The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Newcomb suffers homecoming hurt
Big lefty from Massachusetts struggles with control, exits after three innings in shortest start of his career at Boston on Saturday.
Sean Newcomb’s homecoming didn’t go as he hoped,
and a difficult Braves road trip continued its downward spiral.
The Red Sox knocked Newcomb out after three innings and overcame an early multi-run deficit for the second day in a row for an 8-6 win Saturday at Fenway Park,
clinching the series and handing the Braves their fourth loss on a six-game trip that ends Sunday.
The Braves have lost six of 10 games and dropped four of five on the trip after winning 11 of their previous 12 road games. They need to win Sunday to avert a sweep, and it won’t be easy with the Red Sox throwing ace lefthander Chris Sale against Mike Foltynewicz in the series finale.
Dansby Swanson hit a two-run, two-out homer in the second inning, and Kurt Suzuki’s twoout double in the third pushed the Braves lead to 3-0, but Newcomb needed 88 pitches to get through three innings, and the Red Sox tied the score with three in the third on four hits and a walk.
Ronald Acuna had three hits for the Braves, including a ninth-inning bases-empty homer off closer Craig Kimbrel, the former Braves fireballer.
Newcomb’s trouble in the third inning began with Mitch Moreland’s leadoff triple to the quirky triangle area of right-center field, where the wall juts out to 420 feet. The other three hits in the inning were run-scoring singles from Xander Bogaerts; No. 8 hitter Blake Swihart, who began the day with a .133 average; and No. 9 hitter Christian Vazquez, who came in batting .190.
Newcomb, a native of nearby Middleboro, Mass., gave up six hits, three runs and four walks with four strikeouts in three innings, the briefest of his 29 career starts in the majors. His previous low was 3⅓ innings against the Astros on July 4, when the big left-hander was rocked for 10 hits and seven runs in a 16-4 defeat.
The Braves regained a 5-3 lead in the fourth inning on Freddie Freeman’s RBI single and Nick Markakis’ sacrifice fly, but Boston got a leadoff homer from Andrew Benintendi off reliever Jesse Biddle in the fourth inning and moved in front 6-5 on Mitch Moreland’s two-run double off Sam Freeman in the sixth. It was their first lead and one the Red Sox wouldn’t relinquish.
Benintendi added a two-run, two-out triple in the seventh off reliever Dan Winkler, the runs unearned following an Ozzie Albies throwing error. Benintendi had a single, triple, homer and hit-by-pitch in five plate appearances.
For Newcomb, it marked the first time he pitched less than five innings since he pitched 4⅓ innings in his season debut April 2 against the Nationals, when he gave up five hits, six runs (five earned) and four walks. He was outstanding in eight starts between that one and Saturday, going 5-0 with a 1.68 ERA, .182 opponents’ average and 52 strikeouts in 48⅓ innings.
Newcomb lasted at least six innings in seven of those past eight games and allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of eight. But he struggled to throw strikes Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 36,510 that included his parents and, he said, approximately 200 friends and former teammates from high school or the University of Hartford.
As much as Newcomb struggled with command Saturday, Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz was worse, giving up six hits, five runs and three walks in 3⅓ innings. The veteran lefty has lasted four innings or fewer in four of his seven starts, including each of the past three.
But the game came down to a contest of bullpens, and the Red Sox and their relievers came out ahead.