Cancel the Duckboats! The Red Sox Lost a Series.
Bullpen gives it up in the 8th and 9th to lose first series since June.
After winning nine series in a row, the Boston Red Sox finally lost a series to the... Athletics. Sorry, I was trying to remember if they are the Oakland, Sacramento, or Las Vegas Athletics, but all I can find is “Athletics” for now.
But therein lies the rub.
After dominating baseball for nearly a month and a half, winning 15 games in a row before dropping a couple at the end of August, including one to the A’s in Sacramento, the Sox rattled off another nine straight wins. A team that once looked dead to the world has suddenly turned itself into an 85% favorite to make the playoffs, and yet it somehow feels like the sky is falling.
There might actually be a reason for the natural pessimism of Red Sox fans to start oozing back to the surface, given the way they lost on Sunday and how some of the most important cogs in the machine have begun to falter a bit lately.
Despite managing only five hits and three runs through seven innings, the Red Sox held a slim 3-2 lead heading into the top of the eighth with Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman primed and ready after not pitching since the crazy 13-inning game on Thursday. Rumor had it that Sam Kennedy and Tom Werner were already wheeling carts of champagne into the clubhouse to celebrate Boston winning 10 consecutive series for the first time since World War II.
Unfortunately, the lockdown twins both faltered, with a little help from their friends, and the Red Sox managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
In the top of the eighth, Jeff McNeil blooped a ball just out of the reach of Sogard at third base and then stole second with one out. After Whitlock dominated Jack Wilson for a strikeout, he jumped ahead of Jonah Heim 0-2 before leaving a sinker up and away. Heim slapped it into left field. Unfortunately, Jarren Duran decided to take the scenic route, (after all it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in New England), and the ball banged off the Monster, allowing the tying run to score.
In the top of the ninth, with the game still tied, “The Cuban Missile” entered to lock things down and prepare Red Sox Nation for the expected walk-off win and a blasting of “Dirty Water.” Like the eighth inning, it started well. Two harmless fly balls to center, and it looked like Chappy was going to sweat his way back to the dugout with another scoreless inning.
Yet pinch hitter Alika Williams had other ideas. A single on a 2-2 pitch kept the Athletics’ hopes alive, and when speedster Donovan Walton entered to pinch-run, the threat became very real. It appeared to be extinguished when Chapman picked to first after Walton broke for second, but Willson Contreras’s throw sailed into the runner and past Monasterio into left field. Max Muncy, not that one, but still painful, wasted no time driving the first pitch he saw off the tin in left field to give Oakland a 4-3 lead.
Despite another valiant comeback attempt in the bottom of the ninth, Ceddanne Rafaela’s rocket line drive found the glove of an Athletics outfielder, just as Eli White’s had the day before, and Boston had lost its first series since the end of June.
Misfiring Missile
As amazing as he has been over the past year and a half, it does appear that Aroldis Chapman might finally be succumbing to Father Time.
While his velocity is still dominant by mortal standards, it has dipped from the ludicrous speed we have grown accustomed to seeing. Even more concerning has been the recent inconsistency with his command. I’m not talking about the “Nuke LaLoosh” type of control that Chapman displayed during the final years of his Yankees tenure, but it is evident that every outing seems to require a little more effort than the last.
There are rumors that he is still dealing with the hamstring issue that plagued him earlier in the season, but whatever the cause, Red Sox Nation had better hope that Andrew Bailey or perhaps the medical staff can get the guidance systems re-calibrated before there is a catastrophic misfire by the Rocket.
Dog Days Are Here
Everyone talks about the Dog Days of Summer, yet when they arrive, many fans can’t understand why their favorite players suddenly stop producing the way they had been for months.
Well, here’s a news flash. Baseball is HARD!
The lifetime averages of the top three hitters enshrined in Cooperstown are .372 for Josh Gibson, .366 for Ty Cobb, and .363 for Oscar Charleston. Even those legendary players failed in the eyes of fans nearly six and a half times out of every ten at-bats.
Even when things are going well, this game is incredibly difficult.
Now imagine you’ve been playing for nearly four months. The first three months were historically bad, and an entire region was watching and critiquing your every move. Then you put together another historic stretch, winning so consistently that the same fans who once believed you were the worst team they had ever seen now consider you the favorite to win the American League.
Oh yes... and did I forget to mention you’ve traveled more than 7,000 miles across the country, playing in everything from torrential downpours to 102-degree heat in the last month and a half?
The players are beginning to trip a little, and that’s to be expected.
Hopefully, Craig Breslow and the front office have done enough to provide this team with the depth and resources needed to weather the inevitable bumps in the road and continue their march toward the playoffs in 2026.
Is the Cavalry Almost Here?
Twitter is abuzz that Adley Rutschman’s father has purchased a ticket to Toronto to see his son play.
For those of you who are unaware, the Worcester Red Sox begin a series against the Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday, August 11... at Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts.
That means the wait for the biggest prize of the trade deadline may finally be coming to an end. While Eli White, Jake Rogers, and Erik Miller have all done their part to help the Sox since July 31, and I won’t even get into the incredible impact Curtis Mead has had, it is Adley Rutschman whom we’ve all been waiting to see.
Although no move is expected on Monday, the hope is that he’ll be ready to go on Tuesday. Then we’ll finally begin to find out whether the package Craig Breslow surrendered to acquire him will ultimately prove worthwhile.
Image Courtesy of https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2026/08/08/red-sox-athletics-recap-winning-streak/