Connelly Early ties Red Sox strikeout record, makes MLB history in debut

Home runs don t expedition feet every meeting Indeed Rob Refsnyder s three-run homer in the first inning of Tuesday s - win over the Athletics was both the longest of his career and by a Red Sox competitor this year But left-hander Connelly Early s big-league debut was unlike anything seen in this organization in over years as he struck out men to tie Don Aase s franchise record for a debuting pitcher It was also unlike anything ever seen before in Major League Baseball Of the players in MLB history Early is only the th pitcher to fan at least batters in his debut and the ninth to do so without allowing a run The late great Red Sox legend Luis Tiant also punched out in his MLB debut but with Cleveland on July his performance was exactly four years after Hall of Famer Juan Marichal racked up in his first career battle on July Before Early the the greater part current debut of this ilk was Freddy Peralta of the Milwaukee Brewers on May Every other pitcher on this list needed at least innings to reach strikeouts though Early needed innings It was amazing just a bunch of happiness he narrated NESN s Jahmai Webster Early was early so to speak MLB Pipeline estimated a ETA for the -year-old who began the season in Double-A and was only six games into his Triple-A tenure when the Red Sox flew him out to Sacramento this week and tasked him with debuting in the midst of the club s first serious playoff push since The -year-old did not buckle under the weight of this tall order He allowed five hits and one walk but he retired the first eight A s batters before Zack Gelof s two-out single in the third including four consecutive strikeouts between the last out of the first and end of the second inning The -year-old Sox southpaw was unflappable as he finished each of his last three innings despite frequent traffic on the bases he struck out Brent Rooker to strand two in the third got Darrell Hernaiz and Lawrence Butler swinging to leave the bases loaded in the fourth and worked around Gelof s leadoff walk and stolen base to finish the fifth He was really good manager Alex Cora advised reporters He was prepared too which was eye-opening He did his own homework went through it with the coaching staff and executed There was chosen traffic there but he never panicked He was outstanding Solicited what stood out to him about Early Cora stated The composure to be honest with you Getting to know all these kids man Like last year everybody was talking about the position players and if you look this year how several pitchers have impacted this club that s what makes it special Cora continued Everybody was talking about the No farm system because of the three players Kristian Campbell Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony that have contributed this year but there s more And there s more players down there Early threw pitches for strikes and racked up swing-and-misses He is the first Red Sox pitcher with at least five scoreless innings in his debut since Tanner Houck on Sept Fans watch as Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Connelly Early warms up before a baseball competition against the Athletics as he makes his MLB Debut Tuesday Sept in West Sacramento Calif AP Photo Scott Marshall Early also appreciated being able to pitch with his group on top from the start The Boston bats jumped out to an immediate - lead against ex-Red Sox lefty Jeffrey Springs in the first two innings Against lefties we ve been struggling and we ve been mixing and matching the lineup Cora revealed Last night I was talking to coach Kyle Hudson and I was like You know what We re gonna put the big boys up there and see what happens and they did an amazing job Romy Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to games with a leadoff home run the first of four straight hits for the Red Sox in the top of the first Alex Bregman and Trevor Story followed with back-to-back singles Story then extended his perfect stolen-base mark to for extending his Red Sox and American League records and putting him two shy of Trea Turner s MLB record for season with the Phillies Refsnyder s -footer made it - before Springs could record the first out of the meeting That s the furthest ball I ve hit and that ll be the furthest ball I apparently ever hit Refsnyder recounted reporters It s special to be able to do something like that There s a lot of really really bad years and long stretches where I couldn t even hit the ball forward so a lot of great hitting coaches to really thank and it was nice It s bad when a -year-old s No so I ll give certain crap to various guys I think Jarren was the furthest before that the veteran utility-man joked Nick Sogard whom the Red Sox acquired from the Rays in the Springs pact four years ago doubled to lead off the second and scored on Gonzalez s RBI-double When it was the A s turn to bat in the bottom of the second Nathaniel Lowe jogged out to man first base The scorching-hot Gonzalez exited with knee soreness the Red Sox disclosed Postgame Gonzalez reported reporters he was already feeling much better Lot better night and day Gonzalez mentioned Just kind of locked up on me Trainers revealed structurally everything s good and hoping to be ready to be ready to go by Friday Springs recovered from the early onslaught and retired the visiting lineup - - in the third fourth and fifth Refsnyder s leadoff single and Jarren Duran s double knocked the lefty out of the contest two batters into the sixth but Boston didn t capitalize on that scoring opportunity They plated only one additional run in the eighth and were out-hit by the A s overall - Greg Weissert Justin Slaten Steven Matz and Chris Murphy preserved the shutout and ensured Early got the win he deserved The Red Sox have won games matching last year s season total Facts and figures The Red Sox are - including a three-game win streak Tuesday s win improved their road record to - Alex Cora is one challenge away from tying Pinky Higgins for third-most games managed in Red Sox history The Red Sox and Yankees are tied for second in the American League East three games back of the Toronto Blue Jays Boston and New York are tied for the top AL Wild Card with a -game lead on the rest of the contending teams