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Sean McAdam: Finally, run prevention works in Red Sox’ favor
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- Sean McAdam: Finally, run prevention works in Red Sox’ favor
BOSTON — If this wasn’t what the Red Sox were thinking when they pursued an offseason strategy based on pitching and defense, it had to be darn close.
Eight shutout innings from the starting pitcher. A clean night from the fielders behind him, including a couple of nicely executed plays at second base. And just enough offense to get the job done.
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All of that translated to a 1-0 Red Sox victory over the Detroit Tigers in 10 innings, a veritable blueprint for the concept of “run prevention.”
With a few notable exceptions, the Red Sox have produced very little offensively in the first three weeks of the season. They added on nicely to produce a couple of lopsided wins in St. Louis last weekend, but in most offensive categories — from runs scored to OPS to homers — they rank in the bottom third of all major league teams.
In short, it’s been as though the Red Sox were talking about their own lineup when the phrase “run prevention” got tossed around.
Meanwhile, the starting pitching has been hit and miss. In the seven previous games before Friday that saw their starting pitcher give them six or more innings, they were a perfect 7-0. But too often, the starting pitching has been wobbly, with every member of the rotation except rookie Connelly Early turning in at least one poor outing.
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And given the offensive struggles, the Red Sox have not been in position to win any of those games in which the other team produced with the bat: they’ve yet to win a game in which the other side scores four or more runs.
On Friday night, kicking off a key homestand, the offense didn’t factor in at all — until the 10th inning. Limited to just three hits in the first nine innings, the Sox were held scoreless. Only twice in the first nine innings did they move a baserunner as far as third base.
Thankfully for the Red Sox, starter Ranger Suárez made sure that didn’t much matter, matching the Sox’ struggles with a dominant effort of his own. Over eight innings, Suárez yielded just two hits — both in the first inning. He closed by retiring 18 of the final 19 hitters he faced, buying the Sox time to scratch out a run. In the 10th, when pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida hit a high chopper over a five-man infield, scoring Jarren Duran from third, one run was enough.
“That’s pitching right there, that’s pitching,” said Alex Cora in appreciation. “Against a good lineup, right? I’ve been saying for three weeks: ‘If we pitch, we’re going to win.’ And that was really, really good.”
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Indeed it was, enough so that Suárez, after a highly inauspicious start to his Red Sox career, has now been masterful in each of his last two starts, stitching together 14 consecutive scoreless innings in the process.
Basking in the post-game glow, Suárez was asked if the Red Sox’ pitching-and-defense approach would be frequently utilized to win games as they did Friday.
“I hope that’s not the case,” said Suárez, “Although today, it was a low-scoring game, I think we’re going to be able to score more runs in the future and I don’t think that’s going to be the rule, to have a lot of 1-0 games. That’s just (due to) some of the things we’re going through right now. But I think in the future, we’re going to be able to score more runs and these 1-0 games are going to be very (rare).”
That’s how a pitcher would think, of course. Few want to pitch with such a small margin for error, where yielding even a single run over eight innings in his start would have resulted in a loss. It’s much easier to compete with more generous run support.
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And it’s logical to assume that the Red Sox’ offense will produce more, if for no other reason that they almost have to do better than they’ve done. Surely, warmer weather in the coming months will help toward that goal.
Left uncredited was the clean game played behind him. The Sox didn’t commit an error and turned in a few standout plays, from Ceddanne Rafaela ’s almost casual but successful pursuit of a hard-hit ball in front of the bullpen wall in the fourth to an alert throw from Willson Contreras to cut down the lead runner at second on a ground ball in the ninth.
The Sox’ error total has been alarmingly high in the early going, but Cora believes that’s somewhat misleading, as the team’s defensive efficiency — the percentage of balls in play converted into outs — reflects an improved infield defense.
And while planning to routinely win games 1-0 is probably not a successful long-term strategy, for the Red Sox, it’s nice to know that they can win them when they must.
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