All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox’ 6-5 loss to the Indians, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Sox’ rally goes south in a hurry: Based on the way this season has gone for Boston, Monday’s result seemed inevitable. Trailing 5-1 to the Indians just three innings into their bout at Progressive Field, give credit to a slumping Sox club for failing to roll over, as Boston chipped away at its deficit throughout the night — culminating in a game-tying RBI double from Xander Bogaerts with two outs in the ninth inning. For a split second, another frustrating night in which a Sox pitcher failed to log a quality start seemed like a distant memory, with Boston’s rally against a red-hot Cleveland club potentially standing as the momentum-shifting result that Alex Cora’s team needed to begin to right the ship.
And then, the bottom of the ninth happened.
And after Marcus Walden had not relinquished a hit to the last 31 batters he faced, of course, it was the rookie who coughed up the offering that Carlos Santana muscled out of the ballpark to break the deadlock and hand Cleveland a 6-5, walk-off win. Walden was far from the lone culprit responsible for Monday’s crushing result. Eduardo Rodriguez labored throughout his start, while Boston’s bats left nine on base and were just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Add it all together, and Monday went from being a potential highlight win to just the latest addition to what has been a miserable stretch for Boston over the last couple of weeks.
Rodriguez struggles to find groove on mound:
The Red Sox have been in relatively good hands whenever
Eduardo Rodriguez
has managed to log at least six innings in a start. Entering Monday’s matchup at Progressive Field, Boston was an impressive 23-2 in games where Rodriguez hit such an inning threshold — dating all the way back to September 5, 2017.
Even though the southpaw managed to get through six frames on Monday, Rodriguez didn’t make things easy on himself, relinquishing 10 hits and five earned runs. While all of the damage done by Cleveland came by way of the long ball (a two-run shot for Franmil Reyes and a three-run blast by Jose Ramirez), Rodriguez labored throughout the night, with the Indians collecting at least one base hit in all six innings that Rodriguez pitched.
Rodriguez (11-3 in his previous 18 starts) has been one of the few consistent faces in what has been a dysfunctional pitching corps this season, to say the least. But on Monday, he didn’t do much to help halt a skid that has seen the Red Sox’ playoff chances plummet over the last two-plus weeks.
A beleaguered pitching corps is set to get a new look:
Rodriguez’s outing was the latest in a long stretch of sub-par outings for a Red Sox pitching staff that currently ranks 21st in MLB when it comes to Team ERA (4.81).
Sooner or later, something had to give when it came to this group, and on Monday, Cora shuffled up his starting rotation.
,
Andrew Cashner
has now been relegated to the bullpen, with Boston’s midseason acquisition posting an 8.01 ERA over six starts with the Sox.
TURNING POINT
THREE UP
J.D. Martinez:
Martinez continues to rake at the plate — with the slugger now batting .426 (35-for-82) with nine home runs and 21 RBI over his last 21 games. He went 2-for-4 with a home run and one RBI.
Andrew Benintendi:
Much like Martinez, Benintendi continues to be red-hot at the plate, with the outfielder knocking in a run and going 2-for-4 on the night. Benintendi is now batting .371 with four home runs and 16 RBI over his last 19 games.
Xander Bogaerts:
Bogaerts provided the (short-lived) heroics in the top of the ninth, muscling an RBI double just over Indians right fielder
Tyler Naquin
to knot the contest up at 5-5. The Sox shortstop now leads the AL with 40 doubles on the year.
FOUR DOWN
Brock Holt:
Despite driving in a run with an RBI double in the top of the fourth, Holt also stranded four men on base in the loss — with the second baseman leaving Benintendi and
Sam Travis
at third and second in the top of the eighth inning after lining out to first.
Christian Vazquez:
Vazquez saw a brief three-game hitting streak (4-for-14, 3 RBI) come to a close on Monday, with the catcher going 0-for-4 on the night while leaving three men on base. He also grounded into a double play in fourth inning.
Marcus Walden:
The rookie’s impressive hitless streak had to come to an end at some point. But man, what brutal timing.
Eduardo Rodriguez:
In total, Boston is now 54-9 when Rodriguez receives three-plus runs of support. Still, just not good enough from the southpaw tonight.
QUOTE OF NOTE
“We’ve been talking about it – limiting damage. The way you limit damage is avoiding walks, especially when you’re way ahead in the count. In those two at-bats (against Santana), (Rodriguez) didn’t put him away, and it cost us five runs.” - Alex Cora
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- J.D. Martinez went 2-for-4 on the night with one RBI, slugging his 28th home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning. The DH has now collected a hit in 11 straight games, along with a 21-game on-base streak that stretches back to July 22.
- Eduardo Rodriguez has now pitched 5+ innings in his last 19 starts — the longest such streak of his career. The only other AL pitchers to toss 5+ innings in 19 or more consecutive starts are Justin Verlander (23), Gerrit Cole (20), Mike Fiers (19) and Lance Lynn (19).
- Jackie Bradley Jr. slugged a solo home run in the seventh inning — and now has seven extra-base hits and 14 RBI over his last 22 games.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox will continue their three-game series in Cleveland on Tuesday, with LHP
Chris Sale
(6-11, 4.41 ERA)
set to battle against RHP
Steve Clevinger
(7-2, 3.02 ERA) on the mound. Sale, who is coming off of an 8-inning, 13-strikeout performance against the Angels on August 8, is 5-8 with a 4.80 ERA in his career against the Indians.
