Red Sox Drop Season-High Fifth Straight Game
Same old Red Sox Lead to Another Disappointing 5-3 Loss at the Hands of Toronto
Five losses in a row and two straight series losses after that historic run.
On Wednesday night, the Red Sox played one of their most disappointing games of the year, putting on display all of the characteristics we despised earlier in the season but thought the winning streak had exorcised from existence.
The final score of 6-4 doesn’t tell the true story of what unfolded at Rogers Centre. For the first eight innings, the Red Sox offense was putrid, managing only five hits and one run, which came on a solo home run by Willson Contreras, who before Wednesday night looked more like the corpse from Weekend at Bernie’s that everyone was dragging around trying to convince us was still alive.
Ranger Suárez went five innings and allowed only one run, but it always felt like he was living on the edge of a cliff, and we were simply waiting for the wind to blow hard enough to push him over.
For the first time since his initial call-up, Tyron Guerrero actually looked like a 35-year-old pitcher. It was obvious that the workload during the winning streak had finally caught up with him. His pitches lacked their usual late life, and Toronto took full advantage, scoring five runs, four earned, on three hits and two walks.
As has become the norm during this losing streak, the turning point was aided by a defensive miscue. Willson Contreras dropped a foul popup with two men on and nobody out that would have given Guerrero a chance to catch his breath and perhaps regroup. Instead, the tension mounted, and Kazuma Okamoto lined the very next pitch into left-center field to break the 1-1 tie and, for all intents and purposes, the spirit of the Red Sox.
In the top of the ninth, after surrendering five runs in the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox finally decided it would be a good time to score a few. The comeback ultimately fell short when Nick Sogard grounded out to end the game.
You Better Run!
We’ve all been praising the productive, complementary style of baseball that fueled the Red Sox turnaround. The use of small ball and aggressive baserunning has played to the strengths of this roster and forced opponents to react to Boston instead of the other way around.
On Wednesday, however, we witnessed a few examples of aggressive turning into reckless.
In the top of the fourth inning, with one out and the Red Sox trailing 1-0, Ceddanne Rafaela singled. With Adley Rutschman coming to the plate, it appeared Boston might finally be ready to get to Soriano. Despite being held scoreless to that point, the Sox had hit several “at ‘em” balls, and it felt like a breakout inning might be coming.
Unfortunately, Rafaela must have experienced some sort of “Duran-like” brain wave.
When a wild pitch skipped to the backstop, he attempted to go from first to third, only to be thrown out by about two feet.
Not to be outdone, and adding further evidence to yesterday’s article, Jarren Duran wasn’t about to let Rafaela corner the market on questionable baseball decisions.
To be fair, Duran’s mistake didn’t ultimately cost Boston any runs and probably went unnoticed by many fans. Still,in the top of the ninth, with one out and the Red Sox trailing by three, Duran stood on second with another runner on third. Andruw Monasterio lifted a medium-depth fly ball to right that was going to score the runner from third with ease and cut the lead to 5-3.
Yet Duran, in all his wisdom, decided it was important to tag and advance to third. The play wasn’t particularly close, but it was a decision that offered almost no reward while carrying significant risk. Ultimately, it was just not a smart baseball play!
The Honeymoon Is Over, Chad!
I’ll admit I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well this team has responded to Chad Tracy.
I liked Alex Cora and never believed he deserved as much blame as he received for the team’s early struggles. At the same time, Tracy deserves tremendous credit for keeping the wheels on the tracks during a difficult stretch while encouraging his young players and motivating his veterans.
All that said, I disagreed with several of his decisions in the sixth inning, and it might be time to start taking a closer look at the moves he does, and doesn’t make as the pressure of a playoff race intensifies.
With the score tied 1-1, number-nine hitter Nick Sogard led off the sixth with a single.
Anyone who had watched the previous four and a half games knew the Red Sox offense was sputtering. Gone were the innings featuring multiple hits and crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
With the top of the lineup due, this felt like the perfect opportunity to create something using the “aggressive” brand of baseball everyone has been praising. I’m not saying Masataka Yoshida should have been asked to bunt. I don’t know whether that’s a strength of his, and I firmly believe you should put players in positions where they can succeed.
I do know Yoshida is excellent at putting the bat on the ball. And I know for a fact he’s pretty good at hitting ground balls to second base. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to put on a hit-and-run, get the Blue Jays’ infield moving, and force them out of position.
No movement.
Yoshida struck out.
Next came Rafaela. Although he’d already collected a hit, his recent at-bats lacked the discipline he’d shown throughout most of the first half when he earned his All-Star selection. Maybe ask him to hit and run. Perhaps forcing him to let the ball travel deeper would encourage him to use the whole field.
Nope.
Ground ball to the pitcher. No movement. Force out at second. Rutschman worked a walk, but it only advanced the runner to second before Contreras grounded out.
In my opinion, it was a missed opportunity to manufacture something and put your players in positions to succeed. It’s something worth watching moving forward.
The Sky Is Falling! The Sky Is Falling!
Well, I guess that’s all a matter of perspective.
Given how the Red Sox have played over the past month and a half, combined with their current season-high five-game losing streak and the obvious fatigue showing throughout the roster, I can certainly understand why some fans believe the team is regressing back to its early May form.
Others would point out that this club looked dead in the water in May and is still sitting 4.5 games ahead of the next Wild Card contender. Maybe this is simply a bump in the road.
The former perspective generally belongs to the lifelong Red Sox fan who endured the 86-year curse and spent every Labor Day listening to Yankees fans joke that it was time to fold up both the beach chairs and the Red Sox.
The latter belongs to the modern Red Sox fan, who has known little besides championships and postseason baseball.
I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Yes, the Red Sox have looked eerily similar to the disaster that was the early part of the season. The defense has been shaky. The starting pitching has mostly held together, but the bullpen always seems to find exactly the wrong moment to make one costly mistake. The offensive approach has become “swing hard in case you hit it,” and more often than not, they don’t. Their base-running has resembled the closing credits of The Benny Hill Show more than a display of athletic brilliance.
Even with all of that, this team still shows the resilience that fueled the winning streak. They’ve now lost five consecutive games, but in every one of those losses, they have brought at least the tying run to the plate in their final at-bat.
Despite the season’s longest losing streak, Boston remains 4.5 games ahead of the final Wild Card challenger while sitting five games behind the teams above them.
I have to admit, though, I’m becoming concerned.
The club is showing signs of exhaustion throughout the roster, and with the news that Garrett Whitlock is dealing with arm issues, the strain on the bullpen is only going to increase.
With the next day off still a week away, I can’t help but wonder if someone can channel their inner Crash Davis and figure out a way to manufacture a rain-out. This team could use a mental health day.
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