No relief in sight this time
Normally reliable bullpen implodes in 8th, Sox lose
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thirty times this season, the Red Sox have carried a lead into the eighth inning. Twenty-nine times, they’ve held on to win.
Yesterday was the exception.
Six outs away from a strong finish to a long road trip, the Sox turned to two of their most trusted relievers. Neither one recorded an out. Instead, they combined to walk the bases loaded ahead of the first grand slam of Salvador Perez’ career.
The stunning turn of events left the Red Sox with a 6-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals in their series finale at Kauffman Stadium, turning a pretty good eight-game road trip into a break-even disappointment.
“This one kind of stings,” manager John Farrell said. “Because that group (of relievers) has been so good, so consistent, for a better part of the whole, entire season.”
The Red Sox went 4-4 on the three-city trip, splitting two games with the lowly Phillies in Philadelphia, taking 2-of-3 in Houston from the American League-best Astros, then dropping 2-of-3 to the Royals.
Before last night’s eighth inning, the stars were aligned for a feelgood finish. The Sox had taken sole possession of first place in the AL East the night before, and yesterday held a 4-2 lead in the eighth with their late-inning relievers rested and ready.
Matt Barnes walked the first two batters in the eighth, then Robby Scott came on to load the bases with the third walk. At the conclusion of a nine-pitch showdown with Perez, Scott served up the grand slam.
“It comes down to: I’ve got to do better,” Scott said.
Farrell said he did not consider calling on Heath Hembree to face Perez for a righty-on-righty matchup because nearly all of Perez’ power has come against right-handers this season. The reverse splits actually favored Scott.
The option available to Farrell was closer Craig Kimbrel, who hadn’t pitched since Sunday in Houston and three times already this season had entered a game in the eighth to hold a narrow lead.
“Given the workload that (Kimbrel) went through, what he was feeling coming out of those three particular appearances, that wasn’t something that we looked to entertain,” Farrell said.
Until the eighth, this one shaped up to be another strong win for Drew Pomeranz, who has quietly become a source of stability in an inconsistent rotation while posting a 3.00 ERA in his past seven starts. He allowed the Royals two runs in 61⁄ innings on six hits and a walk 3 while striking out five.
Leadoff doubles led to runs in the second and third innings and a 2-0 deficit, but Pomeranz settled in and the offense rallied.
Pomeranz has pitched into the seventh inning in back-to-back starts to provide some of the distance that too often has eluded him this year.
“I felt like I was attacking guys and trying to stay in the zone and make pitches,” Pomeranz said. “Trying not to get all those foul balls and waste pitches so I can stay in the game longer.”
Joe Kelly allowed a walk that loaded the bases in the seventh but recorded the final two outs in the seventh.
With by far the fewest home runs in the AL, the Red Sox typically have to manufacture runs, but Andrew Benintendi and Xander Bogaerts opened the fourth inning with backto-back homers off Ian Kennedy.
The home run was the third in four days for Bogaerts, who entered Sunday with two for the season. For Benintendi, homer No. 10 left him trailing only Mookie Betts’ 12 for the team lead.
In the fifth inning, the Sox took the lead with help from the Kansas City defense. In addition to two errors, the two-run frame included a Christian Vazquez single and Betts sacrifice fly.
When Pomeranz got into the seventh with a rested bullpen, the game seemed to be playing to the Red Sox’ strength, but this series was not a high-water mark for the bullpen — the relievers have five losses this year, two against the Royals this week — and that eighth inning was perhaps its worst this season.
“It’s certainly not a trend,” Farrell said. “That isn’t something we have dealt with very often, if at all, particularly three consecutive walks to load the bases. That’s not who this pitching staff has shown to be. On a day when you’ve got just a little bit of a two-run breather, it ends up looming large.”