BOSTON — Hisashi Iwakuma must be scratching his head.
In two games since Iwakuma threw a no-hitter Wednesday for the Seattle Mariners against the Baltimore Orioles, his team has allowed 37 runs on 47 hits to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox won both games, as you probably guessed, including Saturday’s contest 22-10 at Fenway Park.
Boston’s offense over the last two games has been historic. Saturday’s outburst against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez even added to a rather interesting trend that’s emerged for the Red Sox this season.
Let’s go over some notes from Saturday.
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— The Red Sox scored 15 runs on 21 hits Friday. They scored 22 runs on 26 hits Saturday.
Boston became the first team to score at least 15 runs on 21 or more hits in consecutive games since the 1950 Red Sox accomplished the feat against the St. Louis Browns on June 7-8 of that season.
These are the only two times the Red Sox have accomplished the feat in the last 100 years.
— The Red Sox’s 22 runs were their most since defeating the Florida Marlins 25-8 on June 27, 2003.
— The Red Sox’s 26 hits were their most since compiling 27 against the New York Yankees on May 28, 2005.
— Boston batted around three times — second, third and sixth innings — in the same game for the first time since May 20, 1986, against the Minnesota Twins.
— The Red Sox’s 22-run, 26-hit barrage is even more impressive when one considers that Hernandez started the game for the Mariners. King Felix entered with a 14-6 record and a 3.11 ERA.
However, as the Red Sox’s postgame notes point out, this isn’t the first time Boston has knocked around a good starter this season. Pitchers who began the day ranked in the top 10 in the American League in ERA are 5-9 with a 4.19 ERA (45 earned runs over 96 2/3 innings) against the Red Sox in 2015.
The Red Sox dealt losses to Sonny Gray (first in ERA entering Saturday) of the Oakland Athletics, Scott Kazmir (second in ERA) of the Houston Astros, Chris Archer (twice, fifth in ERA) of the Tampa Bay Rays, Hector Santiago (sixth in ERA) of the Los Angeles Angels, Hernandez (twice, eighth in ERA), Wei-Yin Chen (ninth in ERA) of the Baltimore Orioles and Marco Estrada (10th in ERA) of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Boston also defeated Atlanta Braves ace Shelby Miller, who ranked sixth in the National League in ERA entering Saturday.
Does this matter? Not really. The Red Sox still are 12 games under .500 (52-64) and ERA isn’t always the best barometer of a pitcher’s performance within a given season. But it’s an interesting tidbit, no less.
— Jackie Bradley Jr. led the charge with an historic performance. He went 5-for-6 with two home runs, three doubles, seven RBIs and five runs scored.
Bradley became the first player to produce five extra-base hits in a game since Josh Hamilton on May 8, 2012.
“You’re going to struggle. You’re going to have struggles,” said Bradley, whose offense was a question mark when he returned to the Red Sox late last month. “The ones who come out of it and continue to press on are the ones who play the game for a long time.
“From watching guys like (David Ortiz) Papi, (Dustin) Pedroia, guys from other teams as well — we all struggle and I’m thankful that I was able to play today.”
Bradley is hitting .320 (16-for-50) with three homers and 15 RBIs in 15 games since being recalled July 29.
— Xander Bogaerts, who went 4-for-7, leads the majors with six four-hit games this season. That’s the most by a Red Sox player 22 or younger since at least 1914.
— Blake Swihart produced career highs in hits (four), runs (four), RBIs (three), doubles (two) and times on base (five).
— Pablo Sandoval, who hit his 10th home run, was removed before the fourth inning after being hit by a pitch in the bottom of the third inning.
An MRI performed at the park came back negative. The third baseman is day to day, according to Red Sox acting manager Torey Lovullo.
— Rusney Castillo, who was removed from Friday night’s game after fouling a ball off his left foot, underwent an MRI. It came back negative and he, like Sandoval, is listed as day to day.
“I don’t see this lingering,” Lovullo said of Castillo’s injury. “I think it’s going to be a comfort level for him and we’ll get him back in there as soon as we can.”
— Wade Miley was good (seven innings, two runs, four hits, eight strikeouts). His mustache was even better.
[tweet https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis/status/632620472899760128 align=’center’%5D
Asked whether he’s going to keep the ‘stache, Miley pointed to the Red Sox’s offensive output over the last couple of games and acknowledged he’s a superstitious guy. Results over fashion, everyone.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
