The Boston Red Sox have played more baseball than any team in the majors this season. But boy, have they made the most of their extra time on the diamond.
For the 17th time this season, nine innings wasn’t enough to decide a Red Sox game Monday night at Camden Yards. Trailing the Baltimore Orioles by five runs entering the fifth inning, Boston stormed back to take the lead before battling to a 10-8 win in 11 innings.
If you think these extra-innings affairs are becoming commonplace for these 2017 Red Sox, well, you’re right. Monday marked Boston’s 14th extra-inning win of the season, the highest total in baseball and the second-most in a season in franchise history.
But even more remarkable is the Red Sox’s success after nine innings. That 1943 team needed a whopping 31 extra-inning games to notch 15 wins, while the 2017 Sox have played just 17 such games, compiling a 14-3 record in extra-innings contests that’s the best in baseball this season. They’re 7-1 at home in extra-inning games, also the best mark in Major League Baseball.
Crucial to that late-inning success has been Boston’s bullpen: The Sox boast the second-best bullpen ERA in the bigs (3.12), trailing only the Cleveland Indians.
On Monday night, it was Matt Barnes and Carson Smith pulling the weight in the 10th and 11th innings, retiring five of six batters to set up Andrew Benintendi’s clutch two-run, two-out single in the 11th. On Friday, Joe Kelly led the charge, tossing three scoreless extra innings in Boston’s 15-frame triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays.
And on Sept. 5, it was a group effort: 11 Red Sox relievers combined for an incredible 13 innings of scoreless baseball in Boston’s 19-inning marathon victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Fatigue obviously is a cause for concern as the Sox eye a postseason run — they’ve played more extra-innings games (17) than the other two American League division leaders combined (14 for the Indians and Houston Astros), and those extra frames take a toll on both the bullpen and the bats. But these late nights have become crucial to Boston’s 2017 success.
Christian Vazquez’s late walk-off home run on Aug. 1 spurred a season-long, eight-game winning streak, while that Sept. 5 epic was the first of four consecutive Red Sox wins. Every time it feels like this club is slipping, it rallies in extras to turn its fortunes around.
Does all of Boston’s extra drama guarantee a long postseason? Not necessarily: Of the seven teams with the most extra-innings games played this season, the Red Sox are the only club with a winning record. Yet Boston has proved it can win in those tight spots with strong pitching and timely hitting — both of which are essential to winning in October.
Thumbnail photo via Patrick McDermott/USA TODAY Sports Images
