If you’re a fan of well-pitched baseball games, Thursday night’s contest at U.S. Cellular Field was not for you.
The Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox labored through a three-hour, 57-minute affair that saw the teams combine to surrender 20 hits and issue an astounding 16 walks. But no one struggled more than Henry Owens, who just couldn’t find the plate during his short-lived appearance.
The 23-year-old left-hander walked a career-high six batters in just three innings of work, throwing 31 of his 64 pitches for balls before manager John Farrell gave him the hook with no outs in the fourth inning. The rest of Owens’ outing wasn’t terrible — he allowed just two hits and struck out two batters — but his lack of control trumped those silver linings.
“His victim obviously was command and the walks,” manager John Farrell said of Owens in an interview aired on NESN. “… Where, five days ago, he was able to harness things and start to command the baseball a little bit better, (Thursday night) was not the case.”
Owens still is looking for his first win of the 2016 season after three starts, although the bullpen and offense eventually bailed him out in Boston’s 7-3 win. Walks were a concern in Owens’ first two outings, too: He issued three free passes in six innings last Friday against the New York Yankees and walked four batters in 3 1/3 innings in his season debut on April 24.
Owens generates plenty of swings and misses and has a strong enough arsenal to be an effective Major League Baseball pitcher. All he has to do now is find the plate.
“I think once I’m ahead (in counts), I’m more comfortable throughout an at-bat,” Owens said in an interview aired on NESN. “I think falling behind a lot of guys 1-0 hasn’t helped me. … I’ve just got to get ahead and stay ahead.”
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Let’s hit a few other notes from the series finale:
— Remember all that talk about the Red Sox’s disconcertingly low home run totals? Boston did its best to remedy that Thursday, as Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez and Jackie Bradley Jr. all went yard. For Ramirez, it was his second homer in as many games.
The Sox still are tied for 23rd in the league with 23 total long balls. But Thursday’s power surge certainly was a good sign.
— Regardless of its power numbers, Boston is playing some excellent ball of late. Thursday’s win was the team’s ninth win in its last 11 games and improved the club to 17-11. The Red Sox are back atop the American League East and are tied with the surprising Seattle Mariners for the second-best record in the AL — behind, of course, the White Sox.
— Boston’s bullpen put forth another yeoman’s effort, with four pitchers combining to surrender just one run over the final six innings. Thursday’s heavy workload moved the bullpen’s innings count on the season to 94 2/3, the fourth-highest total in the American League.
— Another day, another milestone for David Ortiz.
— A promising update from the farm: 18-year-old Red Sox pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza dazzled Thursday for the Class-A Greenville Drive, tying a franchise record with 11 strikeouts over just five innings.
— With Red Sox-White Sox going down on the South Side and the Chicago Cubs hosting the Washington Nationals in Wrigleyville, it was quite the eventful day in the Windy City.
Thumbnail photo via Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports Images
