All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 7-4 loss to the Orioles, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Weber lit up: It was a cruel repeat of Saturday for the Red Sox. Once again, they found themselves playing from behind and trailing by multiple runs even before they came to bat. Ryan Weber got two quick outs and then allowed a single and two-run homer. A walk and run-scoring double produced another run in the third and another big inning and another two-run homer followed in the fourth as he failed to get out of the inning. Weber's stuff is far from electric and he needs precise command to be effective. He couldn't sink his two-seamer to induce groundballs and caught too much of the plate with his other pitches. In the last two games, Red Sox starters have given up 11 runs -- 10 earned -- in just 8.2 innings pitched. The worst thing is, these shellackings came at the end of a relatively weak lineup in the Orioles. If Boston starters are struggling against a lineup like Baltimore's, what's going to happen when they face the Yankees, Atlanta and other quality teams?
Offense slumps again: After pounding out 17 hits and 13 runs in Friday's opener, the offense has cooled considerably, with just six runs in the final 18 innings -- again, against a staff that is supposed to be worse than their own. Perhaps Red Sox hitters are pressing because the team keeps finding itself in a big hole in the first few innings. Whatever the case, some hitters look lost. Rafael Devers finally connected for his first hit of the season, but others appear out of sync. The offense hasn't been able to construct longer innings -- just once on Sunday did the Sox send more than four hitters to the plate. Accordingly, when they did manage to do some damage and hit the ball out of the ballpark (Christian Vazquez, Kevin Pillar), both times, it happened with no baserunners. Said Vazquez: "It's a short season. We need to start hitting. We're slow. Our bats stayed in camp.''
Another day, another pitcher obtained: For the second straight day -- and fourth time in the last week and a half, the Red Sox acquired another arm Sunday, announcing mid-game that they had claimed RHP Robert Stock and assigned him to their alternate training site in Pawtucket. Stock, 30, pitched for San Diego in each of the last seasons, exclusively in relief. In 42 appearances, he was 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA while averaging slightly more than a strikeout per inning. On Saturday, the Sox had claimed LHP Stephen Gonsalves from the New York Mets, and before the season began, had obtained RHPs Zack Godley and Dylan Covey. Of the four, only Godley has any significant success at the major league level (15-game winner in 2018), but expect the dizzying number of waiver claims and minor deals to continue as Chaim Bloom searches for upgrades, no matter how minimal they might be.
TURNING POINT
Trailing by just two runs at the time, the Red Sox got a leadoff single from Jackie Bradley Jr. to open the home half of the eighth, with the top of the lineup due up. But Jose Peraza killed any threat of a rally by hitting into a double play and after the Orioles allowed J.D. Martinez to reach base on an error, Devers grounded out to end the threat.
ONE UP
Jackie Bradley Jr.: Bradley has had multi-hit games in all three games to date and also turned in two diving catches on balls hit to shallow center.
TWO DOWN
Michael Chavis: He continues to struggle at the plate, fanning two more times and going 0-for-3. For the season, he's hitless in seven at-bats and has struck out swinging five times.
Austin Brice: Although it didn't matter in the big scheme of things, Brice, brought in to keep the Sox within two in the ninth, gave up a run-scoring double to Chris Davis, providing a pad run for the visitors.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I really didn't execute many pitches..Falling behind, trying to be too fine and then leaving balls over the plate is not a very good recipe.'' Ryan Weber.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Red Sox pitchers issued eight walks.
- J.D. Martinez saw his nine-game hitting streak -- dating back to last season -- come to an end.
- Kevin Pillar is the first Red Sox hitter since Bradley in 2013 to have at least one RBI in each of his first two games with the team.
- Christian Vazquez threw out Austin Hays attempting to steal and has thrown out 38 percent of would-be base stealers in his career, the highest percentage among active catchers with 100 or more games caught.