Rodriguez finds form against Tigers
BOSTON -- Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez has taken his lumps in his rookie season, most recently giving up seven runs against the Angels in Anaheim last Monday without making it out of the second inning.
In most of his starts, though, the 22-year-old fireballer has been nothing shy of fantastic. He bounced back in a big way on Sunday night at Fenway Park, holding the Tigers to one run on three hits over seven innings in an 11-1 Red Sox win.
"He stayed in command of the count the entire time," manager John Farrell said. "Last time out, early on it was clear he didn't have the command that he showed tonight, particularly with his changeup. I thought tonight he threw a number of quality changeups for some outs, for some swing-and-miss."
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Rodriguez said that, against the Angels, he was rushing to the plate with his delivery. This time, he spotted his fastball nicely and showed impressive poise with runners on base.
"I think the last [start], I tried to go too quickly to home plate and made my fastballs in the strike zone," said Rodriguez, who had six strikeouts and one walk vs. the Tigers. "Today I just got under control to control my fastball where I want. That's what I think made it go better."
In seven of Rodriguez's 11 starts this season, he has allowed one or zero runs. But he has also allowed seven, six and nine runs on three other occasions, making tweaks along the way to overcome, among other things, a pitch-tipping problem.
"This has been an interesting roughly two months that he's been here," Farrell said. "He's been challenged at times in between the lines, and it's the greatest teacher that we have. There's been some adjustments in his delivery. That's an ongoing situation, and he continues to adapt and evolve. It shows his aptitude and his attitude to make those adjustments."
With the win, Rodriguez improved to 5-3 with a 4.64 ERA. The Tigers' lone run against him came on a homer by Nick Castellanos in the fifth.