The Hottest Team In The Majors Has Put The American League On Notice With Their Seventh Straight Win
The Red Sox are riding their longest winning streak of the season, which just so happens to be the longest active streak in the majors right now — seven straight wins.
It started with their greatest victory of the season, a come-from-behind win over the Yankees last Thursday, a game in which the Red Sox were trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the 8th inning. In the top of the 9th inning, the Yankees had a win expectancy of 98%, according to baseball-reference. The Red Sox won that game, and they haven’t lost since. Over their seven-game winning streak, the Red Sox, as a team, are hitting .284 with an .839 OPS, averaging 5.71 runs per game. They also have a team ERA of 3.14, but that’s no thanks to the starters, who have a 4.46 ERA over the winning streak, and that’s WITH Clay Buchholz going seven innings, allowing just one earned run on three hits last night.
The key? Aside from timely hitting, it’s been the Red Sox’ lights out bullpen. They’ve got a 0.79 ERA during the streak, which is second best in the majors, but their 0.86 ERA in the month of September continues to be the best mark in the MLB. Brad Ziegler, Robby Scott, and Craig Kimbrel finished out the game for Buchholz, getting to keep their names on the list of Red Sox relievers who haven’t allowed an earned run this month. As it stands today, Junichi Tazawa, Koji Uehara, Robbie Ross Jr., Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes, Ziegler, Scott and Kimbrel have made 47 appearances this month, logging 41.2 innings with a 0.00 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 53 strikeouts. Is that good?
This seven-game winning streak has me riding so high that I had almost forgot that they’re also the most frustrating first-place team I’ve ever watched in my life. The Red Sox had the bases loaded three times in three separate innings, failed to score in the first two tries, and then scored a pair of runs on the third try, because the Orioles made a throwing error. The Red Sox are the second worst hitting team in the majors with the bases loaded this year (.207). Only the Minnesota Twins have been worse, and they’re the worst team on planet earth. But I didn’t feel bad about the two garbage runs for too long, because Andrew Benintendi stroked one over the wall in right field for a three-run dinger, his second.
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Boston’s seventh consecutive victory brings their magic number down to six, and they’re also a half-game back of the Cleveland Indians, and a game and a half back of the Texas Rangers for the best record in the American League. In addition to that, they’re 14-5 in the month of September, the best record in the majors, while the Blue Jays (7-12), and the Orioles (10-9), continue to slip, slide away.
GIVE ‘EM THE MJ, BENNY!! GIVE IT TO ‘EM!!
Final score: Red Sox 5, Orioles 1