|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 30, 2023 10:13:23 GMT -5
Red Sox starter ‘set expectations really high’ after being 16th round pick
Updated: Sep. 30, 2023, 7:59 a.m.|Published: Sep. 30, 2023, 7:53 a.m.
By
Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
BALTIMORE — Kutter Crawford will make his 23rd start of this season when he faces the Orioles on Saturday at Camden Yards. Brayan Bello is the only Red Sox pitcher who has made more starts (28).
Not bad for a 2017 16th-round pick (491st overall) drafted at 21 years old who then was sidelined for about a year and a half in the minors because of Tommy John surgery and the elbow pain that proceeded it.
Crawford entered pro ball wanting to prove he should have been drafted higher and he has done exactly that. He went overlooked coming out of Florida Gulf Coast University for a couple reasons.
“My size in college and I didn’t throw as hard as some scouts probably liked,” Crawford said. “I think there’s some scouts out there that knew I was going to be a competitor and a good pitcher but I think they would have liked to see me throw harder. I think I probably went overlooked just because of my size and projectability, so to speak.”
Crawford said he threw mostly in the 88-92 mph range in college. He occasionally reached 93-94 mph but he said he mostly averaged around 90 mph with his fastball.
The 27-year-old has spent all but one day this season in the big leagues.
“I don’t like to try to settle so I set my expectations really high for myself,” Crawford said. “And I did believe that I would be a major leaguer at some point. If you don’t believe in yourself you won’t make it this far.”
Crawford has posted a 4.23 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 3.41 expected ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 30 outings (22 starts) this season. Opponents have batted just .228 against him. The righty, who was known for pounding the strike zone in the minors, has averaged 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings compared to just 2.6 walks per nine innings.
He ranks in the 84th percentile among big league pitchers in expected batting average (.212). He’s in the 80th percentile in expected ERA (3.41), 83rd percentile in chase percentage (32.0%) and 77th percentile in both average exit velocity (87.7 mph) and hard-hit percentage (35.1%), per Baseball Savant.
He logged the third most innings (123 ⅓) of any Red Sox pitcher this season behind only Bello (157 innings) and Nick Pivetta (142 ⅔ innings). He thinks he has done enough that he has established himself as part of the Red Sox starting rotation moving forward into 2024.
“I would like to think so. I would like to think that I’ve established myself but I’m not the one who makes those decisions and what not,” Crawford said. “So that’s out of my control. But yeah, I would like to think I have but it’s out of my control.”
He throws one of the most effective four-seam fastballs in the majors. Opponents are batting just .174 with a .183 expected batting average vs. his fastball, which is the pitch he uses most often (38.3%). It has averaged 93.7 mph.
“What makes it so effective is probably just the movement profile,” he said. “The vertical movement on it is a little above average, you could say. And that doesn’t necessarily correlate with velo. It’s just a mechanical thing of making sure your hand is in the right position at release and it creates a good, true backspin that helps make it perceived like it’s carrying to the hitter instead of sinking. That’s where you get the term of rising fastball. It doesn’t rise but it just holds its plane for a longer duration.”
Check out this video of the vertical movement on Crawford’s fastball. Manager Alex Cora often has referred to him as having a buffet of pitches. He also mixes in a cutter, curveball, split-fingered fastball and slider.
“I’m happy with the way I competed with how the roles have changed,” Crawford said. “It didn’t keep me from competing and throwing strikes. I think there’s a point of the season I could have done better at throwing strikes. July and August, throughout those two months I walked more batters than I would have liked.”
He said he also would have liked to pitch deeper into more games.
“That’s something I try to do every start I get. And I wish I could have done that a few more times this year — pitch deeper into ballgames,” he said. “Overall, there’s some learning moments, for sure. But there’s some good.”
He explained several factors account for his velocity increase from college.
“Long toss. I think just getting older, becoming more of an adult and kind of getting that adult strength. And I’d say the TJ process helped,” he said. “I took it as a time to really get my body in the right spot to perform at a high level and do what it’s supposed to do. I think that really helped boost my velo and helped sustain the velo, the TJ process and how I took that process to learn more about the body and understand it better.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Sept 30, 2023 10:40:47 GMT -5
Game 161: Red Sox at Orioles lineups and notesBy Emma Healy Globe Staff,Updated September 30, 2023, 2 hours ago The Red Sox will play the penultimate game of their season Saturday against the Orioles, whose five-game win streak ended with a 3-0 Red Sox win on Friday. Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta pitched seven shutout innings in Friday’s win. He punched out 10, walked one, and allowed just two hits against a likely hungover Orioles team still celebrating clinching the AL East the previous night. Kutter Crawford will look to replicate Pivetta’s success as he takes the mound for the Sox on Saturday. Righthander Kyle Gibson will pitch for the Orioles. Here’s a preview. RED SOX (77-83): Alex Verdugo (L) RF Rafael Devers (L) 3B Justin Turner (R) 1B Masataka Yoshida (L) DH Adam Duvall (R) CF Wilyer Abreu (L) LF Trevor Story (R) SS Enmanuel Valdez (L) 2B Reese McGuire (L) C Pitching: RHP Kutter Crawford (6-8, 4.23 ERA) ORIOLES (100-60): Gunnar Henderson (L) SS Adley Rutschman (S) C Anthony Santander (S) DH Ryan O'Hearn (L) RF Ryan Mountcastle (R) 1B Cedric Mullins (L) CF Aaron Hicks (S) LF Ramon Urias (R) 3B Adam Frazier (L) 2B Pitching: RHP Kyle Gibson (15-9, 4.86 ERA) Time: 7:15 p.m. TV, radio: Fox, WEEI-FM 93.7 Red Sox vs. Gibson: Bobby Dalbec 0-2, Rafael Devers 6-15, Adam Duvall 2-5, Reese McGuire 1-2, Trevor Story 3-3, Justin Turner 2-5, Alex Verdugo 2-5, Masataka Yoshida 0-1 Orioles vs. Crawford: Adam Frazier 0-1, Austin Hays 2-2, Aaron Hicks 1-4, Jorge Mateo 1-2, Ryan Mountcastle 0-2, Cedric Mullins 2-3, Adley Rutschman 2-3, Anthony Santander 2-3, Ramón Urías 1-2 Stat of the day: The Red Sox ended a 23-inning scoreless streak when Trevor Story hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning on Friday. Notes: The Orioles (100-60) had won five in a row before losing 3-0 on Friday, a night after they clinched the American League East title with a 2-0 victory over the Red Sox. ... Baltimore has won three of four September games pitched by Gibson, who is 2-1 with a 2.96 ERA in those contests. He faced the Red Sox in the season opener on March 30 and earned a win despite giving up four runs in five-plus innings. ... Gibson will make his career-high 33rd start. He is 4-4 with a 3.72 ERA in nine career starts against Boston. ... Crawford has gone six consecutive outings without a victory. Boston went 1-5 in those games, while Crawford was 0-2 with a 6.26 ERA. Most recently, he yielded three runs in 5 1/3 innings during a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. ... Crawford surrendered 11 runs across 3 2/3 innings covering two appearances (one start) last year in his only career matchups with the Orioles. Song of the Day: The Rolling Stones - Mixed Emotions www.youtube.com/watch?v=loNey3n6uuE
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 5:32:47 GMT -5
Montas wins season debut and Yankees clinch 31st winning season by beating Royals 5-2 AP
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The New York Yankees clinched their 31st straight winning season by beating the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
They'd rather be clinching something more important.
Like a playoff spot.
But the chances of that evaporated long ago, when the Yankees scuffled so badly through the middle part of the season that many wondered whether they would finish with a losing record. With a 5-2 victory in which Frankie Montas got the win out of the bullpen in his season debut, the second-longest streak in major league history at least remained intact.
“I mean, we're going home tomorrow. That's inevitably kind of the takeaway from our season,” countered Yankees manager Aaron Boone, whose club has finished strong after floundering six games below .500 last month. "We expect to be playing in October and the fact that we're not going to be doing that beyond tomorrow is tough."
So much for celebrating a feel-good, come-from-behind win over the Royals.
Montas had surgery on his labrum in late February and spent all season working his way back, even though he will be a free agent after the season and easily could have called it a year. But the long hours of rehab work paid off when Montas walked out of the bullpen and proceeded to retire four hitters while allowing two hits and a walk.
“So many emotions going on,” he said after his first big league appearance since last October's AL Championship Series opener. “It was just like my first time pitching.”
Montas earned the win thanks in part to Gleyber Torres, who drove in a pair of runs during a three-run sixth inning. Oswaldo Cabrera, Everson Pereira and Estevan Florial also drove in runs for New York.
Clay Holmes pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 27 chances.
“You know,” Boone said, “we've been through a lot this year and I'm super, super pleased with how these guys have shown up and continued to get after it day-in and day-out. I'm glad we're finishing this way, and playing with purpose, and playing with meaning, because that wasn't always the case."
Alec Marsh (3-9) replaced opener Steven Cruz and allowed three runs, six hits and three walks over 4 1/3 innings for Kansas City, which fell to 55-106 and matched the 2005 team for the most losses in a season in club history.
“I think it was just, maybe, the end of the season and trying to hype up that last outing, go out there and try to do too much,” Marsh said. “I did make some good pitches in some good times in big situations to limit. It could have been a lot worse.”
The Royals, who got their first 10 batters on base and score nine runs in a 12-5 rout the previous night, got off to another hot start on a steamy final night of September. Garcia opened the game with a single and later scored on Nelson Velázquez's single, and Salvador Perez added a homer in the third to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead.
The Yankees got two runs back against Marsh in the fourth before tying the game in the sixth on Florial's single. Collin Snider proceeded to walk DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge before Torres ripped a two-run single to give New York the final margin.
SMOOTHING THINGS OVER
The Yankees' Carlos Rodón and pitching coach Matt Blake spent time talking Saturday after clashing on the mound the previous night. Rodón was in the midst of allowing all eight batters he faced to reach and eventually score in a 12-5 loss when Blake came out to talk to him. Rodón turned his back on Blake and gestured for him to return to the dugout.
“He’s been in the league for a while. We want him to go out and have a lot of success and behave in the right ways,” Blake said Saturday, “and you know, this is one were going to look back on and wish we had back.”
ONE MORE SWIPE NEEDED
The Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. was thrown out trying to steal second, tying Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr. for the major league lead with 14. Witt needs one steal to become the fourth player in big league history with 50 in a season with at least 30 homers.
ROSTER MOVES
Yankees: To reinstate Montas (shoulder inflammation) from the injured list, OF Jasson Domínguez (elbow surgery) was moved to the 60-day list and RHP Randy Vásquez optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Royals OF Drew Waters left after the third inning with tightness in his left quad. He doubled in his only at-bat. ... Velázquez left the game after fouling a pitch a pitch off the top of his knee.
UP NEXT
Yankees RHP Michael King (4-7, 2.50 ERA) will start the season finale against Royals RHP Zack Greinke (1-15, 5.18), who could be making his last start with Kansas City. The 39-year-old Greinke will be a free agent after finishing his 20th big league season.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 5:45:21 GMT -5
Crawford has best outing of 2023 vs. AL East champ Orioles 12:34 AM ADT Ian Browne
Ian Browne @ianmbrowne
BALTIMORE -- Starter? Reliever? Both?
The Red Sox will decide on a role for Kutter Crawford at some point before the 2024 season starts.
The one thing Crawford established -- and emphasized further in a standout performance on Saturday -- is that he should be an important piece for the club going forward.
Crawford’s final outing of 2023 was his best. The 27-year-old mowed through the American League East champion Orioles, firing six scoreless innings in which he allowed one hit and no walks while striking out seven. He took a no-decision in Boston’s 5-2 loss at Camden Yards. Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.
“He was excellent,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Good four-seamer. Good breaking ball. The split is getting better, especially the last two outings. A lot of swings and misses. Finished the season strong. That was a good one.”
The biggest point of development the Red Sox are seeking from Crawford next season is for him to go deeper into his starts.
Saturday marked the fifth time in Crawford’s 23 starts this season he went six innings. This outing was one of Crawford’s most efficient, as he threw just 76 pitches to record 18 outs.
Upon finishing his first full season in the Majors with a 4.04 ERA over 129 1/3 innings in which he held opponents to a .221 batting average and .669 OPS, Crawford is confident he can take that next crucial step.
He thinks it will be a combination of physical and mental preparation.
“Yeah, [my belief in that] is very strong,” Crawford said. “I know I have the ability to do it. And I think at the end of the day, it's all about just throwing a bunch of strikes, staying on the attack. There were some outings in the year where I didn't do as good of a job doing strikes, but I've seen that when I do those strikes and I attack hitters and I stay ahead of hitters, I'm able to go deeper into ballgames more efficiently.”
While Crawford’s role fluctuated earlier in the season, his final 20 appearances were all starts. That gave him an idea of what he needs to do to prepare himself for a wire-to-wire season of being in a starting rotation.
“Once I take a couple of weeks off, it's back to the grindstone, trying to get the body in the best position possible to do it all again and then some next year, “ Crawford said. “You know, try to focus on the lower half, making it stronger and moving better and just being better physically.”
Backed by an expansive repertoire (fastball, cutter, curve, splitter, sweeper and slider), Crawford has a lot of different looks to throw at hitters.
Cora joked earlier this season about Crawford’s selection being like a buffet, and how some nights he needs to narrow down his assortment depending on what is working best. On Saturday, he led with his fastball, throwing it 49 percent of the time and getting seven of his 11 swings and misses on it.
“I think he has grown,” said Cora. “There are a lot of guys the last few weeks who have improved as far as getting information and trying to learn how to study the game and all that. He’s one of them. He has a good feel for pitching.”
Crawford joins Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski as pitchers who might be either starter or relievers next season.
Cora has told all of them in exit interviews to prepare to start over the winter.
Roles will depend largely on what moves the Red Sox make this winter.
Crawford won’t worry about the variables that are beyond his control. But he was satisfied to take such a strong outing into the offseason.
“It's great,” Crawford said. “Probably one of my better outings on the year. It's great to kind of be in that position and take that momentum into the offseason.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 5:47:22 GMT -5
Kutter Crawford retires 18 of 19 batters but Red Sox lose to Orioles
Published: Sep. 30, 2023, 10:10 p.m.
By
Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com
BALTIMORE — Kutter Crawford retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced. He allowed just one hit and struck out seven over 6 scoreless innings.
Adam Frazier, who hit a two-out double in the third, was the only hitter to reach against the righty.
But it wasn’t enough. The Red Sox fell 5-2 to the Orioles at Camden Yards on Saturday.
Reliever Josh Winckowski replaced Crawford and gave up two runs on three hits in the seventh.
Crawford threw 37 four-seam fastballs, averaging 92.3 mph and topping out at 94.0 mph, per Baseball Savant. He recorded seven swings-and-misses with his fastball and two each with his slider and cutter. He finished the season with a 4.04 ERA in 31 outings (23 starts).
The Red Sox offense squandered several promising opportunities early. Adam Duvall tripled with one out in the second inning and Wilyer Abreu followed with a walk. But then Enmanuel Valdez lined out hard to pitcher Kyle Gibson who doubled Abreu off at first base.
Reese McGuire, Rafael Devers and Justin Turner all singled in the third inning but the Red Sox came away with nothing.
Boston had two runners in scoring position with two outs in the fifth but Turner flied out.
Boston got on the board in the eighth when Trevor Story hit an RBI single, cutting it to 2-1.
But Red Sox reliever Mauricio Llovera then gave up three runs on three hits in the eighth as Baltimore pulled ahead 5-1.
Masataka Yoshida, who had three hits, made it 5-2 in the ninth with an RBI single. Enter your email address here to receive the Fenway Rundown email newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday.
Season finale
The Red Sox will play their final game of the 2023 season Sunday. Tanner Houck (5-10, 5.31 ERA) will start for Boston opposite Orioles ace Kyle Bradish (12-7, 2.86 ERA)
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 5:58:28 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 9h That is now 22 shutdowns, 15 meltdowns for Winc. League leader in meltdowns is 18. He's been.. fine.. but not a lot supporting his 2.8 ERA imo.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 5:59:10 GMT -5
Red Sox Stats @redsoxstats · 8h The Red Sox are hitting .189 with RISP in September, that ranks 175th out of 180 team months this season.
Through August, they were at .279, 4th best in MLB.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 6:02:08 GMT -5
Jon Couture @joncouture · 9h This is Mauricio Llovera's 25th appearance with the #RedSox. The team is 4-20 in the first 24, and it sure looks like it's gonna be 4-21 by the end of the night.
Yes, he's generally only used in games they're losing. But still, great googly moogly.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 6:12:07 GMT -5
RED SOX NOTEBOOK After acclimating to the majors, Masataka Yoshida, and the Red Sox, expect bigger things ahead By Julian McWilliams Globe Staff,Updated September 30, 2023, 8:02 p.m.
BALTIMORE — When the Red Sox signed Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million contract during last December’s winter meetings, it left the majority of media and front-office executives in attendance befuddled.
Yoshida, who played for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball, had been made available to big-league clubs that same day, and the Red Sox immediately offered him a deal which included a posting fee just north of $15 million. Minus the Red Sox, evaluators saw that contract as an overpay for a below-average outfielder who had more of a slap-style approach. While Yoshida presented exquisite bat-to-ball skills, power, certainly, was a concern. The adjustment to the big leagues, too, was a different beast.
His performance in helping Japan to the title in the World Baseball Classic erased some of those concerns, in addition to his play prior to the All-Star break when he hit .316/.382/.492 with an .874 OPS, 19 doubles, and 10 homers. His early success fell in line with what the Red Sox envisioned, and observers began to buy in, too — even calling his contract an underpay.
Yet once the Sox came out of the break, Yoshida began to plummet. After going 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI in Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Orioles, he is hitting just .253/.277/.386 with a .663 OPS to go along with five homers and 14 doubles 61 games.
Why?
Fatigue. Or at least that’s what the Red Sox believe.
Japan is the size of the state of California, so travel is a lot easier on the body. The travel schedule in the majors is a lot more grueling with a lot more games. In Japan, for example, with a few exceptions, players get Mondays off. In the big leagues, Monday often mean the start of a new series.
“I don’t want to make excuses because of that,” said Yoshida through a team translator. “I chose this for myself. I did my best.”
Manager Alex Cora made it clear that endurance, to ensure Yoshida is ready for the most pivotal part of the season, will be a point of emphasis for the Sox left fielder this offseason. Members of the training staff will visit with Yoshida in Japan to monitor some of his workouts.
Nevertheless, his .285 batting average entering Saturday night’s game against the Orioles is respectable. But the Sox will need more from him next season.
“I’m excited to play for the team,” he said. “As a team, this season we were at the bottom. I think I have something that I can help us with in the game and the season, too. So, I’d like to build up baseball-wise, and physical-wise, too.”
Crawford solid, but offense isn’t
The Red Sox lost to the Orioles, 5-2, Saturday evening, spoiling what arguably was Kutter Crawford’s finest outing of the season. Crawford finished with a 4.04 ERA after going six scoreless innings, yielding just one hit while striking out seven.
Manager Alex Cora said, similar to Nick Pivetta Friday night, that he wanted the season to end on a high note for Crawford, who has only once recorded more than 18 outs in a game — he got 19 as a reliever this past April 17. Crawford will build up as a starter this winter with the hope that he can remain in the rotation.
The Orioles broke through a scoreless game in the seventh inning, tagging Josh Winckowski for two runs. The Sox made it 2-1 in the top of the eighth, but Mauricio Llovera yielded three runs in the bottom half, putting the game out of reach.
The Sox (77-84) will play the final game of their season Sunday. With a win, the club will match its record from 2022.
Jansen shut down
Kenley Jansen’s season is over. The Red Sox closer, who hit the COVID-19 injured list during the recent series against the Yankees at Fenway, was reinstated last week. Cora said he would only pitch in save situations, but since the closer hadn’t pitched in more than two weeks, Cora decided that the wisest decision would be to stay away from Jansen for the final weekend.
“You got to be realistic,” Cora said. “If he goes out there and gets hurt, that’s on me.”
Jansen finished the season with a 3.63 ERA in 44⅔ innings, registering 29 saves and 52 strikeouts.
“He was excellent,” said Cora, while noting Jansen’s blown saves against the Cardinals and Giants. “But overall he had a great season.”
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 6:18:01 GMT -5
Red Sox @ Orioles Sunday, October 1, 2023 3pm @ OPACY
Houck 5-10/ 5.31
Bradish 12-7/ 2.86
Two American League East rivals conclude their respective regular seasons on Sunday when the Boston Red Sox (77-83, 5th AL East) visit the American League East Champion Baltimore Orioles (100-60, 1st AL East). Boston defeated Baltimore 3-0 on Friday in the first game of their three-game series, snapping a five-game losing skid but the Red Sox have been eliminated from postseason contention. Friday's loss by Baltimore snapped a five-game winning streak for the Orioles, but Baltimore has already clinched the American League East. Boston will play without seven pitchers as well as position players Triston Casas, Jarren Duran, Adalberto Mondesi and Luis Urias. Baltimore will play without three pitchers as well as position player Terrin Vavra.
Boston must improve on the mound The Boston Red Sox have struggled all season on the mound with an ERA that is 4.55, which is 26th in baseball. Boston is even lower at 25th in both batting average allowed (.257) and Quality Starts (45). Brayan Bello leads all Boston pitchers with 12 wins and Nick Pivetta is the strikeout leader with 183. Tanner Houck starts on the mound for Boston on Sunday. This season the right-hander is 5-10 with an ERA of 5.31 with 93 strikeouts.
Boston's numbers are much better at the plate than on the mound. Boston is in the top 10 of 3 out of four major hidden categories. The Red Sox are 6th in team batting average with .258, 8th in slugging percentage at .426 and 10th in runs scored with 764 but drop to 13th in on base percentage with .324. Rafael Devers has hit a team-best 33 home runs and knocked in a team-high 99 runs. Justin Turner is second in home runs with 23 and second in RBI with 96. Triston Casas has hit 24 home runs but is out injured. The Red Sox have hit 338 doubles, 18 triples and 182 home runs in 160 games
Baltimore's bats did the talking this season Baltimore reached the 100-win plateau this season after last year winning just 83 games and in 2021 winning only 52. The Orioles have produced well at the plate all season with the 7th most runs scored at 801, the 9th best team batting average with .256, the 10th best slugging percentage at .423 and the 15th best on-base percentage at .322. Anthony Santander has 28 home runs and 93 RBI to lead Baltimore in both categories and Gunnar Henderson also has 28 home runs. Henderson is second in RBI with 82 and Adley Rutschman is third with 79 RBI.
The Orioles have also performed well on the mound as Baltimore is in the top 10 in three of four major pitching categories. Baltimore is 7th in ERA at 3.92, while eighth in both Quality Starts with 68 and WHIP at 1.24. Baltimore is 11th in batting average allowed at .242. Kyle Gibson has 15 victories to lead the Orioles, while Kyle Bradish is the team strikeout king with 163. At the time of publication of this article, Baltimore had not yet released the name of its starting pitcher for Sunday's final game of the regular season.
Red Sox at Orioles Sunday, at 3:05 PM EST Clear It's expected to be 79° F with a 0% chance of precipitation and 9 MPH wind blowing in Baltimore at 3:05 PM EST. Hourly Forecasts: Weather.com
|
|
|
Post by Kimmi on Oct 1, 2023 8:06:30 GMT -5
Kutter Crawford retires 18 of 19 batters but Red Sox lose to Orioles
Published: Sep. 30, 2023, 10:10 p.m. By Christopher Smith | csmith@masslive.com BALTIMORE — Kutter Crawford retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced. He allowed just one hit and struck out seven over 6 scoreless innings. Awesome outing. He's another guy who can go into the postseason feeling really good about himself and hopefully build off of that next season.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 1, 2023 13:00:17 GMT -5
Watching football but here are the line ups
Alex Verdugo (L) RF Rafael Devers (L) 3B Justin Turner (R) DH Masataka Yoshida (L) LF Trevor Story (R) SS Wilyer Abreu (L) CF Bobby Dalbec (R) 1B Enmanuel Valdez (L) 2B Connor Wong (R) C
Gunnar Henderson (L) SS Adley Rutschman (S) DH Anthony Santander (S) RF Ryan O'Hearn (L) 1B Cedric Mullins (L) CF Heston Kjerstad (L) LF Adam Frazier (L) 2B Jordan Westburg (R) 3B James McCann (R) C
|
|
|
Post by scrappyunderdog on Oct 1, 2023 19:58:10 GMT -5
Tom Caron (blue checkmark redacted) @tomcaron · 8h Unfortunately this is not their vision. Tanking teams don't start their best players. Sox haven't rested any starters, have kept their best players on the field... and are 4-17 in the last 21 games. Ugly finish to a season that once held promise.
Matt McCarthy @mattmccarthy985 · 8h The Sox have averaged 2.5 runs per game since Casas went down. There are plenty of factors to point to (the starting pitching has obviously been questionable all year long), but this has been a massive factor behind this collapse.
Very few guys to fear in the lineup this month. For all of the criticism our pitching continues to get, they deserve better than this. IMO, they have not been the problem so much as the offense has been. Our pitching wasn't expected to be our strength. Considering the injuries, the pitching has held its own. I know I sound like a broken record, but I blame the offense more than the pitching. While our starters have continued to play, Cora has not fielded the 'regular' starting line up in a while. Many at bats are going to the youngsters, so Caron's statement is not quite accurate. Despite that, our starting lineup has let us down, from #1 to #9. When you repeatedly hear that a mediocre starting pitcher has recorded a season high # of strikeouts against the Sox, that's a problem. I realize that Casas is on the IL, but a lineup of Verdugo, Devers, Turner, Yoshida, Duvall, Casas, Story, Reyes, and Wong/McGuire should be among the best in the league. Instead, they're having a hard time scoring 3 runs/game. The team has looked pathetic in the last few weeks, and by 'team', I don't mean the starting pitching. To finish my rant, I'm a little disappointed in Kenley's comments about Bloom. He was the one who, at the trade deadline, said that this team was good enough to win with the players who are already here. You can't turn around and now blame it on Bloom's lack of moves as the deadline. In no particular order: Some LAST 28 day K/W stats: Yoshida 18/1 Duvall 31/1 Wong 21/1 It is almost impossible to put up runs if you have 3 guys never getting on base. And I am not bagging on the kids, but Ceddanne, Abreu & Valdez combined for a 48/11. On the pitching side, Sale, Pivetta, and Crawford excelled in the final 28. But the BP had a 6.14 ERA in August and 5.00 in September. IRT Jansen, we should get rid of him. He had a terrible September with only two IPs. It could be the Covid, but it doesn't seem like he wants to be here. I'd gamble on Houck or Whitlock and save the $16M.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 2, 2023 4:28:09 GMT -5
Houck leads Red Sox past AL East champion Orioles 6-1 in finale AP
BALTIMORE (AP) Tanner Houck threw six innings of one-hit ball and the last-place Boston Red Sox earned a split in the four-game series against the AL East champion Baltimore Orioles with a 6-1 victory Sunday in the regular-season finale.
The Orioles have home-field advantage throughout the American League playoffs and will host a Division Series opener starting Oct. 7.
“I am really proud of how we played for six months,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “We didn't play our best baseball game today, unfortunately, in the last game in front of the home fans. How well we played this year, home and away, is definitely something to be proud of.”
Houck (6-10) did not allow a hit until Anthony Santander singled up the middle with two outs in the sixth. Houck had six strikeouts and three walks on 87 pitches.
Boston finished 78-84, the same record as last year.
The Red Sox were mourning former pitcher Tim Wakefield, who died at the age of 57.
“The game is secondary. Tough day for us,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “We lost a brother, a teammate, a family member. Like I was telling the guys, this guy is one of the best teammates I ever had. This guy was there for us all the time. He was accountable. He was what a Boston Red Sox should look like.”
Hyde wanted to keep his team healthy and rested for the playoffs and used eight pitchers in the game.
“I was nervous the last two days,” Hyde said about possible injuries.
Kyle Bradish, who could start Game 1 of the Division Series, threw two scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
“I am very excited,” Bradish said of the postseason. “It's been on my mind since we clinched.”
The Red Sox took advantage of a couple of miscues for a 2-0 lead in the third off Danny Coulombe (5-3). Third baseman Jordan Westburg could not handle a throw by James McCann on a double steal that allowed Enmanuel Valdez to score. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson then bobbled a sharp grounder by Rafael Devers that gave Boston its second run.
Devers was credited with his 100th RBI of the season.
Henderson’s second error on a soft grounder by Reese McGuire allowed two more runs to score off Cionel Pérez in the seventh. Trevor Story and Wilyer Abreu followed with RBI singles that boosted the lead to 6-0.
Only one of Boston's six runs was earned.
Adley Rutschman had an RBI single in the eighth that helped the Orioles avoid their 10th shutout of the season.
Baltimore finished 101-61, tied with the 1971 team for the fourth-most wins in a single season in club history.
“We played hard all year long,” Santander said. “It's time to take a few days off, come back to work and come back stronger next weekend.”
Baltimore went 7-6 against Boston this year.
MOVES
Orioles: LHP Cole Irvin was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and Bruce Zimmermann was optioned to the Tides, who won the Triple-A National Championship on Saturday.
UP NEXT
Hyde has not announced a starter for Game 1 of the AL Division Series.
|
|
|
Post by CP_Jon_GoSox on Oct 2, 2023 4:50:27 GMT -5
Pete Abraham reposted Alex @ac13alex · 8h Today we played for Wake.
He was a great man/husband/father/teammate/friend. He loved his family and the Red Sox. He was proud to represent our organization on and off the field. We did our best to honor him. He will be missed. 💔
|
|