The Boston Red Sox have lost five straight postseason games dating back to last year's ALDS against the Cleveland Indians. To say things have not gone according to plan in their identical 8-2 losses this October would be an understatement.
One of the biggest culprits has been the team's inconsistency on the mound. As the Houston Astros continued to pound Red Sox pitching Friday afternoon, manager John Farrell's bullpen couldn't keep the game close.
Through 13 1/3 ALDS innings, the Red Sox have used nine pitchers
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) October 6, 2017
This came as Addison Reed took over on the mound after lefty Eduardo Rodriguez allowed a base hit and a hit-by-pitch on only four pitches.
| Game | Name | IP | H | ER | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Sale | 5.0 | 9 | 7 | 6 |
| 1 | Joe Kelly | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Austin Maddox | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | Rick Porcello | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Drew Pomeranz | 2.0 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | Carson Smith | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | David Price | 2.2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Eduardo Rodriguez | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Addison Reed | 1.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | Maddox | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Craig Kimbrel | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Sale managed to finish five innings, but Game 1 was almost entirely out of hand by the time he was relieved by Kelly. Still, four pitchers isn't an inordinate amount for a single game.
However, losing Pomeranz before he could record an out in the third inning of Game 2 put the Red Sox at an extreme disadvantage.
Maddox was brought in twice, but only one reliever (Price) pitched more than a single inning in an appearance. Though the Red Sox do have a day off before Game 3 at Fenway Park, using seven different pitchers across eight innings in a single game is still far from ideal.
