After a sensational start to his 2016 season, Steven Wright was not the same in the month of July. Despite going 4-0, the all-star had a 6.23 ERA in the month, significantly surpassing the 3.12 mark he set in May. Climate plays a huge factor with knuckleball pitchers, as humidity may cause them to lose grip on the ball.
However, the calendar has changed, and Wright had arguably the greatest performance of his season. The all-star pitched all nine innings, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 9-0 rout over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The win was Boston's 60th on the season, and they remain two games behind the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays for first place in the AL East. The Dodgers slide to 60-49, still two games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.
It was the first matchup between the two teams at "Chavez Ravine" since 2013, where the Red Sox took two games out of three that year. Overall, Boston improves to 8-5 in the all-time matchup between the two powerhouses.
Wright's phenomenal performance
Pitching all nine innings of the game has been seen before from Wright this season, as Friday's complete game was his fourth of the season. However, this was his first complete game shutout of the season, though he tossed all nine innings yielding just an unearned run on June 20th against the Chicago White Sox. Wright came just one out away of the shutout on May 8th, before Brett Garnder hit a solo shot to spoil it.
Well tonight, Wright was determined to finally get the accomplishment. Tossing all nine innings, Wright gave up just three hits and a walk, striking out nine in a shutout performance. The California native earned his 13th victory on the season, and hasn't lost a game since June 25th.
Justin Turner and Joc Pederson were the only members of the Dodgers to reach second base, as Turner doubled in the first and Pederson reached second base following a walk and sacrifice-bunt in the third. Ranging from the third and seventh innings, Wright retired 15 Dodgers in a row.
Steven Wright finally looked like his old-self tonight, and the Red Sox will need these kind of performances moving forward as they hope to contend for their fourth World Series title since 2004.
Red Sox offense powers past Dodgers
Sandy Leon has been quite a story for the Red Sox. Entering the season, Leon was not in their future plans, as he was designated for assignment in July of 2015. He was a non-roster invitee to Spring Training this season, and was not believed to see any playing time behind Blake Swihart, Ryan Hanigan, and Christian Vazquez. However, he was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on June 5th, and has been nothing short of spectacular.
His success continued yet again on Friday. He opened the game's scoring in second, hitting a sacrifice-fly to score Jackie Bradley Jr. from third base to make it 1-0 Red Sox. His next time to plate, in the fourth inning, he hit a towering two-run homer to make it 4-0 Boston. It was his fourth homer of the season.
The catcher, however, would not be finished contributing to the Red Sox lead. In the eighth inning, with the bases loaded and just one away, Leon hit a ball off the center-field wall that resulted in an RBI single. Leon's impressive numbers continue, as his average raised to .374 following a 2-3 day with four RBIs.
Leon would not be the only one in the Red Sox lineup adding on to the Red Sox lead. Mookie Betts continued his monster season in the third inning, sending his 23rd homer over the left-field wall in a heartbeat. Travis Shaw hit his second homer in as many days in the eighth inning, his 14th on the year.
Following Leon's single in the eighth, the bases remained loaded, and two more runs came across as Chase Utley misplayed a Brock Holt ground-ball.
It was a sensational all-around game for the Red Sox, and it was a great start to a must-win series.