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‘Every five days is a solid start’: Alex Cora praises Michael Wacha after career milestone
Wacha struck out the 1,000th batter of his career on Monday.
The Red Sox snapped a five-game winning streak with a 4-3 loss to the Rays on Monday, but Michael Wacha did everything he could to keep the successful stretch alive.
In six innings, Wacha allowed just seven hits and two runs — a small-ball run in the first and an RBI double by Randy Arozarena that sent Franchy Cordero crashing into the outfield wall.
Along the way, Wacha picked up a career milestone: By fanning Rays shortstop Taylor Walls in the bottom of the sixth for his seventh strikeout of the game, Wacha reached the 1,000-strikeout mark. He is now the 47th active player to achieve that number, joining Nathan Eovaldi who notched his 1,000th earlier this summer.
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“I don’t really go out there chasing strikeouts or anything,” Wacha told reporters after the game. “I try to get ahead and let the defense play behind me and the strikeouts come when they come.”
Wacha told reporters he got the ball, which will likely end up with his parents.
“It’s a pretty cool milestone for sure, but nothing too crazy though,” he said.
Wacha was typically solid on Monday. He gave up no walks with his seven strikeouts and allowed just four hard-hit balls, per Baseball Savant. His changeup — which holds opposing hitters to a batting average of just .165 this season — coaxed eight whiffs in 19 swings (42 percent), while he mixed in his fastball and cutter.
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Alex Cora praised Wacha for battling throughout the evening, even though a seventh-inning collapse doomed the Red Sox to yet another loss against an AL East rival.
“Overall, [Wacha was] really good,” Cora said. “This guy, every five days is just a solid start. He gives you a chance to win. I know he got his 1,000th strikeout — he earned it. He threw the ball extremely well.”
Wacha, who turned 30 in July, has an ERA of 2.56 this season and boasts a 20.1 strikeout percentage against a walk percentage of just 6.9. He will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
A reporter asked Wacha how he feels about his performance this year as a whole.
“Like I’ve said before, I try not to really evaluate myself in the middle of the season,” Wacha said. “That’ll be something I do in the offseason, look back and reflect on that kind of stuff. Just try to keep building from start to start is the main focus, and the ball has been feeling good coming out of the hand. Just trying to get wins for the club.”
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