BOSTON — Steven Wright turned in the best performance of his major league career Thursday night, and he picked the perfect time to do it.
After the Boston Red Sox dropped the first three games of their series with the Chicago White Sox in humiliating fashion, Wright served as an unlikely stopper.
The knuckleballer notched career highs in strikeouts (eight) and innings pitched (seven) in an 8-2 Red Sox win, and his only runs allowed came via a two-run home run by the fourth batter of the game.
“Early on, I thought he mixed his fastball in well,” manager John Farrell said after the game. “Not exclusively to the use of his knuckleball. And I think he needed it, because he didn’t have a real good feel for it in the first couple innings. And then once he did get the feel for it, the consistency and the violence to the action and the strike-throwing ability approved across the board.”
Entering Thursday, Wright had struggled in two starts since returning from Triple-A Pawtucket, allowing eight earned runs and three homers in 9 1/3 innings.
“Last week, I felt the same as I did this week,” he said. “(Thursday), we were just able to … The first inning started off a little rough with the home run, but I thought it was a good knuckleball. It was down, which is where I’m trying to (put it), and he just put a good swing on it. (Thursday) we were just able to fill up the zone a little bit more, and they hit it to our guys, and we were able to make some plays.”
Some additional notes from Thursday:
— Third baseman Pablo Sandoval left the game in the fourth inning after getting hit in the forearm by a pitch from White Sox starter Chris Sale, and Hanley Ramirez later was slow to get up after fouling a ball off his foot. Farrell said both are day-to-day, and that initial scans on Sandoval’s arm came back negative.
— Catcher Sandy Leon cleared waivers Thursday and was outrighted to Triple-A Pawtucket.
— Right-hander Jean Machi joined the Red Sox on Thursday after being claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants earlier this week. Sandoval, who played with Machi in San Francisco, gave his scouting report on the 33-year-old before the game.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Sandoval said. “He throws a lot of strikes. The times that I played with him he threw a lot of strikes. He’s got a good breaking ball, good splitfinger. Hopefully he can go to the bullpen and help them a little bit more.”
— Farrell said Mookie Betts’ condition was “slightly improved” Thursday after the center fielder was diagnosed with a concussion following his fall into the Red Sox’s bullpen Tuesday night.
“He left the ballpark here (Wednesday) night before the game,” Farrell said before the game. “We’re anticipating he will do that again. I think (Wednesday) night, from talking to Mookie here (Thursday), his sleep was improved over two nights ago. So, the symptoms are diminishing, but still, there’s some discomfort and still there’s some headache there.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
