About 30 minutes before the 2025 trade deadline's end, Boston Red Sox fans were duped by some hasty Tweets, and briefly believed they had landed Joe Ryan from the Minnesota Twins. Their ecstasy was fleeting, as the real report that the Sox had traded for longtime Los Angeles Dodger Dustin May came in and took the wind out of everyone's sails.
But it only took two outings for May to post an ace-like performance. May showed Boston what he's capable of against the Houston Astros on August 12 after he went six shutout innings with eight strikeouts. Houston collected five hits off him, but May met it with a timely strikeout or flyout each time.
May's fastball velocity was a tick higher than average and he upped his sinker and sweeper usage from his first Red Sox start to find an ideal mix. May delivered at just the right time, as the Red Sox were in danger of falling into a four-game skid for the first time since the last weeks of June (subscription required).
May had a 4.93 ERA on the season before his start against the recently surging Astros. He's now posted a 4.67 ERA with 109 strikeouts and 45 walks in 113.2 frames across 21 games, and a 2.79 ERA in his two starts with the Sox.
Dustin May gets Red Sox back on track after three-game skid, gets revenge on trade deadline narratives
🗣️🗣️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/1B7LuCxlAg
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 13, 2025
Boston's usual workhorses struggled on the road trip to San Diego and Houston. Lucas Giolito on August 9 only went 4.2 innings against the Padres and gave up four runs on five hits and six walks, and Bello followed with a 5.2-inning, five-run performance to close out the series. The Sox hoped Crochet would turn the page and set them right in Houston, but he let up five runs for the second time all year. May was there to stop the bleeding and crush the skid for Red Sox starters.
Bello, Crochet and Giolito's struggles were even more unexpected after Walker Buehler, another former Dodger in the rotation, started the road trip off right. He didn't allow a run over six innings for his second scoreless outing of the year (although his first was only 2.1 innings long, as he was ejected from that game).
The Red Sox didn't bring in another frontline starter at the trade deadline, but they had Bello and Giolito to fall back on. They faltered for the first time in months, but it didn't take an ace to fix. May may not have been the pitching addition Boston hoped for, but his gritty outing against the Astros showed he can meet the moment when it counts, and that's the mark of a competitor.