Red Sox 15-2 Start is Best in Franchise History

The Boston Red Sox began a nine game road trip on April 17th, with the first stop in Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels in a three game set. The Red Sox went into the series with a 13-2 record and in first place in the American League East, while the Angels were 13-3 and leading the A.L. West. This figured to be a nice matchup of two teams off to great starts, and with the Angels’ two way rookie sensation Shohei Ohtani on the mound for the first game, there was more interest. Ohtani had won his first two starts, beating the Oakland Athletics both times with fine performances. The Red Sox would be much more of a challenge.

If Boston’s performance in the first two games of this series is any indication, the Red Sox are shaping up as an absolute dominating team. Right fielder Mookie Betts led off the game with a home run off Ohtani, who gave up three runs on four hits and exited with a blister on a finger of his pitching hand after just two innings. Boston then kicked the crap out of reliever Luke Bard, belting four home runs off the righthander in 1 2/3 innings on the way to a 10-1 rout of the Angels. Betts led the way with three solo home runs for the Red Sox.

OK, that sort of thing happens to every team, but then in Game 2 on April 18th, the Red Sox again clobbered the Angels, this time by a score of 9-0. Third Baseman Rafael Devers belted a grand slam, first baseman Mitch Moreland drove in four runs, and left fielder J.D. Martinez was four for five at the plate. Starter Rick Porcello improved to major league leading 4-0 on the season with a 1.40 ERA. Two years ago, Porcello was the American League Cy Young Award winner with a 22-4 record and a 3.15 ERA. Last year he slipped to 11-17 with a 4.65. In the early going at least, he looks to be back to Cy Young form.

The Red Sox are doing it all very well right now with a .287 batting average, a .358 on base percentage, a .485 slugging percentage, and an OPS of .844. All of those stats lead the majors, as does Mookie Betts’ .390 batting average. Off season acquisition Martinez is hitting .313 with four homers and 14 RBIs. Like Porcello, designated hitter Hanley Ramirez is coming off a down year after having a great 2016. Ramirez is hitting .322 with three homers and 13 RBIs. On the pitching side of things, Boston’s 2.66 ERA is second only to Houston’s 2.48.

The 15-2 start is the best in Boston franchise history. After completing the L.A. series on the 19th, the Red Sox go up the coast for three games at Oakland (9-10) before closing out the road trip on at Toronto with three games on April 24th-26th. The Blue Jays are in second place in the A.L. East with a 12-5 record. After that, Boston has three at Fenway Park with Tampa Bay (5-13), and three with Kansas City (3-13), before going to Texas (7-13) for four games. It gets a little more difficult after that; the Red Sox will then play at the New York Yankees and another three game road set at Toronto.