Henry Owens Departs Detroit With First Major League Win
It wasn’t an overpowering outing, but Red Sox rookie Henry Owens got the job done, and emerged from Sunday’s series finale opposite the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park with his first career victory since being called up to the major leagues last week. He was presented with the game ball as token of remembrance to forever commemorate the milestone of great achievement.
Much like his debut against the Yankees, Owens showed many areas that still need work, but Detroit’s batters struggled to make solid contact. Owens tossed five strong innings of three-hit baseball. The lanky 23-year-old allowed just one run, striking out two.
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Owens did struggle at times with his pitch control, walking four. He racked up 63 pitches through his first three innings of work. The changeup specialist did impressively produce 10 fly-ball outs. The Detroit lineup may be depleted with Miguel Cabrera on the shelf and Yoenis Cespedes now in New York, but it was encouraging to see five of his fly-ball outs fail to leave the infield.
“I think, probably, these first two starts looking back, I kind of can trust myself in the zone more rather than tinkering around the strike zone,” Owens said following the Sunday’s game when asked about his experience in the majors thus far.
Owens received a great deal of support from a fellow youngster on the Red Sox roster. Jackie Bradley provided the needed boost at the plate to propel Owens to victory. Bradley squared up on the baseball like we’ve never seen before, going two-for-three in the game. He cracked a home run, a triple and tallied five RBI in the contest.
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Bradley also picked up Owens in the field, turning in a fabulous over-the-shoulder running grab in the fourth inning. Owens credited Bradley with a great play when discussing his outing during a meeting with reporters.
In his debut last Tuesday, against the New York Yankees, Owens departed the contest in the sixth with a 2-1 lead. His team ultimately went on to lose the game. Hitters have had trouble getting to Owens and picking up his pitches, certainly proving his readiness to contribute at the game’s highest level.