It\u2019s not how you start, it\u2019s how you finish.<\/p>\n
Such was the case for Ranger Su\u00e1rez<\/a> and Kyle Leahy, who had polar opposite starts, and for the Boston Red Sox, who scored a season-high seven runs in Saturday night\u2019s 7-1 win over the Cardinals in St. Louis.<\/p>\n Leahy started strong but it was Su\u00e1rez who finished strong. The Red Sox southpaw recovered from a lengthy first inning in which his normally-impenetrable composure showed the slightest cracks, to turn in six shutout innings of three-hit baseball.<\/p>\n Su\u00e1rez entered Saturday having yielded four earned runs apiece in each of his first two starts of the year<\/a>, neither of which lasted more than 4 \u2153 innings. Therefore his frustration in the first inning, which required 27 pitches and could\u2019ve ended much sooner, wasn\u2019t altogether surprising. Su\u00e1rez\u2019s third pitch to No. 3 hitter Jordan Walker was a strike at the on the outer corner of the bottom of the zone, but catcher Carlos Narv\u00e1ez didn\u2019t request a challenge. (The Red Sox have told pitchers not to challenge<\/a>.) Thus the pitch remained Ball 2, and Su\u00e1rez ultimately walked Walker on six pitches. After Su\u00e1rez walked No. 4 batter Nolan Gorman, pitching coach Andrew Bailey came out to the mound to help his starter reset.<\/p>\n Su\u00e1rez only faced one more batter in the first, but Ram\u00f3n Ur\u00edas didn\u2019t go quietly. The Cardinals first baseman successfully overturned a Strike 3 call on Su\u00e1rez\u2019s fifth pitch, though it only prolonged the inning by one pitch, as Ur\u00edas swung and missed to end the first.<\/p>\n Leahy, meanwhile, plunked Willson Contreras to begin the second inning, and still needed just six pitches to get through his second consecutive 1-2-3 frame. The Red Sox erased their leadoff baserunner with a double play in the third inning, too, saw the Red Sox erase their own leadoff baserunner (Marcelo Mayer, single) with a double play (Narv\u00e1ez) and go 1-2-3.<\/p>\n But the third inning took Leahy 17 pitches, and then Boston broke through in the fourth. They forced Leahy to throw 35 pitches, and took a 2-0 lead on Contreras\u2019 2-RBI double, which scored Roman Anthony (leadoff walk) and Jarren Duran (one-out single). The Red Sox went so far as to load the bases, before Narv\u00e1ez flew out to center to end the frame.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was good to put the ball in play \u2026 especially to start a rally,\u201d Contreras told reporters postgame.<\/p>\n The fourth proved to be the end for Leahy, who wasn\u2019t allowed to face the Red Sox order a third time when the lineup turned over in the fifth inning. He exited charged with two earned runs on three hits, three walks, and two strikeouts, and took the loss.<\/p>\n While Leahy\u2019s smooth sail turned into a grind, Su\u00e1rez was locking in. He issued no further walks after the two in the first inning, and racked up six strikeouts. He retired 14 of his last 15 batters. After the 27-pitch first inning, Su\u00e1rez got through the remaining five on just 57 pitches.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, he can pitch man,\u201d manager Alex Cora told reporters. \u201cHe had one bad inning against San Diego (in his last start). You have to be realistic, too. The numbers are the numbers, and I know it doesn\u2019t look great, but it was one bad inning.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then today he moved the ball around. It seems like his arm was a lot quicker than the first two (starts). He tells me that he feels better.\u201d<\/p>\n