September 26, 2018

The Red Sox's Latest Offensive Accomplishments

Rafael Devers drove in six runs in Wednesday afternoon's 19-3 rout of the Orioles. He is the first Red Sox player age 21 or younger to have 5+ RBI in a game since Tony Conigliaro (August 11, 1966).

What's really amazing is the similarities in the Red Sox's linescores from those two games:
August 11, 1966    - 200 232 22x - 13-3 win over Cleveland
September 27, 2018 - 500 232 34x - 19-3 win over Orioles
Red Sox Players With 20+ HR In A Season Before Turning Age 22
Ted Williams – 1939
Tony Conigliaro – 1964
Tony Conigliaro – 1965
Tony Conigliaro – 1966
Rafael Devers – 2018
For only the fourth time in American League history, a team had 14 extra-base hits. The Red Sox are three of those four teams.
17 - June 8, 1950 - Red Sox 29, Browns 4 (9 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs) 
15 - July 13, 1996 - Cleveland 19, Twins 11 (12 doubles, 3 home runs)
14 - September 24, 1940 (G1) - Red Sox 16, Athletics 8 (5 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs)
14 - September 26, 2018 (G1) - Red Sox 19, Orioles 3 (9 doubles, 5 home runs)
Here is a list of the previous 13 times it has been done (MLB).

The first game of the DH was the 89th time the Red Sox had scored 5+ runs in a game. They are 79-10 (.888) in those games, including 59-4 (.937) since May 16, and 21-0 since August 10.

The 2018 Red Sox are the first team since 1900 to have three players - age 25 or younger - hit 40+ doubles in a season: Mookie Betts (47), Xander Bogaerts (44), and Andrew Benintendi (40).

Betts leads the majors in WAR, according to both Baseball-Reference (10.7) and FanGraphs (9.9), as of Tuesday night. The BRef number would be the 3rd-highest single-season WAR for a Red Sox position player, trailing only Carl Yastrzemski (12.5 in 1967) and Ted Williams (10.9 in 1946).

Most RBI in First Season With Red Sox
Ted Williams  – 145 (1939)
Jimmie Foxx   – 143 (1936)
Vern Stephens – 137 (1948)
J.D. Martinez – 127 (2018)
Manny Ramirez – 125 (2001)
J.D. Martinez is the 9th Red Sox player to record 127+ RBI in a season.

The Red Sox are 51-22 (.699) against the other four AL East teams. In the Divisional Era (since 1969), the 1998 Yankees hold the best single-season winning percentage for any AL East team within the division (.688, 33-15). The Red Sox would have to sweep the Yankees in this weekend's three-game series to top that record.

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