The White Sox (59-53) folded on offense and waved the white flag on the mound as the Red Sox (61-51) rolled to a 14-2 victory in Tuesday's series opener, outhitting Chicago, 15-6. Davis Martin floundered through five innings while Patrick Sandoval worked smoothly through the South Siders despite struggling with his control, earning the W for the Red Sox.
Tonight was the second time this season that Martin has allowed nine runs; the other was June 16, while visiting the Yankees, when things really started to go downhill. There are definitely some red flags to consider as we head into crunch time in a tight division race, since this was the third outing in a row where he surrendered four or more runs. Davis owned a 3.62 ERA just a few hours ago, but Tuesday's implosion has inflated it to 4.13 on the season. In his last seven starts (34 1/3 innings), he owns a rough 6.55 ERA with a 1.60 WHIP, and he's been striking guys out at a much lower rate with just 20 Ks in this time span.
There may have been at least one explanation for Tuesday's disaster. After the game, manager Will Venable said Davis Martin was tipping his pitches, an issue catcher Kyle Teel identified during the game and brought to the coaching staff's attention. That doesn't erase Martin's recent struggles, but it does provide some context for why Boston's hitters looked so comfortable from the opening inning.
Martin's recent inconsistency is still worth monitoring. While tipping pitches may have contributed to Tuesday's outing, his results over the past several starts have been uneven. His recent inconsistencies were one of the main reasons I was hoping Chris Getz would trade for another starting pitcher before Monday's deadline, especially when everyone not named Sean Burke is a wild card when they start. Before the All-Star break — through June, really — Davis looked like he was approaching ace status, but he has been regressing lately, and it's hard to imagine how he would perform in a playoff game at this moment in time. I'm still optimistic, and I've not given up on him by any means, but if we are being realistic, there's quite a bit of uncertainty around his performance for the remainder of the season.
Right off the bat, Nick Sogard rattled Martin with a leadoff double off the Green Monster, then hit Ceddanne Rafaela square in the back on a curveball that got away to put two runners on. Davis navigated an out on a deep fly that advanced the runners, but back-to-back base hits from Willson Contreras and Masataka Yoshida scored the first run for the Red Sox, 1-0, and then loaded the bases with just one out. Naturally, Caleb Durbin demolished the second pitch he saw for a grand slam over the Green Monster in left, increasing the Boston lead to five, 5-0.
#martin #time #june
Tonight was the second time this season that Martin has allowed nine runs; the other was June 16, while visiting the Yankees, when things really started to go downhill. There are definitely some red flags to consider as we head into crunch time in a tight division race, since this was the third outing in a row where he surrendered four or more runs. Davis owned a 3.62 ERA just a few hours ago, but Tuesday's implosion has inflated it to 4.13 on the season. In his last seven starts (34 1/3 innings), he owns a rough 6.55 ERA with a 1.60 WHIP, and he's been striking guys out at a much lower rate with just 20 Ks in this time span.
There may have been at least one explanation for Tuesday's disaster. After the game, manager Will Venable said Davis Martin was tipping his pitches, an issue catcher Kyle Teel identified during the game and brought to the coaching staff's attention. That doesn't erase Martin's recent struggles, but it does provide some context for why Boston's hitters looked so comfortable from the opening inning.
Martin's recent inconsistency is still worth monitoring. While tipping pitches may have contributed to Tuesday's outing, his results over the past several starts have been uneven. His recent inconsistencies were one of the main reasons I was hoping Chris Getz would trade for another starting pitcher before Monday's deadline, especially when everyone not named Sean Burke is a wild card when they start. Before the All-Star break — through June, really — Davis looked like he was approaching ace status, but he has been regressing lately, and it's hard to imagine how he would perform in a playoff game at this moment in time. I'm still optimistic, and I've not given up on him by any means, but if we are being realistic, there's quite a bit of uncertainty around his performance for the remainder of the season.
Right off the bat, Nick Sogard rattled Martin with a leadoff double off the Green Monster, then hit Ceddanne Rafaela square in the back on a curveball that got away to put two runners on. Davis navigated an out on a deep fly that advanced the runners, but back-to-back base hits from Willson Contreras and Masataka Yoshida scored the first run for the Red Sox, 1-0, and then loaded the bases with just one out. Naturally, Caleb Durbin demolished the second pitch he saw for a grand slam over the Green Monster in left, increasing the Boston lead to five, 5-0.
#martin #time #june
3 months ago
