For the second game in a row, the Red Sox lineup lacked a lot of name value, but just like Saturday, this group of Sox did just enough to support an outstanding pitching performance.
After watching Jake Bennett, Ranger Suárez, and Sonny Gray drop six-plus excellent innings each on the Orioles, Payton Tolle took the mantle and ran with it on Sunday. He came out of the gate pumping strikes and didn’t stop until his outing was complete six innings later.
In the bottom of the first, he struck out both Blaze Alexander and Pete Alonso on a total of eight pitches and looked like he was going to K the side once he got ahead of Coby Mayo 1-2. But the curveball that he used to K Alonso didn’t have as much bite this time and remained up in the zone. The Orioles’ lefty killer pounded it over Duran’s head in left for a two-out double.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand was next, and he had already shown that he was very capable of turning around a power fastball when he took Chapman deep in the ninth inning of Game One. This time, he took an 0-2 cutter to left for a ground-rule double and gave Baltimore a shocking 1-0 lead.
From that moment on, it would be all Tolle, all the time.
He would face the minimum in each of the next four innings. He allowed only two singles the rest of his outing, and neither of those runners moved past first base. Payton was a strike-throwing machine, with 70 of the 91 pitches he delivered going for strikes. In total, he punched out a dozen Orioles and even took a moment to do a push-up on the mound just to stay in shape.
Although the Red Sox offense lacked punch, very much like it did in the Friday and Saturday games, they did provide some timely hitting in support of Tolle. The very next inning after Tolle surrendered the run to Baltimore, the Sox bats picked up their young starting pitcher by dropping a crooked number on Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish.
Nick Sogard struck out to start the inning, but Caleb Durbin drew a one-out walk. He advanced to second when the freshly coiffed Jarren Duran grounded out to second. With two outs, Andruw Monasterio hit a routine grounder to Gunnar Henderson, but the usually sure-handed shortstop booted it, putting runners on the corners and setting the stage for Eli White.
The suddenly crucial White, who will most likely be filling in on a regular basis for Ceddanne Rafaela, who was placed on the IL, drove a 384-foot shot to left that, once it cleared the fence, gave Boston a 3-1 lead they would not surrender.
Like the Orioles offense, Boston decided that it was going to take the rest of this Sunday off and just put the game in the hands of its pitchers.
Once Tolle completed his six-inning outing, Chad Tracy went to Erik Miller to handle the seventh inning, which he did in style, striking out two of the three hitters he faced while retiring them in order on 14 pitches.
The eighth inning was given to Jovani Moran for the second night in a row. I get that we are trying to save as many bullets as possible for the prime-time players out of the bullpen, but does it always have to be Moran?
Anyway, the lefty was able to avoid walking any Orioles this outing and, to the surprise of probably everyone in the ballpark, including Moran himself, he retired Baltimore 1-2-3.
Which brought us to the ninth inning and a little bit of history.
Once Aroldis Chapman struck out Christian Encarnacion-Strand swinging at a 101 MPH heater, he became only the ninth man in Major League Baseball history to record 400 career saves.
An incredible feat and a tribute to the determination and conditioning of the 38-year-old fire balling Cuban!
Get Ahead, Stay Ahead
Every player who has ever stepped on a mound at any age, in any league, has heard this from someone on the field.
If you ask any pitcher, including greats like Sandy Koufax and Roger Clemens, what the best pitch in baseball is, their answer is always the same: Strike One!
On Sunday, Payton Tolle took that adage very literally, as he delivered first-pitch strikes to the first 13 batters he faced. In all, he went 0-1 to 17 of the 21 batters unlucky enough to step into the box on Sunday.
The outing was phenomenal and an excellent response to the performances that the two veterans had delivered in the two games leading up to his start.
400 Successful Targets by the Cuban Missile
Aroldis Chapman became just the ninth major leaguer to reach 400 career saves. He is also the fifth of the nine to have pitched for the Boston Red Sox, joining Kenley Jansen, Lee Arthur Smith, Craig Kimbrel, and Billy Wagner.
The accomplishment is a testament to the work he has put in throughout his career, along with the left arm that was gifted to him by the gods upon his birth.
Some praise can also be given to Craig Breslow, who had the wherewithal to sign him in the offseason two years ago, and to Andrew Bailey, who somehow turned an aging relief pitcher with shaky control back into an elite closer with pinpoint accuracy.
Next Man Up
All season long, we have been lamenting the fact that this team did not have many “star” players and that it was constituted mainly of AAAA players and never-weres.
Yet, that makeup might just be this team’s superpower.
Whenever a player goes down or is not producing, it seems that the player who replaces him does just enough to help the team win. From the Great Mickey Gasper to the gritty Anthony Seigler and the resilient Connor Wong, each and every member of the roster has had a moment in the sun.
This weekend, it was Eli White’s turn to be that guy.
In the four-game series, in which he started every game, the trade deadline acquisition was 5-for-16 with five RBI, two runs scored, a double, and a home run. Incredibly, he is leading all American League players with eight RBI in the month of September.
I know it is a very short sample, but it is just another example of how, for one week, any given player on this team can carry them to victory in the absence of a legitimate star.
History tells me that The Little Engine That Could is a really nice story, especially during the regular season in the baseball world. But come playoff time, when the cream rises to the top, those are usually the rounds when the scrappy underdog gets knocked the heck out by the true superstar.
There is no telling what is going to happen this year, but it is looking more and more likely that this club will at least see a little bit of action beyond September 27.
And given how things looked on June 24, when this team was sitting in a Colorado airport wondering if they were even going to make it to the Bronx in time for their game against the Yankees while sporting a 32-46 record, I will take my chances!
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