The Red Sox' five-game winning streak came to a sudden halt Saturday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers pounded out 13 hits -- four of them homers -- in an 11-2 thumping of the Sox.
Starter Chris Sale was knocked around for five runs in 4.2 innings and was tagged with his second straight loss. He's allowed five runs in each of his last three starts.
The Red Sox bullpen didn't fare any better, with another five runs scored against relievers.
Both Red Sox runs were delivered by Xander Bogaerts, who homered over everything in the fourth and singled home a run in the sixth.
WHO: Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
WHEN: 7:15 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: Boston 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (3-8, 4.04) vs. RHP Ross Stripling (3-3, 3.79)
TV/RADIO: FOX/WEEI 93.7 FM
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
9:59 Steven Wright, who had given up solo homers to the previous two batters, takes a comebacker off the foot by Max Muncy, and is forced to leave the game.
9:48 Joe Kelly wins an epic nine-pitch battle against former batterymate Christian Vazquez, finally getting him to swing-and-miss on a 98 mph.
8:59 Another confounding start for Sale -- 4.2 IP, seven hits, (at least) five runs allowed. Once again, fastball location seems to be the big (but not only) issue. Hembree on.
8:48 Sale looks defeated out there. As soon as Justin Turner's double landed in left, Sale bowed his head and trudged off the mound. He's as confused as anyone as to why things are going this way.
8:33 There's the (seemingly) nightly moon shot by Xander Bogaerts -- over everything, for HR No. 19, tops on the team. Fifth homer in the last 11 games.
8:29 Vazquez has not looked out of place at first place thus far. He's snared a liner, fielded a ground ball and fed Sale for an out and just turned a 3-6-3 double play to end the top of the fourth.
8:22 Stripling has been tough on the Red Sox lineup one time through - just two hits allowed, and one of them was a bunt single. Has ended each of the first three innings with a strikeout.
7:30 Third time in the last four starts that Sale's allowed at least one run in the first inning.
7:26 Sale didn't show much urgency in fielding that squibber in front of the mound and Cody Bellinger beats the throw to first.
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Benintendi LF
Vazquez 1B
Holt 2B
Leon C
Bradley CF
DODGERS
Taylor LF
Turner 3B
Freese DH
Bellinger RF
Pollock CF
Muncy 1B
Seager SS
Hernandez 2B
Barnes C
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have won five straight and are a season-high nine games over .500...Their longest winning streak of the season is six straight...Xander Bogaerts scored his 500th run Friday night, becoming the sixth Red Sox player to reach that plateau before turning 27. The others: Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Tris Speaker, Jim Rice and Mookie Betts....The Sox lead the majors in runs scored (517), batting average (.272) and OBP (.345)….They've scored six or more runs in 14 of their last 16 games, including 11 of the last 12 and five straight....They've scored six or more runs in a little more than half of their games (46 of 91), the most in baseball....The Sox have scored in the first inning in nine of their last 11 games for a total of 22 runs in that span...Rafael Devers has five homers and 14 RBI in seven July games, during which he's batting .422 (38-for-90) with a 1.253 OPS...He's the only A.L. player with a batting average of at least .325, 15 or more homers and 60 or more RBI...The Sox have improved greatly with runners in scoring position, batting .352 with a .979 OPS over the last 16 games...For the season, they rank third in the majors when it comes to batting average with RISP (.279)….The Sox are 32-7 in their last 39 home interleague games...Red Sox pitchers lead the majors in strikeouts (926) and strikeouts-per-nine-innings (10.10)...They've struck out 10 or more hitters in 53 games, four more than any other MLB team...Betts has a four-game hitting streak (8-for-16)..He leads the majors in runs scored (78) and his 66 walks rank him third....Bogaerts also has a four-game hitting streak and is second in MLB with 68 RBI. He has multiple RBI in each of his last three games, for a total of seven RBI....Over his last 10 games, he's homered four times and knocked in 17 runs, with homers in two of his last three games....Jackie Bradley Jr. has multiple hits in five of his last 10 games...Michael Chavis is slumping, hitless in his last 11 at-bats....Brock Holt has 11 RBI in his last 16 games...Christian Vazquez has a four-game hitting streak and is batting .339 in his last 50 game4s...He has 20 RBI in his last 21 games...Chris Sale has allowed five earned runs in each of his last two starts....Sale has a 4.27 ERA at Fenway this season....David Freese is 2-for-5 in his career against Sale...Freeze is the only member of the starting lineup to have faced Sale in the regular season....Betts is 2-for-3 against Ross Stripling and Holt is 1-for-3.
PRE-GAME NOTES
- Alex Cora decided to pair Chris Sale with Sandy Leon Saturday night, though the manager is loathe to commit to a "personal catcher'' for any of his starters. Still, Cora found it hard to ignore the numbers which suggest that Sale has been far more effective throwing to Leon (2.96 ERA) and Vazquez (6.68). "I'm going with Sandy on this and we'll see where it takes us,'' said Cora. "He's pitched well with Christian at times, but last night, I was thinking about it, and just said, 'Let's do this.' We'll see if it works. I feel he's OK with both; I just went with Sandy.''
- To keep Vazquez's bat in the lineup - he has five homers in his previous eight games -- Cora started Vazquez at first base for the first time his career. Vazquez, who got a start at second base earlier this season, has played an inning at first earlier this year and appeared in two games, covering six innings, earlier this year at third base. He also played a few innings at first in the 18-inning Game 3 of the World Series last October and has played there in winter ball. "For him, it's fun for him to play other positions,'' said Cora. "I expect him to go out there and make all the plays and have good at-bats.''
- Nathan Eovaldi will likely throw another bullpen Sunday. "The most important thing is to get him used to throwing every day,'' said Cora.
- 1B Mitch Moreland (calf) got scratched from a doubleheader Friday in Pawtucket. "He was a little bit tight,'' said Cora. Moreland was at Fenway Saturday getting treatment and is expected back in the lineup Sunday at McCoy Stadium.