TORONTO, ON - Boston came into this game looking to close out their second series of the season after splitting the first two games with the Blue Jays. Toronto has had a rough start, coming into this game 1-5, and facing David Price wasn't going to help.

The Red Sox and Blue Jays traded scoreless innings, with Marco Estrada matching Price's efforts, until Boston broke things open in the 5th. Estrada had been able to hold Boston's hitters to a single hit until the 5th when he loaded the bases and put himself in trouble. Toronto managed to get two outs, but Jackie Bradley Jr. put Boston ahead with a three run triple that would prove to be enough to win.

Estrada left the game after the 5th, but Price just kept mowing down Blue Jays hitters. Boston made it 4-0 in the 8th with a Dustin Pedroia RBI single that brought Mookie Betts in from third, who was there courtesy of stealing second and a Xander Bogaerts single. Price could have taken a seat, but he was on a no-hitter through seven innings and manager John Farrell had to let him go on. It proved to be a good decision as Price carried the no-no through the 9th and finished with a real gem.


Price wrapped things up with fourteen strike outs and one walk, it took him 120 pitches to do it but it's early enough in the season to let him put that much mileage on his arm. Boston has been doing a good job on defense, particularly from the mound, so hopefully they can continue holding down opposing offenses while winning comfortably.

THE BOSTON GLOBE (RED SOX DYNASTY REPORT)

Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians
Apr 4, 2016	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Boston (1-0)	2	0	1	3	0	3	2	9	1	21	29	0
Cleveland (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
W: D. Price (1-0) L: C. Kluber (0-1)

CLEVELAND, OH - The Red Sox started 2016 with the best possible result, but with 161 games to go it's hard to believe this will be the norm. Coming into the season it was obvious that Boston's offense would be it's strength, but nobody thought they would open the season like this.

Mookie Betts started him MVP campaign in the 1st with a single and a stolen base to put himself on second, and a Dustin Pedroia double drove him in to start Corey Kluber's nightmare. One out later Hanley Ramirez would drive in Pedroia from third to start things off 2-0. David Price, the Red Sox high-priced offseason signing would also get his campaign under way by striking out all three of Cleveland's hitters to close out the 1st.

Kluber headed into the 4th inning already down 3-0, and he wouldn't be able to get a single out while being credited with all three baserunners. After a Betts solo-HR and a Rusney Castillo RBI double Blake Swihart would drive in Castillo with an RBI double of his own. Former Red Sox skipper Terry Francona ran out of patience and pulled Kluber from the game. Kluber allowing five runs on nine hits and only struck out a single batter.

Hard to believe it, but things only got worse for the Indians. It didn't help that David Price would end up going seven strong innings while only allowing three hits, and Cleveland's bullpen only made it easier for the Boston ace. Indians relievers surrendered a whopping fifteen runs between the 6th and 9th inning, all of them off of homeruns. Betts, who already had a solo-HR coming into the 7th added two more, both of them multi-run homeruns. Swihart and Ramirez accounted for the remaining multi-run homers, and Cleveland couldn't get out of this game fast enough.

Betts second HR soars into the stands.

Betts finished the game 5/6 with three HR, five runs scored, seven RBI, and a SB. His night is even more impressive considering he's hitting leadoff, hopefully a strategy of giving him the most AB on the team will work out over the course of the season.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

THE BOSTON GLOBE (RED SOX DYNASTY REPORT)

The AL East is going to be one of the most interesting divisions in baseball, even though there is one team clearly better than the rest. This division could send two teams to the playoffs, and might also sport one of the worst in baseball. The battle for second place could be interesting.

AL EAST (PROJECTED FINISH)

#1 Toronto Blue Jays (92-70) : The Blue Jays can hit! This lineup is loaded, and that's before rookie sensation Devon Travis comes back from off-season shoulder surgery. The Blue Jays will likely be one of if not the best offenses in baseball this year, combine that with a decent rotation and they could be World Series bound. The top of the rotation isn't as frightening as it was in 2015, but Marcus Stroman could be a real surprise. The bullpen should be good as well, so the Blue Jays seem to be the most complete team in the division.

#2 Boston Red Sox (88-74) : The Red Sox find themselves in a bit of a pickle this season, and they won't have any rest in the playoff hunt. It's doubtful they will be better than Toronto, and they are going to have the Yankees on their back all season. They need their rotation to come up big time if they plan on getting very far, but outside of David Price that's a big question mark. They should be good to very good on offense, so they have a solid chance at winning against anyone.

#3 New York Yankees (86-76) : The Yankees are at a bizarre crossroads as the core of this team is very old. They only have three projected starters under the age of 32, and Carlos Beltran is nearly 40. They made some trades to get a little younger on offense (2B/SS Starlin Castro) and strengthen their bullpen to the point that their 7th-Set Up-Closer combination (Dellin Betances-Andrew Miller-Aroldis Chapman) has the potential to be an all-time great. If SP Masahiro Tanaka can return to form they will have an ace, but the rest of the rotation is a weakness they don't have any solutions for. If the Yankees are going to make the playoffs they are going to need an explosive offense and little to no injuries.

#4 Tampa Bay Rays (70-92) : The Rays can pitch and play defense. They probably have the best rotation in the division, and could have the best pitcher in the AL if Chris Archer can put it all together. They will win games with defense, but their hitting isn't going to do much for them. They might have a few bright spots, but if they need to win with offense it's going to be ugly.

#5 Baltimore Orioles (70-92) : The Orioles could be headed for a very long season. In another division they could feel better about their chances, but in the AL East they are going to be battered on a weekly basis. Their biggest issue is their pitching, which is poor at best. The addition of Yovani Gallardo helps, but they lost Wei-Yin Chen during the winter. Beyond Gallardo it's the same old pitchers that weren't particularly good last year. The Machado-Davis-Jones trio can hit, but the rest of the order is nothing special.

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