Drew Pomeranz, The Most Intimidating Pitcher Since Bob Gibson, Leads The Red Sox Back To Sole Possession Of First Place
In the original novel The Sword in the Stone, the sword could only be pulled from the stone by the rightful king. Drew Pomeranz is the rightful king.
For days, weeks, and months, the Red Sox have been trying to take over first place by at least one full game and have been unsuccessful in doing so. Last week, they held a half-game lead for 24 hours, fell back to a half-game out, and then spent the rest of the week in a virtual tie for first place. But then he saved us. Drew saved us. When the sword in the stone wouldn’t budge for anyone else on the staff, our fearless leader wrapped his soft, delicate, uncalloused hands around the handle of the sword and dislodged it with relative ease. With massive bolts of lightning ripping across the sky, Drew held the sword in the air and let out a maniacal laugh, as the Red Sox had finally taken a one-game lead in the American League East.
In a game that was delayed by rain at the start, and delayed once again after two innings, Pomeranz could not be deterred. His pregame preparation was not thrown off, and even after a 75-minute rain delay that would end outings for most mortal men, Pomeranz emerged from the Red Sox dugout ready to finish what he had started.
The box score will show that he only went five innings, but it wasn’t because he threw 120 pitches this time. In fact, Pomeranz exited the game after throwing just 83 pitches, which means that under normal circumstances, he could’ve given you another inning, which is really all I’ve ever wanted from Pomeranz. He’s not Chris Sale. He’s not David Price. But my expectations aren’t at the ground level, either. Six innings. That’s all I want from Pomeranz more often than not when he takes the mound. And over his last seven starts, he’s averaging 5.2 innings per start with a 2.70 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 40 innings.
Wanna hear something funny? Over that seven-start span for Pomeranz, he has a better ERA than Sale. Since May 25, Pomeranz has a 2.70 ERA and Sale’s ERA is 3.54. And while Pomeranz has made one more start than Sale, the innings sample is almost identical — 40 innings for Pomeranz, and 40.2 innings for Sale. Mind. Fucking. Blown. With a minimum of three starts, Pomeranz has the best ERA on the Red Sox staff over that span, while Red Sox starters not named Drew Pomeranz have an ERA of 4.50 ERA, meaning Pomeranz has been almost two full runs better than the rest of the pack. Is Drew Pomeranz the Red Sox ace? Well, it’s hard to say. What I do know, though, is that the Dwew Tang Clan ain’t nuttin to fuck wit.
The Red Sox offense had another big night, plating nine runs to bump the Twins out of first place in the AL Central. Christian Vazquez hit his first home run since the Kennedy administration, and Chris Young hit a three-run bomb to put the game out of reach in his second straight game as Boston’s DH. Again, I’m totally fine with keeping this going, the whole Young at DH thing.
Need someone to put the game away? CY is your guy. #RedSox pic.twitter.com/44mfsB5fHd
— #VoteRedSox (@RedSox) June 28, 2017
I’m not where some others are on Hanley Ramirez that he’s somehow all washed up and can’t contribute to the team. I think he can absolutely turn it on like he did in June of last year — I just haven’t seen any reason to believe that that’s coming any time soon or that he even cares if it comes at all. To his credit, John Farrell has been a manager who is not afraid to ride the hot hand. If Hanley’s going to tap out of playing first base because of his shoulder and his neck, and not be in the lineup because of a sore knee, then don’t be surprised if and when somebody else steps in and proves to be more valuable to the team in the DH spot. Right now, Young is doing that.
Also, shout out to the Yankees for joining the Warriors in blowing a 3-1 lead last night, because with that loss to the White Sox, and Boston’s win over Minnesota, the Red Sox now hold a one-game lead for first place, their largest lead in the division this year. Shove those percentage points up your fat stupid ass, JJ.
Final score: Red Sox 9, Twins 2