Sox finally win a series against a good team
Gives them momentum in Wild Card hunt
Staying alive is one thing.
Staying alive with some momentum, playing with purpose and showing their fanbase, their coaching staff and themselves that they’re capable of getting hot at the right time is an entirely bigger thing.
The Red Sox didn’t just keep their playoff hopes alive on Wednesday, when they outlasted the Seattle Mariners in 10 innings for a 9-4 win that might’ve knocked the M’s out of playoff contention.
More importantly, the Red Sox proved they’re capable of winning a series against a good team, something they hadn’t done since July.
Not since they took three of four against the Yankees just before the trade deadline have the Red Sox won a series against a team that’s currently above .500. Until Wednesday’s series victory, the Sox were 0-6-2 in series against winning ball clubs. They were 8-19 in those games.
With the risk of accidentally dubbing the Sox a legitimate contender for the AL pennant just because of two good games against a borderline playoff team, it must be said that the local nine are finally trending in the right direction.
On a very difficult road trip against the White Sox and Mariners, the Sox were in every single game. They went 3-3 overall but all three losses were by one run.
Their starting rotation was consistent, with a 3.62 ERA over 27 1/3 innings on the trip, despite losing Chris Sale to COVID-19 just before the plane took off for Chicago.
Their COVID-ravaged bullpen was surprisingly incredible. With Matt Barnes still out, Sox relievers posted an 0.68 ERA over 26 1/3 innings during the trip.
Is it sustainable to have a bullpen pitch nearly as many innings as the starting rotation? Of course not. But at this point in the season, sustainability isn’t the goal anyways.
All the Red Sox pitching staff needs to do is pitch well enough so that a few of the team’s best arms are available for the Wild Card game on Oct. 5, two days after the season ends against the lowly Nationals.
Nathan Eovaldi continued his dominant season with a brilliant start on Tuesday. The stat line won’t show it, but getting out of a bases loaded jam in the fourth inning after Hunter Renfroe’s exasperating error on a dropped fly ball nearly did the Red Sox in for good.
Sale is on his way back, likely to start Friday’s series opener against the Orioles.
Adam Ottavino, Josh Taylor and Garrett Whitlock continue to look like strong options out of the bullpen.
And surely, manager Alex Cora will find a way to maximize Eduardo Rodriguez and Tanner Houck in a single-game playoff or a five-game series.
The Red Sox offense has certainly seen better days. It’d be hard to argue any of their hitters other than Bobby Dalbec and maybe Alex Verdugo are actually peaking right now. More accurately, a few are slumping. But for the first time in a long time, they’re all healthy.
Dalbec has the highest OPS of any big leaguer since Aug. 11, and he’s batting seventh in this lineup.
The only clear weakness, and a weakness that continues to be an issue even right down to the final day of the road trip, is the Sox’ disastrous defense.
Renfroe made his 12th error on Wednesday. He has seven more errors than any other right fielder this year. This time he rushed his throw on a single to right field and it bounced past Rafael Devers at third base. It was arguably Devers’ fault for not getting in front of the ball and letting it pass through him, but Devers is another story.
He made his MLB-leading 21st error of the season at third base later in the game, when he fumbled a groundball and then tried to overpower his throw to first base to make up for it. Instead, he sailed it over the head of Dalbec at first and the Sox were lucky not to pay for it.
Every pop fly, every groundball and any live baseball somewhere in play creates an adventure for this team.
One possible solution is what the Red Sox did on Tuesday, using Kyle Schwarber off the bench and choosing an optimal defensive alignment with Alex Verdugo in left, Kiké Hernandez in center and Renfroe in right. They swapped Schwarber and Verdugo on Wednesday.
Still, Devers has been simply bad at third base, Dalbec inconsistent at first base and the Sox’ catching tandem one of the worst in baseball at preventing stolen bases.
This isn’t a team that inspires defensively, and they’ve often paid because of it.
But with Schwarber a glorified pinch hitter, Travis Shaw now looking like another strong option off the bench and Jose Iglesias a premium defender to move around the diamond, the Red Sox can piece it together against anybody.
They still have to keep pace with the red-hot Blue Jays and/or handle the Yankees in a three-game set coming up next week in order to maintain Wild Card position.
But the rest of the schedule is a cakewalk.
At least they finally have some momentum.