). For us to win that second game, that was big.”
Price’s biggest mistake of the night might have been the defensive highlight of the year. What should have been an Aaron Judge home run wound up in the glove of Jackie Bradley Jr., who made a remarkable leaping catch above the short wall of the center field triangle.
“I don’t really have a ranking system,” Bradley said. “But I wouldn’t say it was the most difficult catch I’ve ever made. But I guess given the situation and the timing, it’s pretty high up there.”
Bradley’s showstopper helped the Red Sox salvage the series split, giving the team fresh life just hours after an offensive letdown in the doubleheader opener.
The team went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position in the afternoon and couldn’t get a win for Porcello, who allowed three runs, but only one earned, through six innings.
While the Sox have not had a significant problem with runners in scoring position most of this season, wasted scoring opportunities have been a pinstriped boogeyman against New York. Against all other teams, the Sox have hit .282 with runners in scoring position, which would be fifthbest in the majors. In nine games against the Yankees, they are 3-for-58 with runners in scoring position, a laughably low .052 average.
“We’re going up, just trying to do our job,” Betts said. “It’s not like there’s no effort there. It’s just a part of the game.”
Even while winning the nightcap, the Sox were just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The hit was Dustin Pedroia’s RBI single in the sixth, which scored Betts, who three innings earlier had ended the team’s scoring drought with his 17th homer of the year.
It came with a runner who was not in scoring position.