All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 5-2 loss to the White Sox, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Porcello pitches in traffic: Over the course of his career, Rick Porcello has been a pitcher who gives up hits and doesn't pile up strikeouts. Hitters tend to put the ball in play against him. When he's going well, that often results in a host of groundouts. When he's up in the zone -- or just plain unlucky -- some of those balls either find holes through the infield, or the hitters achieve more damage when putting the ball in play. On Sunday, Porcello really had to work right from the beginning. He fell behind 1-0 after three hitters, then needed 44 pitches to get through the next two innings, facing five hitters in the second and another seven in the third. That kind of pressure puts a lot of stress on a pitcher and forces them to pitch out of the stretch far more than they would prefer. It also, naturally, jacks up the pitch count quickly, which is why Porcello was done after 105 pitches in just six innings. "I don't think it's anything that I'm not used to,'' said Porcello. "But you have to do your best to settle down from there. Offenses are trying to put pressure on you early. You need to limit the damage and go from there. I don't think it took anything (additional) out of me, but I wasn't as sharp as I would have liked to have been.''
First-inning woes hurt: Porcello has historically struggled in the first inning and Sunday was no different. Jose Abreu doubled off The Wall to score Yolmer Sanchez all the way from first base. That marked the eighth first-inning run the Sox had allowed in the previous four games -- three of them losses. As the offense fights to right itself, having cooled off after an extended hot streak, the last thing a team wishes is to be behind early. That only adds to the sense of desperation for the some of the hitters, a few of whom are already trying to do too much. And it's not just a recent pattern: in their 22 losses to date this season, the Sox have allowed first-inning runs in 13 of them (59 percent), including nine times in their last 12 defeats.
Sloppy defense contributes to loss: When the offense isn't working, the little things mean more, and the Sox didn't help themselves in the field Sunday. They committed their first error in the third when third baseman Rafael Devers, shifted over to short, dropped a low throw from second baseman Brock Holt, allowing Abreu to advance from first to third on a routine ground ball. He later scored. Later, in the sixth, Porcello raced over to first to take a feed from first baseman Mitch Moreland on a grounder hit by Trayce Thompson. But Porcello got tangled up with Thompson, tripped, and in the process, rolled into first base umpire Quinn Wolcott. By the time he recovered and threw home, an alert Tim Anderson had scored all the way from second base on a ball that never left the infield dirt. Also, the Sox failed to turn a couple of double plays in the early innings. Those kinds of plays get magnified when the offense isn't doing what it's supposed to, and sure enough, both plays cost the Sox. "We didn't make plays behind (Porcello),'' said Alex Cora. "When anybody pitches, especially him, we have to make plays and we didn't.''
TURNING POINT
Twice in the span of two innings -- the sixth and the seventh -- the Red Sox loaded the bases but failed to score. Blake Swihart popped to short with the bases full in the sixth, and an inning later, Brock Holt flew to center for the final out, stranding three.
TWO UP
Heath Hembree: Pitching in relief of Porcello, Hembree had a clean 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, inducing an infield pop-up and recording two strikeouts.
Brandon Workman: Workman, promoted from Pawtucket last week, continues to pitch well. He allowed a one-out single in the eighth, but struck out the other three hitters he faced.
ONE DOWN
Xander Bogaerts: The Red Sox shortstop had an off day at the plate, going 0-for-4 with a hit batsman, failing to get the ball out of the infield (three groundouts and a strikeout).
QUOTE OF NOTE
"You can't explain it. People do it. You can tell them all you want and people can write about it and say, 'Don't do it, don't do it, don't do it.' But there's going to be a point where, if you've done it your whole career, you're going to dive.''
-- Alex Cora on the habit of some players (Xander Bogaerts especially) sliding head-first into first.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The Red Sox dropped to 12-3 on getaway games.
- The loss snapped a streak that had seen the Red Sox go 5-0-1 in their last six series.
- Boston is 12-12 2 when committing at least one error.
- When leading off an inning, J.D. Martinez is batting .393 (22-for-56).
- Porcello has pitched at least six innings in 11 of his 14 starts this season.
- Sandy Leon has four extra-base hits in his last three home games.