Sox on the way up
Hit break in right direction
DETROIT — Depending who you asked as the Red Sox entered their All-Star break late yesterday afternoon, the Red Sox are either far from playing at their peak or they’re just about there.
Regardless of where the truth lies, they are certainly trending — finally and about three months later than forecast — in the direction they always thought they were headed.
“We’re very close, very close, we have a couple of things to adjust,” said Christian Vazquez, who hit his 14th homer of the season in the club’s 6-3 series-sweeping victory over the Tigers. “If we do that, we’re going to be the top.”
After opening their season by stumbling out of the gate, losing 15 of their first 24 games, the Red Sox dashed any hope that the team would come close to repeating last year’s magical 108win regular season romp.
But now, finally, they are approaching full stride, winning 15 of their last 24 games, five of their last seven series and possess an active fourgame winning streak.
They still remain far from greatness, with too many questions about the depth and quality of their rotation and bullpen.
But their offense is waking up and at a season-high eight games above .500, the 49-41 team is inching closer to being a team to be feared rather than one ripe for the picking.
“It’s getting there, absolutely,” said David Price, the ballclub’s most consistent and best starter this season, after he collected his 150th career victory. “I still don’t feel like we’ve done everything to the best of our abilities the way that we’re capable of doing. To close it out the last six games the way that we have, that’s what we needed.”
Price threw a lot of pitches (99) for only five innings but he only allowed one run on four hits and two walks, with six strikeouts.
The victory improved Price’s record to 7-2 and his ERA dipped to 3.24.
After the Tigers scored first for the first time this series, Vazquez’ two-run shot in the second inning put the Red Sox on top, a perch from which they never left. Xander Bogaerts also drove in two runs in the fifth.
Manager Alex Cora expressed a deep desire before the game to get the win yesterday and keep the team headed in the right direction by establishing distance from the two-game drubbing by the Yankees in London.
The team won five of six games against two bad teams, the Blue Jays and Tigers.
That’s what they should do, but the Red Sox should be doing their job better, said Cora, because their level of play leaves much to be desired.
“We’re a lot better than this, we are, we need to get better, we need to get better,” said Cora. “There’s a few things here that, although we finished strong and all that, they know it. They know it as a group. We have to be ready for Friday, and then we play 34 in 34 days after that, and we start with the Dodgers right away. It should be fun over the weekend. But I think we can be a lot better than this.”
J.D. Martinez (double) scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning.
Ryan Brasier allowed a two-run home run to Brandon Dixon in the eighth inning. The Red Sox return to action on Friday at Fenway Park against the Dodgers.
But before they get a true and timely test of exactly what their level of play is against the best team in the big leagues, they will get a chance to re-set and re-calibrate. The second half of the season poses a big challenge to the Red Sox, but it’s still a few days away.
“Whenever you win five out of six going into the break a lot of times you want to keep playing, keep that momentum but I think everybody in here is ready for this break, we need this break,” said Price. “We need these four days off, it’s good.”