Six days removed from a strong start in New York that earned him his first career win at Yankee Stadium, David Price was similarly excellent against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night, throwing six strong innings in a 5-1 win at Fenway Park. (For a complete recap, click here.)
"It's like I've been saying all along, he's healthy," said manager Alex Cora. "Command is great, mix of the pitches, the separation of them, he's been great for us. What he did in New York, what he did today, the Cleveland start — he's been very solid, and I'm glad that he's throwing the ball the way he is, where you can count on him every five days."
Price was unusually reliant on his two-seam fastball in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, gripping along the seams for 43 of his 103 pitches — 41.7 percent, significantly higher than the 25.4 percent rate he'd thrown them at so far this season.
The approach was effective, as the big lefty allowed just five hits, one run, and one walk in six innings while striking out 10.
Price stayed away from the off-speed as an out pitch early on, as his first seven strikeouts of the evening were two-seamers or cutters. The southpaw may have benefited a bit from a big strike zone from umpire Laz Diaz, but he was painting the corners and pounding the zone, with fastballs.
With two-seamers jamming lefties and catching them backdoor, and cutters doing just the same against righties, the hard stuff was Price's bread and butter on Saturday night — that reliance set up the off-speed later on, as he escaped a jam in the fifth with a changeup in the dirt to Daniel Robertson, before getting Austin Meadows to swing through a changeup as part of a difficult sixth.
Price was especially unkind to Meadows, setting the Rays' designated hitter down on strikes all three times they met.
The evening wasn't without adversity — with two on and two down in the fifth, Guillermo Heredia clattered a double off the Green Monster to score a run and set up runners on second and third with two outs. Price managed to get Robertson fishing on a changeup, and the damage was limited.
Two singles and a walk — with two strikeouts in between — loaded the bases up for the first time all evening for Tampa Bay and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. At the end of his leash, Price won a seven-pitch battle to escape, jamming Kiermaier with a fastball up-and-in for a popout to end the sixth, the final pitch of his evening.
"That was big," Price said. "Just trying to make pitches, didn't want give in to Zunino, he swung the bat well against me. 3-2 count with KK, and made a good pitch to get through it."
Price exited to a big ovation, tapping his chest twice and earning a hug from Alex Cora on his way out.
His performance came at a good time, keeping the Red Sox from dropping both ends of the doubleheader, as well as preventing a three-game losing streak.
"I expect us to win every time I touch the baseball," said Price, "but if we've lost a couple games before I've pitched, I want to turn it around."
In the 300th start of his career, the 12-year veteran did just that.
"There's a lot of work that we see, and a lot of work we don't see," Cora said. "He knows what he's doing, in games that he's not pitching he's paying attention, he's helping everybody, at the same time he's studying. He doesn't miss a beat. He's right on top of it. There's a pitch we don't agree with, he'll look at scouting reports and all the information that we have. Hitters, tendencies, he's all in. He's not only a starting pitcher; he's a great teammate.
"I got to know this guy last year, and obviously what he did for us in the postseason, the trust factor — when he says he's ready, he's ready, I trust him. So I'm very happy he performed this way tonight."
