Sealed with a squander
As roster questions loom, bullpen fumbles late lead
The Red Sox could have finished with one last shutout. Instead, they finished with familiar questions about which middle relievers they should trust in the playoffs.
Granted, yesterday’s game didn’t mean much — that much was clear from the starting pitcher on the mound and the names in the lineup — but given a chance to finish with more wins than last season, the Red Sox instead blew a late lead and lost 4-3 in their reular-season finale against the Astros at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox finished 93-69, exactly as they did last year, and now wait until Thursday to begin the Division Series against this very same Houston team.
Yesterday’s game was a testing ground as much as anything, with manager John Farrell looking to gather last-minute information before settling on a playoff roster.
“There was some intent there, design to that,” Farrell said. “There’s a number of different scenarios still fresh in my mind and all of ours.”
Brock Holt made a strong case with a two-hit afternoon, but a series of secondary relievers blew a three-run lead in the seventh inning.
Brandon Workman put the first two runners on base, and Fernando Abad allowed singles to three of the four batters he faced. Abad failed to cover first base on one hit, then allowed a game-tying single to the next batter, likely leaving himself on the extreme fringe of playoff consideration despite his strong season numbers.
Matt Barnes cleaned up the mess, but not before allowing a go-ahead sacrifice fly. Barnes’ 12⁄3 hitless innings with four strikeouts were the strongest relief performance of the day.
“I thought (yesterday) was somewhat of an indication of that, where there was a little bit more swing and miss to his fastball,” Farrell said. “I thought he had good life through the zone, but we’ve got — fortunately for us — a deep group there that we can, like I said, find the best combination.”
Robby Scott was also effective with a perfect fifth inning, in which he retired three straight left-handed hitters.
“That was a good outing on his part,” Farrell said, “but then you’ve got to look, what is their lineup going to look like as we saw in the first two, three ballgames of this series. And is there the flexibility to carry a one-hitter type specialist. All that is being brought into this.”
Devers finishes strong
With the division clinched, the Red Sox had none of their usual top six hitters in the lineup, and ace Chris Sale skipped his scheduled start. (Farrell officially named Sale his Game 1 starter, as if there was any doubt.)
Rookie Rafael Devers delivered a two-run double into the leftfield corner from the cleanup spot. It was his 14th double and 30th RBI in 58 games since being called up in late July. He opened the season in Double A and finished ninth in total bases for the Red Sox.
Devers later scored on a passed ball to increase the lead to 3-0.
Hector Velazquez — a triumph of the international scouting department, signed this winter out of the Mexican League — capped his own debut season with four scoreless innings as the Red Sox starter. He did not allow a run in his last five big league appearances, a stretch of 11 innings with six hits and two wins.
Nunez role still uncertain
Beyond Sale, Farrell made no announcements regarding the playoff roster. He didn’t say whether Sale will come back on short rest to start Game 4, and he didn’t say who will start Game 2, though Drew Pomeranz seems the obvious choice.
Farrell said the Red Sox have noted the Astros have a losing record (21-23) against left-handed starters, which could make Eduardo Rodriguez a legitimate candidate despite his brutal start on Thursday.
The Red Sox do not have to submit a roster until Thursday morning, so they have three days to sort out the final uncertainties.
“Eduardo Nunez is probably the main one,” Farrell said, “and he took live BP (yesterday), ran the bases, take some groundball work again. We’d like to get him into a simulated game situation.”
That simulated game will happen on Monday when Nunez is scheduled to face live pitchers (including lefty Roenis Elias) at Fenway Park. Nunez will then be a part of a full-squad workout on Tuesday. He said he’s confident he’ll be healthy enough to play.
Pitching by the numbers
The Red Sox pitching staff finished with a franchise-record 1,580 strikeouts, 308 of them by Sale. That’s the third-most strikeouts in a single season in baseball history, though the top two also happened this year via Cleveland (1,614) and Houston (1,593).
The Red Sox also set a franchise record with 1,4821⁄3 innings pitched. Their 3.70 team ERA was their lowest since 1992.