Red Sox wrap up April with sixth shutout of 2024 season

BOSTON -- Sports are simple. Score more than your opponent and you win the game.

That hasn't been too difficult for the Red Sox this season, but it's not because they send out a stout offense every night. They currently rank 12th in MLB in runs scored with 143, but a 17-run outburst against the Cubs over the weekend greatly helped that standing.

You can point squarely at Boston's exquisite and surprisingly effective starting pitchers for the team's 17-13 record just over a month into the 2024 campaign. It's easy to outscore opponents when your pitchers continually keep them scoreless.

It really hasn't mattered who has taken the mound for the Red Sox; the team's starters have delivered for Alex Cora and pitching coach Andrew Bailey. Cooper Criswell is the latest "next arm up" to enjoy success, tossing five innings of shutout baseball against San Francisco on Tuesday night, notching his second straight win after injuries forced him into the Boston rotation.

Criswell was in the running for a rotation spot throughout spring training, but ultimately started the season with Triple-A Worcester. Tuesday night was the second straight game he's gone five innings and didn't allow a run for Boston, improving Criswell's big-league record to 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA this season. 

He allowed just two hits and a walk against San Francisco. Criswell doesn't even hit the 90s on the radar gun but he fanned four and faced one batter over the minimum on Tuesday. When his night was over, Brennan Bernardino, Greg Weissert, Zack Kelly, and Justin Slatin did their part to keep the Giants off the board.

Blanking opponents has kind of been the norm for the Boston rotation this season, despite injuries sidelining Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, and Garrett Whitlock over the first month. The Red Sox rotation leads all of baseball with a 2.00 ERA, and Tuesday night was the team's MLB-leading sixth shutout of the season.

Six shutouts in 30 games, before the calendar even flipped to May. The Red Sox had just five shutouts all of last season.

Leading the charge for Boston has been Tanner Houck, who has shown shades of Pedro with a 1.60 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 41 strikeouts over his first six starts of the season. He's given Boston five quality starts so far and was on the hill for two of the team's shutouts, including a complete-game shutout against the Cleveland Guardians.

Kutter Crawford has been just as good, if not better, with his 1.35 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over his six starts. He's just 1-1 on the year, but has allowed zero earned runs in three of his starts.

It starts with throwing strikes, and the Red Sox have done plenty of that. Boston's 65.4 strike percentage ranks fourth in baseball. 

Cora and Bailey have done wonders in getting Boston pitchers to buy into Bailey's system, and it's paying off on the mound. No matter who they send out, the Red Sox feel confident they can get them outs and give them a chance to win games. 

"We expect to be consistent," Cora said after Tuesday's win. "I know that every single night, we feel very comfortable where we're going to be pitching-wise. Obviously, the numbers speak for themselves."