Devers, Price save season
Lefty aids reputation with sterling relief effort
BOSTON – Regardless of how the rest of this Division Series plays out, Red Sox fans should long remember what David Price did on do-or-die Sunday.
By coming in and being a shutdown “ace” relief pitcher against an Astros lineup that resembled a runaway freight train in the first two games, Price became the new answer to a trivia question: Name the last Boston reliever to throw at least four innings with no earned runs in a postseason game.
The last time that scenario happened was Game 5 of the 1999 Division Series. The bullpen door at Cleveland’s Jacobs Field swung open to reveal an injured Pedro Martinez, a pitcher worthy of the “ace” moniker. When his team needed him the most, Pedro delivered. Pitching on guts and guile, he silenced the Indians with six shutout innings as the Red Sox moved on to the American League Championship Series.
David Price has a long way to go before he can share the same rarified air as Pedro Martinez. The sounds of silence that ensued from the Fenway Park mound under the left-hander’s watch on Sunday represents a very good start in the long road he must take before his place in Red Sox lore is more sweet than sour.
“I want to help this team win right now,” Price said after holding the Astros at bay with four shutout innings on four hits with four strikeouts and one walk as the Red Sox won, 10-3.
“If there was any doubt on what players are willing to do or what they can do, today shows what playoff baseball will bring out of him,” said Houston manager A.J. Hinch.
Price’s 2017 season has been largely remembered for the wrong things, namely injuries and multiple flareups with media members. He was viewed as public enemy No. 1, even more so than the jettisoned Pablo Sandoval.
Given a blank page at the end of the regular season, Price has done nothing except author a string of scoreless outings. Sunday marked his seventh outing since returning from the disabled list. All of them have been of the scoreless variety, as he’s now working on a 15.1 scoreless streak.
That’s impressive stuff, but what the 32-year-old did on Sunday was the essence of timely. With the team’s season on the line, he told the Red Sox to jump on his back. He didn’t buckle under the pressure.
“It feels good to put up zeros in the playoffs,” said Price, who did so by throwing 57 pitches (37 strikes).
“He was phenomenal … definitely one of the MVPs of the game,” said Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts. “He helped us a lot.”
The Red Sox took their first lead of the ALCS in the third inning behind a two-run home run by 20-year-old Rafael Devers. The fourth inning was deemed Price’s time after Joe Kelly turned in 1.2 scoreless innings.
What ensued was a series of blemish-free innings where Price didn’t permit a Houston baserunner to reach third base. His biggest test came in the fifth after Josh Reddick led off with an infield single and Jose Altuve followed with a bloop base hit.
Instead of completely bending to the point of complete breakage, Price stood firm. A chopper to Devers at third base resulted in the first out, then came a swinging strikeout of Marwin Gonzalez on an 87mph changeup in the dirt. Another ground ball resulted in yet another fielder’s choice as Price was home free.
Price was at 42 pitches after recording a fly ball that Mookie Betts caught for the final out of the sixth. It was the most pitches he’s throw since coming back, hence it was a bit surprising when John Farrell sent him back out for the seventh.
A one-out walk to Altuve seemed to spell trouble, yet no one was warming in the bullpen. The seventh was Price’s to finish, which he did with a flourish with a 95-mph heater that Gonzalez was tardy on. With the sell-out Fenway Park crowd (38,010) in a fren- zy, Price looked in the direction of home plate and had a few choice words for Gonzalez. Apparently, Price thought catcher Sandy Leon was in the line of unnecessary fire.
“I saw him take his bat and try and hit Sandy’s glove. Ya’ll saw that? Okay,” Price said.
Leon admitted that Price shook him off a couple of times. If that’s the biggest transgression that Price com- mitted on this day, then he’s well ahead of the game when it comes to gaining support in the court of public opinion.
“He always wants the ball, especially in that situation,” Leon said. “He was trying to keep the game close and that’s exactly what he did.”
Before the Red Sox blew the game wide-open with six runs in the seventh, Price told Farrell that he had more than enough gas to go back out there for the eighth inning. Had Boston been retired in quick fashion, the eighth would have been his. Instead, it became time to distribute handshakes and congrats for a job well done.
“Four shutout innings in the playoffs … that’s something you expect from someone of his talent,” said Red Sox starter Doug Fister, who was let off the hook after getting touched up for four runs on three hits in 1.1 innings.
Kelly was credited with the victory, though no one would have questioned the official scorer if he decided to give it Price. He earned it on a day where his reputation took a gigantic leap for the good. Providing he can stay out of his own way, we could someday be pinpointing Oct. 8, 2017 as the date when the David Price redemption tour swung into earnest.