The good news? For the Red Sox, the road trip from hell is over, and not a minute too soon. Odds are, if it had lasted another day or so, the Red Sox would have invented new ways to lose, and along the way, lost another player in an inventive way.
The remarkable thing is that the Sox managed to win twice in their 10-game trek, which saw them start with a division lead of a game and a half, and return a full four games behind. Equally alarming is that the Yankees and Blue Jays, not long ago, mere specs in the Sox’ rear-view window, are now a car length behind, laying on the horn and shouting for the Red Sox to get out of the way.
While Sunday’s 9-8 loss was soul-shattering – a 7-2 lead squandered and even an 8-6 advantage with four outs remaining pulled from their grasp – it did come with some positives.
For one thing, the offense, so moribund for the past two weeks – it had been 15 games since the Sox last managed to score more than five runs in a single contest – was brought to life. The Sox pounded out 16 hits, and got big contributions from the heart of their order.
Together, J.D. Martinez (fresh off a COVID scare), Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers combined for eight hits, six runs scored and three RBI, the kind of production that seemed unattainable as the three battled injuries and general August malaise in recent weeks.
There was even a passable start from Garrett Richards, likely fighting a losing battle to retain his spot in the rotation with three earned runs allowed over five innings. That won’t win over any converts, but Richards, for a change, kept the Sox in the game and was, in fact, positioned to win it until the bullpen imploded.
Oh, yes. The bullpen.
For months, it’s been an absolute team strength. But that, too, seems to be in question now after carrying too big a workload in recent weeks. With the starters too often failing to get through even five innings, the relievers have taken on a far heavier burden and lately, that’s been evident in their performance.
Even before you get to Matt Barnes allowing a late-inning, game-winning homer for the second time in 24 hours, there were troubling signs. Josh Taylor looked gassed and unable to locate in the sixth. Hirokazu Sawamura was sharp in the sixth, then unable to throw strikes, lifted in the seventh after ominously experiencing tightness in his right elbow.
Adam Ottavino, who closed out the win Saturday night, wasn’t as sharp Sunday and has seen his ERA climb from 2.54 on July 24 to its current 3.72.
Finally, there’s the growing specter of injuries. Losing Sawamura as the games pile up with the front-running Tampa Bay Rays would a big blow, and the news that Kyle Schwarber tweaked a groin muscle while attempting to come back from his hamstring strain is potentially ominous. It’s bad enough that Schwarber arrived as damaged goods. But the Sox vowed his return would be sooner rather than later, and yet, 10 days after he was acquired, he’s not cleared to begin a rehab assignment, much less be in the team’s actual lineup.
To a man, the Red Sox said all the right things postgame.
“Listen, it’s definitely been tough,’’ conceded Barnes. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks, particularly since the All-Star break. But we have a good team, man. This is a team that was in first place going into the All-Star break. Stretches like this happen. Obviously, you’ve got to cut it short and try to make sure it doesn’t last any longer.
“But there’s still plenty of time. We still have seven weeks of the season left. The season’s not ending in two weeks. The season’s not ending in three weeks. We have seven weeks left. We have three series against Tampa left. We gotta get back to being who we are, get back to what we did for the first three-and-a-half months of the season, that put us in first place.’’
Richards was equally sanguine.
“We’re looking forward to getting off the road and starting fresh,’’ he said. “We’re still a good ballclub. Yeah, we’re discouraged but there’s no faith loss. The first half wasn’t a joke. We’re just trying to get back on the same page and get rolling again. Every team goes through something like this at some point during the season. It’s unfortunate that it’s happening right now. But this is a good ballclub. You shouldn’t sleep on this team.
“We’re super positive. Yeah, we’re going through a rough stretch right now. But we fully believe that we’re going to win this division. There’s not any lost faith here. We’ve had a bad road trip. It’s one road trip. There’s a lot of games left to play. We still have our foot on the gas. Nobody’s letting up. We’re not down. We know what we have in the clubhouse and we know what we’ve done so far.’’
Talk and confidence will only get the Red Sox so far. The rotation, which stands to welcome two replacements in the coming days, should improve. But the bullpen needs rest and the lineup has to show that Sunday wasn’t a fluke.
The best that can be said is that the road trip is over. But to fully move on from it will take more than just talk. The Red Sox need to begin playing the way they did for the first 95 or so games.
Tuesday, with the Rays in town, would seem like a good time to start.