RSNStats

Baseball News and Stats
Red Sox Nation Focused

Chris Sale Starts All-Star Game

Leave a Comment

Happy All-Star Game Day, fans.

Tonight Chris Sale become the eighth Red Sox pitcher to start an All-Star Game and the first in 15 years. The others were Lefty Grove (1936, 3.0 IP), Mel Parnell (1949, 1.0 IP), Bill Monbouquette (1960, 2.0 IP), Dennis Eckersley (1982, 3.0 IP), Roger Clemens (1986, 3.0 IP), Pedro Martinez (1999, 2.0 IP), and Derek Lowe (2002, 2.0 IP).

Clemens and Martinez were each selected as All-Star Most Valuable Player in their respective starts.

Sale also started the All-Star Game in 2016 as a representative of the White Sox. He is the 16th different pitcher to make consecutive All-Star starts, the first since Randy Johnson (2000-01) and the first in the American League since Dave Stieb (1983-84).

Sale leads the majors right now with the most strikeouts in baseball (178). It will be interesting to see if he matches or exceeds Martinez’ five strikeouts over 2.0 IP, the most ever by a Boston starter in an All-Star Game. Pedro is tied with Billy Pierce for the most strikeouts in an AL All-Star start, though Piere’s five punchouts came over 3.0 IP. The major league record for All-Star strikeouts in a start is six by the New York Giants Carl Hubbell in the 1934 Midsummer Classic.

Monbouquette allowed two home runs in his All-Star start, the most by a Boston representative. Eckersley and Parnell each allowed one.

Boston closer Craig Kimbrel will be seeking an opportunity for just the second All-Star save by a Red Sox pitcher. The other was by Tex Hughson in 1943.

Betts at the Plate

Mookie Betts will start in his second straight All-Star Game tonight. He was 1-for-2 in the 2016 contest, including grounding into a double play.

Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski hold the club record for most All-Star Games (18 each). Williams made starts in 12 of those games, also a Boston record. Yastrzemski had the second-most (8).

The record for the most hits in an All-Star Game is four set by three Hall of Famers: Red Sox greats Williams (1946) and Yastrzemski (1970), and Cardinals Joe Medwick (1937). Williams memorable night included two home runs in the game played at Fenway Park.

No Red Sox has hit a home run in an All-Star Game since a solo shot in the 4th inning by Adrian Gonzalez in 2011, the 18th ever by a Boston player.

Fred Lynn hit three All-Star Home Runs as a Sox player in 1976, 1979, and 1980 and then hit one more as a member of the California Angels in 1983. Lynn’s HR with Angels came on July 6, 1983 and is still the only grand slam home run in All-Star Game history.

Other Red Sox players with All-Star Home Runs: Bobby Doerr (1941), Frank Malzone (’59), Pete Runnels (’62), Yastrzemski (’75), George Scott (’77), Jim Rice (’83’), Wade Boggs (’89), David Ortiz (’04), Manny Ramírez (’04), J.D. Drew (’08), and Gonzalez (’11).

There has been only one walk-off home run by a Red Sox player in an All-Star Game: Of course, it was by Teddy Ballgame on July 8, 1941. Williams’ impressive walk-off All-Star home run came with two on and two out in the bottom of the 9th with the AL down 5-4. In All-Star Game history, Williams’ All-Star walk-off home run was one of only three ever. The others were by Stan Musial (’55) and Johnny Callison (’64).

The American League has won the last four All-Star Games, seven of the last 10, 16 of the last 20, not counting the infamous tie of 2002.

Enjoy the game!


Red Sox Sweep Away Blue Jays With Early Fireworks

Leave a Comment

The Toronto Blue Jays and the Houston Astros were just what the Red Sox needed for a productive holiday weekend, so far.

The Sox swept the Jays in three straight games Friday to Sunday, outscoring them 29-6, including a tremendous 15-1 romp in Game 3 of the series. It was Boston’s first three-game sweep of Toronto since 2015 and the first such sweep as a visitor since 2008.

By losing two of three games to the Astros, the Yankees fell three games back to the Red Sox for the American League East division lead.

Firing On All Cylinders

Red Sox starter Drew Pomeranz worked 6.0 strong innings, allowing five hits but just one run. Pomeranz walked two and struck out three, improving to 8-4, 3.64 ERA on the season. Boston’s solid bullpen got a well-deserved day off, save for Fernando Abad, whose 3.0 scoreless innings included a walk, but no hits and three strikeouts.

When taken alongside Saturday’s 7-1 Red Sox victory, Sunday’s game marked the first time the Sox had outscored the Jays by 6+ runs in back-to-back games at Toronto since June 11-12, 2011.

Every Red Sox starter had at least one hit on Sunday with multiple hits from Mookie Betts (3-for-6, including his 14th and 15th home run of the season and a stolen base),  Deven Marrero (3-for-5), Dustin Pedroia (2-for-4), Hanley Ramirez (2-for-4, including his 12th HR), and rookie Tzu-Wei Lin (2-for-5).

Lin’s day included his second triple making him the first Sox batter with multiple triples within his first eight Major League games since Johnny Pesky in 1942.

Boston’s 21 hits on Sunday matched an all-time club record against Toronto in a 9-inning game. The Sox had 22 hits in a 17-inning affair on October 4, 1980, the first game of a long doubleheader.

Betts Booms!

Sunday really belonged to Betts, though. His career-high-tying eight RBI were the most by a Red Sox player since Betts himself did drove in eight runs last August 14 against the Diamondbacks. Betts and Nomar Garciaparra are now the only Sox batters since at least 1913 with two games of eight or more RBI.

Betts, an undeniable, incredible talent who is still just 24 years old, is one game from the MLB record for games with eight-plus RBI. When he gets it, he’ll join the rarefied company of Dave Kingman and Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx and Lou Gehrig.

And in a made-for-TV moment, consider this.

Before Betts on Sunday, the only MLB player in the past 105 seasons with multiple home runs, a stolen base, and eight-plus RBI in a game was a White Sox batter named Carl Reynolds, a 13-season player whose career included two years with the Red Sox. Reynold’s remarkable power game came against the Yankees.

And like Betts’ game, Reynolds’ was on July 2nd—to the day, exactly 87 years earlier.


Chris Sale Stays Tough for Red Sox Win

1 Comment

Things broke the Red Sox’ way with a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on Sunday thanks to a two-hit by Jackie Bradley. It was just what the club hoped for, looking to salvage a split after losing the first two games of this four-game weekend set against the Orioles but having managed a win on Saturday. It was especially positive given that Boston had Chris Sale going on Sunday to protect the early lead. 

But, not so fast. Despite the quick jump ahead, Boston coughed it — and then some — right back up in the bottom half of the inning. 

Fortunately, the Sox offense was up for a comeback. Boston tied the game 3-3 in the third inning on a solo home run by Andrew Benintendi then took a 5-3 lead in the sixth when Bradley and Mitch Moreland came around the score on a throwing error by Baltimore catcher Francisco Peña. 

A second Benintendi home run in the seventh inning marked the first multi-HR game in the youngster’s career, though he wasn’t done helping to seal the victory. In the ninth, with the Sox already leading 6-3, Benny singled to score Mookie Betts, who’d walked earlier in the inning. “Baseball is a funny game,” Benintendi mused afterwards. “You can have one good month then, snap of a finger, you’re stumbling.” The rookie’s had been 1-for-14 on the road trip entering today’s action.

The 7-3 win meant a split of the four game series and leaves the Red Sox in second place in the AL East as they head to New York for a three-game set against the Yankees next. 

Bradley extended his hitting streak to now six games. He’s 8-for-19 (.421) during the streak with two home runs and 10 RBI. Xander Bogaerts‘ two hits gave him a club-best 19th multi-hit game on the season.

Betts collected his 500th career hit in the very first play of the game with an infield single. He joins some elite company as just the ninth Red Sox batter with 500 hits before reaching 25 years of age. The others are Bobby Doerr, Tris Speaker, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Tony Conigliaro, Jim Rice, Harry Hooper, and Xander Bogaerts.

Solid Sale

Chris Sale improved to 7-2 on the season in a gritty 6.0 IP performance on Sunday. Despite a rough first inning that surrendered the lead, Sale dialed it up and buckled things down, setting down the Orioles in the second and third innings and working around a doubles by Jonathan Schoop in the fourth and by Manny Machado in the fifth. Boston’s bullpen offered three innings of scoreless relief. It was Sale’s sixth straight win.

“I always have it in the back of my mind, this team can do anything at anytime, anywhere, any inning, against anybody,” Sale said after the game.

Sales’ 110 pitch performance included nine more strikeouts making him one of just three pitchers in major league history to issues nine or more strikeouts over the first six road outings of a season. The others are Hall of Famers Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson.

The Red Sox have an off day on Monday before three games at Yankee Stadium start on Tuesday. They return to Boston for a five game homestand against the Tigers and Phillies on Friday.


Rodríguez, Kimbrel, Betts Key to Red Sox Win

Leave a Comment

It looked for a bit as though it wasn’t meant to be, but the Red Sox managed to squeak out a win over the Brewers on Thursday afternoon, 4-1. 

The win was significant in that it keeps Boston above .500 (they’re now 18-16) and avoided the club’s first three-game sweep in Milwaukee in over 30 years (April 6-9, 1987).

The Red Sox have traditionally played well in Interleague games. They haven’t lost three straight against the National League since dropping six consecutive Interleague contests in 2002 (against the Braves and Dodgers).

Winning Thursday also kept Boston’s road trip from being a losing affair. The Sox head back home to Fenway Park at 3-3 after the visit to the Twins and Brewers. 

Boston gained a half-game on the Orioles, who were rained out on Thursday, and gained a full game on New York, who fell to the Astros 3-2. The Sox now trail the Orioles by 4½ games and are in third place in the American League East behind the surprisingly resilient Yankees.

 

A Win In Three Acts

Thursday’s was really a game in three acts.

Act I began with starter Eduardo Rodríguez, who was robbed from a win, yet again, by another lackluster offensive performance. E-Rod went 6.0 IP allowing just one hit, a meaningless first-inning double, through 5.0 innings. When he was lifted, Rodríguez had thrown just 87 pitches, walked none, and struck out five. He allowed one earned run coming on two hits in the 6th, one by Manny Piña and the other a run-scoring, game-tying double by Jonathan Villar.

Again and again, Rodríguez faced the minimum number of men in the inning. Three up, three down in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings.

Through it all the Sox mustered one meager run when Mookie Betts doubled to start the game and came around the score on a Milwaukee error.

Late Life

In the eighth inning, after the promising start, the Sox offense just looked terrible.

Dustin Pedroia led off the inning with a double. Xander Bogaerts then singled and stole second. Andrew Benintendi, now 0-for-his-last-9, popped out, but Mitch Moreland walked to load the bases. Under pressure, though, Brewers reliever Corey Knebel delivered with back-to-back strikeouts of Jackie Bradley and Josh Rutledge and the Sox’ most promising opportunity went by the board.

The bottom of the eighth was the start of Act II.

With the game still tied and after Matt Barnes had allowed a one out Milwaukee walk and a single in the ninth, Manager John Farrell turned to Craig Kimbrel. And once again, Kimbrel delivered, striking out the powerful Brewers home run leader, Eric Thames, and then similarly striking out Keon Broxton.

The stars of Act III were Betts and Kimbrel. Thanks to another Brewers error, the Sox got the number eight and number nine hitters on base in front on Betts, who pounded a no-doubt, 401-foot home run to left center field. It was Mookie’s first ninth inning, tie-breaking home run since he did the same against the Mariners last August 1st. That solo shot also broke a 1-1 tie.

Betts’ six-game road trip ends with him 11-for-26 for a club-best .423 AVG with five walks, five doubles, three home runs, and nine RBI over the stretch.

When Kimbrel came on to finish the game in the bottom of the ninth, he was amped up and indomitable. Three batters, nine pitches, all strikes.

“He throws two-thirds of an inning, comes out and strikes out the side in nine pitches,” Farrell said after the game. “Those are really uncommon things that play out. He’s in a great spot, doing a great job.”

The Red Sox face the 17-20 Rays at home this weekend before heading out again to visit St. Louis and Oakland.


Sale Robbed Of A Win In Dominant Performance

1 Comment

Two words come to mind to describe Chris Sale‘s performance Thursday against the Blue Jays. One word is “dominant.” There’s just no other way to describe a gutsy, 8.0 full innings of work that saw four hits, no runs, one walk and 13 strikeouts.

The other word to describe Thursday’s game is “criminal,” in that it is hard to imagine not coming away from that kind of effort without a win. But that’s what happened. 

After the game, Sale was philosophical about it. He said he told pitching coach Carl Willis that he was prepared to stay in the game for the bottom of the ninth to protect the one run the Sox had mustered against the Jays in the top half of that inning. But Manager John Farrell saw it differently, choosing instead to go with closer Craig Kimbrel, who admittedly was lights out over the past weekend and well rested after two days off.

Kimbrel immediately coughed up a solo home run to Kendrys Morales and the game went to extra innings. 

In the end Kimbrel walked away with both a blown save and the win after Mookie Betts drove in three with a bases clearing double in the top of the 10th.

“I’m going to want the ball ten times out of nine,” the ever-quotable Sale quipped postgame. “[but] at the end of the day, he’s the manager,” Sale said referring to Farrell’s decision to go with Kimbrel, adding that with Kimbrel’s “electric stuff, I like the odds there.” 

Sox leave opportunity on the table

Sale was simply outstanding against a foundering Toronto team. Not since Curt Schilling in 2004 had a Red Sox starter racked up 13 strikeouts while allowing no runs and not more than one walk. Combined with Kimbrel’s five strikeouts over 2.0 IP, the Sox tallied 18 total punchouts, a new season high for a game of any length, and the first time Boston has struck out that many Blue Jays since a 6-5 win in 11 innings on May 10, 1996. 

Sale’s ERA, 1.25 to start the day, is now down to 0.91 after four starts. Sale’s 42 strikeouts thus far in 2017 are the third-most for any pitcher since 1893 over his first four games with a team according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Sox exit Toronto with a series win, 2-games-to-1. Really, though, nothing less than a sweep should be considered acceptable against this downtrodden AL East foe that has now lost five straight series to start a season for the first time in franchise history.

But the Red Sox couldn’t capitalize on the Jay’s misery. Boston was shutout Wednesday thanks to two errors and in spite of a formidable outing from Rick Porcello.

The Sox seemed headed for another shutout Thursday, held scoreless through the eighth on the strength of starter Marco Estrada‘s excellent 6.0 IP. Estrada allowed just three hits and two walks but no runs and struck out seven. Less efficient than Sale, he was forced from the game after 106 pitches. But a parade of Jays relievers (Joe Biagini, Joe Smith, and Roberto Osuna) were just as successful at keeping the Sox off the board. That is, until with two outs in the ninth, Mitch Moreland hit his club-best 11th double of the season off Osuna and was then driven in on a Xander Bogaerts single.

After Kimbrel allowed Toronto to tie the game in the bottom of the nine, the Sox faced reliever Jason Grilli. With two on and two out, Andrew Benintendi walked to load the bases and Betts hammered the bases clearing double that would finally seal the Jay’s fate.

“A win’s a win,” Dustin Pedroia said after the game, but also noted that run support for Sale is in order. “We will,” he predicted, “we’ll do a better job of that.”