Bedard: Have we seen the last of David Price after another postseason flop?

If it was ever going to be different for David Price when it comes to postseason pitching, Saturday night against the Yankees seemed to be the moment to change things.

The pressure was largely off after Chris Sale pitched well in Game 1 and the Red Sox survived for a 5-4 victory. It was surely better than a must-win Game 2.

It had been two years since Price's last postseason start — more than enough time to wash the stink of an 0-8 record in nine postseason starts and a 5.74 ERA to start anew.

And it certainly seemed like a different David Price entering this game. Since the All-Star break, Price went 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA over his final 11 starts. He even pitched well in an eventual 5-4 win over these Yankees at Fenway in August, when he shut out New York for six innings and allowed just three hits.

So the stars were aligned for Price on Saturday night and ... thud.

Final line: 1.2 innings pitched (shortest of his pathetic postseason career, which is saying something), three hits allowed, two home runs, two walks and three runs with 10 batters faced.

Oh, and he was booed lustily coming off the bound.

"It's tough," Price said after the game. "You know, just after we won Game 1 to go out there and have that opportunity to go up 2-0. And to throw the baseball the way that I did, it was definitely tough. But my spirits aren't down, my confidence isn't down. I'm looking forward to getting back out there and getting another opportunity."

Whether that happens again in this series remains very much in doubt.

Not only do the Red Sox now have to go into Yankee Stadium (Boston was 3-6 there this season) and win one of the two games there to force a deciding Game 5 at Fenway, but Price can opt out of his seven-year, $217 million contract with the Red Sox after this season.

After seeing Groundhog Day again in the postseason and with his extended issues against the Red Sox' spirited rival, you have to wonder what the point would be in Price returning. Of course, he's due to make $31 million next season and $32 million in each of the final three years of the deal — which no other team will match — so Price might be just fine with hanging around another four seasons.

But that's a discussion for another day. The focus now is where things went wrong — again — for Price in a big spot.

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"Location. 0-2 or 1-2, back-door cutter to (Aaron) Judge, leaves it over on the middle of the plate. Back-door cutter to (Gary) Sanchez, he was leaning out over the plate and he extended. And McCutchen got on top of a fastball," said Alex Cora. "It's all about location.

"We'll make adjustments. Like I said yesterday, it takes 25, 26, 27 guys to keep moving. He's part of what we're trying to accomplish and we count on him."

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Price said he would be ready to throw again in Game 3 on Monday, and would be open to going into the bullpen again — where he has had postseason success — but isn't ready to throw in the towel on being a postseason starter.

"I just want to win. That's it," Price said. "My main goal is to win in the playoffs, to win a World Series. Whatever I have to do to help us do that, I'm fine with. I said it last year and I'll say it again, I want to win. I want to win a World Series. And whatever I need to do to help us do that, I'm fine with. But I know I'm more than capable of winning games as a starter in October. That's what I look forward to doing."

Cora also said he wasn't ready to just banish Price to the bullpen.

"No, no. He's one of our starters," Cora said. "Just a bad outing today. It just so happened it wasn't his day. He didn't make pitches. We trust him. He's bounced back before. We'll talk to him to make a few adjustments. And we'll go from there."

Both of the home runs allowed by Price came on cutters. The first one, to Judge with one out in the first, was right down the middle of the plate.



The one to Sanchez was a good pitch on the outside corner, but the catcher was looking for it.

 

"I'm just looking for something in the zone," said Sanchez. "A good pitch to hit in the zone, high. I've been fortunate to be patient and find some pitches like that from him, and I've been able to hit them well."

But, still, it was two runs on two hits to that point with plenty of game left. He retired the next two batters before Price started having some issues with home plate umpire Dan Bellino.

In a five-pitch walk to Gleybar Torres, only two of the pitches were out of the strike zone.



Price left the ball up several times in an eight-pitch at-bat with Brett Gardner, which ended with another walk. Andrew McCutchen then stroked a Wall Ball single to plate the third run and end Price's night.

"It wasn't tough," Price said of regrouping after the Gardner at-bat. "I just tried to focus on that next pitch. And I felt like I did that. I wasn't able to execute that pitch. You know, he took it, it was ball four. And McCutchen hit the ball off the Monster. That was the end of it.

"It's the playoffs. You see (managers lifting starters early) all the time, especially over the past couple of years. Managers go into bullpens extremely early. If I don't like it, I need to pitch better, period."

The question remains, will he get that chance again?