It only took Dustin May two starts to earn his first win in a Boston Red Sox uniform.
May helped snap the Red Sox’s three-game losing streak in impressive fashion on Tuesday night, delivering one of his best starts of the year in Boston’s 14-1 rout. The trade deadline pickup fired six shutout innings against the Houston Astros, racking up eight strikeouts and throwing 65 of his 92 pitches for strikes.
The outing was May’s first with at least six scoreless innings since May 6, 2023. It was also his longest start since July 3 — his most recent quality start prior to Tuesday.
May’s gem couldn’t have come at a better time for the Red Sox, who were reeling from a rare off night by Garrett Crochet on Monday. He got them back in the win column on a night where the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners all won.
The 27-year-old righty looked much sharper than he did in his previous outing against the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 6, when he lasted just 3 2/3 innings at Fenway Park. May mixed and commanded his pitches well, showed increased velocity on his four-seam fastball (1.1 mph above average) and continued to integrate his cutter, notching 12 swinging strikes.
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He was also visibly fired up on the mound.
If May can pitch like that going forward, he has the potential to provide a major impact for his new team down the stretch. The work he’s doing with Boston’s pitching coaches already seems to be paying off.
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He also got plenty of help from the Red Sox’s hitters, who erupted for one of their best offensive performances of the season. Every member of the starting lineup had at least one hit and either a run or an RBI, contributing to a balanced attack in the blowout.
Boston also slugged three homers as Carlos Narváez, Alex Bregman and Roman Anthony all went deep — the latter two for the second day in a row.
The Red Sox will go for the series win in Wednesday’s rubber match behind Walker Buehler (7-6, 5.40 ERA), who’s coming off one of his best starts of the season against the San Diego Padres. He’ll be opposed by Astros All-Star and AL Cy Young candidate Hunter Brown (9-5, 2.51 ERA), who’s allowed just four runs over his last three starts combined.
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Featured image via Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
