WBOB Original Reads

PawSox: A Pricey Rehab

5/24/2017

David Price made his 2nd rehab start with the PawSox against the Louisville Bats (Photo courtesy of the Pawtucket Red Sox(c) )

Ryan L. Fox

After a rain out back on May 14 washed away his Triple-A debut, Boston Red Sox SP David made his first McCoy Stadium start in front of PawSox fans. Already he had made his first rehab start with the team back on May 19 in Buffalo against the Buffalo Bison (stat line: 2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 4 K on 65 pitches including 41 for strikes). So against the Louisville Bats, Price laced up his cleats and took to the mound to pitch in front of the McCoy faithful.

However it didn’t go so well as many thought it would.

In the first inning, a wild pitch and then dropping a ball while covering first base that gave the Louisville Bats an early 2-0. He then gave up a 2 RBI single to Bats 3B Brandon Dixon to extend the Bat’s lead to 4-0. A strikeout to 2B Dilson Herrera ended the inning for Price as it was a mixed result inning. Although he was able to top out his fastball at 95/96 mph, he ended up throwing 28 pitches (22 for strikes).

In the second inning, Price had a somewhat better performance. He was able to get 2 Bat batters to strike out but also gave up 2 runs on 3 hits. Price’s pitch count was the same as the 1st inning: 28 pitches but only 15 were strikes.

There was some progress in the 3rd inning as Price only gave up just 1 hit and struck out one batter just on 17 pitches. Then in his final appearance in the top of the 4th inning, he only faced two batters and got both to fly out on just 16 pitches. Price’s stat line of the night was as followed: 3.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 4 K on 89 pitches (61 for strikes).

On the other end of the spectrum, Red Sox 3B Pablo Sandoval was continuing his own major league injury rehab assignment. For the game, Pablo played at third base and batted third in the lineup. He went 2-for-3 with 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R, and 1 BB before getting lifted in the bottom of the 7th and replaced by 1B/3B Jantzen Witte. Surprisingly enough, Kung-Fu Panda displayed some speed on the bases, hustling out to second in his first double in the bottom of the first as well as playing adequate defense at third base.

The PawSox as a whole, for the game, seemed to come to life once Price was lifted from the game. After trailing 6-3 after the second inning, the team was able to rally in the bottom of the 3rd inning. With 2 outs, the PawSox scored 4 runs, including a 2-run home run to left by LF Bryce Brentz, to give them a 7-6 lead. The PawSox then proceeded to tack on 2 extras runs in the bottom of the 4th inning to push their lead to 9-6 before adding 4 more runs in the bottom of the 7th, including a HR by CF Steve Selsky, to push the lead to 13-6.

The winning pitcher for the PawSox was Marcus Walden, who came in relief in the top of the 4th to finish the inning. He went 2.1 IP, giving up 2 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 2 to pick up his 2nd win of the season.

After the game, PawSox manager Kevin Boles sat down with and spoke with the media for his postgame interview. In the interview, Boles spoke about the performance of David Price, Pablo Sandoval, the sudden explosion of offense by his team, plus much more.

*Bonus interview*
Joining yours truly during the game was Psycho Sports Tyler Salk to get his first experience in the PawSox press box. After the game both Tyler and I spoke with OF Bryce Brentz, who had an offensive explosion (2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB), which raised his BA from .167 to .179.

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