Rick Porcello has been nothing short of dominant this entire season, recording 22 wins and just 4 losses.
When the Cy Young Award is announced in a month from now, the 27 year old is very likely to be one of the 3 finishers, and even has a legitimate shot at winning the award.
But on Thursday night, when the bright lights of the postseason were shining on him, Porcello couldn’t seem to keep the ball off the bats of the Indians.
“You can spin it however you want to spin it. I threw the pitches I thought were going to be the best pitches to throw,” Porcello told the Boston Globe. “They hit the ball out of the ballpark.”
Porcello is now 0-3 with a 5.99 ERA in nine postseason appearances. In fact, the Red Sox have never won a postseason game that Porcello has pitched in.
After scoring one run in the second inning, the Indians went back-to-back-to-back on Porcello, taking the wind right out of the Red Sox’s sail.
Terry Francona pulled out every card he had last night to defeat the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS. Including bringing in Andrew Miller in the 5th inning. After all, the Indians got 4⅓ innings of one-run relief from their bullpen.
“Nobody ever said you had to be conventional to win,” Francona said.
The Sox were able to scrap 10 hits off what seemed to be a revitalized Indians pitching staff, but they couldn’t get the hits when it mattered, going 2-9 with runners in scoring position, and stranding 6 runners on base.
As if it could get worse, Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts, and Xander Bogaerts, the young foundation of this Red Sox team (and All-Stars), went 0-11 with 7 strikeouts.
“You’ve got to try to come up big for your team. It just didn’t happen today. It feels bad, but tomorrow is a new game,” Bogaerts told the Boston Globe.
As a positive for the Sox, is they didn’t give up. They started the game with a lead, and soon lost it, but never went away. They continued to pose some threats offensively, led by Brock Holt, who went 3-4 with 1 RBI and a run scored.
The heart and soul of this Red Sox team is not ending his career without a fight.
“Hey, listen, this is not over yet,” Ortiz said. “We’ve got plenty of games to play. I’m going to bring my best tomorrow. That’s how I am. And I’m pretty sure my teammates will, too.”
For the Sox, David Price (17-9) will get the egg looking to get Boston back into it. For the Tribe, Corey Kluber (18-9) will get the nod looking to bury the Sox in a 2-0 deficit.
First pitch is set for 4:30 E.T.
