BOSTON – Bases loaded with one out in the first inning, and Xander Bogaerts looked for a certain pitch.
He got it.
“I was sitting on a change-up and I put a good swing on it,” Bogaerts said. “We could have been on the board there … came up unlucky.”
Bogaerts’ hard line drive went right into third baseman Josh Donaldson’s mitt. He threw to second base to double off Hanley Ramirez and end the inning.
Toronto, instead, would get on the board first – in a big way. The Blue Jays built a 10-0 lead by the fifth inning and sent the Red Sox to another loss, 13-5.
Toronto had some bloops drop in for hits and got some breaks on pop-ups that were lost in the sun.
Unlucky Red Sox?
Not exactly.
Bad luck does not make for a 27-37 record. Boston has lost six straight games. And while the rest of the American League East is a packed bunch (Tampa Bay and New York tied, Toronto one back and Baltimore three behind), the Red Sox are free-falling, now eight games behind.
“This is an upset clubhouse,” Red Sox Manager John Farrell said. “A group of guys who come in every day with the thought that we have a chance of getting on a little run … and yet it’s not taking place.
“Today, we got beat up … but the energy is there.”
But if this talented team is trying, why is it losing so much?
It’s not just bad luck. Take Bogaerts’ line drive. It could have still been only two outs – with Pablo Sandoval coming up – if Ramirez got back to second base.
“A head-high line drive, you’re first schooled to fight back and do what you can to get back safely,” Farrell said. “That didn’t happen.”
Then there were some of the bloops to right field in the fourth inning that Alejandro De Aza could not get to.
“He gave a good effort after it,” Farrell said. “Whether he got a good read … ”
Dustin Pedroia also lost a pop-up in the sun in that six-run inning.
In the fifth, another pop-up was hit close to second base. Bogaerts called off Pedroia, but De Aza called off Bogaerts. Bogaerts moved away, and De Aza could not reach the ball.
That would have ended the inning with no runs scored. Instead, the Blue Jays scored four times.
“We didn’t handle every ball cleanly. That goes without saying,” Farrell said.
Farrell has a mess on his hands. Unlike his 2013 team, which kept finding ways to win, this 2015 model can’t find its way, period.
“This is a different roster (than 2013), obviously,” Farrell said. “Personalities are going to be different. How they come together, how they jell together is an ongoing thing.”
But where are they going?
“This is definitely not fun,” Bogaerts said. “No one wants to be losing on a daily basis like this. Hopefully, we’ll go on a run like they’re having right now.”
There is that hope. The Blue Jays were 23-30 before starting their current 11-game winning streak.
“Those guys are swinging the bats real well. That’s what we want to do,” Bogaerts said.
And pitch, and field …
“You can’t point to any one area as the reason for the bottom-line result,” Farrell said. “We’ve got to go out and execute in all three phases.”
The pitching has shown signs of improving but still ranks last in the American League in ERA (4.40), and blame that on a starting rotation that has a league-worst 4.78 ERA.
There are encouraging signs. This was Eduardo Rodriguez’s first bad outing in four starts, and he actually did not pitch that poorly (see earlier references to the defense).
But this rotation shows no sign of consistency, which is needed if Boston is to go on that run Farrell was talking about.
The defense has been shaky. Hanley Ramirez is not adjusting to left field as quickly as Boston needs. He misplayed another ball Sunday, allowing a run to score on a double into the corner (though the misplay was meaningless because a home run followed). Ramirez ranks last in defense among regular left fielders in the AL.
Surprisingly, Sandoval ranks last among third basemen in the AL. He has made a team-leading nine errors and is not making plays he’s made in the past. One veteran scout at Fenway on Sunday said Sandoval is a good fielder “but he looks like he’s playing scared.”
Right field, with Shane Victorino out indefinitely, is another issue. Rusney Castillo will move back there – with Mookie Betts expected back in center Monday – and that should help.
Offensively, Boston has been putting up runs lately but still ranks 12th in the league in scoring, as well as in average with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox are 10th in OPS, but 14th in slugging.
Mike Napoli has been a big black hole in the lineup – .200 average, .673 OPS. He took the past two days off to try and sort things out – something both Ortiz and Sandoval did earlier.
Ortiz is hitting .229/.727, but appears to be coming on – at least against right-handed pitching. Sandoval is at .256/703.
Against left-handers, Ortiz (.113/.277 OPS) and Sandoval (.119/.266) join the black-hole club.
So this is what Farrell has to work with. If the team was playing consistently, mistakes could be overcome, losing streaks avoided.
“It goes back to everyone focusing on the job they have at hand … everyone needing to do their job,” Farrell said.
“They’ve had success (in the past), and yet we’re not experiencing it right now.”
Agreed. It’s bad.
And we’re not talking bad luck.
Copy the Story Link
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.