Sometimes baseball, like life, isn’t fair. That was the case for David Price on Thursday night.
The Boston Red Sox ace needed an ace-like performance after back-to-back rocky outings after the All-Star break, and that’s exactly what he got.
Price faced the minimum batters through three innings thanks to a pair of double plays.
He ran into a little bit of trouble in the fifth inning when the Angels loaded the bases, but Jefry Marte’s puzzling attempt to steal third base — which failed — was a big break for Price, who exited the inning unscathed.
He then finished his outing just about as dominant as he started, allowing only one hit over the final three frames before being lifted for Brad Ziegler after eight innings.
Price’s final stat line: eight innings pitched, zero runs, one walk, seven hits, six strikeouts.
While the strikeout total wasn’t particularly noticeable, Price did see a major improvement with 14 of his 24 outs coming via ground outs, which had been lacking in his first two games after the Midsummer Classic.
But, despite the positive step forward for Price, it still wasn’t enough for the Red Sox.
Brad Ziegler entered the game in the ninth to attempt to close out the victory, but he allowed three hits, and a Hanley Ramirez throwing error proved to be the difference as the Angels walked off with a 2-1 victory.
Price looked like the ace he’s been most of his life Thursday, but unfortunately for Boston, it still ended up on the wrong side of the final score.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images