All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 5-0 loss to the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Red Sox' offense non-existent: This was very nearly literally true until Rafael Devers led off the seventh with a line-drive double off the wall in center field. Before that? Nothing. For that matter, after that? Also nothing. The Red Sox a grand total of five baserunners all afternoon -- the double by Devers, three walks and a hit batsman. And other than two hard-hit balls for outs in the ninth -- one by Devers, another by Xander Bogaerts -- the Sox went almost all day without making solid contact. What's worse is that this was all done against Asher Wojciechowski, the very epitome of a journeyman, currently with his seventh different organization and a major league career ERA of 6.49. Mind you, only Saturday night, the Red Sox had erupted for a season-high 17 runs. How does a team go from scoring 17 runs one day to nearly being no-hit the very next day? Good question, but it typifies the kind of inconsistency that has dogged the Red Sox for much of 2019.
Cashner a bit better, but not good enough: In his first outing for the Red Sox last week, Andrew Cashner deserved a bit of a mulligan. After all, newly-acquired pitchers often struggle in their first outings with teams as they perhaps try too hard. Add in that Cashner was pitching on 11 days' rest and it's easy to understand why he wasn't at his best. But those excuses weren't applicable Sunday afternoon and Cashner still didn't do his job. He allowed a solo homer to Trey Mancini, the second batter he faced. He walked the leadoff hitter in the second, and one-out double two batters later produced a second run. Finally, he got tagged for another homer again by ex-teammate Mancini in the third. From there on, Cashner appeared to settle in some, blanking the O's over the final three innings while allowing just one hit. But by then, the damage had been done.
Moreland set to rejoin Sox: After a demoralizing day at the plate, the Red Sox would welcome any help they can get and some may be on the way with Mitch Moreland. Moreland has missed the last six weeks with a quad strain, but was finishing up a rehab appearance with Pawtucket over the weekend and Alex Cora said it was possible that Moreland would be activated for the series at Tropicana Field which starts Monday night. A decision won't be made until later Sunday night or Monday morning. It's easy to forget now, but Moreland was among the team leaders in homers when he went on the I.L. and his return will allow the Sox to get some favorable pitching matchups with three options at first (Moreland, Michael Chavis and Brock Holt) with Holt, Chavis and Marco Hernandez available to play second base. It seems a safe bet that Sam Travis will be the player who gets optioned back to Pawtucket to make room for Moreland's return.
TURNING POINT: Given that they were trailing 1-0 two batters in and never scored, it's tempting to cite Trey Mancini's solo homer in the first as the turning point. But to be generous, let's go with the outfielder's second homer -- a two-run shot in the third inning which doubled the home team's lead. At the time, given how the Red Sox were being dominated by Wojciechowski, 4-0 felt like 14-0.
ONE UP:
Rafael Devers: Devers had the Red Sox' only hit -- a double to lead the seventh -- but also had two other quality at-bats where he hit the ball extremely hard, including a vicious liner to deep right that nearly took Mancini's glove off in the ninth inning.
ONE DOWN:
J.D. Martinez: The Red Sox' DH continues to be very streaky. He had been 1-for-19 in a five-game stretch until seemingly breaking out with a three-hit performance Saturday. Then, Sunday, it was back to the slump, going hitless with two strikeouts an two infield groundouts in four at-bats.
QUOTE OF NOTE:
"We weren't disciplined. He did a good job just keeping us out there and swinging at bad pitches. When you do that, you run into games like this. There's no hard contact and a lot of swing-and-misses. Surprising.'' Alex Cora on Wojciechowski.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
- The Red Sox lost a series to the Orioles for the first time since May of 2016, covering 11 series there.
- The shutout was the first for the Red Sox in 82 games. Their last one came April 16 in New York.
- Mookie Betts saw his hitting streak come to an end after 12 games.
- The loss was just the fourth for the Red Sox in their last 19 getaway games.