All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Twins, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Bullpen blows it again: On Tuesday night, after Matt Barnes failed in the ninth inning, Hansel Robles came to the rescue, recording the final three outs with the potential go-ahead runs on base. But Robles wasn't nearly as effective this time. After the Red Sox rallied for two runs in the ninth to tie the game, it took Robles exactly two pitches in the 10th to give the lead right back, allowing a two-run homer to Josh Donaldson. He later surrendered a three-run shot in the same inning to Jake Cave. The Sox were without erstwhile closer Matt Barnes, who had pitched the previous two days and is trying to work through some issues after enduring a brutal month. Robles took the same approach with his former teammates, throwing mostly four-seam fastballs up in the zone and mixing in the occasional changeup down. It fooled them Tuesday night, but the strategy wasn't nearly as effective this time.
Familiar problems at the plate: Here it is, in the last few days of August, and the Red Sox' situational hitting hasn't gotten much better. Once again, they failed to produce the big hit when it was needed most, as reflected in the fact that they stranded a dozen baserunners while going just 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The Sox outhit the Twins 15-10, but couldn't make that translate into enough runs to win the game. In the first six innings, they didn't score at all. They scratched out solo runs, finally, in the seventh and eighth before getting two to forge a tie in the ninth. Even in the 10th, after the Twins had gone up by five, the Sox kept swinging and added two runs in the bottom of the 10th. But by then, the margin was too great to overcome. And they could look back at the many opportunities they failed to take advantage of -- including two on and nobody out in the sixth, runners at first-and-second and one out in the seventh, and on and on.
Pivetta headed in the wrong direction: Not long ago, Nick Pivetta turned in consecutive strong starts against Tampa Bay and the Orioles, and appeared poised to go on a good run for the final month of the season. But in his last two starts, Pivetta has face-planted. He couldn't get out of the second inning against the Yankees last week, and matched against a far easier lineup Wednesday, lasted just four innings. In his last two outings, then, Pivetta has been charged with eight runs over just 5.2 innings. Included in his start Wednesday was a two-run homer to Miguel Sano, which cleared everything in left center and was measured at 495 feet, the longest homer of the 2021 season and the fifth-longest homer in the Statcast era.
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox seemed on the verge of pulling this one out when, after tying it 4-4 in the ninth, they put runners on first and second with no out. A base hit would have done the trick. But after J.D. Martinez lined out to right, advancing Xander Bogaerts to third, Alex Verdugo swung mightily at three straight pitches when a simple fly ball would have won the game. With two down and in need of a hit to plate Bogaerts, Hunter Renfroe popped up to the catcher and the inning was over. By the next inning, so, too, were the Sox.
TWO UP
Austin Davis: The lefty reliever continued his string of good outings, retiring all eight batters he faced over 2.2 innings, including three by strikeouts.
Kyle Schwarber: Schwarber continues to be an on-base machine for the Red Sox, with three hits, including the game-tying two-run homer in the ninth.
TWO DOWN
J.D. Martinez: Martinez had yet another hitless night (0-for-5) and is now 0-for-15 and just 2-for-20 on the current homestand.
Rafael Devers: The Red Sox aren't going anywhere unless their big run producers pull out of their current nosedive. Devers worked two walks, which is a positive, but he also was 0-for-3 in his other at-bats.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"It came down to one of the things we've been preaching from the get-go: put the ball in play with men at third and less than two outs and we didn't do that.'' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Kyle Schwarber extended his on-base streak to a career-best 22 games.
* Hunter Renfroe has a 1.230 OPS in his last 13 games.
* Austin Davis contributed his fifth consecutive scoreless outing.
* The Sox fell to 3-3 in extra-inning games at Fenway.
UP NEXT
In the final game of the series, the Red Sox will send LHP Chris Sale (2-0, 1.80) to the mound against RHP John Gant (4-7, 3..77) at 7:10 p.m.