The Boston Red Sox are losing patience with themselves.
Losers in back-to-back contests, the team aimed to turn its luck around to begin a three-game series on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. But for the third straight time, the Red Sox faltered. The offense was sluggish. The momentum was non-existent and the trend of mediocre baseball continued for the club.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora, along with the rest of the clubhouse, admitted to the self-inflicted damage the team continues to bring upon itself.
“Right now, we’re not putting a complete game together,” Cora told reporters following Boston’s 3-2 loss to Milwaukee, per NESN. “Garrett (Crochet) did an amazing job. I think offensively, obviously, we didn’t do much. We put pressure late in the game, but as of now, it’s not happening for us.”
Crochet gave the Red Sox 6 2/3 innings of work on the mound, charged with two earned runs off five hits and two walks. The 25-year-old also tied a season-high mark with 11 strikeouts before walking off the mound and giving way to the bullpen. By that time, Boston remained scoreless as the lineup failed to provide any insurance.
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The drop-off continues for the Red Sox, and if the team doesn’t figure it out soon, the standings could take a daunting turn for Boston. Before third baseman Alex Bregman went down with a right quad injury, the Red Sox were second in the division and just five games back of the first-place New York Yankees.
That’s changed and the team isn’t thrilled with the direction they’re currently heading.
“I don’t care about promise. We lost,” Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder said, per NESN. “It’s frustrating. I’m tired of losing. Tired of losing close games. We just need to figure it out and win some games. Bottom line.”
Boston tallied seven hits, but went a costly 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The at-bats were far too inconsistent to complete a late-game comeback, although the Red Sox had plenty of chances to make it happen.
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“There were some good ones. There were some OK ones. There were others that we’ll talk about it,” Cora said. “Trevor (Story) had a chance early in the game, he popped it up, but then he put together three great at-bats. Willy (Abreu) hit the hard ball twice. He hit the single, hit the ball the other way, then hit into a double play. You look around, it’s just up and down, we haven’t been consistent offensively the last three days.”
The Red Sox dropped to 11-15 in road contests this season with the loss.
Here are more notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Brewers game:
— Crochet is now 4-4 with an elite 2.04 ERA, but the Red Sox have gone just 6-6 when the left-hander takes the mound. Boston has been held to three or fewer runs across Crochet’s last three starts.
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“I’m still just trying to do my job to the best of my ability,” Crochet said, per NESN. “And then turn in a quality start and help the bullpen out as much as possible. Obviously, runners in scoring position tonight was tough. But I think that we have a lot of faith in our offense that any given moment we’re gonna break out and the rest of the season we’re gonna forget about these first two months.”
— Since Bregman’s injury last Friday, Boston has gone 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position, hitting .222 with a minus-six run differential, striking out 22 times.
— For the 14th time this season, the Red Sox faltered in a one-run contest (6-14), which leads all MLB teams.
— Boston is a season-worst seven games out of the American League East at 27-29.
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— The Red Sox and Brewers will continue their three-game set on Tuesday night. First pitch from American Family Field is scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
