Boston Red Sox
Early’s stellar start snapped Tampa Bay’s seven-game winning streak.
Connelly Early tossed his second career shutout Friday night, his first since his MLB debut in 2025. Barry Chin/Globe Staff
After Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Connelly Early’s last start against the Detroit Tigers, he said something felt off.
He didn’t pinpoint what exactly felt off. The 24-year-old went just four innings and allowed five earned runs in what marked his career-worst start last Saturday since making his MLB debut last year, so something wasn’t right.
Early appears to have gotten right over the last six days. In his next outing, he tossed the strongest start of his young major-league career.
The left-hander threw a career-high seven innings against the Tampa Bay Rays Friday night, which snapped their seven-game winning streak. Early shut out the visiting team on 96 pitches (70 strikes). Friday was his second career shutout, his first since his debut.
He allowed four hits, one walk and hit by pitch apiece, collected eight whiffs and strikeouts each in his third win of the season.
Early started strong by posting a clean first inning, something he had failed to do his last time out. His only messy frame came in the third when he loaded the bases with nobody out and the game in a scoreless tie. He quickly got out of the jam by way of a strikeout and a cleanly fielded double play behind him.
Early said postgame that the inning-ending double play, fielded by Caleb Durbin, Marcelo Mayer, and Willson Contreras, was a critical moment in the contest.
“Huge double play,” Early told reporters. “I think from that moment, we had all the momentum. Saw it in the bats, saw it in the rest of the game and how I pitched, and then obviously how [Garrett Whitlock] and [Aroldis Chapman] handled business after that.
“To get out of that with no runs allowed is huge. Big rush of adrenaline, and excited to watch the offense go out after that.”
Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy echoed a similar sentiment, calling the double play a “turning point.”
“We won the game in the third inning – I wouldn’t say we won the game, but that saved the game, because that was a really, really bad spot,” Tracy said. “It was the turning point in the game.”
Early was excellent the rest of the way, setting up for Whitlock in the eighth and Chapman in the ninth to put the game away.
In comparison to last week when he felt off, Early said he felt great in what was his longest outing with Boston. His velocity even climbed as the game went on, a sign that things were working right for the southpaw.
“Felt a little bit slower at the start of the game, but I felt very in control of the game,” Early said. “And then toward the later innings I’m able to let it fly a little bit more.”
Tracy made note of Early’s uptick in velocity in later innings, too, and had high praise for the youngster’s performance.
“He was incredible,” Tracy said. “He was controlling counts, ahead (in counts).
“He leaves some in the tank and he starts to get stronger as the game goes on. You’re seeing a lot of 92s, 93s, and then you get to the end there and you’re seeing 96s. He had plenty in the tank left, and the strikeouts started to pile up more as the outing went along, so just a really, really good outing. … It was outstanding.”
The Red Sox’ starting rotation has been better as of late, but it got off to a rocky start in April. Several members of the rotation have also been injured, namely ace Garrett Crochet, so having a reliable arm in Early to lean on this season has been huge for Boston.
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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