On the road, at home – it doesn’t matter. The Red Sox will score on you.
Top Play (WPA)
The four best plays by WPA all came in the bottom of the first inning, but none were bigger than what Mookie Betts did. His two-run double not only made Steve Pearce embarrass himself, but was also worth .121 WPA. And Mookie wasn’t done.
Mood pic.twitter.com/x2PTN3lzhP
— Liam Fennessy (@Liam_Fennessy13) September 13, 2016
I know what you’re thinking: “The Red Sox got a hit with the bases loaded? Preposterous!” but believe me, it happened. They even got it on film!
Bottom Play (WPA)
Oddly enough, this happened during a Mookie Betts plate appearance. With the bases loaded once again, Mookie grounded out to Machado, who got Dustin Pedroia out at home, but the relay wasn’t fast enough to get Betts at first. That fielder’s choice came with a -.028 WPA. Thankfully, the score was 5-1 at this point, and Vance Worley walked Hanley Ramirez in the next at-bat to get another run in.
Key Moment
If it wasn’t over when the Red Sox were up 7-2 in the fourth inning, Hanley hitting one to Mars most certainly ended it.
Trends to Watch
1. David Price is on fire. Not only has he ripped off six straight quality starts, the Red Sox have won each of those games. In those 42 innings, he’s only walked eight batters and struck out 42. You’d have to go all the way back to August 2nd to find a start where he gave up more than three runs. He’s good.
2. Hanley Ramirez has four home runs in his last five games. He’s hitting a stupidly good .275/.337/.575 in the second half, and gone away from pounding baseballs into the ground as often as he was. Vintage Hanley? Vintage Hanley.
3. Chris Young had a monster night, finishing 4-4 with a single, homer and two doubles. This isn’t really a trend but it’s worthy of a shoutout for one of Dombrowski’s more underrated offseason acquisitions.
Coming Next
More baseball against the Orioles! This time it’ll be Drew Pomeranz against Dylan Bundy, and the Red Sox were less than kind against Bundy the last time out.
More of that, please.
Photo by Greg M. Cooper/USA Today Sports Images