Ex-Red Sox pitcher flirts with perfect game amid dominant stretch originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Eduardo Rodriguez has found his groove again, it appears.
The former Boston Red Sox pitcher has been up-and-down with the Tigers since signing a five-year, $77 million contract with Detroit in 2021. He took an unexpected three-month hiatus during the 2022 season and allowed seven earned runs combined in his first two starts of 2023.
Rodriguez has been lights-out since then, however, and was particularly dominant Sunday afternoon.
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The 30-year-old left-hander retired the first 20 batters he faced against the Baltimore Orioles, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning before allowing a Ryan Mountcastle single with two outs.
Rodriguez retired the next batter he faced, finishing the day with zero runs allowed on one hit with six strikeouts and zero walks over seven brilliant innings.
While Detroit’s offense failed to hold up its end of the bargain — the Tigers lost 2-1 in 10 innings — the team has to be pleased with Rodriguez, who has been terrific in his last two starts.
Rodriguez has allowed just one run in his last three outings, lowering his ERA from 6.30 to 2.32 in the process.
You could argue the Red Sox made the right call letting Rodriguez walk in free agency, but considering they currently rank 26th in baseball in team ERA, they could use some arms like E-Rod in their rotation.