That Just Happened
To say Rick Porcello was efficient last night is a gross understatement. He needed only 86 pitches (68 of which were strikes) to toss a complete game one-hitter against the rival New York Yankees. Things got a little heated in the first inning as both teams decided to throw inside to opposing hitters. This gave Red Sox manager Alex Cora a quick trip to the showers as he was ejected for arguing with the umpire’s warning to both teams. Over in the other dugout it was another rough outing for Luis Severino of the Yankees. Over his last five starts (since July 7th) he’s really seen his Cy Young chances wither away. In 25 innings of work over the past month he has an 8.28 ERA and he’s given up eight home runs over that span. He’s failed to make it out of the sixth inning in any of his last five trips to the hill.
It was a big night for Ramon Laureano of the Athletics last night who made his big league debut. The A’s and Tigers needed 13 innings last night to complete a real barnburner of a 1-0 game. But Laureano came up big with an outfield assist throwing out José Iglesias at third base in the top of the 13th inning. In the bottom half of the inning it was Laureano who came up big with a walk off hit to give the Athletics their fourth straight win and their 17th win in their last 23 games. Oakland now has a 1.5 game lead on the second Wild Card spot and they’re just 4.5 games behind the Yankees for the first spot.
Who’s Hot?
Steve Pearce is red hot right now. It’s not just the four home runs in his last two games either. Since joining the Red Sox in late June he’s slashing .357/.448/.714 and it’s possible he takes the first base job from the slumping Mitch Moreland as Boston continues its historic march to the postseason.
Nick Ahmed is quietly putting together some solid games. Over the last 14 days he’s hitting .359 with a 1.076 OPS. He only has two home runs, but he’s driven in 15 RBI’s, which is tied for the second-most over that span.
Trevor Richards is coming off a real solid month of July and it carried over to August with last night’s outing, despite taking the loss. Since July 8th he has a 1.32 ERA and a K/9 rate of 9.88, but he is still walking people at a higher rate than you’d like to see (4.61 BB/9).
Who’s Not?
Kyle Barraclough is coming dangerously close to losing his job as the closer of the Miami Marlins. Over the last two weeks in just 4.1 innings of work he’s given up three home runs, allowed three walks, ten hits and he’s converted just one of four save opportunities in his last five relief appearances. Don Mattingly has remained committed to Barraclough for now, but if Barraclough keeps this up he could be relegated to a set up role out of the bullpen.
What to Watch For
The Red Sox have an opportunity to move 8.5 games ahead of the Yankees on Saturday when Nathan Eovaldi takes the mound against Chance Adams. The Yankees have lost three straight and desperately need to catch a break at this point in the season. The Sox bullpen is well rested so this could be a troubling weekend for New York.
Lance McCullers Jr. will toe the rubber tonight against the Dodgers. McCullers has failed to get out of the sixth inning in each of his last three starts. Over that span he’s worked just 13.1 innings, allowed ten walks and 14 earned runs. It’ll be a tough matchup against a vaunted Dodgers lineup and his struggles could continue.
Kevin Gausman makes his debut for the Braves later tonight. On the year with Baltimore he had a 4.43 ERA, but he is coming from the American League to the National League. In the AL East he faced both the Red Sox and Yankees twice this year. If you take away the starts against those two teams he had a 3.71 ERA in his 17 other starts. Additionally, Gausman will get to face pitchers more now that he’s transitioning to the National League so he could be a player to monitor and take advantage of. Gausman faces the woeful New York Mets later tonight in Citi Field.