Baseball Isn't Boring: The return of Eck
How have the Red Sox taken five of six from the Yankees over the last two weekends to climb back into the playoff race?
It starts with the starters, specifically Boston’s young guns. Last Friday, Garrett Whitlock outdueled Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, allowing one earned run in 6 1/3 innings. Tanner Houck took a loss in the middle game of that series in the Bronx, but allowed just two runs and four baserunners in six innings. Brayan Bello went seven innings allowing two runs to win the series finale.
Fast forward a week. Houck was rolling as the offense lit up New York’s Domingo German Friday night, allowing one run through four innings before his scary exit when he took a line drive to the face. After the Red Sox won a bullpen game in the first half of Sunday’s doubleheader, the 24-year-old Bello again stepped up in a national TV primetime game Sunday night, allowing one run in seven innings while striking out eight to complete the three-game series sweep.
This wasn’t a new development for the Red Sox’ younger starters, but rather a continuation of an encouraging trend that has been in the works for this group. If you throw in Kutter Crawford, the foursome of Houck, Bello, Whitlock and Crawford – all 27 years old or younger – has produced a straight-up dominant stat line against the Yankees in their budding careers, one WBZ’s Dan Roche highlighted Monday morning.
100 total innings, 22 earned runs, 1.98 ERA.
Sure, it should be noted that none of them had to face the injured Aaron Judge these last two weekends. And yes, the Yankees are just one opponent, and not the one that’s the biggest challenge in the division right now (that would be the Rays).
The Red Sox are 24th in starter ERA this season, so there’s still plenty of work to do for this staff as a whole – work that will now be complicated by Houck hitting the injured list until his facial fractures heal. While Bello has lowered his season ERA to 3.49 with a stretch that has seen him allow two runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts, Houck, Whitlock and Crawford all still have season ERAs of 4.20 or higher.
Dominating the Yankees in and of itself does not make this young rotation great, nor does it guarantee future success against other opponents. But it’s a damn good place to start, and something a team and a fanbase that’s desperate for positives can hang their hats on.
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