Tough day for Red Sox defense to rest
Sloppy fielding contributes to loss in home opener
For all the emphasis the Red Sox have placed on becoming a better defensive team, the club continues to be plagued by sloppy play in the field.
Those ill-timed miscues reared their ugly head again in Tuesday’s home opener, and they were among the deciding factors in Boston’s 7-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
“It wasn’t a good game,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We’re going to have some of those, we have some young guys playing, it’s just too bad it happened today.”
The Red Sox committed two errors and probably deserved at least two more, with the most costly sequence coming in top of the fourth inning. With Brayan Bello in full control after getting two quick outs, Rafael Devers booted a hard grounder to third and Jarren Duran lost a line drive in the sun out in left field.
Either play would have ended the inning, but the Orioles immediately made the Red Sox pay, with Colton Cowser cashing in with a two-run double to put his club up 3-1.
That was all the daylight Orioles ace Corbin Burnes needed.
Baltimore’s new ace showed why he’s an early favorite for the American League Cy Young Award, dicing up the Red Sox lineup over seven dominant innings. He allowed just one run on two hits with two walks and six strikeouts, and he retired 16 out of 17 Red Sox batters between the second and seventh innings.
All told, Orioles pitchers retired the last 18 Red Sox batters of the game.
Bello, meanwhile, finished with three runs (one earned) allowed over 5.1 innings, giving up four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in the process. He wasn’t dominant, but he pitched well enough to keep pace and with more help from his defense likely would have walked off the mound with the game still tied.
“They’re a very good team,” said Bello via translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “I was trying to be aggressive but when you give extra outs to them it’s very hard.”
Though Boston couldn’t muster much offense against Burnes, the damage they did was at least loud. Having already mashed five home runs through Boston’s first 10 games on the road, Tyler O’Neill continued his rampage by crushing a solo home run in the bottom of the first.
The homer cleared the Green Monster and sailed 413 feet onto the roof of a Lansdowne Street parking garage, smashing the windshield of an unsuspecting red SUV.
Triston Casas followed O’Neill’s homer with a single, but that was Boston’s last hit for the rest of the game.
Meanwhile, the defense didn’t get any better after Bello left.
The Red Sox shot themselves in the foot again in the seventh when Gunnar Henderson doubled with two outs, took advantage of Devers playing far off the bag to swipe third base, and scored on an Adley Rutschman RBI single. Then shortstop David Hamilton committed an error in the eighth, which helped lead to a Cowser sacrifice fly.
Left-hander Joely Rodriguez pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Josh Winckowski allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits over 2.2 innings, including RBI singles to Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins in the bottom of the ninth. He threw 65 pitches, an indication he’s being stretched out to potentially move into the starting rotation following Nick Pivetta’s injury.
Cowser, the Orioles rookie, led Baltimore at the plate by going 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a careerhigh four RBI.
The Red Sox (7-4) will look to bounce back Wednesday night when Kutter Crawford (0-0, 0.84 ERA) is expected to take the mound against Orioles left-hander Cole Irvin (0-1, 7.20). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
Emotional Story
Prior to first pitch, the Red Sox confirmed Trevor Story will undergo seasonending surgery. Speaking to reporters following the game, Story was overcome with emotion trying to put into words how difficult this latest setback has been.
“I don’t really understand it,” Story said. “I know it’s a time for me to lean into my faith and I know I’m where I’m supposed to be, but the plan, God’s plan, sometimes we don’t like it or in the moment it doesn’t seem right at all, but I’ll continue to have that faith and that’s what’s going to get me through.”
Story knew right away that his injury was bad. He said he heard the shoulder pop out and “some other things too,” and that the pain he felt was unlike anything he’d experienced before. While he tried to be optimistic in the moment, he’s now faced with yet another long recovery and the prospect of a third straight season derailed by injury.
As he tried to put his feelings into words, Story began to break down and could barely get his thoughts out.
“The frustration of battling this injury thing over the last few years. It’s something I’ve hung my hat on in my career, being able to play and post, but that hasn’t been the case the last couple of years,” Story said. “I just love this game, man. I put my heart and soul into it. I just feel bad.”
Difficult as this latest setback has been, Story also acknowledged there are others who have it worse, most notably teammate Liam Hendriks, who has beaten cancer and undergone Tommy John surgery in the past two years. Once the initial shock wears off Story says he knows he’ll find it within himself to make it back.
“I’ll find the strength to do it again. I did it last year, I’ve done it recently. Missing time is never easy but I don’t want people to feel sorry for me,” Story said. “It’s part of the game. You don’t have to look far in this clubhouse to get some perspective. You look at Liam and you look at this situation. I’m dealing with something a lot less than what he’s been through, and I get to spend more time with my kids.”
Story will fly to Los Angeles later this week and undergo surgery on Friday.