August 15, 2016

Sawx Soak Snakes



The Boston batting order reminded us all over the weekend that sometimes it doesn't matter who is pitching because they have the ability to score a bunch of runs. I mentioned in an earlier post that the Red Sox offense is akin to a tsunami with that same brute force and destructive capability. That convincingly came to bear as Boston soaked Arizona for 31 runs which included hanging 9 on the second highest paid pitcher in baseball, former AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, in yesterday's offensive barrage.

The first game had that old familiar feeling with David Price giving up a two run homer before the boys even got to swing the sticks. But, hey, no problem. Hanley had his back launching a couple of three run homers in the first two innings which allowed David to cruise to his tenth win. Price struck out 8 but allowed 10 hits and two homers. In fact, David has given up more hits than any other starting pitcher in baseball. On the plus side, he has been eating innings logging 8 innings or more in 7 of his last 13 outings. This year Price seems to be paying for every mistake he makes and suffers from a high BABIP.  However, once this normalizes, the potential for success increases moving forward, and I believe we will begin to see the real David Price before too long. Price's win allowed him to join Zack Greinke as the only active pitchers with 10 or more wins in the last 8 seasons.

Saturday's game marked the return of Clay Buchholz to the starting rotation. In underwhelming fashion, as is his trademark, Clay went 4.1 innings and left the game trailing 3-1. This time it was the trio of Sandy Leon, Brock Holt, and young phenom Andrew Benintendi that would bail the starter out. These offensive triplets went a combined 5-10 with 2 homers, 6 runs scored and 4 RBI. Sandy notched his third multi hit game in a row, and Benintendi continues to impress turning in his 4 multi hit game . His contributions have eliminated Bryce Brentz's platoon aspirations chasing the 4 "A" outfielder back to Pawtucket 4 days ago.

Boston beat Arizona to the punch in the getaway game plating 9 runs after only two innings. Mookie Betts showcased his offensive wizardry nailing 2 of his 3 homers in the early slugfest. Betts collected 8 RBI in the 16-2 mauling, and furthered the chatter for his consideration for AL MVP. Not to be forgotten, Rick Porcello added his name to what ended up being a weekend of milestones for Boston. Rick is the first pitcher to go 12-0 at Fenway since Dave Ferriss registers a 13-0 record back in 1946. Porcello is also 8-1 in his last 9 starts and owns a 2.39 ERA during this streak.

Other notable stats from the weekend included Dustin Pedroia's 5 hit performance on Sunday as he became the first ever Red Sox player to record 5 or more hit five times in his career. When you think of the tremendous players throughout Red Sox history, this is certainly a significant accomplishment. Dustin also went 8-12 in the Diamondbacks' series and seems to be enjoying the leadoff spot with Mookie now dropped down to the three hole. David Ortiz also delivered his 1000th extra base hit with his typical flair - a homer in the opener to dead center field. Betts was also the 12th player in Red Sox history since 1913 with 8 or more RBI in a game.

I can't think of a more fitting way to close this entry than by mentioning the Boston bullpen. They caught a much needed breather as this much maligned group was becoming a punchline on Red Sox Twitter posts. Coming into the Arizona series, Boston had used 10 different relievers in the previous 20 games, and 8 of them have blown chances to win. Brad Ziegler dazzled the crowd on Saturday striking out three Arizona batters in a row after entering the game with the bases loaded and no one out. He was extremely economical as well only using 10 pitches to stymie his old club. Matt Barnes was the culprit for this ninth inning mess, and Boston need him to be reliable going down the stretch. Barnes has the stuff to be a wipe out guy as he demonstrated when bailing out Kimbrel in the win against the Yankees.

To the Twitter feed from the Diamondback series:









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