Steven Wright, Wade LeBlanc crash on Regression Friday

Scott Pianowski
·Fantasy analyst
Fenway is a small park, but you wouldn’t want to paint it (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Fenway is a small park, but you wouldn’t want to paint it (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

When Wade LeBlanc and Steven Wright met a week ago in Seattle, the result was a tidy 1-0 win for the Mariners. And on Friday night in Boston . . . something completely different.

It turned into Regression Night in the Back Bay, a terrible evening for both starters. LeBlanc surrendered 11 hits and six runs over his 4.2 innings, and he had the best of it. Wright was torched for 10 hits and 10 runs in 3.1 innings, including three Seattle homers.

Maybe Wright was tipping his pitch.

Comical as it sounds, Wright didn’t get a loss. The Red Sox bullpen shut things down after Wright left, while the Boston bats started ripping into Seattle relievers. The Red Sox cleaned up with a 14-10 victory, erasing what was once a 10-5 deficit. Call it the best Boston comeback over Seattle since Super Bowl 49.

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In the post-expansion era, a pitcher has allowed 10 or more runs 426 times. In 417 of those instances, his team lost the game. Vida Blue and Russ Ortiz, somehow, recorded wins on days when they yielded the 10-spot.

Wright entered with a 1.23 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over 36.2 innings (three starts, six relief appearances). You should know the knuckleball rules by now. It’s a wonderful pitch when it flutters, and it’s the all-time Jezebel when it doesn’t. There are no patterns to follow, no standard rules to adhere to. It’s perfectly understandable to see Wright the most-dropped player in Yahoo leagues Saturday morning.

LeBlanc was cruising on a 2.63 ERA and 1.10 WHIP before Friday’s mess. He’s in the midst of what still could be a career year (3.2/1.21) at age 33. Maybe this is one of those Jamie Moyer seasons. He’s been fortunate with home runs, but his FIP is a reasonable 3.76.

I don’t have the nerve to dial these guys up, but everyone’s league context is different. Do you have the stomach to hang in? Wright hosts the Angels next week, then travels to Washington. LeBlanc is at the Orioles, then back home for the Angels. Share your blueprint in the comments.

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