SOX BATS BASH AWAY
Benny, Price lead Texas trouncing
ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s been a different player leading the offense each night, but the results have been just about the same.
The Red Sox offense has erupted. Hits are falling all over the place.
Nos. 1-3 hitters Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts combined to go 1-for-16 last night, yet the Sox still stomped all over the Texas Rangers in an 11-4 victory at Globe Life Park.
The Sox have won six straight, outscoring their opponents 53-18 in the process. The offense has lifted its runs-per-game average from 4.67 before the streak to 4.96, good for fourth best in the American League.
“We’ve got a good team,” said David Price, who threw six-plus shutout innings and improved to 4-2. “We had a team meeting early on in the year, and I think we were four or five games over .500. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever had a team meeting above .500, but that’s just how good we know we are, what our coaching staff and what we expect of one another. We expect to go out there and win every day. We’ve definitely started playing better baseball of late, and we’ll just keep it going.”
Andrew Benintendi had his best game, going 5-for-5 with two homers, six RBI and a highlight-reel catch in which he flew through the air and made the grab before slamming into the left field wall. In one game, Benintendi’s average jumped from .276 to .288 and his OPS from .783 to .826.
“Still trying to learn a lot and incorporate everything I’ve learned,” Benintendi said. “I think I’m seeing a lot less fastballs and they’re just trying to stay away and maybe take a little sting out of the bat. But I say that now, maybe they’ll bust me in tomorrow. You never know. That’s just the game.”
The Rangers’ Yu Darvish entered with a 3.11 ERA, but was nickled and dimed for four runs through four innings, then served up a three-run shot to Benintendi that knocked him out of the game.
Price threw his best game of the season, despite the Arlington heat (91 degrees at first pitch) that has often caused him trouble, though he confusingly began the seventh inning at 101 pitches with the Sox up 9-0. He walked the first batter on five pitches and had to exit the game with a trainer. The lefty had been dealing with a fingernail issue in recent starts and looked down at his pitching hand while walking off the field.
“It’s still broken, but it’s fine,” Price said.
Manager John Farrell offered a different explanation for bringing the trainer to the mound.
“He’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with his finger,” Farrell said. “Given the number of innings of late that our bullpen has pitched, trying to get a little bit more out of him but wasn’t going to let him labor. And after the way the first at-bat unfolded, just got him out of the game at that point.”
Price walked two, struck out nine and allowed just six hits.
The last time Price pitched on the road against Texas, he lasted just 21⁄3 innings and allowed six runs on only 59 pitches.
Price has never been one to excel in the heat, having made eight career starts with temperatures in the 90s, posting a 9.91 ERA over 361⁄3 innings, allowing 55 hits, nine homers and 15 walks while striking out 35. He had a 7.48 ERA in 34 innings at Globe Life Park.
The Sox scored two in the second on a pair of singles from Benintendi and Tzu-Wei Lin, then used the hit-and-run with Christian Vazquez at the plate to pile up two more runs in the fourth.
Benintendi’s three-run jack extended the lead in the fifth, then he poked in another run with a single in the sixth and his final RBI with an opposite-field homer in the eighth. The rookie was the hero Monday night, too, coming off the bench and driving in the eventual game-winning run with a single in the 11th inning.
Each of the Red Sox’ bottomsix players in the lineup had multiple hits. And the offense has produced at least six runs in the last six games.
“You look at the bottom of the order from Benny on down, a huge night offensively, and when you’re getting contributions from the bottom three in particular, it takes pressure off the upper third of the order,” Farrell said.