KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It's easily obscured by all the wins and dazzling offensive numbers the Boston Red Sox have been pumping out, but inconsistent pitching always makes its presence felt, even for a team that averaged more than 10 runs a game during its 6-1 homestand last week.
For the past couple of weeks, while Boston's offensive juggernaut has made the Red Sox the talk of the league, there has been a worrisome note in the background: their starting pitching. Tuesday night's 8-4 loss to the struggling Kansas City Royals is a case in point. Rick Porcello lasted only five innings plus one batter -- the first time the right-hander has failed to go at least six innings in 16 starts. He gave up a home run early to Eric Hosmer on what everybody agreed was a pretty good pitch, then allowed four straight singles in a three-run fourth.
The ugliest part of the game, however, was an especially poor relief outing by Koji Uehara. He allowed a home run and made a two-base throwing error in a three-run eighth that pretty much cemented Boston's second loss in nine games. But manager John Farrell, who was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, admitted that he's been concerned about the starting pitching the past nine or 10 games.
“This last turn through, it's been a little sporadic,” Farrell said. “It hasn't been as consistent as the previous two times through the rotation. I know our guys don't anticipate us scoring 10 runs a game. So this is a group effort.'”
During the 6-1 homestand, the Red Sox became just the third team since 1900 to average at least 10.4 runs a game in a week of at least seven home games. But look closer and you'll see that the opponent scored five or more runs five times during that stretch.
“We've got one another's back here,” Farrell said. “Sometimes the offense is going to pick up the guy on the mound. And in return we've got to do the same from a pitching standpoint.”
Royals starter Yordano Ventura did not stifle the hottest offense in baseball altogether. Trailing 5-1, Boston made it 5-4 in the sixth on a three-run homer by Travis Shaw, who might have taken full advantage of a tiring Ventura. Shaw's homer gives him eight extra-base hits and 12 RBIs in his past eight games. In addition, center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. had an RBI double, stretching his MLB-best hitting streak to 22 games. But Mookie Betts, going for a bit more of an obscure record, failed to get an RBI from his leadoff position for the first time in eight games, leaving him tied for the team mark.
After home-plate umpire Bill Miller called a strike on Betts, Miller pointed toward the Boston dugout and ejected Farrell, who came stomping out to home plate to make a brief but impassioned argument. Afterward, the Boston skipper was calm about his ejection.
“I thought a couple of at-bats tonight, particularly in Mookie's case, were ... you can't always tell the width of the plate, but you can tell elevation from the dugout. Obviously, I had a disagreement with a couple of pitches.”
Nobody had a worse night than Uehara, who came out of the bullpen and immediately bobbled Omar Infante's sacrifice bunt. He then threw wildly to first, allowing a runner on first to come all the way home and putting Infante on third. A moment later, Paulo Orlando homered, leaving him only a double shy of the cycle in the best night of his major league career.
Uehara walked away after answering only one question put forward by his translator.
“I rushed it and I didn't have a good grip on it,” he said.
Porcello’s performance was a continuation of his frustration at the hands of the Royals, as he was charged with five runs, four earned. After winning eight of his first 11 decisions vs. K.C., the right-hander has dropped four straight.
“I definitely made some mistakes, obviously, and they capitalized on them,” Porcello said. ”They did a good job of taking advantage of the pitches that were up and over the middle of the plate. I was just really inconsistent locating my fastball down in the zone. Some of the off-speed stuff was not as effective as I would have liked.
“They got me today, plain and simple. They got me, so I'll be ready next time.”
Do not count Porcello among those who feel that the pitching's been inconsistent the past 10 days or so.
“Well, we've won a lot of ballgames, that's all that matters,” he said.
