Running Red Sox can’t always outrun early rotation woes

11:07 AM ET

BOSTON — Whatever you might think of John Farrell’s team — and after 22 games, we aren’t close to rendering a verdict on its status as a potential contender — this much is clear: These aren’t your father’s Boston Red Sox.

Historically built to mash, not motor, the Red Sox rank last in the American League in home runs (17) while leading the league in stolen bases (20). They have never ended a season in that state. In fact, the franchise that gave us slugging Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice and David Ortiz has led the league in steals only once, way back in 1935.

But the runnin’ Red Sox aren’t showing any sign of slowing down, especially as they prepare to renew their age-old rivalry with the New York Yankees on Friday night at Fenway Park. Not with a 90.9 percent stolen-base success rate (20-for-22), a young core led by dynamic Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, and their manager preaching such aggressiveness on the bases that Hanley Ramirez has three steals and Ortiz one.

Mookie Betts leads …

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