Red Sox find themselves at a crossroads after being swept by Blue Jays

If the Red Sox can’t mount a big late-summer comeback and wind up missing the playoffs again, this weekend’s debacle will likely be remembered as the moment it all went wrong.

The Red Sox lost again Sunday, falling 13-1 as the Toronto Blue Jays completed the backbreaking three-game sweep. Unlike the first two games, which were reasonably competitive, this one was a rout from the start as the Blue Jays pummeled the beleaguered Red Sox pitching staff and left town in full control of the last American League Wild Card spot.

And yet as dominant as Toronto was Sunday, the Red Sox ultimately beat themselves.

All of Boston’s chickens came home to roost this weekend, as the flaws that have plagued this club throughout the season were exposed at the worst possible time. Friday’s loss was marked by the offense’s ill-timed disappearing act, Saturday’s by a costly baserunning error, and on Sunday it was a defensive miscue that opened the floodgates for a huge Blue Jays rally.

Jarren Duran, who has been much improved in every aspect of the game this season, had a moment to forget in the top of the third when he failed to haul in a deep fly ball off the bat of George Springer. Despite getting his glove on it the ball popped out, bouncing off the dirt and into the bullpen for a ground rule double, and instead of making the third out and preserving a scoreless tie the misplay opened the door for what wound up being a four-run rally.

It was also the kind of blow the Red Sox pitching staff just isn’t equipped to endure at this point.

Since Garrett Whitlock went on the injured list on July 3 the Red Sox have used openers in 10 of their last 25 games, an approach that worked well for several weeks but put a massive strain on the bullpen. The staff appears to have finally reached its breaking point, and since the start of last week’s road trip the bullpen has now allowed 36 runs over it’s last 42 innings.

Rookie left-hander Chris Murphy, who entered Sunday with a 1.59 ERA over 28.1 innings as a bulk reliever, gave up six runs over 2.1 innings after opener Brennan Bernardino posted a scoreless first. He allowed four in the third after Duran’s misplay, with Matt Chapman breaking the ice with a two-run double immediately following Springer’s hit, and later served up a two-run bomb to hot-hitting Blue Jays rookie Davis Schneider in the fourth.

Murphy then gave way to Mauricio Llovera, who allowed five runs over 1.1 innings and pitched perhaps the ugliest inning of the season in the top of the fifth. The righty walked the leadoff man, hit a batter and allowed two straight singles before forcing a run-scoring grounder for the first out. He then walked another man to load the bases, hit a second batter to drive in another run, gave up a sacrifice fly and allowed an RBI single by Chapman before he was finally, mercifully, pulled from the game with the Red Sox trailing 11-1.

With the game no longer in doubt, Red Sox manager Alex Cora waved the white flag and pinch hit for Justin Turner and Rafael Devers in the bottom of the fifth. Richard Bleier, new call-up Nick Robertson and infielder Pablo Reyes allowed two runs over the last four innings of mop-up duty, and Boston’s lone offense came on a Triston Casas solo home run in the fourth.

With the weekend’s fiasco behind them, the Red Sox now find themselves at a crossroads.

Boston has now lost seven of its last eight games and has effectively squandered all of its July gains. The Red Sox not only trail the Blue Jays by five games, but have also been jumped by the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees in the Wild Card standings as well.

Maybe the imminent returns of Trevor Story and Chris Sale will give the club the spark it needs, and maybe the Red Sox could still capitalize on its upcoming series with Kansas City, Detroit and Washington to get back into the hunt. There’s still a lot of baseball to be played, but this weekend was a crushing setback, and it’s no sure thing the Red Sox can recover.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/D29sALJ