Sox simply aces now
Take 5th straight; drop O’s
BALTIMORE — The other American League East contenders are falling apart at the hands of the Red Sox.
They pushed the Toronto Blue Jays out of first place just over a week ago, crushed the New York Yankees’ playoff dreams with a four-game sweep over the weekend and ran over the Baltimore Orioles last night in a convincing 5-2 win.
“We’re really relaxed. We’re just playing the game and having fun,” said Mookie Betts, who went deep for the 31st time this season. “That’s the main thing.”
Now a 21-game winner, Rick Porcello cruised through a complete game on just 89 pitches, the most efficient CG in the majors since 2015.
“He has been outstanding,” said David Ortiz, who hit his 35th homer of the season in the victory. “I’m so happy for him because he’s a great guy. Just watching him struggle last year, it was something where you don’t know what to tell him. But watching him perform right now is something that — I’m super happy for him.”
Porcello is now 11-2 with a 2.32 ERA since July 9 (1042⁄ innings. Paired with David Price, who is 8-2 with a 3.02 ERA in that span, the Sox have the most intimidating 1-2 punch in the AL.
One step further, the Red Sox are looking like the most intimidating team in the AL.
Last night was their fifth straight win. Since July 3, they own the AL’s best record at 43-27. They’re 12-5 in September, when the offense has scored 6.5 runs per game and their pitching staff has a 2.94 ERA.
As the Red Sox continue to surge atop the East with their four-game lead over the O’s, other AL teams are falling.
“Up to this point right now, this is the biggest series of the year for us,” Porcello said. “So you know we got to beat these guys up front and we have three more games left. It’s a good way to start it. It’s never over ’til it’s over, but we’re definitely going to try to increase the gap between us and them.”
The Central-leading Indians are 5-5 over their last 10 games and have lost Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco and Yan Gomes to seasonending injuries.
The West-leading Rangers entered last night 5-5 over their last 10 with a 6.02 ERA in September, the second-worst mark in the majors. Over their last four starts, Cole Hamels has a 10.50 ERA and Yu Darvish is at 6.45.
Porcello didn’t allow a baserunner until the fourth inning last night, when he plunked Manny Machado in the arm.
Porcello wasn’t perfect — Mark Trumbo doubled home Machado in the fourth and Adam Jones took him deep in the eighth — but he was as effective as he’s been all year.
“We knew coming into it that they’re going to be aggressive,” said Porcello, who allowed just four hits while striking out seven. “We just saw ’ em four days ago and that’s the way they’ve been all year. So we’re just trying to use that aggressiveness to our advantage, go beyond the strike zone.”
Porcello has 82 strikeouts and just eight walks in his last 14 starts.
“He did what he always does,” Betts said.
So did Betts. He continued to torment the Orioles at their home park, hitting his eighth homer of the season at Camden Yards when he took Dylan Bundy deep for a two-run jack in the third.
Dustin Pedroia drove in a run in the fifth and Ortiz added a two-run blast to pad the lead. Along with his hefty home run total, Ortiz now has 118 RBI on the year.
“I don’t think it’s much different,” Betts said of being in first place. “Whether you’re on the bottom or the top you’re trying to win. And when you’re on top you just continue to do what got you there. I think that’s our main focus right now just continue to play the game and don’t change anything.”