Red Sox Average Over 10 Runs Per Game On Their 6-1 Home Stand
Every time I hear somebody say that the offensive numbers that the Red Sox are putting up aren’t sustainable, they score 10 runs again.
I mean, obviously they’re not a 10 runs per-game kind of team. Nobody is. But the Red Sox just went 6-1 on their seven-game home stand, and averaged 10.3 runs per game after racking up 73 runs on 100 hits, 13 of which were home runs and 28 were doubles. If you want to look at it from a larger sample size perspective, the Red Sox have scored 229 runs in their 38 games this year, which is more than any other team in the majors. That puts them on a pace to score 976 runs in 2016, which would be the 14th most runs scored by any team since 1913. But since 1990, 976 runs would be the fourth most runs scored by any team, trailing only the 2000 Chicago White Sox (978), the 1996 Seattle Mariners (993), and the 1999 Cleveland Indians (1,009).
What we’re watching right now is a team that has scored the fifth most runs in Red Sox history through 38 games. The second highest scoring Red Sox team ever was the 2003 team, who scored 961 runs, which is the sixth highest scoring team since 1990. The 73 runs that the Red Sox scored on this most recent home stand are the most runs that Boston has plated in one home stand since the 2003 Red Sox scored 75 runs against the Tigers and Marlins from June 23 through June 29. You’re probably familiar with the June 27 game, because that was the game that the Red Sox scored 25 runs against the eventual World Series champion Marlins, including 14 runs in the first inning alone.
Xander Bogaerts’ second inning home run extended Boston’s home run streak to 16 consecutive games, which is the second longest streak in team history. The Red Sox homered in 19 consecutive games from July 4 through the 25th in 1996. And, full disclosure, I’m a huge fucking loser, so I went back and looked at the box scores to see who homered during that streak, and how many times they went deep. Here’s how it breaks down.
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Mo Vaughn (6), Mike Stanley (5), Jose Canseco (4), Reggie Jefferson (4), Tim Naehring (3), Lee Tinsley (2), Jeff Manto (2), Jose Malave, John Valentin, Kevin Mitchell, and Mike Greenwell. So that’s 30 home runs over Boston’s record streak of consecutive games with a home run, which is an average of 1.6 home runs per game.
Here’s how the current streak breaks down. David Ortiz (7), Jackie Bradley Jr. (5), Xander Bogaerts (3), Travis Shaw (3), Dustin Pedroia (3), Hanley Ramirez (3), Mookie Betts (2), Brock Holt, and Christian Vazquez. That’s 28 home runs in 16 games, which averages out to be 1.8 home runs per game.
By the way, Red Sox pitchers had a 4.57 ERA over that seven-game home stand, but if you point that out then you’re an asshole. Don’t be an asshole. Ten games over .500, baby!