Red Sox
The Red Sox lost their third straight game on Saturday, allowing the Minnesota Twins to win their twelfth straight game.
All three losses were winnable games for Boston (3-1, 5-2, 3-1). His pitching continued to be hitless in 34 games; Meanwhile, his batsmen are still yet to seek out consistency on the sphere.
Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Twins was no different. The Red Sox handed out five relievers (Brennan Bernardino, Greg Weissert, Cam Booser, Justin Slaten and Chase Anderson) of their final bullpen game as injuries decimated their starting rotation. However, their replacements largely kept Minnesota's red-hot lineup in check, something that might have been unimaginable for Boston in a bullpen game last season.
Manager Alex Cora praised the Red Sox bullpen for limiting the damage despite the loss.
“They did a good job. They did,” Cora said after the game. “Overall, that’s why I’m doing well. We will pitch. If we continue like this, we know the offense will wake up and we will score runs. It just so happens that we lost the first two.”
Although these five hurlers only allowed two earned runs (three total), Boston's lineup didn’t rating runs despite collecting eight hits and three walks. The team's only run was scored on a single in the primary inning by Wilyer Abreu. After that, there was radio silence from Boston's hitters.
“We didn’t do much offensively all night,” Cora said. “We were brought to the point. Something we need to make adjustments to. … We showed some good shots, sometimes we applied pressure, but not enough. We had chances.”
Of the eight Red Sox runners still on base in Saturday's contest, three of them were stranded by Rafael Devers in the underside of the seventh inning. A bases-loaded single likely would have tied the sport at three runs apiece, as Boston trailed 3-1 on the time. Instead, a hitless day for Devers essentially cemented a Red Sox defeat.
During the Red Sox's three-game losing streak, they left 19 runners on base while also collecting 16 hits and nine walks. As Cora said, the offense will “wake up” sooner or later. But can it stay up and find consistency despite countless injuries?
At some point, Boston's pitching has to return. Their team ERA of two.62 stays the bottom in all of MLB. The Red Sox hitters must make the most of the run prevention unit behind them while they’ll because there's no guarantee it can last 162 games.
image credit : www.boston.com