Last 5 Seasons Red Sox's ERA Was Below 3.75 After 13 Games: 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2021

Tonight's home game against the White Sox has been postponed because snow is expected in Boston. It has been rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

The Red Sox (9-4) are the first team in major league history to begin a season with three losses followed by nine wins. (The 1895 Cleveland Spiders and 1991 Seattle Mariners each began a season with 3+ losses and then won 8+ games.

2021 is the 10th season in which the Red Sox have won at least nine of their first 12 games: 1904 (10-2), 1918 (10-2), 1920 (10-2), 1939 (9-3), 1946 (9-3), 1952 (10-2), 1978 (9-3), 1993 (9-3), and 2018 (10-2). It's also only the third season the team has started out 6-0 on the road: 1946 (7-0) and 2002 (8-0).

Last year the Red Sox won five games in which they trailed in the fifth inning or later. They already have five such wins this year and have come from behind in six of their nine wins. The Red Sox have won two games this season when trailing after eight innings, after having only one in 2020.

During the winning streak, Rafael Devers homered in four straight games. He was hitless in yesterday's loss, but in the six games before that, he hit .417 and slugged 1.083.

During the nine-game winning streak, the Red Sox averaged 7.4 runs per game and batted .319 with a .922 OPS. Overall, the Red Sox lead the AL in runs scored (75, tied with the Dodgers and Reds for most in MLB), doubles (34), batting average (.273), and on-base percentage (.337). They are second in slugging percentage (.456) and OPS (.792).

Boston pitchers allowed only nine runs in a four-game sweep of the Twins. They have allowed three earned runs or fewer in 10 of their 13 games. Boston's starters have pitched five or more innings in 12 of 13 games, including the last 10. The Red Sox are 6th in the AL (11th in MLB) with a 3.56 ERA. The last four seasons in which the Red Sox had a team ERA of 3.75 or lower through 13 games were 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018.

Xander Bogaerts made his 908th start at shortstop on Thursday. Only Everett Scott (1,081), Rick Burleson (987), and Nomar Garciaparra (951) have more starts at shortstop for the Red Sox.

And:

Joel Sherman, Post:

What are the Yankees good at?

They are good when Gerrit Cole starts. They are good in the bullpen. And they are good at …

OK, let's get back to that in a bit. Because usually we would include power.

For now, maybe the question should be: Are the Yankees good?

Of course they are, right? . . . 

Besides, this is just two weeks. Just a dozen games. . . .

But . . .

When they don't [hit home runs], the Yanks seem ordinary — or worse. What they don't do well — namely field or offer a strong rotation behind Cole — is exposed when the Yanks do not compensate with multi-run homers, in particular.

The 2021 Yanks are 1-6 when they score four or fewer runs . . . In four of the six losses, they failed to hit a homer.

A sleep-walking offensive opening to this season followed a somnolent spring training that was dismissed because it was spring and these are the Yankees.

But what if these are the Yankees? The early-season trends are alarming. . . . The team is constituted in a certain way, and being 23rd in slugging percentage is not it. . . . 

[T]he 2021 Yanks have a 48 percent ground-ball rate. That is the fourth-highest mark in the majors. In the 20 years FanGraphs has charted this stat, 2021 is the Yankees' highest percentage of grounders and second-lowest fly-ball rate (34.1). . . . Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton [have] hit into seven of the Yankees' AL-leading 15 double plays. . . .

What are the Yankees good at? Yep, there's Cole — thus, any injury to him would be devastating. Their relief is good . . . but worse if the starters do not begin compiling more innings to avoid pen overexposure and wear and tear.

Normally, next would come power bats. So far, that has not been true.