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Why Red Sox’ Roman Anthony said Connelly Early ‘looks different out there’
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- Why Red Sox’ Roman Anthony said Connelly Early ‘looks different out there’
MINNEAPOLIS — Red Sox rookie Connelly Early made the longest start of his young career Wednesday, pitching six innings in a 9-5 win over the Twins at Target Field.
The left-handed pitcher, who turned 24 on April 3, allowed just one run, two hits and two walks while striking out five.
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"He looks different out there," teammate Roman Anthony said. "He looks just so calm always."
By different, Anthony means compared to other young pitchers around the league.
"We saw what he did in his debut, and we saw how unfazed he was," Anthony said. "He started in the postseason. It just looks different for a young guy like himself. He looks like he has 10 years."
In reality, Early doesn't even have 10 starts. Wednesday's win marked his ninth major league start, including his postseason start against the Yankees in the 2025 AL Wild Card Series.
"Watching the way that he adjusts an early home run and a moment that was kind of like, 'Oh, crap. Here we may go again,'" Anthony said. "But he just toes the rubber and then just dominates the rest of the game."
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Early allowed a solo homer that put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first inning.
It could have easily been an "Oh, crap. Here we may go again" moment considering how the 2026 season has gone so far. Boston entered 0-7 in games when the opponent scored first.
But Early — who had never allowed a home run in the big leagues until Austin Martin took him deep in the first inning — buckled down, then the Red Sox scored five times in the third inning.
"I think he's the same guy every single day," Anthony said. "And his type of personality, when he goes out there, he's super competitive. But at the same time, he keeps his cool the entire way. And he just made it look easy today. And he has a tendency to do that."
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His previous career-high for innings pitched in one game was 5⅓ innings, which he achieved twice: Sept. 16, 2025, against the Athletics , and March 29, 2026, at Cincinnati .
The six innings matched a professional career-high. He pitched six innings in a game six times in the minor leagues, including four times in 2025.
"It's super nice to go six," Early said. "Obviously the offense did an amazing job working their starter. I feel like that's the name of the game — if our starter can go longer than theirs, we're in a really good spot."
Manager Alex Cora added, "I've been saying it all along — if we pitch, we're going to win."
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Early has a 2.31 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, .221 batting average against, 49 strikeouts and 14 walks in eight regular season starts (39 innings).
"He was working fast, efficient," Trevor Story said. "He was attacking. He set the tone. He gave up the one homer, but it didn't faze him at all, and right back on the attack. So that's the kind of pitching you love to play defense behind and keeps us on our toes and keeps us ready to make a play."
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