Red Sox 11-Game Winning Streak Snapped After David Price Allows Three Home Runs In The Bronx
With a chance to clinch the American League East with their 12th consecutive victory, David Price served up three bombs to the Yankees in Boston’s first loss since September 14, which was two weeks ago today.
The Yankees have been a thorn in Price’s side all season long. Tuesday night was Price’s fifth time facing the Yankees this season, and in those five starts, the lefty has a 7.89 ERA with a 1.79 WHIP. In the 29 starts that he’s made against everybody else, he has a 3.46 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. I can’t really explain it, either. Out of 30 major league teams, the Yankees are the 24th best hitting team against left-handed pitching by OPS (.706). Sometimes you just have to tip your hat, and call the Yankees your daddy.
Of course, Price loses one game, and it’s right back to panic in the streets — he’s a bust, he’s not an ace, and whatever other garbage that blowhards on Twitter were saying. Price was on an 8-game winning streak with a 2.86 ERA over his previous 9 starts, he loses one game to a team he’s struggled against all year, and no lie, I was getting tweets suggesting that Clay Buchholz should be the No. 2 starter in the postseason over Price. Real life. Calm the fuck down.
He’s sucked against the Yankees, and that’s a bridge we’ll have to cross either next year or the year after, because they will definitely be a team standing in your way of a division title and an American League pennant, but that’s not a cause for concern here in 2016. He’s been pretty good against teams that don’t wear pinstripes. This is my not worried face. He called the start unacceptable, which it was, but let’s not act like one start negates his entire second half in which he’s been one of the best starting pitchers in the league. People love to bitch around here. Your team just won 11 games in a row, and they’re about to clinch a division title. Smile, you cynical fucks.
There were some positives to take out of this one, despite the loss, which was only their sixth loss in 24 games this month. Yes, Price was bad. But the Red Sox kept battling every time that Price served up a bomb to the Yankees. In that four-game series that the Red Sox swept from New York two weeks ago, the Yankees held leads of at least three runs in three of the four games. Last night, the Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead early, and also held a lead of 4-1, but the Red Sox came back and tied this game at 4-4 when Dustin Pedroia knocked an RBI base hit into right field in the seventh inning.
Hindsight’s 20/20, but bringing Price back out for the bottom of the seventh was a bonehead move by John Farrell. He was laboring all night, never really got in a groove, and wasn’t commanding the fastball. The third home run of the night that he surrendered came off the bat of Tyler Austin in the seventh inning, a two-run shot, and that was the game right there. Farrell had a rested bullpen after the off-day on Monday, and I suppose it’s also worth mentioning that they’ve been the best bullpen in baseball in the month of September, the only bullpen in the game with an ERA under 1 (0.94). The league average for bullpens in the majors this month is 3.89, just to put in perspective how good Boston’s bullpen has been.
With the loss, the Texas Rangers have overtaken the lead for the best record in the American League by a half-game. I’ve seen this argument from fans and even media members that maybe having the number one seed isn’t the best thing for the Red Sox, given the potential match-ups. I mean, I can definitely see that point. I would much rather face the Cleveland Indians in the first round, especially now that it sounds like their ace, Corey Kluber, might not be ready for the ALDS, and they’ve already lost Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. That’s a sweep waiting to happen. But then I look beyond that, and the Red Sox team OPS is 100 points higher at home (.867) than it is on the road (.768).
It’s the postseason. Shitty teams don’t make it into the postseason. For me, I’m not getting too caught up in match-ups, because I know that if the Red Sox are going to win the whole thing, they’re going to have to beat some really good teams. Instead, I’m looking at what puts the Red Sox in the best position to succeed. The Red Sox are 77-15 when they score 5 runs or more. Their offense is significantly better at home. Give me home field throughout. Give me Fenway Park, where the Red Sox have crushed the baseball all year long.
Final score: Yankees 6, Red Sox 4