Red Sox: Sox win on Patriots Day

Boston Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright wins on Patriots Day

 

Patriots Day means a lot to the people of Boston. The Boston Marathon is one of New England’s most attended events attracting over 500,000 guests annually. The Red Sox wore a Boston Strong patch and also had the word “BOSTON” displayed on the front of their jerseys as opposed to the normal “RED SOX” paying homage to the families affected by the Marathon bombing in 2013.

There were no question that Steven Wright left Sox fans scratching their heads after his last performance. Nothing seemed to click. Two starts and still no victories in 2017. The Red Sox went on to lose 6 – 5 in his first start and 12 – 5 in his last one. Something had to give. Chris Sale finally got a W so why not Wright? In the end it took three starts as well.

Wright finished up with 3 runs on 9 hits with only one earned while also striking out four and walking one. It’s a far cry from his last start when he lasted just 1 1/3 innings and gave up 8 runs on 8 hits including 4 long balls. No starting pitcher likes to give up the long ball, forget about letting four of them leave the park. It’s the second time this season that Wright has gone at least 6 innings. While he allowed more hits today in a game than he had all season he still managed to keep the ball in the park. He also matched his season high with four K’s on the day.

Aside from the Marco Hernandez error in the 1st inning which led to two runs in total scoring, Wright was able to minimize the damage by only allowing one run over the next 5 innings of work. That’s forward progress. Now 1 – 1 on the season, Wright still carries an unsightly 8.36 ERA going into his next start on Saturday. Wright will face Oriole’s Dylan Bundy on April 22nd in Baltimore. Hopefully what we saw tonight was a sign that the nightmare is over and the future is bright. The Sox were able to win their third in a row before heading to Toronto for three games.

 

Photo Credit – Bob DeChiara USA TODAY Sports