David Price pitches the Red Sox back into first place

Now this is the David Price for whom the Red Sox paid $217 million, the ace Boston thought could lead it back to the World Series.

This David Price, he threw eight shutout innings on Monday night as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2. Price allowed just two hits and looked every bit like the front-of-the-rotation horse that Boston needed.

And with that, the Red Sox tied the idle Toronto Blue Jays atop the AL East. The Red Sox hadn’t had a share of first place in the AL East since July 20. it’s a race that figures to go to the wire at this point, with the Orioles also just two games back.

There’s an added layer of subtext when Price returns to Tropicana Field, where he started his career with the Rays and established himself as one of the top arms in the game. He looked that way on this night too, striking out eight en route to his 12th win of the season. It hasn’t been a stellar year for Price, but he’s won his last three starts and he’s managed to bring his ERA down from 4.88 at the start of June to 4.00 now.

 

Afterward, Price told reporters, including Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe:

“I always want to go a good way [into games],” he said. “Good things aren’t always going to happen. But today I had a lot of good things happen.”

It helped that Price got the support of rookie Andrew Benintendi in the eighth inning. Benintendi stole a two-run homer off the bat of Steven Souza Jr. that would have made the score 3-2 at the time.