McAdam: Success in low-scoring games already an improvement for '18 Red Sox

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – It’s dangerous – if not downright irresponsible -- to draw conclusions just four games into a 162-game season. And it’s easy to be deceived by what you see in the first week.

In time, the Red Sox will reveal themselves. The more games they play, the more we’ll know.

But after the first series, an interesting pattern has emerged, as small as the sample size may be: the Red Sox seem capable of winning low-scoring games, something at which they failed miserably last season.

Here are the final scores from the first three victories of the 2018 season: 1-0, 3-2, 2-1.

So what? You may say.

So this: in 2017, the Red Sox won exactly 12 games in which they scored three runs or fewer.  The calendar just flipped to April and already, they’ve won three of those games, right out of the chute.

Certainly, they’re not winning with their offense, even if it’s much improved with the addition of J.D. Martinez. They’ve scored just 10 runs in four games and are hitting .214 collectively, Martinez has one RBI and the team has managed just two homers – both solo shots.

In time, they’ll hit. Martinez will get comfortable and produce a carryover effect on the rest of the lineup. But for now, the Red Sox are winning the close, low-scoring games that became almost a nemesis for them last year.

And, sure, it helps that the Sox drew the punchless Tampa Bay Rays for their first opponents and have the equally offensively inept Miami Marlins waiting in the wings. But wins are wins, banked now and providing interest later.

They hit a measly .167 with runners in scoring position but got just enough hits in big spots to result in three wins. On Sunday, for the second time in three days, the winning hit was delivered by Rafael Devers with two strikes. He had knocked in the only run of Friday’s game under similar conditions.

How many games were lost last season when the Sox couldn’t produce in those spots? Too many to mention. (For the record, they lost 51 games last year when scoring three or fewer runs).

“I think we’re playing good defense and that’s part of it,’’ offered manager Alex Cora. “The plays that we have to make, we’re making. We’ve been doing a good job (converting) the outs. And our starting pitchers did an outstanding job in this series. We should have scored more runs today (stranding 11 baserunners), but as long as the defense is there and we make the plays, we can hang in close games and we’re going to be able to win (a lot of those).’’

Cora’s vow for a more controlled aggression on the bases has yet to manifest itself. The Sox had a run cut down at the plate in the sixth that could have cost them dearly. But in other ways, they’re taking advantage of what’s presented – as Hanley Ramirez advanced 90 feet when he wasn’t held on Saturday night, then scored on a ground ball in the infield.

Maintaining this kind of success throughout the year will require strong bullpen work, but even last year, when the Sox finished with the second-best relief ERA in the game, that wasn’t enough to carry them to many low-scoring wins.

Success in those games requires a cocktail of stout defensive play, timely hitting and dependable pitching.

But there’s a mindset that comes with winning games 2-1 and 3-2. It necessitates having a mental toughness and Cora has them displaying that in the first week.

They’ll need to outslug teams on some nights, and come back late in games to win others. But off the first series, the Sox have demonstrated an ability to do whatever it takes to be one-run better than their opponents. Whether those opponents are the Tampa Bay Rays or another team with far more talent is, for now, irrelevant.

Four games into their 162-game travelogue, they’ve already managed to win a quarter of the low-scoring games they did a year ago.

You can call that what you wish this early. Some might call it progress.