The Boston Red Sox have been almost unbeatable at Fenway Park this summer, but that hasn’t been the case over the last few days.
After dropping Sunday’s series finale to the Miami Marlins, 5-3, the Red Sox lost again on Monday, 6-3, versus the Baltimore Orioles. It’s the first time Boston has lost consecutive home games since June 2 and 3 against the Los Angeles Angels.
In between, the Red Sox went 25-6 at Fenway, surging into playoff contention thanks to their dominance at home and feeding off the energy from their swelling crowds. Even with the back-to-back losses, they’re still 41-24 with a plus-74 run differential at Fenway this year, making them one of the best home teams in baseball.
Whereas Boston suffered a late-game collapse against the Marlins, it never led in Monday’s series opener versus the Orioles. Dustin May was great in his third start for the Red Sox, twirling six innings of two-run ball, but Trevor Rogers was even better, yielding just one run over seven strong innings.
By the time Boston’s bats woke up for two runs against Baltimore’s bullpen in the ninth inning, it was too late. They’ve now scored three runs or fewer in four of their last five games.
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On the plus side, Nathaniel Lowe worked a seven-pitch walk in his first at-bat with the Red Sox and scored a run in the bottom of the ninth, providing an immediate impact off the bench.
Boston will try to avoid a third straight home loss in Tuesday’s series finale behind Walker Buehler (7-7, 5.43 ERA), who’s searching for his first win at Fenway since June 11. The Red Sox’s offense will look to bounce back against Tomoyuki Sugano (10-5, 4.13 ERA), who’s 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA over his last four outings.
