Red Sox’ Ranger Suárez on dominant start: ‘Extremely pumped after that outing’
ST. LOUIS — As reporters approached Ranger Suárez’s locker for his postgame interview Saturday night at Busch Stadium, one asked how he was feeling. “Amazing,” said a smiling Suárez.
That answer was no surprise after Suárez’s first good outing in a Red Sox uniform, a dominant showing in which he held the Cardinals scoreless for six innings in a 7-1 Red Sox win . After two shortened starts against Houston and San Diego in which the lefty allowed eight earned runs and 13 hits in 8 ⅓ innings, he showed signs of why the Red Sox gave him $130 million in the offseason and led Boston to just its fifth win of the year. “Extremely pumped after that outing, but mostly because we needed the win,” Suárez said (through interpreter Daveson Perez).
“Everybody came in and did their jobs. ” Entering Saturday’s outing, the Red Sox blamed Suárez’s strange spring training build-up — which was interrupted by struggles in the World Baseball Classic — and a lack of execution for the lefty’s struggles. He threw just 76 pitches in his Red Sox debut March 30 in Houston and 75 on Sunday against San Diego.
With the offense reeling, the pressure was on Suárez to deliver, especially after Boston lost the series opener in St. Louis on Friday. He did exactly that, holding the Cardinals to three hits and striking out six (while walking two batters) in six innings.
“He moved the ball around,” manager Alex Cora said. “It seems like his arm was a lot quicker than the first two (outings). It tells me he feels better.
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