Red Sox Take 2 Out Of 3 From The Indians In A Series That Started In April
Last Thursday, the Red Sox dropped their second straight to the Yankees after their second consecutive bullpen meltdown.
I wrote that the Red Sox held a playoff spot, but I didn’t feel like I was watching a playoff team. They haven’t lost since. Now, as Mazz would say, keep it in your pants. It’s certainly a great sign that they bounced back from a horrific loss in that series finale against New York, while also picking up rookie Andrew Benintendi, who misplayed a liner that allowed the game-winning run to score, but it would be wise to stay reserved about this four-game winning streak. Three of those four wins came against the team that’s tied for the third most losses in the MLB. And while the Cleveland Indians should be regarded as the best team in the American League, the Red Sox beat their number five starter. However, they should feel good about winning a low-scoring, one-run game. That’s important moving forward.
The big test is what’s in front of them right now. Two games in Baltimore, followed by four games in Detroit. Coming into play today, the Red Sox trail both the Orioles and the Blue Jays by just one game for first place in the American League East, while the Tigers are 2.5 games back of Boston for the second Wild Card spot. In the brief two-game series in Baltimore, the Red Sox will get Chris Tillman in game two. The Orioles are 20-5 this season when Tillman pitches. In game two of the Tigers series on Friday, the Red Sox will get Michael Fulmer, who leads the American League in ERA (2.25).
The Red Sox can pitch a little bit, too, though. I know that sounds weird, since we’ve been bitching about the starting pitching for months now, but the Red Sox are owners of the best starting pitching ERA in the American League this month (2.81), second to only the Chicago Cubs for the major league lead. And what’s even more impressive is that their ace, David Price, has a 4.50 ERA this month. It’s everybody else who’s been stepping up, like Drew Pomeranz yesterday in Cleveland.
I guess I need to complain more often, because I said I felt like I wasn’t watching a playoff team, and then they haul off four straight wins. I also said something along the lines of “Drew Pomeranz is pissing me off lately” in my blog following his last outing. The reason for that was because he wasn’t going deep into games. Too many pitches per inning had resulted in Pomeranz averaging only five innings per start with the Red Sox coming into Monday. Well, he pitched 7.2 innings against the Indians, which was the first time he’s ever pitched more than 7 innings in his major league career.
Craig Kimbrel looked shaky as fuck, yet again, in the ninth inning. He still ended up with the save, but this guy hasn’t made it look easy in quite some time. The Red Sox are going to end up signing Jonathan Papelbon, aren’t they? I just get that feeling. Because, while they have the best starting pitching ERA in the American League this month, they have the second worst bullpen ERA (4.94) in the league in August. I just feel like if Kimbrel is going to be shaky like this, and Junichi Tazawa has rendered himself useless, then their logic is going to be that it can’t hurt to bring Papelbon in for a look, as it’ll cost next to nothing, and they can just cut ties with him if it doesn’t work out. No harm, no foul. Blah. According to Rob Bradford of WEEI.com, Papelbon will be making his decision within the next 24 hours.
Final score: Red Sox 3, Indians 2