BOSTON - Though John Farrell said the Red Sox plan on moving back to a five-man rotation next week, there's no reason to assume Steven Wright will be the odd-man out.
Wright was left with the no-decision in Thursday's loss to the Twins after pitching 6.0 innings and allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits.
Wright made one costly mistake which cost him all three earned runs: he left a knuckleball out over the plate and Torii Hunter got all of it (WATCH).
"Today I felt pretty good," Wright said. "I thought I had a pretty good knuckleball. I was able to keep it down and change speeds. [Brian] Dozier got the little single which brought Torii Hunter to the plate. One bad pitch kind of changed the outcome of the game for me. He put a good swing on it."
Other than that, he was under control, as he has been for quite some time.
Wright has posted a 3.49 ERA in his last seven major league outings (five starts) and has gone at least 5.0 innings while allowing no more than three earn runs or six hits in each of those games.
In other words, you know what you're going to get with Wright. That's something you can't say about many other pitchers on this staff.
"I think if you match up each one of the starts he's made, he's given us into the sixth inning and probably three runs," Farrell said. "That was the case again today. He pushed a couple of knuckleballs up in the fifth inning, Torii Hunter gets underneath one. But still he's been very consistent and dependable."
Wright should have left the game with a chance for the win, but a Pablo Sandoval error with two outs in the sixth inning eventually led to the game-tying run once Wright allowed an RBI single to Kurt Suzuki in the next at-bat (WATCH).
"They're battling," Wright said of the defense. "The play with Pablo going to his left; it's a tough play. For him to make that play he's gotta be pretty perfect. It got away from him. I have to do a better job. Suzuki, knowing that he had two good at-bats off me, I should have just tried to bear down and if I walk him I walk him. But he put a good swing on it and got it in the gap."
Wright has pitched well enough to stay in the rotation, so it will be interesting to see how Joe Kelly pitches on Saturday. If Kelly gets hit around, he could be the one moving to the Red Sox bullpen, and not Wright.