Red Sox reactions: Home struggles continue in loss to Phillies
· Yahoo Sports
BOSTON — Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 2-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway
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1) The Red Sox’ rough homestand continued Tuesday with yet another loss, 2-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning and didn’t score again, but didn’t have to as the Red Sox were blanked until the seventh, dropping their third game in four tries since returning home to Fenway. The Red Sox had the potential tying run at third in the eighth after Jarren Duran stole second and advanced to third on an error. But Mickey Gasper, getting a second straight start, went down swinging for the third out. Another opportunity was wasted in the ninth, with two on and one out.
2) The game marked the 11th time in 41 games that the Red Sox have been held to either one or no runs in a game. That, obviously, is an issue. No matter how good the pitching is, you’re not giving yourself a chance to win when you don’t score more than a run in more than a quarter of your games. The offense has been especially bad at home, too, just one of many reasons they’re a mere 7-13 at Fenway to date this season. The best chance came in the seventh when, after a leadoff single from Gasper, Wilyer Abreu drove a pitch to the warning track in front of the visitor’s bullpen, a belt that would have been out in all of the 29 MLB ballparks — but not the one that mattered. Two more singles helped produce a run, but they stranded two at the end of the inning.
3) Being shut out for more than half the game is one thing. But the Red Sox were, at times, making things easy on Phillies ace Zack Wheeler. Wheeler needed just 36 pitches through the first four innings. It helped that the Sox hit into double plays in both the second and third innings, but even allowing for that, there wasn’t much evidence of the lineup making Wheeler work. Nine pitches per inning, and Wheeler didn’t break a sweat halfway through. He finished with 87 pitches total over 7.1 innings.
4) Each game seems to bring with it more frustration for shortstop Trevor Story, who was hitless in his first two trips and dipped back down below the infamous Mendoza (.200) line before lifting himself above the mark with a single in the seventh. Story — and the Red Sox – have been through this before, of course, as the veteran slumped mightily in May last year. But a year ago, Story had a relatively good April; this year, that isn’t the case. The Sox could sit Story, and perhaps shift Marcelo Mayer over to short. But that would require either moving Ceddanne Rafaela to the infield, or playing someone like Andruw Monestario every day.
5) On the bright side, whatever issues were dogging Brayan Bello appear to have been corrected. After allowing a run on two hits in the second, his first inning of work after coming in following an opener. It was his second strong outing after turning things around in Detroit last week. Bello was excellent, pitching into the eighth inning without another run. Bello’s outing continued a streak of strong starts from the Boston rotation — not that it’s made much impact in the won-loss column. The Sox have the second best ERA in the American League behind only Tampa Bay, but are just .500 for the month.
6) Lefty reliever Tyler Samaniego saw his scoreless streak extended to 13 straight games when he recorded two outs in the eighth; he’s yet to allow a run in a Red Sox uniform. That streak moved Samaniego into second place in franchise history for pitchers’ scoreless streaks who began their career with the Red Sox. He had previously been tied with Austin Maddox (12 in 2017) and now sits behind only Robby Scott (14 games in 2016-17).
7) If the Red Sox want to continue with an opener in front of Bello, perhaps it would be wise to choose someone other than Jovani Moran. Moran was tagged for a solo homer from Kyle Schwarber in his one inning of work. This, after he allowed two runs in his last assignment as an opener vs. Detroit. The expectation is that an opener is going to get his team off to a clean start; otherwise, what’s the point?
8) The two teams will continue their series Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. with a pitching matchup that will feature righty Sonny Gray (3-1, 3.54) vs. rookie righty Andrew Painter (1-4, 6.89).
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