Two vastly different repertoires were on display Wednesday night in the Bronx.
The New York Yankees turned to hard-throwing prospect Luis Severino, who made his much-anticipated major league debut, while the Boston Red Sox countered with crafty knuckleballer Steven Wright. The contrast in styles proved intriguing. Wright outdueled Severino as Boston won 2-1 at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees’ offense has been on fire of late, so credit Wright for standing tall. The knuckleball can be a difficult pitch to harness, yet the offering proved effective on this August night.
Let’s run down some notes from Wednesday.
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— Wright’s performance was the best of his career. The right-hander allowed only one run on four hits and two walks over a career-high eight innings. He recorded a career-high nine strikeouts.
It was the second consecutive strong start for Wright, who actually notched career highs in innings (seven) and strikeouts (eight) his last time out against the Chicago White Sox before surpassing those marks Wednesday against the Yankees.
Red Sox manager John Farrell described Wright’s knuckleball — you can see how nasty it was right here — as “violent.” It seems like an appropriate term in this instance, but what exactly does he mean?
“You don’t hear it that often, but he’s talking about the late movement you get — that violent late movement,” Wright said after the game, according to ESPN.com. “A knuckleball, throw it with late action it can be violent. Anything that moves late is going to have that conception of ‘violent.’
“It’s true of any pitch. You don’t want it to move right out of your hand, you want it to move late in the zone. You want to get guys to commit to the pitch, then move off the bat.”
The Yankees looked off-balance, especially as Wright mixed in both his fastball and his curveball.
— Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the two best starts of Wright’s career coincide with some advice he received from former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield last week at Fenway Park. The two have chatted a lot since Wright joined the organization in 2012. Wakefield has been a valuable resource.
“It’s helped me out a lot. He’s definitely helped me out a great deal since spring training,” Wright told reporters after the game. “I like it a lot more during the season because I’ve got some innings under my belt. It’s just little mechanical stuff and a lot of mental stuff. It helps me stay calm and just try to put myself into a position to make a quality pitch.”
— Wright has such a refreshing career perspective. The 30-year-old still remembers just how close he came to walking away from baseball three years ago.
“I’ve been on the bottom more than I’ve been on the top, so I just try to enjoy it for as long as it lasts, because I know what it’s like to be on the verge of retiring,” Wright said, according to ESPN.com.
— Blake Swihart looked a lot more comfortable catching Wright. He still had a few drops, but it was a huge improvement over a couple of weeks ago, when the rookie catcher had “one of those days.”
— Not to sound like a broken record — though it’s a soothing sound in this case — but Xander Bogaerts’ defensive jump this season really has been something special.
Sure, Bogaerts made a miscue Tuesday before everything fell apart for Boston’s bullpen, but the 22-year-old shortstop helped Wright make it through the eighth inning by fielding a ricochet off the mound, stepping on second base and firing to first base for a key double play.
“We caught a break,” Farrell admitted.
A break, accompanied by excellent defense.
— David Ortiz continued his march toward 500 home runs with his 487th career homer in the fourth inning. It marked his 1,071st career extra-base hit, tying him with Mel Ott for 24th all time.
— Pablo Sandoval’s slugging percentage and OPS have been in steady decline since 2011. He followed up a monster home run in Tuesday’s series opener with a two-double effort Wednesday, though.
— Rusney Castillo had a great at-bat in the ninth inning while pinch-hitting for Alejandro De Aza. He laid off several changeups and worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases.
It’s strange to suggest De Aza shouldn’t be in the lineup because he’s played so well since coming over in a trade from Baltimore Orioles. But the Red Sox are focused on 2016. Castillo needs to be in the lineup every day so that he can continue to make adjustments and so that Boston can gain a better understanding of where he’s at, both offensively and defensively, going into next season.
— Matt Barnes lasted 3 1/3 innings Wednesday in his return to the rotation at Triple-A Pawtucket. The right-hander allowed four runs on five hits and three walks while suffering the loss. He struck out two and threw 75 pitches (42 strikes).
Thumbnail photo via Noah K. Murray/USA TODAY Sports Images
