THE BEST RED SOX TEAM EVAH! ...
Benintendi & Betts each get 3 hits
in Sox win over Toronto

May 12, 2018 ... The Red Sox evened up this series at one in a mostly good game for the team. David Price took the mound and while he wasn’t utterly dominant like he was in his first couple of starts he was really solid and did the job. Perhaps even more encouraging was the performance of the bullpen, who came out for 3 ²⁄₃ innings and didn’t allow a run or even much of a threat.

This certainly wasn’t a perfect outing from Price, but I don’t think anyone was expecting peak Price in this outing. Coming off a few rough outings in a row before missing his last start due to carpal tunnel in his throwing hand, the lefty was a complete wildcard heading into this game. As it turns out, his stuff was mostly there, though he leaned heavily on his fastballs and cutter all game, rarely going to the curveball. Still, the cutter had good movement and the fastballs had strong velocity and for the most part it worked out. Price’s command did turn off and on as the game went along, and it was something of a bend-but-don’t break outing at times, but given how poorly things have gone for him lately this was a step in the right direction.

The first few innings were Price at his best as he really didn’t get into too many stressful situations. The lefty issued a walk in the first, but that was all. He then came out in the second and struck out the side before allowing a pair of singles in the third. He was able to work around those, though it came with a bit of luck as a line drive was smoked right at Xander Bogaerts, who was able to double up the runner at second to end the inning.

From here, things started to get a little bit shakier for Price. This is the point when the command started to disappear more often, and while he never got shelled or anything like that he was missing his spots by some jarring margins at times. In the fourth his first out was another smoked line out, this time to left field, and he followed that up with a couple of walks sandwiching a fielder’s choice. With two on and two out, he caught just a bit too much of the plate against Anthony Alford, who smacked a single into center field to give Toronto their first run of the game. He was able to get out of the jam by striking out Friday’s hero Luke Maile.

The fifth wasn’t quite as bad, but he did allow one hard-hit ball that resulted in a wall-ball double for Teoscar Hernandez. After working out of that, he headed back out there for the sixth inning. Things did not start well here when he left a two-strike fastball over the plate on the inner half, up in the zone to Justin Smoak, as he smashed it out to left field for a solo home run. Price would record one more out before finishing his night. All told, Price lasted 5 ¹⁄₃innings, allowing the two runs on five hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the offense was having a very similar night to the one they had on Friday, and that is not a great thing. They did get going a bit early, but when it seemed as if they had the starter on the rope, said starter (in this case Marco Estrada) settled right in and shut down the Red Sox offense for the middle of the game.

This time around, the Sox did take a little bit longer to get going than they did on Friday. They had just one single in each of the first two innings and never really had a real threat. In the third, that changed. Mookie Betts started a rally with a one-out double, and he was immediately knocked in on an Andrew Benintendi single. That brought up Hanley Ramirez, and he continued the little power surge he’s been on in recent days. Estrada threw him a high-80s fastball middle-in, and the slugger was all over it. The ball ended up over the left field wall, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead.

That was all the offense would do for a few innings against the Blue Jays starter. In fact, Estrada walked the next batter after the home run, then after that he went out and retired the next nine Red Sox he would face. That slump was finally broken in the top half of the sixth with the score now 3-1 when Bogaerts ripped a double into left-center field. Rafael Devers followed that up with a base hit, and that extended the lead to 4-2. It seemed as if the Red Sox would have another chance in the seventh when Christian Vazquez and Betts kicked things off with back-to-back singles, but then they inexplicably attempted a double steal that predictably ended with Vazquez being cut down at third base. That started a downward spiral that ended with a scoreless inning.

So, with the Red Sox up two after Price left the game, it was up to a struggling bullpen to come through and protect this lead. Carson Smith got the first call, and he was able to get the final two outs in the sixth. Hector Velazquez, pitching for his first time in a week, had the seventh. The righty did allow a leadoff single, but he quickly erased that with a double play before ending the inning on a groundout thanks to some help from Ramirez. The eighth belonged to Joe Kelly, and he also allowed a single but it didn’t matter because he struck out the other three batters he faced.

The Red Sox were able to add another insurance run in the top half of the ninth, and it was the top of the lineup again. Betts hit another double on another liner into left field, and once again Benintendi knocked him in on a base hit to put the Red Sox up three.

That brought Craig Kimbrel in for the save. The closer got a 1-2-3 ninth including a pair of strikeouts to seal the victory.

Hanley Ramirez has three home runs in his past four games, and nine RBIs in his past seven games. Red Sox OF Jackie Bradley Jr. went 0 for 4 after sitting out the previous three games. He’s 5 for 54 with no extra-base hits and 26 strikeouts in his past 17 games.

Boston has scored five or more runs an ML-leading 24 times this season.

GAME RECAP