Red Sox allow longest homer in MLB this season in loss to Braves

Braves 8, Red Sox 7

So close to being a nice win against a good team. There haven’t been many of those this year.

The takeaways:

1. Some opportunities for the young guys

You can count on one hand how many nice games the Red Sox have played against really good teams this year. They’re 1-9 against the Yankees, 3-7 against the Rays and 0-4 against the Braves. Those are the three best teams they’ve faced this year and they had gone a combined 4-20 against them.

It’s hard to follow along with the way the Sox have blown late leads. After Friday, five times this season they’ve lost a game in which they held the lead in the eighth inning.

Ryan Brasier blew a 2-1 lead in the eighth, breaking what had been a great stretch for Brasier over the last month or so. But the Sox put the pressure on in the ninth — J.D. Martinez and Kevin Plawecki got it started — and scored two off a terrible throwing error by Adeiny Hechavarria to tie the game and send it to extras.

Alex Verdugo got his clutch gene tested with the bases loaded and a chance to win the game, but Verdugo got jammed on a high-and-tight fastball and grounded out to second base to end the rally.

2. Matt Barnes is getting tested in the closer role

With the game tied in the ninth, Barnes took over. As usual, he didn’t make it easy.

He recorded two quick outs before walking two batters to get to the Braves best hitter, Ronald Acuna Jr.

Acuna, a budding star in Atlanta, had earlier in the night hit a home run off Red Sox starter Chris Mazza that was estimated as the longest homer in the majors this season, 495 feet. It’s the kind of hit that’ll be on highlight reels for a long time.

There’s no way he should’ve been hitting in the ninth, but Barnes has struggled with his composure in these big spots and can often look like he’s overthrowing. He rarely has quick innings — only three times has he recorded at least three outs in 10 pitches or fewer this year — and he operates with far too many baserunners to make the ninth inning comfortable.

It’s a big audition for him before the Red Sox get a chance to reshape their team ahead of 2021 and it’s hard to say if Barnes put his best foot forward in this one. He’s allowed five earned runs in 13-⅓ innings (3.95 ERA) since Brandon Workman was traded to the Phillies, and he’s gone 0-2 with three blown saves.

The main concern is that he’s walked six and allowed 12 hits in those 13-⅓ innings. He’s also struck out 20.

3. Bobby Dalbec had a moment

NESN broadcaster and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley doesn’t make it difficult for viewers to decipher which players he likes and which he doesn’t. Boy, does he like “Bobby D.”

Dalbec stayed back on a breaking ball and offered a nice and easy swing to punch it up the middle for an RBI single in the 10th inning. The clutch hit gave the Red Sox a 6-4 lead before Jeffrey Springs blew it in the bottom of the 10th inning. After the Sox scored one in the top of the 11th, Springs blew it again in the bottom of the frame.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2GfDf9W