Price Dazzles, Sox Roll To Fifth Straight Win (5/12/16)

The much maligned David Price was hammered in his last start and was searching for answers. Noted scientist Dr. Taylor Ahern couldn't help, the Dalai Lama himself couldn't help, and Sox manager John Farrell couldn't help. Price looked hopeless. Then a savior appeared, Dustin Pedroia. The diminutive hero went above and beyond the call of duty, risking life and limb to save Price. With the media wolves circling, Dustin went up to David Price and said "Hey man you're not kicking your leg high enough." HALLLLLLLLLELUJAH! Price claimed he was cured. The media wolves scoffed and said "We'll believe it when we see it." The media wolves were silenced as David Price's velocity returned and the Houston Astros were the victims. Price (5-1, 6.00 ERA) dazzled as he tossed 6 2/3 innings of 1 run ball to propel the Sox to victory. The bats remained red hot as they pounded Houston 11-1 at Fenway Park.

                                    An accurate description of David Price to Boston media

Price came out for the top of the first and immediately gave up back to back singles to Jose Altuve and George Springer as the crowd groaned. Price recovered to strike out Carlos Correa, Tyler White and Marwin Gonzalez to end the inning. He did hit 94 mph to Correa so that was a good sign. Houston ace Dallas Kuechel took the mound in the bottom of the first and got Mr. Mookie Betts to ground back to him. Luis Valbuena tried to make a barehanded grab on a Dustin Pedroia groundout but missed it, allowing Pedroia to reach first. Xander Bogaerts put the Sox on top with a 2 run blast into the monster seats to give the Sox a quick 2-0 lead. Despite guest PA announcer Kevin Millar shouting his name, David Ortiz stuck out. Hanley Ramirez walked but Chris Young looked at strike 3 to end the inning.

                                                   X-Man makes it 2-0 real quick

Carlos Gomez whiffed to begin the top of the second inning. Valbuena atoned for his miscue by executing a picture perfect bunt single. Erik Kratz hit a wind aided ball off the wall for a double. Pedroia got ate up on a ground ball by Jake Marisnick which scored Valbuena and advanced Kratz to third. Altuve looked at strike 3 and Springer took a 95 mph fastball for strike 3. His velocity is back apparently but the Astros cut the lead 2-1.

                                                 Most fans reaction to David Price at this point

 Travis Shaw grounded out to begin the bottom of the second. Christian Vazquez walked and took second base on a wild pitch. Vazquez scored when, who else, Jackie Bradley Jr hit a seeing eye single. It gave the Sox a 3-1 lead and extended his hitting streak to 18 games. Mr. Mookie grounded out as JBJ made it to second base. Pedroia walked and Xander Bogaerts hit one deep to center but it was caught at the wall. If he pulled it, it was gone. Still, the Sox got the 2 run lead back.

                                                                      JBJ makes it 3-1

Correa walked to open the top of the third. White popped up to Bogaerts as NESN showed highlights of Roger Clemens 20 strikeout game against Seattle after Max Scherzer struck out 20 Detroit Tigers last night. Gonzalez singled but Gomez banged into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. The Sox struck again in the bottom of the third. Ortiz hit a ground rule double and Ramirez doubled him home. Young singled home Ramirez to make it 5-1. Shaw grounded out to advance Young to third. Vazquez whiffed and JBJ grounded out to end the inning.

                                            Hanley Ramirez chugging the Sox Train


Price returned for the top of the fourth. Valbuena grounded out and Kratz struck out. Marisnick flied out to end the inning. Kuechel finally had a quick inning in the bottom of the fouth. Mr Mookie and Pedroia grounded out then Bogaerts popped up to end the inning.

Altuve singled to open the top of the fifth but Springer whiffed on a 3-2 fastball. Correa struck out then White struck out to end the inning. That's 10 for Price in 5 innings. Ortiz grounded out to open the bottom of the fifth. Ramirez singled off the monster but Young banged into a double play to end the inning.

Gonzalez became victim number 11 as he whiffed to open the top of the sixth. Gomez grounded out and Valbuena flied out to end the inning. Shaw grounded out to begin the bottom of the sixth but Vazquez singled. JBJ hit a high chopper than Kuechel dropped, allowing JBJ to reach first. Mr. Mookie made Dallas pay by launching a 3 run bomb into the monster seats to ice the game 8-1. Pedroia grounded out and Bogaerts whiffed to end the inning. You don't know when, where or who was going to strike with this offense.

                                              Mr. Mookie joins the homer parade

Kratz flied out deep to Betts in right to open the top of the seventh. Marisnick struck out and that was it for David Price. Sox manager John Farrell replaced him with Junichi Tazawa  after tossing 113 pitches. Altuve lined out to end the inning. Josh Fields replaced the ineffective Kuechel in the bottom of the seventh. Ortiz grounded out but Ramirez singled. Young struck out but Shaw doubled home Ramirez. Vazquez struck out but it was now 9-1.

Brock Holt took over at second base for Pedroia and Josh "Razor" Rutledge took over at third base as Shaw moved to first in the top of the eighth. Springer singled but Correa popped up. Preston Tucker pinch hit for White and popped up. Gonzalez grounded out to end the inning. Great work by Taz.

                                       Amazing what happens when your arm isn't falling off

The Sox offense wouldn't quit in the bottom of the eighth. JBJ flied out but Gonzalez played "Ole!" on a ground ball by Mr. Mookie, allowing him to reach first. Brock "Hitman" Holt doubled Mookie to third and Bogaerts singled him home. Ortiz hit a sac fly to score Holt and make it 11-1. Razor Rutledge struck out to end the inning.

Heath Hembree got the ball in the top of the ninth. Gomez popped up, Valbuena lined out and Kratz popped up to end the inning. The Sox had won 11-1 and Bogaerts paid for it.

                                                   

Hero of the night is an easy one. David Price's velocity returned and he baffled the Astros for 6 2/3 innings. He gave up 1 measly run on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 12.

                                                                   The Price is Hero


The Good:

Dustin Pedroia was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run. Brock Holt pinch hit for Dustin, he singled and scored. Xander Bogaerts was 2 for 5 with a run scored and 3 total rbi's, hitting his 3rd home run of the year. Hanley Ramirez was 3 for 3 with a walk, rbi and 2 runs scored. He's hitting .313 on the season. Christian Vazquez was 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored. Jackie Bradley Jr was 2 for 4 with a run scored and an rbi. Junichi Tazawa tossed 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Heath Hembree pitched a scoreless ninth.


The Bad:

Josh Rutledge pinch hit for Ramirez and struck out.


The Ugly:

Mookie Betts was just 1 for 5 but made it count with a 3 run blast, scoring 2 total runs. David Ortiz was just 1 for 4 with an rbi and a run scored. Chris Young was just 1 for 4 but drove in a run. Travis Shaw was just 1 for 4 but also drove in a run.


Final Thoughts:

The Sox offense has scored 51 runs the past four days and obviously that won't last, but it sure is fun to watch. The important thing was David Price admitting that his mechanics were off and went out to fix it. For one game at least, Price's fastball sat 93-95 and Houston batters had no chance. THIS is the David Price the Sox thought they were getting in the off-season. If this continues, the Sox are going to be very, very hard to beat 3 days out of 5. It may even be 4 days because when Eduardo Rodriguez returns, the spot-starters (Sean O'Sullivan, Henry Owens, etc) will be gone. The win improved the Sox to 22-13, percentage points behind Baltimore (who also have won 5 in a row) for first place in the AL East. Tomorrow night Steven Wright (3-3, 1.52 ERA) takes the mound opposite McCullers.