Kuzul

When pitcher David Price was introduced as the Boston Red Sox‘s new $217 million toy last December, he said something the future would either vindicate or bring back to haunt him.       

“I think I was just saving all my postseason wins for the Red Sox,” he told reporters during his introductory press conference.

Now, the quote is sneaking up behind Price to say “Boo!” in his ear.

The left-hander did not last long in his first postseason game with the franchise: a 6-0 loss to the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Friday. Boston manager John Farrell pulled him after he allowed six hits, two walks and four earned runs while recording only 10 outs. Price had a fifth run tacked on to his line after one of his inherited runners scored, which did this to his career postseason ERA:

• Before: 5.12
• After: 5.54

The Red Sox could have lived with this if Rick Porcello had led the club to a win with a strong performance in Game 1 Thursday. But that didn’t pan out. In order to bounce back and avoid an 0-2 hole, the Red Sox at least needed good innings out of Price. They needed to be great innings if Indians right-hander Corey Kluber turned his Klubot mode to 11 in the first postseason start of his career.  

Naturally, that’s what happened. Seemingly anticipating that Red Sox hitters would be sitting curveball after Cleveland’s hook-heavy attack in Game 1, Kluber went right at them with two-seamers and overpowered them. He struck out seven and scattered the only three hits the Red Sox got in Game 2.

Congrats to Kluber on his brand-new 0.00 postseason ERA. Wouldn’t you know, Price had one of those once. Eight years ago, he made his first foray into October baseball with three scoreless appearances in the American League Championship Series against—who else?—the Red Sox.

But that was ages ago. Price has dominated in the regular season, punctuated by a 3.21 career ERA and an American League Cy Young Award in 2012. But whether he’s been wearing a Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays or Red Sox uniform, he just can’t carry that success into October. And Katie Sharp of River Ave. Blues highlights how, lately, he hasn’t escaped the opposite of success:

When Eno Sarris of FanGraphs dug into what’s gone wrong for Price in the postseason, he found in part that the quality of his competition has gotten tougher. But this is, of course, a fact of life for all pitchers who find themselves playing in October. It’s on them to overcome it.

One reason Price hasn’t done that is because he gets hurt at the worst times. He’s normally good at cracking down with runners in scoring position, allowing just a .240 batting average in the regular season. According to Baseball Savant, that figure jumps to .349 in his postseason outings since 2010.

Cleveland boosted that figure by going 2-for-3 against Price with runners in scoring position in Game 2. The big blow was the seed Lonnie Chisenhall sent just over the right field fence for a three-run homer that made it 4-0 in the second inning.

The one silver lining to take away from Price’s latest October flop is he was at least making decent pitches in that momentum-swinging, gut-punching second inning. All four of the hits he gave up came on pitches that were right on the edges of the strike zone.

While we’re on the topic of silver linings, the Red Sox have others to point to. The big one is that they’re not dead yet. Math confirms this, as the Indians have only two of the three wins they need to advance.

There’s also the fact this series is now shifting to Boston, where the Red Sox were 47-34 this season, for Game 3 Sunday. The return to Fenway Park should be especially beneficial to the Red Sox’s cold offense. Red Sox hitters had an .858 OPS at home compared to .762 on the road.

Facing Josh Tomlin in Game 3 could also awaken the offense. After seeing all sorts of power from Trevor Bauer and Kluber in Games 1 and 2, Tomlin’s 80-something heat will be a welcome change. The Red Sox could add to the whopping 36 homers he’s already allowed this year.

It’s unlikely the Red Sox can come back from their 0-2 hole, but it’s not impossible. Teams have done it before, even in instances where they’ve been outplayed worse than the Red Sox. Game 2 was a blowout, but Game 1 was an intense one-run contest either team could have won. If the San Francisco Giants could come back over the Cincinnati Reds in 2012 and the Blue Jays could do it over the Texas Rangers last year, the Red Sox can do it to the Indians in 2016.

If it does happen, Price is one guy who may have no part in it. Assuming Farrell doesn’t change his plans, Clay Buchholz will pitch Game 3. If necessary, Eduardo Rodriguez will take Game 4 and Porcello Game 5. If Price appears again in this series, it will likely be in relief.

To his credit, he doesn’t seem to care how he gets the ball again this season as long as he gets it, period.

“I know my number’s going to get called again to pitch again in 2016, and I’ll be ready,” Price said after Game 2, per Newsday‘s Erik Boland. “I want it for sure.”

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with enthusiasm. And in this case, you can’t blame Price for wanting to get back out there and deliver on what he said last December.

But what’s certain is this: If Price does get back on the mound, there are going to be a lot of raised pulses in and around the city of Boston.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Rick Porcello loves to fly fish whenever work doesn’t get in the way. This year, he may reel in the American League Cy Young Award or baseball’s ultimate catch—a World Series ring.

Porcello’s semi-secret New England fishing spot is nearby a home he has in Vermont, located close to the Massachusetts border. He also fly fishes in both salt and fresh water near the Red Sox spring training home in Fort Myers, Florida.

Porcello (22-4) sees a real-life connection between casting for rainbow trout in his native New Jersey and pitching to Mike Trout at Fenway Park.

“The fishing carries over to baseball,” Porcello told B/R. “If I’m mentally drained and need my escape, that’s usually what I go to. It helps me clear my head. If I have an off day, or a morning where I don’t have a lot going on that day. It’s not very often. I try to mix it in.”

The daily catch varies by season and location; just as successful pitches in baseball vary based on opponent and location. Thursday, Porcello starts for the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS at Cleveland. 

Any mention of Red Sox and fishing allows for no more than two questions before Ted Williams enters the conversation. Williams is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Fishing Hall Fame and the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame.

“I’m aware of the three Hall of Fames he’s in,” Porcello said.

The Marine Corps Hall of Fame is probably out of the question, but is Porcello gunning for either a spot in Cooperstown or Springfield, Missouri—where the Fishing Hall of Fame will soon be located.

“I’m gunning for a World Series, and maybe down the line, some kind of award.”

Monday, Porcello was named American League Pitcher of the Month for September. The “Comeback Player of the Year” is a strong possibility, but the honor bearing the name of the once-upon-a-time Red Sox pitcher Young would be his top individual prize in 2016.

Porcello said he’s “simply honored” to be in the Cy Young conversation. He led the American League with 22 wins, becoming the first Red Sox pitcher to reach that number in a season since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez won 23 in 1999.

Porcello finished second in the American League with a 1.01 WHIP. Detroit’s Justin Verlander’s was lower by .01. His 3.15 ERA was fifth league-wide. Aaron Sanchez of the Blue Jays captured the ERA title (3.00), helped by his dominant performance against Boston (7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER) on Sunday. 

Porcello’s consistency in delivering quality starts in 2016 was pivotal in Boston’s AL East title run. The Red Sox were coming off back-to-back last place finishes this year. Starting on July 29 this year, Porcello strung together 11 consecutive starts of seven innings or more in which he allowed three runs .

“He’s a model of consistency. He’s been so strong. He’s been so consistent. It’s a combination of multiple things: a talented guy, a well-prepared pitcher and an extremely competitive one,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said.

Porcello was traded to the Red Sox from Detroit before the 2015 season in a deal that sent Yoenis Cespedes to the Tigers. Porcello, a lean 6-foot-5, 205-pound righty, finished 2015 at 9-15 with a portly 4.92 ERA and 1.360 WHIP in only 172 innings. He landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right triceps muscle on July 31. 

His keys to finding success in 2016 were mental and mechanical. 

“A lot of [my offseason] was spent working on my delivery. Something I’ve always battled in my career is trying to find the check points in my delivery, and being able to maintain that over the course of a season. That was my major focus. That was one of the big things that was off last season. That was in addition to my normal workouts and conditioning,” he said.

Porcello spoke to B/R at length in a one-on-one before the Red Sox clinched a playoff spot with a 6-4 victory here on Sept. 24.

Then Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington signed Porcello to a four-year, $82.5 million contract extension in April of 2015 that kicked in this season. That contract extension, Porcello said, brought up a lot in conversation as to why he struggled.

The contract wasn’t an added pressure point for Porcello. 

“I went back and forth in my head trying to figure out why I was putting so much pressure on myself. It wasn’t the contract that was doing it. I was coming into a new environment. New coaching staff. New organization. New teammates. New city. I wanted to show them all what I could do. I ended up being my own worst enemy,” he said.

Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski told B/R he believed Porcello had “No. 1 starter” potential when he drafted Porcello out of high school in 2007 as GM of the Detroit Tigers. Drombrowski was hired by the Red Sox on Aug. 18 of last year after the team fired Cherington.

Porcello’s contract, along the $183 million combined committed to Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, fueled much acrimony last season among citizens of Red Sox Nation and media types who report on the team. 

“He was probably doing things he normally wouldn’t do,” Dombrowski said. “Rick is more of a two-seam, sinker-ball type of guy, with command of his pitches. It’s a better position than where he’s constantly using the four-seamer trying to overpower hitters. That’s what he was trying to do [last year]. A lot of time, people put those expectations on themselves because they think they need to do that in order to live up to big-dollar situations.“

Dombrowski’s hiring to command the Red Sox front office coincided with Porcello’s return off the disabled list. 

“He (then) looked like the Rick Porcello that I had always seen. He lived with the two-seamer and really commanded the strike zone. The other difference, this year, is that he’s in a much more comfortable situation coming back in the second year. You can also just see the maturity in pitching, the mix of pitches and the command of the strike zone,” Dombrowski said. “But all of sudden you see him elevate the fastball a little bit more than he used to, and pitch in and out more than he used to. So I just think you see the normal, natural development and maturity of a young pitcher who is a quality pitcher, not overpowering, but has learned to pitch with his stuff and get people out.”

Porcello’s regular scouting regimen is simple yet effective. The day before each start, he breaks his opposing lineup into two parts. He will spend about an hour watching 60 to 70 pitches each batter has faced in the past week. He will scout five batters on the first day and four on the day he starts.

“I’ll be looking at what hitters have done in the past week, because they can change. Some guys have been hitting the fastball in the past couple of weeks, then they transition and start hitting a breaking ball. Or they’re covering different areas of the strike zone. So I want to be aware of what they’re feeling now. And it’s what I see in the game. So if I’m establishing my fastball, and I see that’s beating hitters or getting on guys, I’m more apt to be aggressive and stay hard with them. And vice versa,” he said. “I see what they’re doing. If they’re aggressive in the count. What counts they don’t want to be in. Take that, try to identify their weaknesses, take my strengths and try to apply it all.”

Two hours before his Sept. 24 start against the Rays, Porcello was relaxing on a couch in the visitor’s clubhouse as Latin pop music blared throughout the room. His concentration wandered between a no-stakes, two-man card game with teammate Marco Hernandez, his smartphone and a pair of TVs showing college football games, including Florida State’s victory over South Florida.

Once Porcello was left alone, he was left alone. Aaron Hill jokingly offered him a beer and Sandoval (on the DL but in town to work out with the team) flicked Porcello’s ear as he walked past. One would not know he was pitching that day unless they had seen the lineup card.

He allowed three earned runs in 6.1 innings with eight hits, nine strikeouts and only one walk in that outing. His fastball got up higher than it should have, allowing the Rays to stay in the game until a late Red Sox rally. Where a game such as that might have meant a loss in 2015, it was simply another challenge met and conquered in 2016.

“I definitely made a lot of mistakes, especially early on in the game and then after the inning where they scored those runs, I was able to settle back down and started executing my pitches better,” he said after that game. “I don’t know if it’s the mistakes or the situation. It’s every pitcher’s battle when you get into a tough situation and have some runners on base. You’ve got to make some pitches. There’s two ways you can go. You can settle down and execute a pitch. Or you make a mistake and basically play into the hitter’s hand. I’ve been doing a lot better situation of that this year.”

After more than a full calendar year with the Red Sox, Dombrowski is fully confident that the more-mature 2016 Porcello is the long-term rule, rather than the exception.

He cites evidence to back that up in Porcello’s performance.

“More changeups, breaking balls, mixing pitches much more. When he was a youngster, he was a two-pitch pitcher—fastball and change. He’s brought the curveball in recent years. He’s got the cutter, the two-seamer and four-seamer,” Dombrowski said. “Now, I think the mix of pitches and the comfort of throwing any pitch at any time, with the command that he has, when he’s behind in the count, is the maturity aspect you’re talking about. You have to have the ability to do that, and he does have the ability to do that.”

The Red Sox went 25-8 in games started by Porcello in 2016. His only loss in 16 starts at Fenway Park this season came in spite of a one-run, eight inning effort on Sept. 14. Baltimore beat Boston 1-0.

Porcello’s 2016 masterpiece, at least until now, was an 89-pitch complete-game 5-2 victory over the Orioles on Sept. 19. Sixty-five of his pitches were strikes. He struck out seven batters and allowed four hits without walking a batter. Porcello threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of 32 batters and went to a three-ball count once. 

He demonstrated, at least for one night, thorough mastery of all five of his pitches: the two-seam and four-seam fastballs, the changeup, the slider and the curve.

“That’s anybody’s ideal outing—to have all your weapons working. The reality is that doesn’t happen very often. It’s really hard to do. That was a really good night for me against a good lineup. In order to beat those guys, you have to have all them going. It just happened at the right time. It’s what I’m looking for. It doesn’t always happen. If I can have my fastball command, and at least one or two off-speed pitches, then I can manage that and be OK.”

It was during that start against the Orioles on Sept. 19, when a sinker ball got up and away from Porcello, plunking the combustible Manny Machado in the back. AL home run leader Mark Trumbo was on deck.

Even though there was no obvious intent, Machado glared at Porcello and the two exchanged words. Porcello’s NSFW reply was caught by TV cameras.

“We were just walking to first base, talking — talking like human beings. Nothing much was said,” Machado told Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. “We all know, I know, he doesn’t want to hit me in that situation.” 

Porcello’s name was familiar to many Red Sox fans when he joined the team. He hit then Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis in 2009 at Fenway Park. Youkilis charged the mound and both benches would eventually clear.

“I can honestly say in both of those situations (Youkilis or Machado) I had no intention of hitting those guys. My reaction is basically a reaction to their reaction. It is always an emotional, heat-of-the-battle type of thing. Nobody wants to get hit by a fastball. Whether it’s 88 or 98, it’s going to hurt. I can completely understand that. That would be my natural reaction, to be pissed off and I’d want to say something, too.”

Porcello said he had yet to speak with Machado since the Sept. 19 game.

“I talked to Youkilis once a couple of years ago when he was with Chicago. We happened to be walking out of the ballpark at the same time. Just briefly, ‘Hey, how are you doing?’ I don’t even think he recognized me. I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Machado. It’s really not necessary for us to talk about it afterward. We’re competing. That’s the way it should be. If I hit him in the back and everything is roses, it wouldn’t feel right. It’s not like I want to hurt him or he wants to hurt me.”

His Cy Young push, meanwhile, has won over hearts and minds across Red Sox Nation.

“Not because he’s my boy—but he’s got the inside track. He’s got better numbers than everybody else,” Red Sox DH David Ortiz told B/R/ “More wins. We are where we’re at because of his performance. I’ll leave it up to the voters, but I’d vote for him. 100 percent.”

The Red Sox paid David Price and Porcello a combined $52.5 million in salary in 2016. They totaled 39 wins in the regular season. Yet, neither has a postseason victory in nine combined starts.

“Once I found out (Price) signed here, it was awesome. He’s made a huge impact on our team. I’ve learned a lot watching him. How to maintain that even keel and demeanor, the focus and competitiveness. And the great things he brings that you don’t see on a day-to-day basis,” Porcello said. 

And when Price was struggling earlier this season, Porcello kept his distance. “It’s like, the more someone tries to offer help, they can make it more frustrating. It’s like, ‘I’m really good, I can work through this.’ At least that’s the way I am. I’m a leave-me-alone sort of guy. David’s accomplished so many things in this game. What am I going to tell him that he doesn’t already know?”

Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist who covers baseball for Bleacher Report. He is a columnist for the Boston Herald and tweets @RealOBF. 

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The Boston Red Sox announced Sunday that they will retire David Ortiz‘s No. 34, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal.

The honors for Ortiz won’t end there, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeted:

Ortiz, 40, has had a legendary career. He’s a three-time World Series champion with the Red Sox, a 10-time All-Star and was the 2013 World Series MVP. In his 14 years with the Red Sox, he’s hit .290 with 483 home runs, 1,530 RBI and 1,204 runs.

Ortiz has hit 541 home runs in his 20-year career, which is the 17th-most in MLB history.

He’ll always be remembered for his performance in the 2004 American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. With the Yankees leading the series 3-0, Ortiz hit a walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 4. In Game 5 the next night, he hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 14th.

The Red Sox won Games 6 and 7 in New York and then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to end their 86-year title drought.

Ortiz’s impact went beyond his play on the field, though. After the Boston Marathon bombing and ensuing manhunt in 2013, Ortiz took to the microphone in Fenway Park and told the crowd, “This is our f–kin’ city. And nobody’s gonna dictate our freedom.”

He was clutch, entertaining, charitable and, ultimately, iconic. There have been better players to don the Red Sox uniform, but few have had the impact of Ortiz.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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The Boston Red Sox clinched their eighth American League East division title on Wednesday thanks to the Baltimore Orioles‘ 3-2 win over the second-place Toronto Blue Jays. 

However, the celebrations were muted when the New York Yankees overcame a 3-0 ninth-inning deficit, which was capped off by a Mark Teixeira grand slam, to beat Boston 5-3. 

The Red Sox still took to Twitter to confirm that they clinched their spot atop the only division in baseball featuring four teams with a record above .500:

Even though the new division champions were still playing, that didn’t mean the party wasn’t getting started early as Ryan Hannable of WEEI showed the Red Sox’s ownership group celebrating in the box seats of Yankee Stadium:

Only In Boston was just waiting for the team to join the party:

But Lil Wayne couldn’t wait:

However, SportsCenter‘s Jade McCarthy pointed out that it might have been hard to celebrate after Teixeira’s homer:

MLB Network’s Chris Rose didn’t know what to do:

It looked like the Red Sox didn’t know what to do either, as WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford caught a glimpse of the team’s dugout:

Regardless, there were new digs waiting in the visitors’ locker room, via the MLB:

And it didn’t do much to rain on the parade of the Red Sox’s Twitter page or NESN’s Emerson Lotzia Jr.:

Once they got into the locker room, the loss was shrugged off, and Boston was able to do some celebrating in the Bronx, via the Red Sox:

There was no holding back either, per NBC’s Jack Korte:

Especially when it came to Chris Young and his dance moves, via the Red Sox:

The Red Sox came into the regular season with two major storylines: the impending retirement of David Ortiz and the arrival of presumed ace David Price, who signed a seven-year, $217 million contact with the organization in December.

Big Papi looked far more like a slugger in his prime than one ready to start life after baseball. The 40-year-old designated hitter remained a force in the middle of the Sox lineup, racking up more than 30 home runs for the 10th time as he put together one of the best seasons in his Hall of Fame career.

Although his continued success at the plate raised questions about whether he’d reconsider retiring, he’s stayed steadfast in his plan to call it quits after the team’s season comes to a close. He told Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated in July that he could still hit, but his body can’t handle the 162-game grind anymore.

“Because I don’t care,” Ortiz said. “My mind is free. There is no doubt in my mind that I can hit for the next couple of years at this highest level.”

Knowing Ortiz is on the brink of playing his last game in a Red Sox uniform adds an extra layer of intrigue and pressure heading into the playoffs. Few athletes in the rich history of Boston sports have made such a major impact both on the field and in the community.

If Boston is going to capture its fourth championship since 2004, Price will likely need to elevate his level of performance after a mundane first season with the franchise.

While the 31-year-old left-hander sports a strong record, his ERA is the second-highest of his career, in part due to a new career high in homers allowed. He’s pitched better during the second half, however, which provides a silver lining heading into the playoffs.

The strength of the Red Sox is their offense, though. Along with Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Dustin Pedroia have all enjoyed great years at the plate. That’s why the club leads the AL in runs by a massive margin.

That said, rarely can a team merely mash its way to a World Series crown. The Red Sox are going to need their pitching staff to carry its fair share of the burden.

The back end of the bullpen is strong with Craig Kimbrel closing out games alongside the setup tandem of Koji Uehara and Brad Ziegler. There are some questions in the middle innings, however, which puts pressure on the starters to go six strong frames.

Ultimately, the success of Price’s entire first season will be determined by how he performs during the playoffs. But there’s just as much urgency for the likes of Rick Porcello and Drew Pomeranz to help push the city of Boston toward yet another title celebration.

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Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who is retiring after the 2016 season, spoke with Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci about retiring, steroids, his approach to the game and more in a lengthy interview.

One of the topics discussed was why Ortiz, who is hitting .318 with 37 home runs and 124 RBI, would retire after a campaign where he’s a candidate to win the American League MVP. 

For Ortiz, his decision is about much more than his performance.

“Well, like everybody knows, I’ve been dealing with injuries the past four years,” he told Verducci. “Also, [I’m] not getting any younger, man. You look around, everybody’s 20 years old. Also, this traveling thing, it catches up with you.”

He added: “The reality is a lot of us give up on chasing things as we get older because our body, our mind, you know. … In my case, man, I want to be good. I want to continue being productive. My hitting coaches know that. I chase things still, knowing that I’m going to retire after this season. I’d like to give that to our fans.”

Certainly, Ortiz’s curtain call has been spectacular. The Red Sox are first in the AL East and a threat to win the World Series, and Ortiz is having one of his finest seasons. Even at 40, the passion to be great drives him.

“I work extremely hard on my hitting, man,” he said. “Like I’m a psycho when it comes down to hitting. Like I live for that. I always tell our younger hitters. … I mean, we sit down, batting practice, videos, stuff like that, and we just talk about it.”

That guidance has paid off. A number of Boston hitters are having enormous seasons:

But Verducci and Ortiz also talked about the biggest scandal of his career—the fact that, in 2009, he was named as one of the players to fail a 2003 drug-screening test. Those results were supposed to remain confidential but were leaked publicly, and Verducci asked Ortiz what he could do to convince people that he didn’t use steroids.

Ortiz said:

I don’t think I can do anything. A noise comes out, and do you think I’m just going to sit down and believe what somebody I don’t know comes off saying? That came out [in] 2009, [but it was] about 2003. [MLB’s] drug policies started in 2004. I never failed a test. I kept on banging. So, you know, the reality is that it’s a noise that I think was more damaging [to some players’ careers] than anything else, because a lot of guys that were pronounced [as having tested] positive for things or having been caught using things, their careers went away. Yet I am [here]. Let me tell you, there’s not one player in baseball, not one player, that has been drug-tested more than David Ortiz. I guarantee you that. I never failed a test.

Verducci then wondered why Ortiz, or any other player, wouldn’t have used banned substances if they saw other players doing so. Why wouldn’t Ortiz also want that edge? 

Because there’s one thing that I have been afraid of my whole life: chemicals. I don’t like to put chemicals in my body. I’m a happy person. I’m a person that believes in nature. I’m a person that believes in secondary effects when you start using things that you are not supposed to.

And it was something that never came to my attention. Yes, I used to go to GNC and buy supplements like everybody else. I mean, I’m an athlete. I’m a high-performing athlete. So it was legal to go to GNC. [Now] I don’t even know where GNC is, since they told us not to go to GNC to buy any supplement. Now we get [information] from our trainers so you don’t get caught in any kind of trouble.

Ortiz’s link to steroids, fair or not, may always remain a part of his legacy. So will the relatively slow start to his career. On the other hand, he has three World Series titles, 10 All-Star selections and his reputation as one of the most outgoing, friendly players in the game.

Many people will miss his presence. But Ortiz thinks baseball will be fine without him. In fact, he thinks the game is in a great place.

“Well, I don’t know how a lot of people are going to feel about what I’m going to say, but I think this game right now is at its best,” he noted. “Like I don’t think this game is going to get better, or used to be better than it is right now.”

We might say the same about Ortiz.

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter. 

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Boston and New York have been adversaries since the original Hamilton walked Broadway in the late 18th century.

David Ortiz has been at the epicenter of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry for the past 14 seasons. Come 2017, neither Ortiz nor Alex Rodriguez will be an actor in this award-winning baseball melodrama that featured brawls during the 2003 American League Championship Series and beyond.

Ortiz, for one, is glad the era of on-field gladiators has passed.

“This is not the WWE. This is baseball at the highest level,” Ortiz told B/R during a Red Sox visit here in August. “It’s all good for the game. People don’t pay to come and watch us fight. People used to do that because of what it used to be. And that’s why people believe the intensity isn’t there. It’s there. We just don’t fight like we used to.”

The David Ortiz Goodbye Baseball tour makes its penultimate regular-season stop beginning Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox could clinch the American League East title with victory or a Toronto loss. The Yankees have planned a celebration for Ortiz on Thursday but have not released details.

“Playing in New York is very special,” Ortiz added when asked Saturday by B/R about his final trip to the Bronx as a player. “The fans are very into it. Every inning you have to be on your toes to make something happen. The New York Yankees, I have a lot of respect for that organization. Somehow, someway, you get connected to it [when you’re from] the Dominican Republic.

“When I was a kid, New York was an organization that was very well mentioned back in the Dominican. Everyone in the Dominican is aware of the Yankees. We kind of changed the Dominicans’ minds a little bit once me, Pedro [Martinez] and Manny [Ramirez] got together here.

“Now, I would say it’s pretty much 50-50 Red Sox-Yankees in the Dominican. But when I was a kid, every game you would see in the Dominican was coming from New York. There are 3 million Dominicans in New York, so that connection is always there. It’s always an honor and pleasure to play there.”

The 40-year-old Ortiz has somewhat brutally slashed .307/.397/.574 against the Yankees in his career with Minnesota and Boston, producing 53 home runs and 171 RBI. His two-run home run in the 12th inning of Game 4 during the 2004 ALCS ignited baseball’s biggest-ever postseason comeback.

Red Sox vs. Yankees hit warp speed with the sale of Babe Ruth to New York nearly a century ago. The teams’ enmity has endured a roller coaster of competitiveness since. The intensity hit crescendos in the late 1940s, the mid 1970s—erstwhile Boston pitcher Bill Lee once referred to the Yankees as “Billy Martin’s Brownshirts“—the late 1990s and in the first decade of the 21st century.

Fisticuffs aplenty came along for the ride.

Now, Red Sox vs. Yankees is enjoying a period of relative calm, at least when it comes to throwing punches.

“This is better,” Ortiz said in August. “Once you fight with someone, that guy becomes your enemy whether you like it or not. I don’t want to be having enemies in baseball. Once there’s a brawl going on and you’re throwing punches, people start getting injured.”

Fewer on-field melees does not mean the players’ competitiveness has waned.

“From that time until today, there are a lot of rules that have basically been added to the game,” Ortiz said. “Players have to approach things differently. It’s good for the game. You don’t want to send the wrong message that you have to fight to be able to earn respect or perform at this level.

“When I first came up and got hit, one of our pitchers [see: Martinez] would throw a close pitch to them. And same with the Yankees. And all of sudden, the evil would let loose. I think to avoid all this stuff, Major League Baseball passed all these rules to warn people or throw them out of the game if they throw at people on purpose.”

MLB‘s push to temper physical contact between players with disciplinary action sent the right message, at least as far as Ortiz is concerned.

“You come with your kids and family and you see players fighting 30, 40 feet away from you,” he said. “What is the mentality your kids are going to take away from that? You came to watch a baseball game. Not fighting. My kids questioned me and were asking, ‘Hey, Dad. What’s going on?’ That’s not the memory you want them to take home.

“It happens now but not as much. Now, we’re concerned about being suspended, missing games. MLB is on top of it big time. When a guy like me gets suspended for five or 10 games, it affects my ballclub. It affects me at some point, too. That’s not the image you want the fans to see.”

Another factor that has calmed tempers between the Red Sox and Yankees is the fact they have not met in the playoffs since Boston celebrated its Game 7 victory of the 2004 ALCS in the Bronx after erasing a 3-0 series lead. It could be said the victory was so devastating to New York that it had to tear down its old stadium and build a new one.

“I didn’t think we had that series won until the final out,” Ortiz said. “We were supposed to lose from day one. If I tell you after Game 5 or 6 we had them beaten, I’d be lying to you.”

As he did when he chose an Ultimate All-Star Team of His Era’s Biggest Stars for B/R in July, Ortiz spoke with reverence and respect about ex-Yankees Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, who were also key figures in the post-2000 act of this drama. The Red Sox honored both players with elaborate—if cheesy—ceremonies during their final stops at Fenway Park in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

“Mariano and D.J. were there forever,” Ortiz said.

He scoffed at the perception that Jeter wasn’t as tough as he was talented.

“What do these people want?” Ortiz said. “He was the one player you wanted to watch as another player. You cannot ask for more than he brought to the table. I’m talking about competing against him. Watching him play. Watching him handle his business.

“In my mind, he’s going to be the first player to go into the Hall of Fame with 100 percent of the vote. … Well, he should be. He did it all. The guy was perfect. Everything. The way he was as a player. The way he handled his business. The way he handled the media. The way he dealt with the fans. This guy was extraordinary.”

Ortiz’s farewell tour has morphed into a six-month-long episode of Antiques Roadshow. Among the items he has amassed are a custom surfboard plastered with an image of Ortiz at the 2016 All-Star Game courtesy of the San Diego Padres, 34 pounds (Get it?) of salmon from his original franchise (the Seattle Mariners), a giant bottle of cabernet from the Oakland A’s, cowboy boots and a giant belt buckle thanks to the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore bullpen phone he destroyed during an epic outburst in 2013.

“I’m keeping all that stuff in my garage. But I’m running out of room,” he said.

Red Sox vs. Yankees has morphed into its next chapter. A Boston fan buried a No. 34 Ortiz jersey during the construction of the new Yankee Stadium in 2008. It was later removed.

The Red Sox swept the Yankees in Boston two weeks ago. When the so-called experts write the history of the 2016 Red Sox, Hanley Ramirez’s three-run walk-off homer against New York on Sept. 15 could well be considered the final turning point. Boston hasn’t lost since and rides into the Bronx on an 11-game winning streak.

“You see the talent the Yankees have called up this season? The talent that we have here? The rivalry is going to continue,” Ortiz said. “They’re rebuilding that team very quickly. Talk about Mookie [Betts], [Xander] Bogaerts, Junior [Jackie Bradley]. The talent is there. These kids are still in the learning process. When you see the way Starlin Castro has been playing and behaving. And [Dellin] Betances. The way they’re doing things now. And that [Gary] Sanchez kid. You have a future Jorge Posada behind the plate. He has all the tools to be a great player.”

Ortiz told reporters in Boston on Sept. 16 that he expected to get booed (as reported by ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber) during his New York farewell but added that there is respect between himself and the Yankees faithful. He had a slightly more favorable forecast for his reception in the Bronx when asked about it by B/R here following the Red Sox’s 2-1 win over the Rays on Friday.

“Everywhere we go, we have a lot of fans. Getting into Fenway is tough. Every game is pretty much sold out. So our fans go everywhere we go,” said Ortiz, who was loudly cheered before every plate appearance here this past weekend.

Even in New York?

“Oh, yeah. Everywhere.”

As far as the departed A-Rod goes, Ortiz said in August he has taken the road of “forgive and forget.” Their once-deep friendship cooled after Rodriguez acknowledged using performance-enhancing drugs and his lawyer apparently attempted to implicate Ortiz as a PED user in 2014.

“I’m not going to start naming all the other players, but some of them are God-like in Boston right now, and people seem to forget that,” Joe Tacopina told ESPN Radio back then.

Tacopina later said he was not referring to Ortiz.

Ortiz tested positive for PEDs during MLB’s pilot program in 2003. He maintained to B/R that he never knowingly used any banned substances or tested positive for PEDs since 2003.

Thankfully, the A-Rod-Ortiz feud did not end in a duel with pistols on the grass in the Bronx or at Fenway Park.

“I’ve known A-Rod for a long time,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been a friend. I have a good relationship. He got confused and did things the wrong way with me and a lot of people. But it’s forgotten. If there is something God would like me to do, it is forgive.”

Bill Speros is an award-winning journalist who writes the “Obnoxious Boston Fan” column for the Boston Herald. He covers baseball for Bleacher Report. He Tweets @RealOBF and @BillSperos.

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As the National League continues to leave no doubt about who its World Series favorite is, the American League may finally be settling on one of its own.

The Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox are rolling, folks. Hanley Ramirez’s dramatic home run last week kicked off a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees, and they’ve begun this week by taking three straight from the Baltimore Orioles.

The latest is Wednesday’s 5-1 triumph. Clay Buchholz pitched seven innings of one-run ball. The Red Sox took the lead on a two-out, bases-loaded error in the sixth and padded it when Andrew Benintendi’s name was plucked from the “Clutch Red Sox Hitter” hat and a three-run homer materialized.

It wasn’t long ago that the AL East race looked like one nobody was going to run away with. The Red Sox, Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees were all very much in it and armed to the teeth for a bloody gladiator fight that would take a toll on everyone.

Instead, there are the Red Sox at 14-5 in September and 88-64 overall. They are Maximus standing unharmed amid the wreckage and asking if we’re entertained.

It’s not just the seven wins in a row. Nor is it even the breathing room they have. They lead the Blue Jays by five, the Orioles by six and the Yankees by 8.5. FanGraphs gives them a 98.1 percent chance of winning the division. Impressive, but it’s not the most resonant thing about the Red Sox right now.

Nope. That would be just how darn ready for the postseason they’re looking.

The Red Sox haven’t been a bad team at any point in 2016, but they’ve spent the bulk of it flexing one or two big muscles while trying to hide puny, undeveloped muscles. In the beginning, they had offense but no pitching. In the middle, they got some starting pitching just as their offense finally slumped. Shortly after that, their bullpen fell apart.

That last point brings us to one of the biggest factors in Boston’s September surge. As Alex Speier of the Boston Globe observed, it’s thus far been a historic month for the club’s relievers:

And the band played on with two more scoreless innings Wednesday. Make it a 0.88 ERA in September, a figure that all the key members—Craig Kimbrel, Koji Uehara, Brad Ziegler, Joe Kelly, Junichi Tazawa, Matt Barnes, et al.—share the credit for.

Meanwhile, Boston’s starters are doing well in their own right.

They have a 3.45 ERA in September, and a 3.59 ERA in the second half. Rick Porcello might be the AL Cy Young favorite with 21 wins and a 3.08 ERA, and is rolling with a 2.34 ERA in his last 11 starts. David Price has a 2.84 ERA in his last 11 starts. The waters beyond them are murky, but it’s saying something that there are solid arguments to make for Buchholz, Eduardo Rodriguez, Drew Pomeranz and a potentially healthy Steven Wright as the team’s third-best starter.

As for that offense, well, it just keeps on ticking.

The Red Sox have scored at least five runs in all seven of their consecutive wins, and 121 total in September. With either Benintendi or Chris Young in left field, Red Sox manager John Farrell must be very pleased knowing that only one of his regulars (Travis Shaw) has an OPS under .799.

This is a very complete team. And they know it.

“I think we know, and I think everybody else knows, you’ve got to play 27 outs to beat us—and we keep that mindset,” Mookie Betts, the possible AL MVP front-runner, said recently to MLB.com’s Paul Hagen. “We’re never out of it.”

And as the Red Sox get hotter, the competition both within and without the AL East only seems to be getting weaker. 

If the season ended today, the Red Sox would play the Cleveland Indians in the American League Division Series. They’re playing well but are running out of arms faster than the Black Knight in a fight with King Arthur. Corey Kluber still lives, but Carlos Carrasco is done for the season and Danny Salazar is fighting to return from an arm injury.

The Texas Rangers loom as the bigger roadblock to the World Series for the Red Sox. And while theirs don’t involve any backbreaking injuries, they have pitching woes of their own. They entered Wednesday with a 5.63 ERA in September, no thanks to co-aces Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish combining for an 8.59 ERA.

In a seemingly related story, the same number-crunching system that shows a 98.1 percent chance of the Red Sox winning the AL East also gives the Red Sox a 19.0 percent chance to win the World Series. That’s the highest of any team in the American League. And the way they’re shaping up, that’s not so hard to believe.

What’s harder to believe is the Red Sox have a higher chance of winning it all than even the Chicago Cubs, which the odds state they do. These are the same Cubs that have won 97 games and are a powerhouse in every conceivable way. There’s supposedly a goat-related hex on them, but they’re at least as well equipped to beat their curse as the Red Sox were back when they popularized beating curses back in 2004.

However, a matchup with the Cubs in the World Series is a bridge the Red Sox can worry about crossing when they get to it. For now, they can enjoy knowing they have a team that’s turned getting there at all into a realistic possibility.

The Red Sox have been searching and searching and searching for that team. They’ve finally found it.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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Fact: David Ortiz hit his 36th home run of the season in the Boston Red Sox‘s 5-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, passing Dave Kingman for the most home runs by a player in his final season.

Bleacher Report will be bringing sports fans the most interesting and engaging Cold Hard Fact of the day, presented by Coors Light.

Source: @MLBStatoftheDay

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Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is nursing a sore left knee that will keep him out for at least one game. 

Continue for updates.

Pedroia Out vs. Orioles

Tuesday, Sept. 20

WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford relayed the update. 

The fan favorite and franchise icon is one of the most productive and consistent hitters in the lineup nearly every season. Boston is a more dangerous team when the four-time All-Star, former American League MVP (2008) and former American League Rookie of the Year (2007) is playing on an everyday basis.

This season, he’s batting .325/.384/.452 with 13 home runs and 67 RBI over the course of 650 plate appearances.  

Pedroia dealt with injuries during the 2015 season and appeared in only 93 games. It was the first time since 2010 that the second baseman failed to play in at least 135 contests, but he did hit .291 with 12 home runs and 42 RBI when he was healthy.

With Brock Holt away from the Red Sox for two days due to a death in the family, per Bradford, Marco Hernandez will draw the start at second base in Pedroia’s absence. 

According to ESPN.com’s Scott Lauber, Hernandez will bat ninth.  

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The Boston Red Sox gave David Price ace money over the winter.

Now, finally, after months of wobbling and hand-wringing, he’s giving them ace results.

Price wasn’t awful in the first half. At the very least, he proved he could still miss bats with 140 strikeouts in 124.1 innings. But the 4.34 ERA he lugged into the All-Star break wasn’t what the Red Sox had in mind when they inked him for seven years and $217 million in December 2015.

Price’s early troubles, as Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer outlined in May, seemed to revolve around diminished velocity and less spin on his pitches. He was flat. He was hittable.

Overall, Price’s average fastball velocity this season (92.9 mph) is down a tick from his career mark (94.2). In his most recent start against the Baltimore Orioles, however, he frequently touched the mid-90s.

The result was eight innings of two-run, two-hit ball with nine strikeouts and no walks as Boston rolled to a 12-2 win Monday.

In a dozen second-half starts, Price is 7-2 with a 2.99 ERA. The Red Sox, at 81-62, sit in first place in the potent, competitive American League East, two games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays (79-64), three up on the O’s (78-65) and five ahead of the New York Yankees (76-67).

Everything, in other words, is coming together for Boston.

“I knew good things were going to happen to me,” Price said, per Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com. “I’ve had a lot of good things over the course of how many starts it’s been. Whether it’s hard-hit balls going at guys or soft-hit balls not finding the holes, whenever I make a really good pitch, having good things happen, that’s what’s going on for me my past couple of starts. I just want to keep it going.”

On Monday, Price hit a milestone that put him in elite Beantown company, as Alex Speier of the Boston Globe outlined:

Price is a ways off from matching Curt Schilling’s Red Sox legacy. He’ll need a couple of Commissioner’s Trophies and perhaps a bloody sock to do that.

But this is the innings-chewing, strikeout-stacking, rotation-topping stud the Sox thought they were getting. While they would’ve loved to have this guy from April onward, he’s showing up at the best possible time.

The Red Sox have other weapons in the rotation, including 20-game winner Rick Porcello, trade-deadline acquisition Drew Pomeranz, young left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez and knuckleballer Steven Wright, assuming he returns from a shoulder injury.

The offense leads MLB in batting average, runs and OPS. David Ortiz is cranking back the clock in his farewell season, and whippersnappers like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts are joining the party. If anything propels Boston back to the promised land, it’ll be the bats.

Price, though, has a chance to be a difference-maker.

His career postseason resume is far from sterling, as he owns a 5.12 ERA in 63.1 innings with the Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers and Toronto. Now, he can boost his October legacy and vault into the pantheon of Red Sox heroes.

“We all have that feeling in the clubhouse, out in the dugout,” Price said, per WEEI.com’s Ryan Hannable. “This is a very close-knit group of guys. That is what you want to be part of. That is what makes 162 games plus spring training that much fun.”

A few months ago, “fun” wasn’t a word you’d have connected to Price. Now, it meshes.

Yes, during his recent run of success, the veteran southpaw got starts against the San Diego Padres, Oakland A’s, Rays and Kansas City Royals, all of whom rank among the bottom third in MLB in scoring.

That’s what made Monday’s effort so promising. Price tamed a fearsome Orioles lineup that paces baseball in home runs. The Sox will face the O’s six more times. In addition, they have seven games against the upstart, archrival Yankees and three against the big-swinging Jays.

Price will be tested. He’ll be forced to show his cards.

Judging by recent returns, he could well come up aces.

All statistics current as of Monday and courtesy of MLB.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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