The Red Sox seemed not to be awakened by the fact that they are in the thick of a Wild Card race Tuesday night.
Boston dropped the series opener, to the Orioles, 4-2.
The Sox had some of the worst at-bats of the season, and it came at the worst possible time. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe’s Tweet below shows just how impatient the Sox were:
Since the 6th inning, the Red Sox have seen 2.4 pitches per PA:
2 (Renfroe HR)
4 (Devers K)
3 (Bogaerts K)
3 (Martinez groundout)
4 (Schwarber K)
1 (Dalbec flyout)
3 (Iglesias groundout)
1 (Verdugo groundout)
2 (Hernández groundout)
1 (Renfroe popup)— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) September 29, 2021
The Sox have also seen some of their top bats go cold as of late. Boston Sports Info shows just how cold some players’ bats have gone in the past four games, which were all losses.
Red Sox last 4 games
Xander Bogaerts – (1-16)
Bobby Dalbec (1-12)
J.D. Martinez – (2-13)
Christian Vazquez – (0-8)Going to need a lot more than that
— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) September 29, 2021
Despite that, the Red Sox still are guaranteed a chance at the playoffs if they go 4-1. While 4-1 would be a solid finish, 5-0 would guarantee them a spot in the playoffs with the Blue Jays and Mariners still behind the Sox by exactly one game. The Yankees also lie two games above Boston now with their win over Toronto.
After the Sox finish up their series in Baltimore, they’ll cap off the season with a three-game weekend series in the nation’s capital against the lowly Nationals — who dealt Kyle Schwarber, a prime acquisition, to the Sox.
Red Sox still control their own destiny somehow
(5-0) they are in the playoffs
(4-1) – they are guaranteed at least a play-in game
So there is that
— Boston Sports Info (@bostonsportsinf) September 29, 2021
Boston saw their 2-0 lead, which came off solo homers from Schwarber and Hunter Renfroe, squandered.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ryan Mountcastle socked a game-tying, two-run homer off Sox starter Chris Sale. That was followed by a base hit from Austin Hays, and that knocked Sale out.
In relief for Sale, came on Hansel Robles. The righty only furthered the damage, as he would let up a single to Trey Mancini out of the gate before Pedro Severino grounded a go-ahead RBI single into left field to put Baltimore ahead.
The O’s would add to the Sox’s deficit in the eight off Tanner Houck, who hurled a 1-2-3 seventh, as after yielding a pair of two-out base hits, Ryan McKenna blooped an RBI single into right to make it 4-2. It wouldn’t matter though, as the impatient Sox would be held to just three hits and make the next five games a lot more interesting than they already were.
Eovaldi vs. Lowther:
A pair of opposite-armed hurlers go at it Wednesday night, as right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (10-9, 3.88 ERA) will take on the left-handed Zac Lowther (1-2, 7.66 ERA) — Gametime is at 7:05 p.m. EST.
(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)