David Price pitched a gem for the Bosox Saturday Night at Fenway in a 8-3 Boston victory over the Kansas City Royals.

David went only 6 because the Royals foul off more balls than any team in the majors, he threw 110 pitches, 79 for strikes against only 31 balls, a super 2 1/2:1 ratio, he gave up five hits, two earned, with two walks and 7 K’s. His fastball was hitting 94-95 and cookin’. He hit 96 on one heater which he used to strike out KC shortstop Alcides Escobar in the top of the fourth to end the inning. His change up is a total weapon at 85-86; it really fools the hitters. He was using his curve more and it was very effective. His cut fastball was really moving at 89-90. David had was excellent.

He had kind of a rough second giving up a solo shot to KC catcher Salvador Perez, a big power hitter, who cranked two in the game for 19 on the season along with 57 RBI’s, but he overcame that hiccup inning and put out a strong performance which the Sox needed it as they had lost three in a row coming into the game and lost to KC on Friday. They lost again last night to KC, so they’re 72-58 and 2 back of the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. They lead the Wild Card race by a game over the Orioles. The Sox host the Tampa Bay Rays for a three game series tonight through Wednesday, then head to Oakland on Thursday for a Friday-Sunday weekend series. They are at San Diego next Monday through Wednesday, Sept. 5-7, and then head to Toronto for a Friday-Sunday series, Sept. 9th-11th, a huge series. So there is some really important baseball coming up for David and the Red Sox. 

David pitches again Friday at Oakland at 9:10 PM CT/10:10 PM ET. David will face Zach Neal of the A’s, who pitched against St. Louis this past Saturday Night and went 6, gave up 6 hits, two runs, with one of them earned, no walks and three ring ups, in a 3-2 A’s victory. Neal is a right hander. His ERA is 4.96 and his WHIP is 1.21, but he was good against a good Cardinals team that has been playing well lately. 

David is now 13-8 with a 3.97 ERA, which is super considering his ERA was over 6.00 in May. He has a 1.23 WHIP, walks plus hits per inning, which is getting closer to that 1.05-1.00 mark, which is very good. He has walked 41 and struck out 186, stellar numbers there, that’s 4 1/2 strikeouts to one walk total. To break that down into a 9 inning game, David strikes out 9 compared to walking 2 each time out on average. A lot of the time, he doesn’t walk anybody and he’s usually going eight innings when he throws. His control is superb.  He is third behind Chris Archer of the Rays and Justin Verlander of the Tigers in strikeouts in the American League. Archer has 202 and Verlander has 189.

Another really interesting thing that was going on Saturday Night was second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s hitting. Dustin came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth having gone 11 for his last 11, and if he had gotten one more hit, he would have tied the all time major league record for consecutive hits in a row in plate appearances. Dustin unfortunately grounded into a double play, but the ability to get a hit 11 straight times was miraculous. Walt Drapo, who played for the Detroit Tigers, set the mark in 1952, with 12. Dustin went 3 for 4 Thursday against the Rays, getting hits in his last three at bats, he went 4 for 4 on Friday night against the Royals, and he was 4 for 4 on Saturday against the Royals before hitting into the DP in the 8th. Dustin tied the National League mark held by seven guys. Super effort by the heart and soul of the team along with Big Papi, David Ortiz. The players and fans love Dustin Pedroia. He’s a 100 percent effort guy and a terrific baseball player. He’s hitting .320 on the season.

Right fielder Mookie Betts is hitting .320, Papi, the 40 years young designated hitter, is hitting .319 with 31 homers and 101 Ribeyes, and shortstop Xander Bogaerts is hitting .310. Catcher Sandy Leon is hitting .349, though he doesn’t qualify yet for the batting title due to not enough plate appearances. First baseman Hanley Ramirez is hitting .278 with 17 homers and 78 Ribbies. The Red Sox can really hit and they can play some defense, they just need their starters to be really good, which until this weekend except for David, they have. And their bullpen HAS to pick it up big time. Both groups have plenty of talent.

 If they get those two things clicking, they have a chance to hoist a World Series trophy in late October. 

Football vs South Carolina this Thursday Night

Kickoff is only three days away now. 7 PM CT/8 PM ET at Vanderbilt Stadium on ESPN against Will Muschamp and the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks will be starting freshman Brandon McIlwain at quarterback. McIlwain is a dual threat quarterback, who looked pretty darn good in their spring game. They’ve got some weapons on the perimeter, particularly wide receiver Deebo Samuels. Running back David Williams is a good player. We’ve got our work cut out for us, but I like our team and like our chances if we play solid defense, run the ball well, don’t turn it over and get in the end zone three or four times and get turnovers ourselves on defense. We’ll need the offensive line to play well and Ralph Webb and whoever else needs to have good games. Quarterback Kyle Shurmur will need to get the ball to wide outs C.J. Duncan and Trent Sherfield and hopefully Caleb Scott, if he’s available, he’s struggling with an injury,, along with our really talented tight ends, and Kyle needs to really take care of the football. The Gamecocks lost linebacker Skai Moore for the season with a herniated disc in his neck. Moore should be back next season, but T.J. Holloman is their leader at linebacker. He’s a 6’2″, 230 pound redshirt senior and their unquestioned leader. Quite a player and not only a physical, excellent tackler, but also a playmaker who can get turnovers either by causing or recovering fumbles or interception the ball. He’s excellent.

We are a 3 1/2 point favorite. This would be a tremendous boost to our team to win this football game. Will have full preview and prediction on Thursday on my all sports blog with my other SEC and national previews and predictions. Time to be Relentless, Tough and Intelligent on the football field Thursday Night.

One other note:

Andre Hal had an interception yesterday for the Houston Texans in their victory over the Arizona Cardinals in preseason play. Andre is firmly entrenched as the starter at Houston after having four interceptions last year. Andre is playing super. Jay Cutler had an OK day Saturday in a Bears loss to the KC Chiefs. Not his best, but he didn’t get a lot of help. He’ll keep improving. I expect a good year from Jay. Jordan Matthews is being held out of the preseason due to a bone bruise, but he says he’s ready to go for the Philadelphia Eagles opener, and Casey Hayward is ready to go again for the Packers at corner and nickel back. Zac Stacy hasn’t been picked up yet by a team so he’s still a free agent, but hopeful that will happen for Zac. Wesley Johnson is a second string center for the New York Jets. Wesley, a super player at VU like the other guys, will get plenty of chances to make a big impact this season.