As the Red Sox fade completely out of the playoff picture, the focus over the next month will turn to the future and how they can bounce back in 2023.
They would be smart to make Michael Wacha a part of those plans.
The Red Sox veteran starter submitted another great effort Wednesday night in Minneapolis, throwing six strong innings and allowing two runs as Boston avoided a series sweep by holding on for a 6-5 victory over the Twins at Target Field.
Xander Bogaerts produced five RBI – including a grand slam in the third inning – as the Red Sox gave Wacha support by building a 6-2 lead. It got hairy at the end, when Garrett Whitlock gave up two runs in the eighth to make it a one-run game before Matt Barnes put the tying and go-ahead runs on base with no outs in the ninth. But he induced Carlos Correa into a game-ending double play to preserve the victory.
The Red Sox (63-68) are eight games back of the third and final Wild Card spot with 31 games to go. They would be even worse and further out of the race without Wacha, who’s been the Red Sox’ most consistent starter this season despite missing a month-and-a-half with an injury. He improved to 10-1 with Wednesday’s win, and the Red Sox are now 13-4 in his 17 starts this year as he sports a 2.56 ERA.
Wacha, who signed a one-year, $7 million deal before the lockout, has clearly outperformed expectations and will likely command even more in free agency with a strong finish to the season. But with some uncertainty in the rotation going into next season – Nathan Eovaldi becomes a free agent, and it’s unclear what to expect from Chris Sale – it would be logical for the Red Sox to reunite with the 31-year-old Wacha, a steady arm who has found himself again after some difficult years.
Wacha has been on the injured list twice this season – and he missed all of July and half of August with right shoulder inflammation – but when healthy, he has rarely missed. Since returning on Aug. 14 – when he dazzled in a Sunday night win over the Yankees – Wacha is now 4-0 with a 2.19 ERA in four starts, all of them against playoff teams.
In 13 of Wacha’s 17 starts this season, he’s allowed two runs or fewer.
The Twins became his latest victim on Wednesday as Wacha and the Red Sox bounced back from a pair of subpar starts from rookie starters. Wacha’s only blemish came in the third inning, when Sandy Leon hit a two-out single before he left a full-count changeup hanging in the zone, which Luis Arraez clobbered for a two-run homer.
Wacha was otherwise dominant, and his changeup was a big reason why. With two runners on in the fourth, he struck out Nick Gordon swinging on a changeup before striking out two more with the changeup in the fifth, a pitch the Twins whiffed on six times.
Wacha faced his biggest jam in the sixth, when Max Kepler’s double put two runners in scoring position with one out. But the veteran worked out of it, grounding out Kyle Garlick before striking out Gio Urshela looking at a fastball.
Bogaerts put the Red Sox in front in the third, when all nine batters came to the plate against Joe Ryan. Kevin Plawecki and Tommy Pham singled and Alex Verdugo reached on a fielder’s choice before Bogaerts smashed a line drive to left that just made it over the fence for his sixth career grand slam. Two batters later, J.D. Martinez hit a solo shot to make it 5-0.
Bogaerts gave the Red Sox ultimately much-needed insurance in the sixth, when his double to right scored Plawecki.
