The Red Sox will live and die with their pitching
PHOENIX - Before Friday night's series opener against the Diamondbacks, Red Sox manager Alex Cora offerd the formula for his team's success since late June.
He pointed to the Red Sox's' starting pitchers owning the seventh-most innings pitched in MLB, showcasing the starters' effectiveness while providing proof for why the relievers have stayed relatively healthy.
He was right. You can talk about about the Rafael Devers trade, or emergence of players such as Roman Antony and Trevor Story. But it has undoubtedly been the reliability of Cora's starting staff that has been the straw that has stirred this team's drink.
A few hours after the manager's proclamation, the Red Sox got an unappetizing taste of what can happen if the good starting pitching trend starts heading the other way. That was thanks to a come-back-down-to-Earth outing from Payton Tolle ... and a 10-5 Red Sox loss to the Diamondbacks Saturday night at Chase Field.
The man who has been charged with filling the fourth spot in the Red Sox's rotation was introduced to the realities of a MLB scouting report. Just like he did in his first big league start, Tolle came out of the shoot throwing a bunch of fastballs. The problem was that the Diamondbacks were clearly geared up to sit on all the heaters. And when the rookie tried to adjust the hosts' approach, there were no reliable secondary pitches to be had.
"Yeah, I think that’s kind of what a lot of teams are going to do, be on time with the heater," the starter said regarding Arizona's prioritizing the fastball. "Obviously, you see with some of the balls they take, too. There were probably a couple of times I was not quite executing it to where it needs to be going. Not getting it up in certain counts or having uncompetitive misses. That’s the nature of it. Just keep plugging away."
"I believe so. I believe so," said Cora regarding the need for Tolle to find the kind of cutter he showed in his first outing. "They were gearing up for the fastball."
The end result was welcome-to-the-majors outing for Tolle, who ended up throwing just 46 of his 77 pitches for strikes while allowing five runs on five hits and four walks in just three innings. He would leave with the Red Sox having dug a 5-1 defict.
"Got to learn fast," Tolle said. "Just trying to ask questions about it. We hate failing, but if you don’t fail you’re not going to learn anything. Got to pull something out of it. Just can’t go back to the hotel room and sit there and feel sorry for myself. I have to learn about something and be able to take it into next week."
It was the first time since Aug. 24 that a Red Sox starting pitcher (who wasn't considered an opener) didn't go at least five innings.
The Red Sox did make a valiant attempt to erase the discomfort supplied by Tolle thanks in large part to a four-run eighth inning that put the potential tying run at seocnd base with one out. But a fly out from Nathaniel Lowe and strikeout by Nate Eaton stranded pinch-runner David Hamilton at second, ending the Sox's last gasp.
And just to add to the evening's uneasiness, another of the pitchers who figures to be counted on during this stretch drive, reliever Justin Slaten, allowed four runs while pitching in the eighth.
With the trio of Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet once again lined up for the next three, turning the page for the Sox is a bit more palatable. And while they did fall 4 1/2 back of Toronto for first-place in the American League East, the team the Blue Jays beat was really is Boston's chief competitor in jockeying for postseason position, the Yankees.
The Red Sox are 1/2-game behind the Yanks for the wild card's top spot, but do own the tie-breaker against New York. The No. 3 wild card spot, currently owned by the Mariners, has gotten really tenuous, albeit seemingly not all that much of a concern for the Sox, who own a 4 1/2-game spread on Seattle.
Closing the gap for the final American League postseason spot are the Rangers (1/2 game behind Seattle), Royals (1 game out), Rays (2 games behind), and even the Guardians, who sit 2 1/2 games in back of the slumping Mariners.
But while the Red Sox are still living a solid life in the postseason chase, the opening act for Flo Rida Friday night - (yes, for the second straight time this season the Sox played warm-up act for a music act) - was a big picture production.
For better or worse, the education of Tolle has become a crash course.
"He wouldn't be making that start if we didn't believe in him," said Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman. "We believe that he gives us a great chance to win every time he steps out there. And I look forward to the next one and many more after that.
"I started 1-for-36 so it was a it was a grind, but being able to fail and get yourself out of it is big time, especially for guys that have never failed before at the game. It’s a game of failure. You’ve got to learn how to dig yourself out of it when you get into it. And I think it's a good thing, especially for the young guys that we’ve got in this room."