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BOSTON — Earlier this week, the Red Sox sent Payton Tolle and Connelly Early from Denver back to Boston ahead of the team’s return flight Wednesday night to keep them out of the high altitude and give them time to rest up for their starts on the upcoming homestand.
When the team charter was delayed more than five hours due to mechanical issues, it made the decision look like a stroke of genius.
Early got a late night text from a team staffer informing him of the team’s travel woes, and later, a FaceTime call from Sonny Gray. While his teammates stewed on the tarmac in Denver, Early was in his bed at home.
But with that came some responsibility, as Early felt he owed his tired teammates, low on energy, a strong performance.
“One hundred percent,” said Early. “I always want to pick up the boys when I can. They didn’t get much sleep. I wanted to come out strong and bring the energy and let them do their thing.”
Early made good on his vow, delivering six strong innings while allowing just two runs in a 6-3 Red Sox victory over the New York Yankees.
But the night began inauspiciously for the lefty, who needed 25 pitches to get through the first inning, with the Yankees using three hits to string together a run.
“They did a nice job laying off some of the off-speed stuff out of the zone,” said interim manager Chad Tracy of the New York first inning, “and when they got pitches to hit, they hit them. So to minimize the damage there (was huge).”
From there on, however, Early settled in nicely. He allowed just one more run — a solo shot from Jose Caballero in the third — over his final five innings of work. After laboring through the first and getting out of a two-out, first-and-second jam in the second, he retired 13 of the last 14 hitters he faced to claim his seventh win of the year.
It marked the second straight time in which Early overcame some early-inning struggles, having had much the same experience in Seattle last weekend.
“Similar to the last one,” said Tracy, “kind of midway through the second, it seemed like he got locked in and started getting strike one, attacking and really settled in nice. Even in games when he was going good where we talked about him and (Tolle) being young pitchers and finding ways to minimize damage early in the game and then settle.
“He’s showed the ability to do that all year. But with (New York starter Cam) Schlittler on the mound, that was very important to keep the game close and make the offense feel like they have a chance.”
Early finished with a season-high nine strikeouts, his most since he racked up 11 in his major league debut last September against the Athletics.
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