COMMENTARY
Playing nine innings while presuming the Red Sox’ laundry cart must be exhausted …
1. This reimagined version of baseball that we’re all trying to get used to has forced us, among other things, to redefine what constitutes a quality start. The basic definition is when a starting pitcher works at least six innings and permits three or fewer earned runs. The bare minimum of that requirement results in a 4.50 ERA, so it’s not as if a quality start always stood as a direct confirmation of excellence. But in this world in which managers – and their stat-crunching overlords in the front office – get itchy to play matchups whenever a starting pitcher is on the verge of facing the order for a third time, a six-inning, three-run start in victory feels satisfying and old school in all the right ways.