Red Sox sweep Mets; moving forward to Texas

Backstop Podcast

The Red Sox sweep the New York Mets in a two game series. Both games were low scoring games. I start with the first game. Richards started for the Red Sox in which many media outlets and fans wondered how bad he would pitch in the game. And David Peterson was the starter for the Mets. The result was a total opposite. The Red Sox defeated the Mets 2-1. Richards gave up a home run in the second from Mets’ Jeff McNeil to tie the game. But Richards kept his composure and went on to pitch 7 innings with a total of 93 pitches. He stuck out 10 batters and gave up 7 hits for the win. After the game, Alex Cora commended Richards for his performance. He stated, “When you see that stuff moving all over the place on the swing and misses, you've got to trust your players and this is a guy that we trust.

Richards had his best game out of 5 starts. It is the first time this season that he pitched past the fifth inning. Richards would need to continue to pitch like he did against the Mets for everyone else, including me, to trust him on the mound.

In the second game, Pivetta and Mets’ DeGrom performed well. The only run scored in the game came in the second inning when Christian Vasquez doubled to deep right field. Bogaerts scored the only run. The Red Sox won 1-0. Pivetta pitched five strong innings. He stuck out 7 batters. Although he gave up 3 walks, Mets could not capitalize as the team went 0-4 with RISP. Garrett Whitlock came in relief for two innings and he has not yet been scored upon in 13.1 innings.

On the other side, DeGrom, who is the best pitcher in the NL, pitched 6 innings and struck out 9 Red Sox batters. Both bullpens were outstanding throughout the series.

Matt Barnes is on point. He saved both games for a total of 6 saves. Barnes struck out 2 batters in the first game and struck out the side in the second.

Rafael Devers is on fire going 4-8 in the series.

Bobby Dalbec got his first home run in the series off of Peterson.

As a team, the Red Sox batting has decreased in average. In the last four games, the Red Sox are batting under .200 while the pitching has improved. I don't know about you but I would not want the Red Sox to be compared to DeGrom and the Mets. The Red Sox have shown their utility talent and hopefully the offense can come alive in Texas.

On April 29, 1986, Roger Clemens pitched a complete game and set a MLB record with 20 strikeouts in a game against the Seattle Mariners.

— The Red Sox will square off against the Texas Rangers in a four game series. Brock Holt, former Red Sox player will be playing.

Game 1 - Perez .200 vs Kyle Gibson .156 JD Martinez struggles against him. He struck out 11 times. But, Martinez has hit 2 HRs against him.

Game 2 - Eovaldi only faced two batters in the roster. vs Kohei Arihara first time pitching against the Red Sox.

Game 3 - Rodriguez .298 vs Jordan Lyles has only faced five Red Sox batters in his career.

Game 4 - Richards .225 vs Mike Foltynewics .288