Sox: More of the same
Losing cycle continues
The Red Sox starting pitcher was horrible and the bullpen was one reliever short.
Same as it was one day earlier.
Same as it’s been all year.
ANGELS 5 RED SOX 4
The endless cycle of disappointment continued yesterday, as this poorly put together Red Sox team took yet another blown save, its MLB-leading 22nd of the year, in a mind-numbing 5-4 loss to the Angels.
“Today I felt that we did a few things as a group we don’t usually do,” manager Alex Cora said.
After the Sox went tradeless on the day of the deadline, Cora said it would all be OK if the team won every series left on the schedule.
Since then, the Sox were swept by the Yankees, split a series with the Royals (it should’ve been a series win had Nathan Eovaldi not blown the save and rain caused the game to be suspended) and then split a series with an Angels team that’s due to miss the playoffs for the sixth straight season.
The Sox are now 7½ games back of the second wild card spot with 42 games to play.
“We’ve been talking about it all year, we’ve been inconsistent,” Cora said. “That way, it’s tough to make it to the playoffs.”
They’ve given fans little reason to be hopeful of a turnaround and now will hold their breath until Cora reveals his secret plan to save the starting rotation down the home stretch.
Andrew Cashner submitted yet another game-losing effort, his worst yet. He lasted just 51 pitches before Cora wisely pulled the plug on Cashner’s start, and maybe his tenure with the Red Sox.
How can they let him take the mound again?
He threw just 24 strikes, was wild and ineffective and hasn’t fooled anybody in six starts since he was acquired from the Orioles. He has an 8.02 ERA.
“It’s been frustrating since the Yankees game but there is still a lot of season left,” he said. “I think I might maybe have eight starts left. Just put this behind me and just keep looking forward, keep working with Dana, get back on track and give us a chance to where we want to go.”
Cashner left with a 3-0 deficit and Josh Taylor saved him with a one-pitch out to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Cora’s bullpen has about enough gas to be useful every other day. Saturday was not one of those days, as Hector Velazquez was summoned as a metaphorical surrender flag in the 12-4 loss.
Sunday looked like the bullpen’s day for a little while, at least.
Taylor struck out five in 2⅓ strong innings. Marcus Waldnen and Eovaldi impressed, each throwing a scoreless inning to get it to the seventh. Eovaldi, who threw two innings on Friday and had Saturday off, was spotting 99-mph fastballs in a powerful inning, but Cora chose to replace him with Matt Barnes to face the heart of the order in the seventh.
Barnes hadn’t pitched in five days and has thrown just three times this month.
He came up big in the seventh, notably striking out Mike Trout in a silly at-bat. But Barnes got away with a 98-mph strikeout down the middle that Trout swung right through.
The next inning, Barnes returned and made the same mistake to Kole Calhoun. This time, he paid for it as Kalhoun hammered it into the Red Sox’ bullpen for the game-tying run.
“Yesterday was a tough day, today was a tough day,” Barnes said. “It’s one of those things, when you win the first two games of the series, you’ve got to find a way to win the series itself. Definitely frustrating.”
The game was yet another one of missed opportunities for a Red Sox team that loaded the bases twice and came up with only two runs in those spots.
Finally out of reliable arms after Brandon Workman pitched two innings, Cora turned to Ryan Weber, who predictably allowed the game-winning run to score on an RBI single in the 10th.
Rafael Devers was caught stealing third with one out in the first inning and Mookie Betts, used as a pinch runner for Mitch Moreland in the eighth, was caught stealing second with one out.
“I feel as a group we, I don’t want to say we pressured, but we did some stuff that we shouldn’t do and probably trying to make stuff happen today,” Cora said.
The Sox fell to 62-58 with three games against the Indians beginning today.
“We’ve got a good team,” Barnes said. “We really do. Regardless of what records say and everything else says, everybody in this clubhouse is incredibly talented, and it’s a close group of guys that’s done something special together before. We are by no means out of this thing, and gotta go back and start tomorrow.”