McAdam: Better late than never? David Price finally arrives for Red Sox

On his 101st -- and final -- pitch of the afternoon, David Price allowed himself a momentary exultation. Cleveland Indians catcher Roberto Perez had flailed at a 92 mph cutter for the final out in the eighth, closing out another scoreless frame for Price and ending his afternoon.

In celebration, Price jabbed his fist in the air for emphasis and exhaled a roar of sorts as he walked off the mound to a rapturous ovation, awash in a lovefest from the sold-out, sun-kissed crowd at Fenway.

Undoubtedly, this was how he figured many of his starts would conclude when he signed here in December of 2015. Instead, Price has underperformed. Limited at times by injuries, unable to shake his reputation as a post-season disappointment, and sometimes needlessly engaged in verbal combat with the media, it has not played out as Price had hoped.

His $217-million contract often seems affixed to his back, making for an inviting target, one that even the pitcher himself can't help but mention at times.

But in the last two months, as the Red Sox cruise through a season that may be their best in more than 70 years and with the anxiety of the fan base otherwise focused on Chris Sale's balky shoulder, something else has happened. David Price has, stealthily, become The Pitcher the Red Sox Always Wanted.

With eight shutout innings in Thursday's 7-0 homestand finale win over Cleveland, Price posted his fifth-straight win. Since the All-Star break, he has the lowest ERA (1.09) of any starter in the American League (minimum 25 innings pitched). In those six starts, he's 4-0 his strikeout to walk ratio is 40-7. over 41.1 innings. He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in any of those outings.

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Thursday's start seemed a culmination of what he had been slowly building toward. He beat a quality lineup, and in so doing, enabled the Sox to get themselves a split with the Indians. His manager, Alex Cora, ventured that, given the quality of the opponent, the significance of the series and the overall performance, it was Price's best outing of the season, which is saying something indeed.

For this stretch, Price credits improved fastball command, more reliance on his back-door cutter and some adjustments on the pitching rubber which has allowed for more deception in his delivery.

"If I can continue to throw that pitch (the cutter) the way I've thrown it, it makes everything that much better,'' said Price. "Changeups, fastballs away ... (I threw) a four-seamer to Melky (Cabrera) in his second at-bat and it didn't run away from him, but I still got the swing that I got with two strikes. That's predicated off that back-door cutter. That's a staple that I had for a very long time and I got away from it and I've got it back now.''

Certainly, his repertoire, pitch mix and precision command are all factors at work here, enabling him to carve up lineups the way he once did in Tampa Bay, Detroit and Toronto.

But it would seem that there's something else at work here. As the wins stack up -- both for the team and the individual -- Price seems to have found his own equilibrium. Yes, he was somewhat contentious with WBZ Radio's Jonny Miller over the weekend, but of late, Price seems more focused on the task at hand.

He also demonstrated a level of self-awareness that he has always shown when I asked him if the last two months -- a period roughly following his July 1 debacle at Yankee Stadium -- represented his best stretch since putting on a Red Sox uniform.

"By far, absolutely,'' he answered without a moment's hesitation. "To not have that really bad game mixed in at some point, that's good. This is the pitcher Boston signed. To get back to that, it's about time.''

Gone from that statement is the sharp-edged contrarian nature which Price has brandished defensively in the past. There was no passive-aggressiveness at work here, only the admission that, until recently, he hadn't done what he supposed to here.

In its place was a humility, a humanness that he's seldom evinced.

"It's about time."

Ultimately, of course, the biggest test will come in the postseason when Price attempts to notch his first playoff win as a starter. Until he accomplishes that, skepticism will remain.

But for now, Price seems to have finally reached some measure of peace with himself and with his surroundings. Perhaps he's been buoyed by the team's overall success which has allowed him to escape the crosshairs of fans who demand more.

Can it be that Price has, more than re-discovering his cutter and fine-tuning his delivery, somehow settled in and found himself at home in Boston?