BOSTON – San Francisco Giants starter Logan Webb, the National League Cy Young runner up last year, arrived at Fenway Park having thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings.
But he wasn’t the starter who threw five scoreless innings Tuesday night, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four.
That line belonged to Cooper Criswell.
Criswell’s second straight scoreless start capped the best first month of the season for Boston Red Sox pitching in over 100 years.
The Red Sox not only lead the majors with 2.59 ERA and a 2.00 ERA from the rotation, but both numbers mark their lowest at the end of April since 1920.
“That’s insane when you sit down and look at the numbers,” said Criswell after Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Giants. It was the sixth shutout on the year for the Red Sox, which again leads the majors.
The win gave the Red Sox a 17-13 record through March and April. Their success on the mound has been one of the most surprising aspects of this early season. Not only was Red Sox pitching questioned all winter, but the club has endured the loss of three starters to the injured list this month (Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello and Garrett Whitlock). And that’s not counting losing their biggest free-agent signing, Lucas Giolito, to elbow surgery in spring training. It’s early in the season, but the feat they’ve collectively accomplished has been impressive.
“We expected to be consistent,” manager Alex Cora said. “I know that every single night, we feel very comfortable where we’re going to be pitching-wise. Obviously the numbers speak for themselves. But for me, and this is not because of what we did in April, I felt very comfortable in spring training. I can’t recall somebody that struggled and it’s a testament of the program, it’s a testament of the guys putting in the work.”
Criswell competed for a rotation spot this spring but lost out to Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Whitlock. But having been in the system under pitching coach Andrew Bailey, Criswell’s had a seamless transition back to the big-league rotation from Triple A.
Criswell has been filling in for Pivetta, who’s been on the IL with a flexor strain. Pivetta is scheduled for a rehab start with Triple-A Worcester on Thursday and if all goes well will likely rejoin the team next week on the road. But with Bello and Whitlock still out, Criswell figures to stick around a bit longer. The pitching depth is a luxury the Red Sox did not have last year and it’s made Cora’s job easier.
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“Huge,” Cora said. “It seems like last year we were out of gas the whole second part of the season with all the openers and bullpen games and all that. We’re in a better place, roster wise, more flexibility. And it’s something that it’s very hard to have two openers in a week and try to grind at this level.”
Meanwhile, the Red Sox offense jumped on Webb early.
Rob Refsnyder’s single scored Tyler O’Neill in the first. In the second, Reese McGuire drew a one-out walk and scored on a Jarren Duran single. Wilyer Abreu led off the third with a double to center and scored on Refsnyder’s second RBI single of the night. And in the fourth, Duran led off with another single and Abreu tripled to score him, knocking Webb out of the game.
Duran and Abreu each collected three hits on the night. Abreu’s triple came off the bat at 114.4 mph, the hardest hit ball in his career.
In keeping with the theme of injuries early in the season, the Red Sox didn’t escape the final day of the month without another player exiting the game.
Garrett Cooper, who debuted on Tuesday for the Red Sox following a trade from the Chicago Cubs over the weekend, struck out in his first two at-bats before getting hit on the wrist in his third plate appearance. Cora said Cooper was sore, but he believes they dodged a bullet, avoiding a serious injury. He’ll be re-evaluated on Wednesday. Meanwhile, second baseman Vaughn Grissom was supposed to make his Red Sox debut Tuesday after beginning the year on the IL, but was hit with the flu that’s running through the Worcester clubhouse. His debut likely won’t be for another couple of days.
Regardless, with so many injuries, the Red Sox couldn’t have asked for much more from the start of their season.
“We’re playing good baseball,” Cora said. “It’s one month out of the season and we still have a long ways but we’ve just got to keep continuing doing the things that we’re preaching. We’re playing better defense, we’re running the bases better. The offensive is gonna be better. The pitching is going to be consistent. Hopefully we win the series tomorrow and continue to roll.”
(Photo of Criswell: Brian Fluharty / USA Today)
