Red Sox Struggle Coming Out Of All-Star Break

The Red Sox snapped a 4-game losing skid coming out of the All-Star Break with a 6-0 win against the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

Since June 2nd, Boston had gotten the best of the Marlins, Yankees, Athletics, and Royals in their respective series before the All-Star break. After snapping their recent losing streak, Boston sits a game behind Kansas City for the final AL Wild Card spot.

Now while a losing streak is never a good thing, two of the four recent losses came in extra innings as Boston just couldn’t quite finish the job. Here's a look at their last four losses and how they've fared since the break.

Friday, July 19th | 4-1 Loss To LA Dodgers

Jarren Duran picked up right where he left off before the break as he crushed a solo home run in the 5th inning to give Boston a 1-0 lead on Friday night. Starter Nick Pivetta (4-6) delivered a great six innings as he allowed only two hits and had eight strikeouts before leaving the game.

However, despite his great effort, Pivetta wouldn’t get the win as Los Angeles did their damage late. After a quiet 7th inning, reliever Zack Kelley walked the first Dodger he saw in the 8th.

Brian Bernardino would enter the game for Boston later in the inning and let up a ground-rule double to Shohei Ohtani. After Will Smith was intentionally walked to load the bases, Freddie Freeman stepped to the plate for LA.

Freeman cleared the bases with a line drive Grand Slam that barely got over the right field wall. Boston lost the series opener 4-1 despite having five more hits than LA on the night.

Saturday, July 20th | 7-6 Loss To LA Dodgers | F/11

The Sox held the lead halfway through the game the following night but couldn’t hang on once again. Brayan Bello (10-5) got the start for Boston and had seven strikeouts while giving up three earned runs in six innings pitched.

Boston led 4-3 in the headed to the bottom of the 9th inning and sent out their closer Kenley Jansen to finish the job. An old friend of the Sox Kike Hernández led off and tied the game with a homer to left center, and the game was headed to extra innings.

Boston quickly took back momentum as Tyler O'Neill homered to center with Duran on board to make it a 6-4 ballgame. Los Angeles wouldn’t go away, however, and tied it back up 6-6 on an RBI double from Andy Pages and another RBI from Hernández on a single to center.

The Red Sox ran out of offensive firepower in the 11th, unable to retake the lead. Will Smith had the walk-off single to left for LA with the bases loaded that would be the nail in the coffin for Boston as they fell 7-6.

Sunday, July 21st | 9-6 Loss To LA Dodgers

Boston took an early lead Sunday night with a Jarren Duran two-run blast to left center, but it would be LA who would score the next six consecutive runs. Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford (6-8) struggled to find his rhythm early as the Dodgers failed to score in just one of their first five innings.

Crawford let up a staggering five home runs in his five innings pitched Sunday night. Freddie Freeman crushed one to right-center in the first inning to make it a 2-1 Boston lead. Teoscar Hernández then homered to right in the third inning, and Gavin Lux to center field in the 4th. In his final inning, Crawford let up back-to-back homers to Austin Barnes and Shohei Ohtani to make it a 6-2 Dodgers lead.

Los Angeles scored two more runs in the 8th inning to make it a 9-3 ballgame. Despite three runs in the 9th for Boston, LA would complete the sweep with a 9-6 victory.

Monday, July 22nd | 9-8 Loss to Colorado Rockies | F/12

Boston looked to get back on track in Colorado after dropping the first three games out of the All-Star break. The Sox would have to battle from behind once again however as the Rockies were seeing the ball well early off of Tanner Houck (8-6).

Houck let up 10 hits total in six innings pitched for Boston, and his four earned runs all came in the bottom of the 4th.

Boston got on the scoreboard in the 5th inning as Tyler O’Neill led off with a single followed by another base hit by Romy González. Jamie Westbrook then homered to center to bring in three runs. Duran followed with a triple to left field and scored on a Rob Refsnyder single to tie up the game 4-4.

After trading runs in the 10th, it was still a tie ballgame at 7-7 going into the 12th inning. Ceddanne Rafaela scored on a Wilson Abreu single to right field to make it 8-7 Boston lead heading into the bottom of the inning.

The Red Sox certainly had their chances in this one, up 7-5 in the 10th inning and then 8-7 late in the 12th but could not shut the door on Colorado.

Tyler O’Neill bobbled the baseball as it trickled into left field and could not get the throw home in time as the Rockies once again tied it up. With the bases loaded and two outs, Ezequiel Tovar singled to right-center as the Colorado walked off with a 9-8 gutsy win.

The Road Ahead

Despite their recent slip, Boston is still in a position to contend for the final AL Wild Card spot as they are one game behind Kansas City. However, the Red Sox have one of the hardest strength schedules remaining the rest of the season and the trade deadline could determine a lot for this team. Can they get another starter-caliber pitcher and a right-handed hitter for a postseason push?

This Red Sox team has shown grit all season long as many predicted them to finish at the bottom of the AL East. One thing is for sure, this squad will battle until the final out of their season.

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