Thanks to a great performance by Starting Pitcher David Price, the Boston Red Sox (30-14) are the first team to win 30 times this season. At 6:2 over the Baltimore Orioles (13-30) the left-hander pitched a complete game.
Price only allowed five hits and only gave two runs on a Manny Machado 2-run-homerun in the ninth inning. For the latter, it was their 14th home run of the season, leading the MLB alone. Price managed a total of eight strikeouts and did not complete a walk.
“He was amazing,” said Sox manager Alex Cora. “He used both sides of the plate. He was outstanding. I mean, you saw it. He forced bad swings, up, down, on the inside and outside. With his chanegup, editor, sinker. It was fun to see that.”
In concrete terms this meant: Price threw 95 pitches in five different pitch types. He threw 69 of them for strikes.
“I threw my fastball quite often today, especially early in the game,” Price reported. “If you can go out and go through a lineup for the first time while throwing your fibre ball very often, then it stays in the head of the hitters. That makes everything better. Not only could I use it often, but I was also able to throw it where I wanted it. It was pretty good today.”
It was the 14th Complete Game for Price in total. And it was the fifth time he needed less than 100 pitches. It was Boston’s first Complete Game victory this year and the first Complete Game to pitch Price for the Red Sox.
J.D. Martinez gave his team a 2-0 lead in the first inning through a 2-run shot. Xander Bogaerts finally put a 3-Run-Homer on top in the fifth inning. All this against Kevin Gausman, who has allowed six runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
The Red Sox are the first team to win 30 times this season, but the Yankees (28-12) are still ahead of them in the division because they have a better win rate (.700 versus.682).
All results of the night you will find in our new MLB Scoreboard.
This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.