Given the new approaches to pitching, the complete game has become somewhat of a lost art in Major League Baseball in recent years.
That apparently doesn’t apply to the Boston Red Sox, however.
The Red Sox on Monday extended their win streak to five on the strength of a masterful complete-game shutout from Michael Wacha. The veteran right-hander only surrendered three hits while striking out six in Boston’s 1-0 road victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Wacha’s nine-inning gem marked the third complete game by a Red Sox pitcher this season. After dazzling at Angel Stadium, Wacha couldn’t help but make a joke to the owners of the other two.
“I told them (Nathan Eovaldi and Nick Pivetta) going through the high-five line, ‘I was just trying to be like you guys,’ ” Wacha told reporters, per MLB.com.
Pivetta threw the Red Sox’s first complete game of the year May 18 when he limited the Houston Astros to one run on two hits at Fenway Park. Ten days later, Eovaldi went the distance in a 5-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles in Boston.
To put these feats into perspective, the Red Sox account for three of MLB’s 10 complete games on the season to date. No other team in the big leagues has seen more than one pitcher stay on the mound from wire to wire this year.
Garrett Whitlock will have a chance to join the party Tuesday night when the Red Sox and the Angels meet again out west. NESN’s complete coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET.
