When Eduardo Rodriguez returned to the dugout on Friday night after striking out Braden Bishop with two on and two out in the seventh, he was greeted with an extra hearty round of applause from his teammates and coaches.
For the first time since Sept. 23, 2017 — a span of 31 starts and four relief appearances in the regular season — Rodriguez pitched seven full innings.
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It had almost become the elephant in the dugout every time the lefty took the mound. He never could quite make it seven innings.
“Some in the dugout might say he graduated,” pitching coach Dana LeVangie said with a smirk after Boston’s 14-1 walloping of the Seattle Mariners.
“Last year, I was throwing 5 2/3 (innings) all the time,” Rodriguez said. “(My teammates) always were like, ‘Hey good job today, you went 5 2/3 again, when are you going to go six, when are you going to go seven?’ Tonight, I just got in the dugout and said, ‘Thank God, finally,’ and everybody was like, ‘Hey finally, you got through seven, welcome, welcome.’”
In spring training, the Red Sox pegged this season as one that would be a turning point for Rodriguez. Finally healthy and entering his fifth season in the majors, this would be the year he’d pull it all together.
But when the year began, it looked like more of the same — if not worse — as Rodriguez pitched 4 1/3 and 3 2/3 innings, respectively, in his first two starts. The rotation as a whole struggled mightily in those first two weeks. It wasn’t until Rodriguez tossed 6 2/3 innings against the Orioles at home on April 12, that the rotation found an anchor.
Even in that April start, though, Rodriguez couldn’t finish off the elusive seventh inning. He’d pitched 6 2/3 scoreless to that point, and with a runner on second, instead of closing the door, he gave up a home run, forcing manager Alex Cora to turn to Matt Barnes to finish off the frame.
He found himself thinking ahead rather than remaining in the moment.
“It’s happened to me before where I was worried about ‘OK, got to get the guys out, get out of this inning, they’re going to take me out after this,” Rodriguez said of his mindset. “So in that moment (on Friday), I’m just thinking get this guy out.”
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After a leadoff walk in the seventh on Friday, Rodriguez got a strikeout and flyout before allowing a single to put runners on the corners. Last month, that was the moment when he faltered and exited the game, but not this time. Though the Red Sox were ahead 8-0 by that point and a run or two wouldn’t have affected the score much, Rodriguez buckled down and got the final batter to strike out swinging on a changeup.
He finished with five hits allowed over seven scoreless innings, with one walk and five strikeouts. He threw 103 pitches, 68 of them strikes, and got 14 swings and misses.
Part of what has generally stopped Rodriguez from pitching deeper into games has been his lack of efficiency. On Friday, however, he kept his pitch count in check, needing fewer than 20 pitches in six of his seven innings. He put batters away when ahead in the count more often than not and when he did allow hits, he limited the damage. Four of the five hits he allowed were singles.
“He was great – getting people out in the zone, good changeup, good fastball command, good cutter,” Cora said. “He’s been very consistent, and in different ways, too. He makes adjustments. You can see it. There’s a lot of confidence there for him to go seven. That was great. I know a lot of people in the dugout were very happy with that.”
That 6 2/3-inning start against the Orioles last month gave the Red Sox their first win by a starting pitcher this season. So it was fitting that Rodriguez’s performance on Friday helped the Red Sox get over .500 (20-19) for the first time this year.
The Red Sox offense gave Rodriguez ample cushion, allowing him to be aggressive on the mound and attack hitters more than if he were clinging to a one-run lead.
The pitcher has now thrown six innings or more in four of his eight starts, including three of his last four. Just as important, the Red Sox have won each of the last six times he’s taken the mound.
“He’s been in the league a long time, he’s done this a lot,” LeVangie said. “There are going to be days it doesn’t work out so well, he might have a bad day, whatever, but I think he can be this guy consistently every five days.”
(Photo: Billie Weiss / Getty Images)
