If you’re looking for something or someone to root for as the Boston Red Sox play out the final days of their lost season, look no further than Eduardo Rodriguez.
The left-hander held the San Francisco Giants to one run over six innings Thursday in his team’s 5-4 win at Fenway Park. Rodriguez, who struck out 10 batters on the afternoon, improved to 18-6 on the season to go along with a 3.53 ERA.
As the Red Sox have faded down the stretch, the 26-year-old Rodriguez has gone the opposite direction.
Rodriguez will make two more starts this season, giving him a chance to become the first Red Sox pitcher to win 20 games since Rick Porcello in 2016. In fact, if Rodriguez wins 20 games, he’ll be the first left-handed Red Sox pitcher to accomplish the feat since Mel Parnell in 1953.
That’s right: No Red Sox lefty — not Chris Sale, David Price, Jon Lester, Bill Lee nor Bruce Hearst — has won 20 games in nearly 66 years.
And while pitchers’ win-loss records sometimes are products of luck and circumstance, there is nothing coincidental about what Rodriguez has done this season.
“He’s been outstanding. What else can we say? It’s been going on for a while,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Thursday’s game. ” … Physically he’s at another level right now. … There’s a lot of weapons there.”
Again, it’s tough to get excited about anything to do with the Red Sox these days. The defending World Series champions are headed for an early offseason despite having one of the most talented rosters in baseball.
But Rodriguez has been one of the team’s few bright spots this year, and his performance is worth celebrating.
Here are some other notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Giants game:
— Rodriguez also is about to accomplish something only 12 pitchers in Red Sox history have done.
— By the way, Chris Sale still leads the Red Sox in strikeouts with 218, despite not pitching in five weeks.
— The Red Sox reportedly have parted ways with two more executives.
— The Red Sox scored five runs on 10 hits, but they weren’t exactly tearing the cover off the ball.
— Boston will begin a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday at Tropicana Field.
