Red Sox haunted by missed chances, mental errors in 4-1 loss to A’s

J.D. Martinez didn’t seem worried about the rut the Red Sox’ league-leading offense was in heading into Wednesday’s game against the A’s, saying that every offense, even the great ones, go through slumps.

But as short as this skid may last, it’s cost them in a series that could have stamped them as the American League’s best team.

Missed opportunities once again came back to haunt the Red Sox in a 4-1 loss to the A’s that also included some frustrating mental errors on both the mound and base paths. They’ve now lost three in a row, and have dropped the first two of their three-game series against the A’s (23-15), who took control of the AL’s best record with Wednesday’s win.

The Red Sox’ (22-16) offense is in a rare tailspin, with just four runs and 13 hits in their last three games. Opposing starters have posted a 2.04 ERA in that span, and the Red Sox couldn’t even get to Oakland righty James Kaprielian, who was making his first career big-league start on Wednesday.

And he put it on a platter for them.

The Red Sox’ clunker at the plate began right away, when they loaded the bases with no outs in the first and only scored one run. Xander Bogaerts struck out and Rafael Devers popped out before Christian Vazquez walked in a run, and that’s all they could show for it as Hunter Renfroe struck out to end the threat.

In the fifth, the Red Sox, trailing 3-1, had another prime chance with runners on first and third with no outs as Marwin Gonzalez walked and Alex Verdugo reached on a throwing error by Kaprielian. They came away empty again after Gonzalez made a baserunning mistake.

Martinez hit a tapper to Kaprielian and Gonzalez started racing home, but he stopped in his tracks before reaching the plate and was caught in a rundown for the first out. Bogaerts and Devers then struck out as the Red Sox went away quietly.

Somehow, the Red Sox weren’t done as they put runners on second and third with one out, trailing 4-1. Vazquez hit a ground out to second, and Bogaerts inexplicably raced home. First baseman Matt Olson was well aware as he gunned him down at the plate to end the inning.

Bogaerts stayed on the ground for a moment, clearly frustrated. It was that kind of night for the Red Sox.

Other takeaways:

— Alex Cora has been singing the praises of Renfroe’s defense since spring training, and on Wednesday the right fielder made his best play yet. With one out in the second, Matt Chapman crushed a first-pitch slider that went over Verdugo and bounced off the center-field wall. But Renfroe was there for backup, and fired an absolute missile to third as Devers applied the tag to finish one of the plays of the year.

— Eduardo Rodriguez was hit hard over six innings as he struck out nine, but he committed yet another Red Sox mental mistake in the fifth. The A’s had just gone ahead 2-1 with two outs and Elvis Andrus at third. Andrus tried fooling Rodriguez by faking a run home, and the Red Sox lefty fell for it as he committed a balk. Andrus, with a smile on his face, trotted home and to the dugout as the A’s went up 3-1.

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