BOSTON -- First impressions of Red Sox 13-3 win over Oakland:
Rick Porcello never seemed to find a feel for any of his pitches, but he made some mid-game adjustments
After stringing together a run of great starts to begin 2016, the old Rick Porcello seemed to reemerge in Wednesday’s start, struggling to find control for most pitches and throwing more four-seam fastballs than sinkers. He even hit 95 mph on the radar gun -- but that’s never a good thing for the right-handed sinker-baller. He slowed things down in the fourth frame, only to go back to his unreliable four-seamer in the fifth again. But he finished with a quality start -- willing his way though 6.2 innings. Although he didn’t have his command and deviated from his typical approach, Porcello showed that even when he’s off he still gives Boston’s explosive offense a great chance.
Eric Surkamp never stood a chance
Between his poor command and lackluster fastball, Surkamp would struggle against most lineups, never mind one as hot as Boston’s. He got predictable very quickly, following a lot of change-ups with curveballs, one of which turned into a Chris Young RBI-double off the Green Monster in left.
Boston Red Sox
Right now, Jackie Bradley Jr. is the scariest hitter in Boston’s red-hot lineup
Bradley -- now 17 games into his hitting streak after a home run in his first Wednesday night at-bat -- can’t miss. He’s clearly looking to drive pitches on the inner half, but apparently Oakland didn’t get the memo, serving up three that all became extra base hits in the series' final game. As much as pitchers continue to pitch around David Ortiz, they seem to be tightening up every time JBJ comes up with runners on.
In case it wasn’t already clear, the 2016 Oakland Athletics are not a good team
And that’s putting it lightly. The A’s used 13 pitchers in the series – throwing Andrew Triggs and Marc Rzepczynski twice -- giving up double digit runs each night. While the offense showed a pulse once and a while, Oakland missed out on multiple mistakes by Boston pitching throughout the sweep.
Boston’s bullpen is well rested for Houston
Despite a five-inning outing from Clay Buchholz to start the series, John Farrell avoided using the Red Sox’ pen in excess. While Porcello’s outing was huge, Sean O’Sullivan’s Tuesday night start was equally important. Furthermore, the offense gave the staff a nice cushion all series, so pitchers had plenty of room for error.