Price credits command, cutter, Cora for comeback

 BOSTON — David Price can trace his recent success to a single pitch thrown at Comerica Park on July 20.

Detroit catcher James McCann was at the plate with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Tigers had loaded the bases, thanks to three consecutive singles, and Price was in a jam in his first start out of the All-Star break. McCann worked the count to 2-and-0 and was ready to pounce when Price dotted the outside corner with an 88-mph cut- [...]

 BOSTON — David Price can trace his recent success to a single pitch thrown at Comerica Park on July 20.

Detroit catcher James McCann was at the plate with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Tigers had loaded the bases, thanks to three consecutive singles, and Price was in a jam in his first start out of the All-Star break. McCann worked the count to 2-and-0 and was ready to pounce when Price dotted the outside corner with an 88-mph cut-fastball.

“That pitch right there, if there’s one pitch in the second half that’s really propelled me to do what I’ve done, it was a 2-0 cutter just for a called strike,” Price said. “It wasn’t an out. It wasn’t a swing and miss. It was just a well-executed pitch. I took that and ran with it.”

McCann eventually struck out swinging and Victor Martinez lined to right field, allowing Price to escape unscathed. The Red Sox left-hander claimed his second 1-0 victory of the season, and his third was achieved Wednesday night against the Blue Jays. Price turned in seven strong innings to continue what has been a critical resurgence with Chris Sale limited by left shoulder inflammation for much of the second half.

“The inside part of the plate, outside part of the plate against righties, the changeup, the fastball up — he’s been amazing,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “He’s been very important.”

Price appeared lost at sea when he allowed a career-high five home runs in an 11-1 loss to the Yankees on July 1. His next start at Kansas City went off the rails in the fifth inning when Price hit three batters, and not even a 15-4 victory could cover what looked like a season slipping away.

All Price has done since then is win all six of his decisions over 10 starts, and Boston is 9-1 when he takes the ball. Price’s 1.56 earned-run average, 0.83 WHIP and opposing OPS of .494 are all best in the majors among pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings since the break. It’s the most dominant stretch he’s enjoyed since signing a seven-year deal with the Red Sox in free agency prior to the 2016 season.

“It all plays off fastball command and that backdoor cutter,” Price said. “That was a pitch that I got away from for quite a while — since I’ve been here. It’s been a very big pitch for me probably since 2010, 2011.”

Price’s adjustments following the blowout at Yankee Stadium include moving from the third base side of the pitching rubber to the first base side. Visually, right-handers give up on a cut-fastball that appears to be coming from right-center field before darting back across the outer edge of the plate. Price has also been able to run his two-seam fastball to both sides of the plate, and Wednesday he featured a particularly effective changeup down in the strike zone.

“David is one of the best pitchers in the big leagues,” Cora said. “I know he struggled. He had that tough outing in New York. Then he went to Kansas City and started making adjustments and he lost his control in one inning. Then after that, he’s been working on a daily basis to be this guy.”

Price credited Cora for the steady, even demeanor he’s brought to the Red Sox clubhouse in his debut season in charge. That atmosphere allowed Price to briefly retreat and find himself in time to build considerable momentum into October. That’s a month during which he’s traditionally struggled in a starting role, but Price couldn’t be better positioned to finally produce a long-awaited playoff breakthrough.

“There’s never any panic in the dugout,” Price said. “There’s never any panic in the clubhouse. His players see him doing that and it kind of feeds down the ladder. [Cora] has done a great job of that.”

— bkoch@providencejournal.com 

On Twitter: @BillKoch25