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Game 8: Comedy of errors

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In a rollercoaster game Tuesday the Red Sox improved to 6-2, beating the Washington Nationals and sealing a win in their first three series of the season for the first time since 1952.

The Red Sox need wins in their next two games to match their club record of 8 wins in their first ten games, which also happened in 1918, 1920, and 1952.

Justin Masterson, in his first start at Fenway with the Red Sox since July 29, 2009, seemed rocky at first before settling in. Staked to a 5-1 run lead, however, Masterson went on to allow 6 more, giving the Nationals a lead and knocking Masterson from the game. In all, Masterson was charged with 7 earned runs Tuesday. He had never allowed more than 6 earned runs in his first stint with Boston (2008-9, 67 appearances).

Down 7-5 in the 7th inning Boston rallied for 3 runs without the benefit of a hit. The last time the Red Sox scored that many runs without a hit was in the 7th inning on August 25, 2001 playing against the Rangers.

Red Sox Nation held its collective breath for appearances by Alexi Ogando and Edward Mujica, though together they allowed just one hit and no runs over 2.2 innings of work. Junichi Tazawa was then followed by Koji Uehara, in his first appearance of the season. It was good to see Uehara earn the save with 2 strikeouts in a perfect 9th inning. In all Red Sox  relievers allowed 0 runs and no walks over 4.1 IP.

Boston averaging 6.4 runs per game

Dustin Pedroia, always solid in Interleague games, collected his 3rd home run of the season in Game 8. It took him until his 59th game of 2014 to reach that milestone.

Outstanding utility man Brock Holt started at shortstop for Xander Bogaerts, who had undergone an MRI on his sore knee earlier in the day. Holt went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Holt has not had an error in 13 career games at short. Later came good news as doctors found no damage to Bogaerts’ knee and cleared him to play.

The Nationals have allowed 8+ runs in two straight games for the first time since August 10-11, 2010.

With the come-from-behind win the Red Sox have improved to 143-82 (.636) in Interleague games since 2003, the best such record in baseball in that time.


MLB Commissioner suspends former Red Sox

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Free agent Minor League catcher Dusty Brown received a 50-game suspension today from the MLB Commissioner’s Office following a second positive test for a banned drug.

Brown, 32, was drafted by the Red Sox on June 5, 2000 in the 35th round of the 2000 amateur draft. From 2009 to 2010 Brown appeared in 13 Red Sox games at catcher. He also pitched 1.0 innings, allowing 2 hits and a run in one game of 2009.

After his stint with Boston, Brown played in 11 games with the Pirates in 2011 before playing exclusively in the Minor Leagues in the systems of the Rangers, Indians, and Athletics.

The suspension of Brown, who is currently unsigned, goes into effect immediately upon his signing with any another Major League organization.


5 Seasons of Fenway

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Fenway wasn’t all that friendly last season.

Fenway Park

Fenway Park by werkunz1 on Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Red Sox went 34-47 at home in 2014 for a .420 win percentage, tying with the 2012 and 1965 clubs for the 9th worst home mark in franchise history and the 8th-worst home record at Fenway (which opened in 1912). At home last year Boston scored 324 runs and allowed 374, a -50 run differential. It was just the 29th time in 114 seasons that the Red Sox had a negative run differential at home and the first time they had one that large since 1980 (also -50).

2014’s home record was especially jolting given the .654 win percentage of just a year before. The World Champion 2013 club, for whom any night might bring a magical finish, tied the 2003 and 1988 clubs for the 19th best home record in franchise history.

The Red Sox are looking to turn things around at Fenway in the season ahead with a rebuilt lineup that’s targeted at putting the Red Sox atop the American League at home.

2010-14 at Fenway

Despite last year, in the past five seasons the Red Sox have been strong at Fenway, slashing .278/.346/.446 in home games. Boston’s home batting average from 2010 to 2015 was 4th best in MLB (behind the Rockies, Tigers, and Rangers); their on-base percentage and slugging percentage was 3rd-best (behind the Rockies and Tigers).

Since 2010 no team has collected as many home doubles as the Red Sox. Their 975 doubles are 174 more than the 2nd-place Rockies. What’s more, the Red Sox 1,948 RBIs and 6,192 total bases over the past five seasons at Fenway are the most by any AL club at home and 2nd only to the Rockies totals of 2,227 and 6,854, respectively.

The Red Sox amassed 1,379 Fenway walks over the past five seasons, 5th most in the MLB (behind the Rays, Athletics, Yankees and Braves).

409 Fenway Red Sox home runs from 2010-14 was the 10th most by any club at home in baseball. Of those 409 round trippers it won’t surprise you to know that David Ortiz hit the most, but would you have realized he’s responsible for nearly 16% of them? 64 of the 409 came off Ortiz’ bat followed by Dustin Pedroia (35), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (27), Jacoby Ellsbury (22) and Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis (18 each).

Fenway at its best (and worst)

The best Red Sox  home record came in 1946 and 1949, Both seasons the team was 61-16 (.792). The club’s record for the most runs scored at Fenway in a single season is 625 set in 1950.

The 1906 Red Sox had the worst home record, going 22-54 (.289), a franchise all-time low, though that was before the first official game at Fenway on April 20, 1912 vs the New York Highlanders (later, the Yankees). After Fenway opened the club with the worst home record was the 1926 crew, which went 25-51 (.329). That season’s team has another dubious distinction: a run differential at home of -150, the club’s all-time record after scoring 288 and allowing 438 runs at home that season.

Red Sox leaders at Fenway

Since the 1914 season Ted Williams is the Red Sox player with the most home runs at Fenway. Williams had 248 followed by Carl Yastrzemski (237) and Jim Rice (208). David Ortiz seems destined this season to overcome Dwight Evans (199) at No. 4 on that list with just 14 more Fenway home runs needed.

Yastrzemski holds the record since 1914 for Fenway hits (1,822), doubles (382), RBI (1,063), runs scored (994), and total bases (2,991). Yaz was intentionally walked a record 109 times at Fenway, a record that Ortiz, with 93, could easily catch. Williams is the Red Sox walk leader at Fenway (1,031) and was tops in on-base percentage (.496) and OPS (1.148). Wade Boggs owns the best AVG as a Red Sox at home (.369).

Tim Wakefield holds the club record for most innings pitched at home (1,553.0) and appeared in the 2nd most games (303). Bob Stanley‘s 321 are the most appearances since 1914 for a Red Sox pitcher at Fenway. Stanley induced the most double plays (137). Wakefield’s longevity and knuckler likely account for his club record 90 times hitting a batter at Fenway. Roger Clemens had the most strikeouts (1,332). Luis Tiant had the most complete games, 61, of which 16 were shutouts, too. At Fenway Koji Uehara has walked a batter once for ever 8.36 strikeouts, a club best. Jonathan Papelbon has, by far, the most saves (104).


2015 Red Sox hope to reignite home run power

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Despite an uptick in 2012, the number of Major League players with 20+ home runs in a single season has been declining steadily since 2008. Last season just 56 MLB players reached that mark, the lowest such tally since the 30-year low of 31 such players in 1994.

Since 1985, the Red Sox have always had at least one 20+ home run slugger, save for 1992.

David Ortiz, who hit 35 home runs in 2014, has belted 20+ HRs every season since joining the Red Sox in 2003. His 12 such seasons is 2nd in Red Sox history only to the 16 by Ted Williams. Last year Ortiz surpassed Dwight Evans and Jim Rice, both of whom had 11 such seasons.

MLB Players with 20+ HRs in a Single Season

Over the past 30 seasons, the Red Sox have had at least one 20+ home run hitter in every season but 1992.

2014 was, well, forgettable.The Red Sox total of 123 home runs last season was their worst output since 114 total HRs in 1993. In 2014 Ortiz was the only Boston player to reach 20+ home runs. It marked just the 5th time over the past 30 seasons (and the first time since 1994) that the Sox had just one such player. The four other times since 1985 featured Ellis Burks (1990), Jack Clark (1991), and Mo Vaughn (1993-94).

In what turned out ultimately to be the disappointing season of 2003, the Red Sox had a club record six players with 20+ home runs: Manny Ramirez (37), David Ortiz (31), Nomar Garciaparra (28), Trot Nixon (28), Kevin Millar (25) and Jason Varitek (25).

The MLB record for a club with the most players with 20+ home runs in a single season is seven. It’s happened just five times: 1996 Orioles, 2000 and 2010 Blue Jays, 2005 Rangers, and the 2009 Yankees.

Red Sox home runs over the past 30 seasons.

Red Sox total home runs over the past 30 seasons.

By every measure, the 2015 Red Sox offensive production should be prodigious, particularly when compared to the anemic campaign we just witnessed. It will be fun to see how the retooled Boston offense performs together and what new records can be written.


Where we stand: 13 games in

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Casual fans (and significant others of avid ones like us) tend to remind us it’s so early in the season that it’s hardly worth fretting about our team’s performance here in mid-April. And to some extent, they’re right. Teams go through hot and cold streaks throughout the year and every game counts equally. Still, in the hotly contested American League East, where literally every team is a viable contender, wins matter and losses hurt in the overall March to October.

With an off-day after the club’s first 13 games of the season, I thought we could take a look at we’ve seen from our 2014 Boston Red Sox. What can we learn little more than 8% of the way through the season?

No way around it, a weak start

2014-04-14_16-32-28Even casual fans can’t be impressed with the Red Sox win percentage at this early point in the season. Boston’s 5-8 record is only marginally better than the 4-7 record held by the Royals, the team with the lowest win percentage in the American League. The Cubs, Reds, and Diamondbacks are the only MLB clubs off to a worse start.

Still, we probably can’t take away much from what we’ve seen so far given the early injuries (Breslow, Middlebrooks, Pedroia, Uehara, Victorino) that have kept a consistent Red Sox lineup from appearing on the field.

The Red Sox have used the MLB average of 27 batters over their first 13 games. The Dodgers have used the most (31), the Brewers the least (24). BOS has fielded 26 players (one off the MLB average of 27). The Dodgers have used the most (29), the Brewers the least (24). 13 Red Sox pitchers have made appearances, which is the MLB average. The Dodgers and Indians have used the most (15), the Brewers have used the least (11). [Read more…]