BOSTON — It had been 766 days since James Paxton last took the mound in a major-league start.
He exited the game that day for the Seattle Mariners on April 6, 2021, after just 24 pitches, needing Tommy John surgery the next week.
A lot has happened between then and now: signing a deal with the Red Sox; working his way back last summer, only to leave his first minor-league rehab start with a lat strain; then building back up in spring training, only to exit his first start with a hamstring strain. The setbacks have been painful, but Paxton kept pushing.
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So, in many ways, Friday was a new beginning, and Paxton acknowledged as much.
“Honestly, it kind of felt like my debut all over again after being so long,” Paxton said. “All those emotions — you’re nervous, you’re excited, all that. I just focused on getting ready for the game with everything I have.”
When he finally took the mound at Fenway Park, the veteran lefty looked dominant with a fastball that topped out at 98 mph and registered 12 swings-and-misses. He pitched five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out nine. The only damage on his line came from a two-run homer off the bat of Nolan Arenado in the first inning.
The Red Sox bullpen, though, particularly its two best relievers, Josh Winckowski and Kenley Jansen, had rare off nights, and the Red Sox fell 8-6 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Paxton didn’t pick up the win, but the night offered a triumphant return for the 34-year-old and gave the Red Sox another veteran starter for the rotation. There surely will be ups and downs as he returns to his first full season since 2019, but if Paxton can provide even some of what he offered Friday, it will only help solidify Boston’s starting pitching.
After the two-run first inning, Paxton maneuvered through the Cardinals’ lineup relying heavily on his four-seamer (61 percent of his pitches) before eventually mixing in more of his cutter and curveball as he made his way through St. Louis’ lineup a second time. He worked out of a jam in the third with two runners on by getting Juan Yepez to strike out swinging on a 96 mph fastball. In the fourth, he struck out the side on 16 pitches, hitting 97-98 mph on each strikeout pitch.
“He looked like the guy that was pitching in Seattle a while ago,” manager Alex Cora said, referring to Paxton’s first stint in Seattle from 2013 to 2018, during which he threw a no-hitter. “The fastball was playing, the breaking ball got better through the outing, the cutter — he dotted a few of those. He was in control.”
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Paxton finished the fifth inning by getting Paul Goldschmidt, who recorded two of the four hits off Paxton, to strike out swinging on a cutter.
“That was fun. That was fun to watch,” said Cora, who didn’t contemplate leaving Paxton in for another inning.
“After all that stuff that happened, you’ve got to err on the safe side, take care of him,” Cora said. “If we do that, hopefully he can take care of us in the long run.”
Paxton smiled after the game as he recapped the emotions of the outing.
“I felt like myself out there,” he said. “It was really nice to be pitching in a big-league stadium again with all the adrenaline. The fans were fantastic out there. Just had a lot of fun.”
The Red Sox offense gave him a chance for a win. They tied the score in the bottom of the fourth on Jarren Duran’s two-run single. Triston Casas hit a hard shot down the right-field line that likely would have scored Duran with a go-ahead run, but the ball attendant, thinking it was foul, picked up the ball, making it a ground-rule double and stopping Duran at third.
In the bottom of the fifth, Enmanuel Valdez and Connor Wong hit back-to-back homers from the eighth and ninth spots in the lineup, giving the Red Sox a 4-2 lead and putting Paxton in line for the win.
Another 1-2-3 inning for Paxton, strikes outs out Edman and Goldschmidt to end the fifth. So far, 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. 87 pitches, 58 strikes, 12 swing/miss. Winckowski is warming so that might be it for Paxton at 87 pitches
— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) May 13, 2023
But Winckowski took over for Paxton in the sixth and had his worst outing of the year. Entering the game, he’d posted a 1.50 ERA through 14 appearances. He allowed a solo homer to the first batter he faced, Willson Contreras, then surrendered three consecutive hits to load the bases. A double play got him two outs, but the tying run scored. Richard Bleier took over and allowed a double to score the go-ahead run.
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The Red Sox offense once again battled back in the eighth. After Masataka Yoshida and Justin Turner drew consecutive walks to open the inning, Rafael Devers hit a ground-rule double to the triangle in center to tie the score. Bobby Dalbec pinch ran for Turner at third and scored the go-ahead run when pinch hitter Raimel Tapia slapped a grounder to second that Tommy Edman didn’t field cleanly.
With a 6-5 lead in the ninth, Jansen took the mound. But after an emotional day in Atlanta on Wednesday following his 400th save, Jansen struggled with his command. He faced four batters and didn’t record an out, allowing a leadoff walk followed by a score-tying single, a go-ahead homer and then a double. Cora lifted him after 21 pitches.
Ryan Brasier finished the ninth by getting Goldschmidt to strike out and Contreras to ground out with Edman at second. Arenado singled to left, but Yoshida threw out his first runner at home this season with an on-target throw.
Jansen wouldn’t use coming down from the high of his 400th save as an excuse.
“I got my ass whupped, that’s it,” he said, noting the back spasms he suffered a couple of weeks ago did not affect him Friday.
He watched video after he was removed from the game and noticed his front side was opening too much. He has a plan to fix the issue in the coming days.
Paxton’s impressive return to the mound offered some solace on an otherwise tough night.
“I’m not going to lie: Watching him pitch today gave me goose bumps,” Jansen said. “He looked sharp, so the first thing I did was give him a hug and tell him welcome back. He’s going to be a huge part of us, so just feel good about that, continue to build from this one and be ready for the next.”
(Photo of James Paxton: Maddie Malhotra / Boston Red Sox / Getty Images)
Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @jcmccaffrey
