Sox sputter to 4th straight loss
Starters giving them no chance
Make it four games in a row that Red Sox pitchers have allowed at least seven runs.
The Sox took another one on the chin Tuesday, when Matt Hall continued the run of poor starting pitching and the Sox lost to the Mets, 8-3.
They become the third team in the big leagues to lose four games, joining the defending World Series champion Nationals and the Reds.
Here are the takeaways:
1. No fun hitting when down early every night.
The moment of the game was undoubtedly a full-count, basesloaded, nobody-out pitch from Mets’ rookie starter David Peterson against J.D. Martinez.
The Sox were down 3-0 at that point thanks to Hall’s spotty performance, the fourth straight game the Sox got nothing from their starting pitcher. The pressure on Martinez could be felt through the television screen.
Peterson, making his big league debut, threw a slider across the heart of the plate and Martinez took a big cut, whiffing through the pitch as it finished well inside of the strike zone.
The Sox ended up getting just one run out of the inning due to a base-running mistake by Andrew Benintendi and never had another chance to get back into it.
How tough is it to swing the bats when your team is down multiple runs early in the game every night?
“Man, it’s rough bro, to be honest,” Xander Bogaerts said on Monday night. “(Expletive), it’s tough. It’s tough. Obviously it’s not just like one run. It’s a couple of runs and then they just find a way to add on before we can get something going … This team is just built so good offensively. We proved that we can come back. We’re capable of doing that. But I mean, if you’ve got to score eight, nine, 10 runs every game, I think honestly it’s a little tough.”
Hall, acquired from the Tigers for a minor league catcher in January, looked OK with a sharp curveball and a fastball that was useful, but gave up some untimely hits. He finished 2 M innings by allowing three hits, two walks and three runs while striking out three.
2. Peraza and Pillar are looking like nice pickups.
Hitting leadoff based on the recommendations of the analytics team in the front office, Peraza continued his nice start to the season with a 2-for-4 game. He’s hitting .333 to start the season.
The 26-year-old infielder was released by the Reds after hitting .273 with a .686 OPS in parts of five seasons.
He was signed by the Sox to replace Brock Holt as the utility man and will make $3 million in 2020. He’s arbitration eligible in 2021 if the Sox choose to keep him around.
Pillar has been hot, too. He went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and is hitting .583 this season.
A defensive star for a long time with the Blue Jays, Pillar has shown a nice opposite-field stroke since getting traded to the Giants early last year. He hit .264 with a .735 OPS with the Giants and earned a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Sox this season. He’ll be a free agent after the year.
3. Brice and Brewer actually looked good.
While the lefties have struggled, the Sox had a couple of strong showings from their right-handed relievers on Tuesday.
Brice, acquired from the Marlins this offseason, is showing a deceptive motion from a low arm slot. He struck out two in 1 M innings, but got hurt by a two-run homer by J.D. Davis on a nice pitch that Davis barely got enough of. The ball was fading as it plunked Pesky’s Pole for a two-run shot.
Brewer had his 95-mph fastball and sharp breaking ball working as he struck out four in 2 M scoreless innings.
Brewer could be a nice piece in the ‘pen after posting a 4.12 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 54 innings last year.