(I’m currently writing these words at 7:15 AM the next day, April 13 because ya girl desperately needed sleep last night. We back tho.)
For the first time all season the Red Sox played a Friday night home game, of course wearing their Friday home red uniforms, AKA my favorite uniforms of theirs, and for the first time all season won multiple games in a row! I honestly forgot what that feeling was like, winning back-to-back games. I was growing accustomed to LOSING back-to-back games, something the 2018 Red Sox did only a handful of times, if that. Nonetheless, the Red Stockings are back, baby, and they’re back in a big way.
After the team split their 2-game series with Toronto on Thursday, Eduardo Rodriguez propelled the Sox to their first back-to-back win with easily the best performance by any Red Sox starter thus far this season. Rodriguez pitched arguably as well as he has his entire Major League career last night, bringing a perfect game into the fifth inning, with a final line of 6.2 innings pitched, 93 pitches, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 0 walks and 8 strikeouts. Right out of the gate Rodriguez was throwing hard, about 94-96 miles per hour in the first inning, and was instantly hitting his spots and confidently had command of all of his pitches. The first ten pitches he threw last night were all fastballs with major heat on them and he slowly integrated his secondary pitches as the game progressed; specifically Rodriguez’s changeup, which was totally filthy from start to finish. He attacked each individual batter directly and efficiently and gave a performance that both he and the team desperately needed.
No Red Sox starter had struggled more than Rodriguez to begin the season. Prior to last night’s spectacular showing by the lefty, the 26-year-old went 0-2 with a whopping 12.38 ERA in his first two starts. Last season, E-Rod only went more than six innings only twice last year – going 6.2 innings both times – in 23 starts. After last night’s spectacular showing, Rodriguez became the first Boston starter to record a win this season, making the Red Sox’ rotation the final group of starters in baseball to put up a W. Better sooner rather than later, I suppose.
This start was incredibly encouraging on both the individual and team scale for a number of reasons. Individually, it was great to see Rodriguez absolutely dominate from start to finish.
Not to mention, his outing was genuinely fun to watch. He was efficient in all facets and he appeared extremely confident on the mound. Despite his night ending with a 2-run bomb to bring the Orioles within one, he truly shut down the Orioles lineup from top to bottom. Now, I know what you’re thinking, ‘“it’s the Orioles…they stink. They suck AND blow.” And you’re not wrong in saying that. Honestly, I couldn’t give two rats behinds about who Eduardo Rodriguez dominates at this point. All I care about is him being able to give the Red Sox SOMETHING, and give them something consistently. Everyone has always said and continues to say that Rodriguez is going to live up to his potential soon enough and he’ll grow into a bonafide, reliable late-rotation starter. In my opinion, we missed that mark a while back. He’s been too inconsistent to be /that/ guy the Red Sox need in their rotation. And that’s okay. Right now, I’m more worried about Boston stringing some wins together and getting near or up to .500 before it’s too late. They can’t do that if they don’t get at least a few quality starts strung together, too. That’s why this start was so important from a team standpoint. It doesn’t matter who puts together that first quality start that everyone can build off of, including the rest of the rotation. At some point Sale, Price, Porcello and Eovaldi need to get their shit together, too. Maybe this start from Rodriguez will speak that into existence, who knows. That’s what I’m praying and hoping for, at least.
As for the bullpen, none other than Tyler Thornburg reverted back to his old self last night. Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman had pitched in relief before him and held their respective leads, which rose to 6-2 by the eighth inning (more on that later), but Thornburg had to be the one to put a damper on the party. Thornburg gave up a walk and a 2-run home run to bring Baltimore within two in the 9th inning when he entered the game with a 4-run lead, and in a matter of about five minutes. Not great!
I’ll be the first to report that the Tyler Thornburg Experience™ is less than fun. Dude straight up stinks. A couple of recap blogs ago I had an optimistic outlook on the righty and honestly, I don’t know why. Oh, brother, this guy STINKS. I don’t think a 10-run lead would be safe with this guy on the mound. The fact that we traded Travis Shaw, the noted Mayor of Ding Dong City, and arguably a top prospect in Mauricio Dubon to acquire him irritates the living hell out of me. His employment by my favorite baseball team will never not be a terrible mistake. I hate to be rude (not really), but Thornburg is feeling like the second coming of Eric Gagne to me. Just a couple of straight garbage pitchers who were overhyped from the start and failed miserably in the limelight.
On offense, the Red Sox absolutely beat up on Baltimore starter David Hess. The Hess Truck went up in flames last night with a line of 5.2 innings pitched, 81 pitches and only 49 of those for strikes, 6 hits, 3 earned runs and only 3 strikeouts. Bostons’ bats beat up on him far worse than the box score shows. Hess gave up some absolute rockets (shoutout Jared Carrabis) to Red Sox hitters. In the fourth inning, exit velocities from the bats of Moreland, Nunez and Bogaerts looked like this: 100.1, 101.8 and even 106.1. SHEEEESH. JD Martinez slammed a 411-foot flyout in the first inning which was frustrating but equally showed that Hess was in for a long night with Boston’s bats in ideal weather for balls carrying.
There was no Mitchy Four Bags appearance last night at Fenway, but both Mitchy One Bag and Mitchy Two Bags showed up to play last night, Two Bags in the first inning and One Bag in the fourth inning. Prior to last night’s game, Mitch Moreland had hit home runs in each of his last four played. After his two hits last night, Moreland’s slugging percentage rose to a notable .750 and a staggering 1.117 OPS. Hot DAMN, Mitchell.
Andrew Benintendi, my totally real-life significant other, hit his first home run of the season last night in the third inning, his first ding dong since August 31, 2018, against the Chicago White Sox. Benintendi has scuffled a bit at the place this season and has had very few hard-hit balls all year. He finally got a pitch to hit from Hess Trucks early on and took advantage. Oh, how I missed his heavenly swing dearly:
Hess really broke down in the fourth inning when he let up a monster double to Xander Bogaerts off the wall, the hit that had an exit velo of 106.1. That hit somehow scored Moreland from first base to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead; Mitchy turned on the jets to round home and it was a sight to behold. Moreland is actually painfully slow but seeing him run for his life towards home was everything I ever needed and more. His flow bouncing to the rhythm of his speed from underneath his helmet, his legs blatantly giving out, his huge stomp on home plate when he finally scored. I actually don’t know why the Orioles didn’t try to throw him out at home. They easily could have if they were, you know, paying attention and recognize the fact that this dude played nearly the entire 2018 season with a broken toe that he refused to get fixed. But that’s none of my business. *sips tea*
That same inning, Eduardo Nunez slapped his 101.6 mile per hour single off the wall. Yes, the ball was hit so hard that Nunez couldn’t get past first base.
Bogaerts recorded just his second multi-hit game of the season last night with three, something I fully expect to see more of this season. After signing a six-year extension with the Red Sox just two weeks ago, Bogaerts is destined for a monster year at the plate. The 26-year-old, his team and his fans would love to see him hit the 30 home run mark this season for the first time in his career. He has the power and is durable enough to do so, and I think his stance and his swing have evolved enough at this point in his career to where he CAN hit for power consistently and successfully throughout the course of a 162-game season.
After two wild pitches by the Orioles in the seventh inning, another run finally scored to bring Boston’s lead up to 2. Christian Vazquez singled to begin things and Benintendi went to second base on the throw to third in an attempt to gun down Vazquez. The attempt failed. Silly Orioles, Vazquez is the one who guns people down, not get gunned down. They’ll learn sooner or later, right? Maybe? Vazquez then scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-2 to end the seventh inning. The eighth inning gave the Red Sox two more runs and extended their lead to make it 6-2 when Eduardo Nunez hit an infield single to drive Martinez in from third base and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to left field allowing Bogaerts to score. Ryan Brasier got the save afterward in the ninth inning when he replaced Tyler Shitburg – I mean Thornburg – and your Boston baseball Red Stockings won 6-4, winning three of their last four games and entering the weekend with a 5-9 record. Do not let them get hot, folks!!!
As I’m sure you’ve heard and/or saw, Jackie Bradley Jr. made yet another sensational catch in center field, this time scaling the wall to do so. His catch saved a potential 2-run home run that would have tied the game up in the eighth inning. After the game, Bradley said the catch was just “alright.” Typical JBJ. Is this an “alright” catch to you?:
I, for one, cannot wait until Monday when certain Boston sports radio shows and their hosts also say that the catch was just okay and even “routine.” I truly cannot wait to hear grown men utter those words with sincerity due to the fact that they are soulless. And cowards. Can’t forget cowards. I said it the other day and I’ll say it again: the Red Sox employ Jackie Bradley Jr. for this very reason. I don’t care if he hits .200 as long as his centerfield Gold Glove is out there on a daily basis. JBJ is a machine with the glove in his hand and if you dismiss him for not being able to hit consistently, you can leave. The exit is to your right. The Red Sox have plenty of bats that help them win games, but the Red Sox only have one Gold Glove centerfielder. There is no reason to hate on this man who also happens to be the reigning ALCS MVP, thank you very much.
The Red Sox will play three more games against the Orioles over the weekend and on Patriots Day on Monday – two 1 o’clock starts on Saturday and Sunday with the annual 11 AM start on Monday for the Boston Marathon. If Boston can win this series against Baltimore and get another step closer to .500, I may very well be the happiest gal in all the land. This isn’t how anyone drew up the Red Sox’ plan for the month of April but remember, the World Series DVD will have one hell of a dramatic opening when it relives the 2019 season. Glass half full baby, glass half full. Let’s get it.
Comments