PHILADELPHIA — Here we go again (sort of).
If the Red Sox have any "weaknesses" — with the best record in MLB and a bunch of other league-leading stats — they would be their bullpen and third-base defense with Rafael Devers.
Well, they popped up in Wednesday night's 7-4 loss to the Phillies.
A lead-off throwing error by Devers (his MLB-leading 21st) in the fourth inning, started the train toward a three-run inning for the Phillies (one earned for Nathan Eovaldi) that erased a 3-0 early Red Sox lead.
Joe Kelly (L, 4-1) came into a tie ballgame in the sixth and he promptly gave up a lead-off triple and a sac fly.
Drew Pomeranz came on in the seventh and allowed three runs on four hits.
Mitch Moreland had a three-run double to pace the offense.
Live coverage from O'Sullivan (is that a Boston name or what?)
10:39: Phillies wrap up the win with an uneventful 9th. FINAL: Phillies 7, Red Sox 4.
10:30: Phillies go quietly in their half of the 8th. Last chance for the BoSox coming up.
10:23: Betts pinch hitting gets an RBI on an infield single, but Dominguez comes on in relief (how many relievers is that now?) and gets Benintendi to ground out to end the threat. RUNS: Phillies 7, Red Sox 4.
10:19: Sox load the bases on hits by Martinez and Bogaerts, and a misplay of a potential double-play ball, but have failed to cash in so far. Line out to right by Devers and pop up to third by Leon. Hard to fault Martinez for not tagging from third on Devers' shot, the ball was simply hit too hard.
10:10: Franco follows with an RBI single to right-center, as Philly extends its lead to 7-3 before Pomeranz is able to work out of even more trouble. Pat Neshak coming on for the Phillies to start the 8th.
10:07: Phillies get a little breathing room, thanks again to Ramos, who ropes a two-run double into the gap in right-center to push the lead to 6-3. Ramos now has three extra-base hits, a single game career high. Scoring were Bour, who led off the inning with a sharp single to left, and Cabrera, who followed with a walk. RUNS: Phillies 6, Red Sox 3.
9:53: Book is closed on Joe Kelly, who goes 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 earned run and 2 Ks.
9:51: Phillies show off some slick fielding in the seventh, as Hernandez and Cabrera turn a nifty 4-6-3 DP and Franco (playing SS in the shift) takes care of Moreland. Crafty lefty reliever Drew Pomeranz is on in relief for Boston in the bottom of the frame.
9:39: And just like that the Phils take the lead, as Kingery lofts the first pitch he sees down into the right-field corner for a sacrifice fly, scoring Ramos as the BoSox fall behind, 4-3. RUNS: Phillies 4, Red Sox 3 (end 6th)
9:37: Kelly, despite his 100 mph fastball, is in a jam, as he plunks Franco to put runners at first and third with just one out here in the bottom of the sixth. Scott Kingery is on to pinch hit for Tommy Hunter.
9:30: Ramos leads off the Phillies' sixth by lacing a triple (no, that's not a misprint!) to the gap in right-center. Just the second triple of the catcher's career, and his first since May 20, 2011, in Baltimore. Give credit where credit is due, Phillies' pressbox announcer had that tidbit of information about 30 seconds after the play.
9:24: Wow! Phillies win a huge challenge on a play at first base, as the Red Sox's apparent lead is wiped off the board. Pearce fisted a ball to the right side with Phillies second baseman Carlos Hernandez ranging far to his left, but it appeared his throw took Justin Bour off the bag, allowing Devers to score from third. But upon replay review, the call was overturned, so we go to the bottom of the sixth still tied, 3-3.
9:19: Tommy Hunter is on in relief of Adam Morgan as the Phillies continue to churn through relievers following Velasquez's short outing. He'll face pinch hitter Steve Pearce with two on and two out in the top of the 6th.
9:10: Eovaldi is through five, fans Williams on a nice looking inside fastball to end the inning. He's been touching as high as 96 mph even as he climbs near 90 pitches.
8:49: Phils rally for three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game, 3-3. Ramos with a run-scoring 2B off the top of the wall in right field, and Herrera cut the lead to one with an RBI groundout to first base. Eovaldi got Franco to pop up on the infield for the second out, but pinch-hitter Carlos Santana ropes a single through the shift to score Ramos with the Phillies' third run. RUNS: Red Sox 3, Phillies 3.
8:35: Sox go down in order against Davis to start the fourth.
8:27: Eovaldi looking sharp, hardly breaks a sweat in the bottom of the third. Austin Davis comes on in relief for the Phils, who will need at least six more strong innings from their bullpen.
8:22: The book is closed on Velasquez, 2 1/3, 63 pitches (31 strikes), 4 hits, 4 BB, 3 ER, 1 HBP, 2Ks. A forgettable outing, for sure.
8:20: Neris, the forkball specialist, does his best Dennis Eckersley (who is in the house tonight) impression, comes on in relief and shuts the door, getting Bradley on a short fly to right before fanning Devers. Red Sox leave 'em loaded, but still lead 3-0.
8:13: A 3-2 fastball to Bogaerts is down low, bases loaded. Hometown boys having a chat about it on the mound. And in comes former closer Hector Neris from the pen. Velasquez just didn't have it tonight, more than 60 pitches in just 2 1/3 innings, and he's still on the hook for three baserunners. Sox have a chance to blow this game wide open early.
8:09: Velasquez smartly pitches around Martinez, runners at 1st and 2nd, one out
8:06: Big Mitch Moreland ropes a 3-run double into the gap in left-center; Phils CF Herrera took a bad angle and the ball rolls to the wall. 3-0 Red Sox, with J.D. coming up. RUNS: Red Sox 3, Phillies 0.
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8:04: Holt with an infield single, a little squibbler between Velasquez, Bour and Hernandez. They are loaded!
8:01: Velasquez walks opposing pitcher Eovaldi with one out in the third. Not something you want to do. Like leaving the car window down before a rain storm; easily avoidable. Let's see if the BoSox can capitalize. Benintendi HBP, 2 on with 1 out, Holt trots up to the plate.
7:55: Sox end the second-inning threat on a nice catch by Bradley running down a deep shot to center by Herrera, then Holt makes a sparkling play up the middle on Franco's hard grounder that was partially deflected by Eovaldi. Just your standard 1-4-6 inning-ender. We go to the third, still knotted at zeroes.
7:52: Home plate ump Kerwin Danley just took a wicked foul ball off the face mask off the bat of Phils' Herrera. That didn't tickle, but he seems ready to jump back in there. Williams at first after leading off with a single, Ramos followed and struck out.
7:40: Sox in business as Bradley Jr. singles to right and then takes third on an errant pickoff attempt from Ramos, but Velasquez gets Devers to pop out on the infield to end the threat. Heading to the bottom of the second.
7:35: Phillies' Velasquez a little squirrely with his fastball command early, but Sox help him out as Bogaerts grounds into the tailor-made 6-4-3 DP.
7:33: An E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles! chant rains down from the right field bleacher seats. Doesn't faze Martinez, who draws a leadoff walk to start the second.
7:29: Eovaldi wraps up a tidy first inning by getting Hoskins to roll into a fielder's choice, Bogaerts to Holt. Scoreless after one.
7:26: Phillies' Cabrera loops a soft 2-out single out to left in the bottom of the first, bringing up Hoskins.
7:18: Moreland whiffs to bring up Martinez, who gets ahead 2-0. But Holt is thrown out stealing on a 2-2 count and the team's best hitter up (it was a ball). An early second guess.
7:13: Benintendi goes down swinging before Mr. 424-foot Bomb (Holt) singles up the middle.
7:11: And we're under way from Philly.
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- As expected, Mookie Betts is getting his scheduled day off.
- Bradley is batting sixth tonight.
- On the mend: Alex Cora said prior to the Red Sox’s matchup against the Phillies on Wednesday that second baseman Ian Kinsler and pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez are close to making their return to the lineup. “Eduardo looks great," Cora said. "The movement of his pitches is right where they have to be, very aggressive in the strike zone. He was able to repeat his delivery. The plan is for him to go on Monday on a rehab assignment. We’ll have to see how he reacts today, and if everything is fine, he’ll go Monday
- Cora on Kinsler: "With Ian, most likely he will play Friday and Saturday, then have Sunday off and we’ll go from there. We’ll see. We don’t want him to all of a sudden go out there and play 10 games in a row. In the beginning, he’ll play two-out-of-three and we’ll go from there.”
- As luck would have it: Cora said there has been a little luck involved in the Sox being 86-35 and having a 10-game lead on the Yankees heading into Wednesday night’s game, but mostly it’s been Mother Nature providing the good fortune. “For me, we’ve been lucky with the weather throughout the season," he said. "When we go to Atlanta, we know it’s going to be hot, but we haven’t been to three cities in a row where it’s 92 (degrees) and humid. And early in the season, although in Boston it was cold, it wasn’t that bad when we went to other cities. How many doubleheaders (have the Yankees had)? Six, seven? It got to the point where, a few months ago, we had played about eight more games than they did. It’s tough to play doubleheaders at this level. It’s very tough. ... Sometimes you face the No. 1 and No. 2 from the other team in every series. Sometimes we face them and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes I look at baseballreference.com, at their expanded standings, and it seems like we’ve been lucky by their standards, but I’ll take it.”