The Red Sox' varsity may have outpaced the Patriots' offense in the first game of a day-night doubleheader, but the day will be remembered (at least until the postseason starts) as one where several key hurlers — David Price, Chris Sale, Matt Barnes and Craig Kimbrel — struggled in some capacity in their final work of the regular season.
Is Alex Cora concerned?
"No," the manager said. "I know where we're at physically. We didn't throw the ball well today in the second game but we're in a good spot."
Barnes (0.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 1 BB) and Kimbrel (0.1 IP, 4 ER, 3 BB) will likely get another chance to sharpen their craft in the season-ending series against the Yankees, but this was it for Price and Sale.
Price labored through the second inning, allowing two homers, two walks and three runs. He threw 88 pitches and allowed three runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts. He wasn’t particularly sharp in his final start of the year.
"I didn’t throw the baseball the way I wanted to throw the baseball today, but that’s baseball," Price said. "I feel good physically and I will continue to go forward in the right direction."
Sale was the bigger concern. He didn't get out of the fifth inning, his fastball was routinely around 89-90 and he averaged a career-low 90.1 mph on his fastball.
"Yeah, not great ... you saw that," Cora said. "As soon as I took him out, he came up here to the video room and it seems like there's something mechanically going on — he's not firing his hips the way he usually does.
"But, I mean, we don't have too much time. He'll work on it this weekend, probably Monday he'll throw an aggressive bullpen and see where he's at, then we'll go from there."
These were Sale's fastball speeds:
First inning — 93, 92, 92, 91, 91, 91, 91
Second inning — 89, 89, 90, 91
Third inning — 89, 92, 91
Fourth inning — 88, 89, 89, 89, 94, 94, 93
Fifth inning — 89, 90, 91, 94, 91, 91, 94
Obviously, a far cry from his previous 96.2 season average.
"We saw a few 94s there in the fourth inning but velocity wasn't great," Cora said. "Slider, he hit two batters (in the first) with it but got a few swings and misses after that. Changeup was OK.
"It was kind of like his last (start) in Fort Myers when he faced Houston when he was throwing 87-88 and everybody was concerned. And then opening day he pitched well. That's what we're looking for. Hopefully he finds his mechanics again and he'll be ready to go."
In the locker room, Sale was not concerned in the slightest.
"I saw some things last week – even tonight. Just not really driving off my lower half. Not able to create that torque I have in the past," he said. "We’ve got extended time now to figure to what we need to do and we’ll go from there.
"It’s obviously not where I want to be. Those are hard adjustments to make on the fly sometimes. You just try to figure it out. ... It’s not the time to panic — 107 wins into the season and October ahead of us, so, it is what it is. You take it in stride, try to build off of it, and just try to get better.”
Everything else you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' doubleheader split with the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
GAME 1 BOX
GAME 2 BOX
HEADLINES
Milestone blowout in Game 1: Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and Andrew Benintendi each celebrated their own individual achievements as the Sox matched their season-high run total in a 19-3 win.
Betts became just the second player in franchise history to reach 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season (Jacoby Ellsbury, 2011). “It’s a special accomplishment,” Betts said. “I don’t know how much it means, but I guess to have your name as part of a group like that is pretty cool. I just try to do what I can to win the game.”
Martinez's 42nd home run tied a club record for a Boston debut season (Dick Stuart, 1963).
Bogaerts set a new career high in home runs (22) and reached the 100-RBI mark on one swing in the sixth.
Devers has a day in Game 1: Rafael Devers went 4 for 5 with six RBI, including a double and two home runs.
Devers, who has five home runs in his past 10 games, has 22 homers at age 21 — the third Sox to accomplish that feat. The others? Tony Conigliaro and Ted Williams.
“I don’t know if that (sitting down for Eduardo Nunez) was a wake-up call," Cora said. "I talked about it; he needed to play better. He’s been very solid in the strike zone.”
- Bogaerts became the first Boston shortstop to drive in at least 100 runs since Nomar Garciaparra’s 105 in 2003.
- The Red Sox's 14 extra-base hits in Game 1 were the most in a single game by any team this season and the most by a Boston lineup since it put up 17 against the St. Louis Browns on June 8, 1950.