The Red Sox fell behind early, trailing 2-0 in the first inning -- and it only got worse from there.
The Miami Marlins clubbed three homers and rode them to an 8-4 win over the Red Sox, evening the series.
Jorge Alfaro hit two and Garrett Cooper added one to pace the Marlins, as the Red Sox went through six pitchers.
J.D. Martinez knocked in three runs with a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer.
WHO: Red Sox (18-31) vs. Miami Marlins (24-22)
WHEN: 6:40 p.m.
WHERE: Marlins Park
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 1-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Mike Kickham (1-0, 5.00) vs. LHP Trevor Rogers 1-0, 6.50)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Verdugo CF
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Vazquez C
Munoz RF
Dalbec 1B
Chavis LF
Arroyo 2B
MARLINS
Rojas SS
Aguilar 1B
Anderson 3B
Cooper 1B
Brinson RF
Alfaro C
Rodriguez LF
Chisholm 2B
Harrison CF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS
T7th: Martinez, who's been in a brutal stretch, clocks a homer the other way, a perfect inside-out swing that is exactly the swing that he's used with great success in the past. He had been 1-for-31 before that at-bat.
B5th: Alfaro with another two-run shot -- this one to straightaway CF and off Robinson Leyer.
T5th: Red Sox are a woeful 1-for-12 with RISP.
T5th: And with that strikeout, J.D. Martinez dips under .200 for the season. Yikes.
T5th: Consecutive doubles from Verudgo and Devers create a run for the Sox.
B3rd: Kickham leaves a slider up and it's crushed by Jorge Alfaro, who takes it out to right-center. 6-1 and that's it for Kickham. Much different result for the lefty compared to last time.
B3rd: Marlins are teeing off on Mike Kickham, with two doubles and a single this inning, good for two runs.
B3rd: Yairo Munoz comes racing in to make a sliding catch in shallow right.
B3rd: With the Sox shifting around, Brian Anderson reaches out and singles through a wide open right side of the infield, scoring Miguel Rojas.
T3rd: Sox finally scratch out a run on a sacrifice fly from J.D. Martinez. Still, Sox keep squandering chances -- they're 0-for-8 with RISP.
B2nd: Christian Arroyo gets an in-between hop behind the second base bag and can't handle the ball. Sean Rodriguez reaches.
T2nd: Second straight inning in which the Sox get the leadoff man on, but can't do anything with the opportunity. They've stranded three in the first two innings including two in scoring position.
B1st: Garrett Cooper goes down for a pitch at the bottom of the zone and hits it out to CF on a liner for a two-run homer.
T1st: Breaking: Rafael Devers draws walk! It's his 12th in 50 games.
T1st: Alex Verdugo stretches his hitting streak to six straight with some strong hustle down the first base line, beating Trevor Rogers to the first base bag,
PRE-GAME NOTES:
- OF Alex Verdugo got his first start of the season in center field as Jackie Bradley Jr. was given the night off. "That's his favorite position,'' said Ron Roenicke, "but he's good at all three of (the outfield spots). And just wanting to give Jackie a day off with a lefty pitching and being on turf for all these games. He's been playing more than anybody recently, so I wanted to have him off and I thought it was a good day to do it.''
- RHP Tanner Houck, who pitched five shutout innings Tuesday in his debut, will make his next start Sunday against the Yankees at Fenway. LHP Martin Perez will pitch the series opener Friday.
- All signs point to Nick Pivetta making his Red Sox debut on the homestand. They don't have a starter announced for Saturday against the Yankees, or he could go Monday against the Orioles, which would be his normal fifth day after pitching six innings Wednesday at the alternate training site.
- Roenicke on Matt Barnes, who's handle the closer's role in the aftermath of the team trading Brandon Workman, possibly handling the role in 2021 from the start of the season: "I have no doubt that he can do it,'' he said. "He's got stuff. He's got two plus pitches that he can throw at any time. I think, right away, we saw some games where he got in a little bit of trouble with just being wild. But when he's throwing strikes and getting the ball over the plate with those two pitches, he's really tough to hit. He's as good as anybody. So, no question he has the arsenal to do it, he's got the makeup to do it. We'll see how it all plays out.''