Heading into Friday's game it looked like there was going to be an incredible exhibition of pitching at Fenway Park as Detroit's Max Scherzer was set to pitch against Jon Lester. While the weather did put an almost one hour delay early on, even mother nature couldn't stop Scherzer from handing the Red Sox a 1-0 defeat.
Looking at both pitchers' statistics for the season, one would be quite happy to have either of them on your team's roster. Before the game was played, the on paper winner would undoubtedly be Max Scherzer. Although Lester's line of 2.75 ERA, 47 hits, 13 walks, 66 strikeouts and .229 batting average is incredible. Scherzer's line of 2.04 ERA, 38 hits, 16 walks, 66 strikeouts and .200 batting average is even better. Probably the most impressive run Scherzer had going for him heading into the night was completely shutting down guys once there was 2 outs. On the season he had only allowed 4 hits and 2 walks after two outs in an inning.
Well, all sports' fans know that games are not won or lost on paper. So Lester and Scherzer took the mound and played some ball. Lester had a little trouble settling down in the first inning and ended up giving up a two out RBI single to Torii Hunter. After loading up the bases, Lester would then minimize the damage by striking out Alex Avila. Although a one run deficit is usually easy to come back from, it wouldn't be with Scherzer on the mound.
Even with the rain delay and having a high pitch count early on, Scherzer made it into the seventh inning before the relief was brought in. While Red Sox batters may have been relieved to see him leave the game, it didn't result in any offense. As a matter of fact only one player reached base after his exit. Xander Bogaerts got to first base the hard way. No he didn't put together a record setting 18 pitch walk, instead he took a 96 mph fastball off of his hand.
Even with the rain delay and having a high pitch count early on, Scherzer made it into the seventh inning before the relief was brought in. While Red Sox batters may have been relieved to see him leave the game, it didn't result in any offense. As a matter of fact only one player reached base after his exit. Xander Bogaerts got to first base the hard way. No he didn't put together a record setting 18 pitch walk, instead he took a 96 mph fastball off of his hand.
Although Lester has now brought his ERA down to 2.67 he has a record of 4-5. Once again further proof that a pitcher's record isn't very meaningful.
In addition to another quality start by Lester there were also some other positives for the Red Sox. In 4 innings of relief, Badenhop, Mujica and Tazawa gave up only 2 hits and collected 3 strikeouts. David Ortiz was just the 5th player this season to get a 2 out hit off of Scherzer. The Red Sox also doubled the amount of 2 out walks Scherzer has given up by earning 2.
In addition to another quality start by Lester there were also some other positives for the Red Sox. In 4 innings of relief, Badenhop, Mujica and Tazawa gave up only 2 hits and collected 3 strikeouts. David Ortiz was just the 5th player this season to get a 2 out hit off of Scherzer. The Red Sox also doubled the amount of 2 out walks Scherzer has given up by earning 2.
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