Nine Innings: David Price delivers his specialty — another disastrous postseason start
The lefthander's dismal performance and his teammates' silent bats put the Red Sox in an 0-2 hole against Terry Francona's feisty Indians.
COMMENTARY
Playing Nine Innings while wondering how different Friday would have been if the Red Sox didn’t lowball Jon Lester way back when …
1. I don’t know why this happens to David Price. Is it that his stuff, his repertoire, no longer matches up with his reputation as an ace? Is it that he has cold feet inside those gold cleats when it comes to the big moment? Is it the burden of his status and salary, the latter of which is mentioned after every single start in which he doesn’t outright excel? I don’t have the answers after his latest postseason meltdown, a 6-0 loss to the Indians in which he gave up a three-run homer to Lonnie Chisenhall, who hadn’t hit a homer against a lefty all season. I don’t think he has the answers, and John Farrell and Carl Willis sure as hell don’t, either. Brian Bannister, you’re our only hope.
2. All I know is that when it’s his turn to take the ball in the postseason, this happens and it happens and it happens again: He fails, often spectacularly — and, at this point, predictably. He won 17 games this year. He struck out 228 batters. For all of his regular-season inconsistencies, he is one of the reasons the Red Sox made it this far. But that’s his career-long modus operandi: help get the team to the playoffs, help get the team out of the playoffs. How in the name of John Wasdin is a pitcher with Price’s abilities 0-8 as a playoff starter?
3. Of course, it’s not just the failings of Price and Game 1 starter Rick Porcello that have put the Red Sox in this 0-2 hole. The team’s offense appears not to be aware that the playoffs have begun. Offensively, the Red Sox have made mashing baseballs to far-away destinations look so easy sometimes, but they’re in one of those funks right now where a home run feels like an unattainable achievement, something that will never happen again. Sometimes hitting is contagious. Right now, they look infected. I especially hate seeing Mookie Betts this way. He’s the most slump-proof hitter they’ve had since the late-‘90s version of Nomar Garciaparra, but is he ever in a funk right now.
4. It would be a mistake for John Farrell to do something rash, such as benching Xander Bogaerts and playing Travis Shaw instead, with Brock Holt moving to shortstop, or moving Andrew Benintendi to center in place of Jackie Bradley Jr., ideas that are stupid even by sports radio standards. Bogaerts and Bradley are at least dependable defensive players — and Bradley is much more than that, though his arm has been weirdly inaccurate lately — and that matters. You can’t start playing Holt, a mediocre defender at easier positions, at shortstop. And Shaw, who hit .205 over the last 106 games, has been for four months the kind of lost cause Bogaerts appears to be now. Stick with your good players, even if they don’t look especially good at the moment.
5. The Red Sox are one loss away from me openly pulling for a Tito Francona-Theo Epstein World Series. (Or Cubs-Indians, if you prefer. I guess the teams are actually historically compelling, too, now that you mention it.) Doubt Larry Lucchino feels quite the same way, right? And I bet Tom Werner would be wicked mad once someone informed him that the Cubs are indeed in the playoffs and Theo runs them.
6. Don’t get me wrong: I do want the Red Sox to win this series. This would be too abrupt an ending for this enjoyable season, and especially for the career of David Ortiz. But I must admit, there’s a part of me that is enjoying watching Francona meticulously execute his revenge. He’s the best manager this franchise has ever had, and they treated him like hot garbage. What has happened so far in this series is called justice-in-progress.
7. I’d suggest the Red Sox should have Troy O’Leary throw out the first pitch for Game 3. But really, it ought to be Pedro Martinez. Then he should stick around and actually pitch for five innings, maybe six if his pitch count is low, before heading up to the broadcast booth to provide the help that TBS’s tedious trio desperately needs. Ernie Johnson is great on the NBA, Ron Darling is great with the Mets, and Cal Ripken was great at showing up every day. Together they make the mute button seem like the most important invention ever.
8. And so it all comes down to Clay Buchholz, just like we knew it would back in July, when he didn’t pitch for 19 days after taking a pounding in a 21-2 loss to the Twins and there was suspicion that he might be designated for assignment. Say this for the guy: He’s resilient as hell. Say this too: There are worse options to send out there — I’ll pause here while you snort, “Yeah, freakin’ Price” — than someone who had a 1.42 ERA over his final three starts. I don’t like that it’s Buchholz who is charged with extending Ortiz’s career another day, but hey, here we are.
9. If you’re among the shrinking minority of optimists among us who are looking for evidence that this ain’t over yet, try clinging to this shred of hope:
@redsox have gone 6-0 the last 6 times they faced a playoff elimination game vs the #Indians down 0-2 in ’99 & down 3-1 ’07 @GlobeChadFinn
— 🐾Patrick Fenton (@fenway617) October 7, 2016
Yeah, yeah, different seasons, different players, I know. But it’s worth remembering that it felt just as miserable then, if not worse, when the Red Sox looked hapless and helpless early in those series. Same with the ’03 ALDS against Oakland, and especially the ’04 ALCS versus the Yankees … and the common thread is that the Red Sox rallied to win all of those series. I’m not saying they will do it again. I’d be surprised if they play beyond Sunday, honestly. But they are coming back to friendly Fenway, and David Ortiz, who tends to rise to these occasions, is still on this roster for a few more days, and if they’re gonna go, we can at least have the reasonable expectation that they will not go quietly.
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