The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Red Sox reach 100 wins
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox reached 100 wins for the first time since Ted Williams returned from World War II in the 1946 season, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 1-0 Wednesday night as David Price won his sixth straight decision.
Price (15-6) allowed three hits and struck out seven. Unbeaten in 11 starts since July 1, Price left after 92 pitches with a lead earned when Rafael Devers scampered home on a wild pitch by Aaron Sanchez (4-6) in the fifth inning.
Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 39th save in 44 chances, and the scoreboards all flashed “100 WINS.”
A night after becoming the first major league team this year to clinch a playoff spot, Boston won for the 10th time in 14 games and moved a season-high 54 games above .500. The Red Sox lowered their magic number to secure their third straight AL East title to eight, pending the New York Yankees’ game against Minnesota later Wednesday.
Boston’s previous 100win team featured Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Dom DiMaggio. This year’s Red Sox need only to go 6-10 the rest of the way to break the franchise record of 105 wins, set in 1912.
Sanchez (4-6) allowed three hits and struck out six. Toronto fell to 1-8 at Fenway Park this year and dropped to a season-worst 15 games below .500. The Blue Jays haven’t won backto-back games since Aug. 24-25.
Jonathan Davis had his first major league hit for Toronto, which like Boston finished with four hits.
PRICE IS RIGHT
Price is 5-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five starts since the All-Star break.
CENTURY CLUB
Alex Cora is the first manager with 100 wins in his first season with a club since Felipe Alou with the 2003 San Francisco Giants and the first in his initial season as a big league manager since Dusty Baker with the 1993 Giants.
“To win 99 is huge, it’s a lot of games. To win a 100 is going to be great,” he said before the game. “The most important thing is how we’ve done it, it’s everybody together.”