Somewhere today, former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is wearing a shit eatin' grin and has the lilt of "I told you so" on his lips after Rick Porcello's performance last night. The much ballyhooed contract extension granted by Cherington had people puzzled as Porcello had yet to toss his first regular pitch for Boston. Rick's inability to live up to that lofty contract along with the remaining starting cast of Wade Miley, Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz and Joe "Cy Young" Kelly that Ben assembled was a lightning rod for his eventual departure. If Cherington was still at the helm of the decision making process, he'd be heralded a genius for his intuition. Now, a tip of the cap from his successor in Dombrowski will have to suffice.
I still see Rick's stuff as mid-rotation fare and a bend but doesn't break type of guy.But the numbers don't lie as he is now tied for the AL lead in wins with 14 which is one shy of tying his career high. Not only has he not bent, but he's barely even been swayed as the de facto ace of this staff. With Steven Wright's recent struggles with moisture, he has come back to Earth very abruptly and may even be your number three guy before season's end. If Price keeps delivering starts like he did in the series opener, Boston's rotation will be in good shape with Pomeranz and Rodriguez shoring up the back end.
Porcello's complete game came, the fifth of his career, came at a very opportune time with the bullpen taxed in recent days. His outing coupled with Price's 8 inning gem gives Boston's pen a much needed rest moving forward on this long road trip.
The Red Sox offense finally stepped up and backed a quality start. They have missed chances to do so in 3 of the last 4 such starts and a decaying Tim Lincecum was just the tonic they needed. Jackie Bradley Jr.and Xander Bogaerts launched homers that gave all the cushion Boston needed to snap the season high 4 game losing skid.
To the Twitter highlights:
CG, 21 of the last 23, final 11 in a row. @RickPorcello was dominant for the #RedSox tonight!https://t.co/fYkP1YnZGn— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) July 30, 2016
The Red Sox are 16-5 in Rick Porcello starts, 40-40 in all other starts.— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 30, 2016
From Aug. 26, 2015 through Friday:— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) July 30, 2016
Chris Sale’s ERA: 3.29
Rick Porcello’s ERA: 3.37
Justin Verlander’s ERA: 3.38
Johnny Cueto’s ERA: 3.46
Porcello's Performance: 9IP, 5H, 2ER, 0BB, 3K, 107-81-7. He's 14-2, and the Sox are 16-5 when he takes the hill.— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) July 30, 2016
Pedroia has reached base safely in 32 straight games. Longest active streak in the majors, tied with Jayson Werth— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 30, 2016
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