‘The story of this one is David Price, clearly’
Manager John Farrell said it. The Red Sox’ 10-3 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday was headlined by another impressive outing from David Price.
Coming out of the bullpen once again, Price threw four scoreless innings and helped his team preserve a tenuous 4-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh — before the Red Sox bats lit up and drove in six insurance runs. The 32-year-old became just the fourth reliever in Red Sox playoff history to pitch at least four innings with no earned runs. The last player to do so? Pedro Martinez in 1999.
After the game, Farrell spoke effusively about Price’s showing.
“Once Joe Kelly settled things down through the inning and two thirds of work that he put forth, David Price took over from the mound today,” he said. “We talked about how much he could give us before the game, and he had mentioned, ‘I’ve got 80 pitches,’ which is a little bit of a surprise. But after the second inning, he came back in and he said, ‘I’ve got it, I feel great.'”
The good vibes persisted, as Price struck out four, walked one, and threw 57 pitches. Had the Red Sox’ bats not lit up in the seventh, Farrell was prepared to send him back out for the top of the eighth.
“We were able to spread it open, just great days offensively from Mitch, Hanley, Raffey,” Farrell said. “Big day offensively from those three guys in particular, but Dave Price led the way from the mound today.”
Astros manager A.J. Hinch was also not shy with his praise of the pitcher.
“If there was any doubt on what players are willing to do or what they can do, today shows you what playoff baseball will bring out of you and him,” Hinch said. “He sort of reached back and had a little bit extra on his pitches today. That was impressive.”
With the victory, the Red Sox have extended their season at least into Monday. According to Farrell, it’s unlikely the team will utilize Price again on short rest. However, when Price was asked about the possibility of taking the mound again, the pitcher said, “I’ll feel fine tomorrow.”
Although he would like to return to being a starter if the Red Sox advance, Price emphasized he’s just doing his part to help his team.
“I want to help this team win right now,” he said after the game. “If it’s coming out of the pen, I’m going to do it. If it’s playing center field, I’ll do it. It doesn’t matter to me. I want to win. That’s why I came here. Whatever the team asks me to do, that’s what I’m going to do.”
