All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Angels, with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Bullpen blows it wide open: Although the raw numbers aren't terrible -- Red Sox relievers came into Wednesday night with a respectable 3.55 ERA -- there have been some epic meltdowns in the late innings, and this one may have been the worst to date. Two separate relievers -- first Austin Davis, and then Jake Diekman -- were charged with blown saves as six Sox relievers combined to allow eight runs. After Davis gave up a game-tying homer in the seventh, the Sox regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth, but there was more misery still to come. Neither Hansel Robles nor Diekman could get the job done in the ninth, with two one-out walks playing a big role. Then, incredibly, it got worse still in the 10th as Matt Barnes and Hirokazu Sawamura lit the fuse for six more runs. When Garrett Whitlock isn't in the pen, there isn't a single reliever whom Alex Cora can trust, and the number of blown saves has now reached eight.
Story getting closer: Trevor Story had what was easily his best offensive game this season, hammering two doubles to left -- one into the corner and another high off the wall -- and drove in three runs. Had the Sox held on, Story would have been the hitting star of the game. He now has four RBI in his last two games after collecting just five in his first 18 games. Like his manager Alex Cora, Story felt something begin to turn Sunday in Baltimore when he worked three walks, evidence that he was controlling his strike zone and making better swing decisions. It wasn't a surprise, then, that he was ready to have a break-out game. "It always feel good to drive in runs and have good at-bats,'' said Story. "That's always a great sign, but it doesn't feel all that great when you don't come out with a 'W.' ''
Whitlock shines again in start: The loss itself was bad enough, but it was even tougher to stomach for the Red Sox given how well starter Garrett Whitlock performed. He retired the first 13 hitters he faced before allowing a two-run homer to Max Stassi in the fifth inning. Those two runs (on two hits) were the only damage done by Whitlock, who fanned nine and didn't issue a single walk while establishing a new career-high of 78 pitches. His fastball and changeup were particularly sharp and he really held down a powerful Angels lineup. But this marked his third straight impressive outing as a (temporary) starter, and the Red Sox have gone on to lose all three of those -- chiefly because of late-inning bullpen meltdowns.
TURNING POINT
In the top of the 10th, with the automatic runner on second base, Barnes actually registered two quick outs, getting a flyout and strikeout. Then, facing Taylor Ward at the top of the order, Barnes fell behind 2-and-0. He got Ward to swing on a curveball, making it 2-and-1 before Barnes just missed with a second curveball. Barnes determined that Ward was sitting on a curveball, and opted to go with his fastball, which he left over the middle of the plate, resulting in a tie-breaking two-run homer for the Angels. The inning got worse from there, with four more runs crossing the plate, but it all began with Barnes falling behind in a critical at-bat.
TWO UP
Xander Bogaerts: For a time there, it looked like his solo homer in the bottom of the eighth was going to send the Red Sox to victory. It didn't, but he still finished the night 2-for-5.
Matt Strahm: Not every reliever had an off night -- it just felt that way. Strahm got three straight weak groundouts in the top of the eighth before things unraveled.
TWO DOWN
Alex Verdugo: Hot in the first few weeks, Verdugo has cooled off in a big way of late, going 0-for-4 with three groundouts including a double play.
Bobby Dalbec: The hitless streak grew to 16 with an 0-for-3 night at the plate, though in his defense, was rung up on what should have been ball four in the bottom of the ninth.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I've been terrible. Let's just call a spade a spade, right? So I've got to figure my (stuff) out. We're going to get there. I'm working on it every day and feeling better every day. We're going to get there. I know the results are terrible. It's definitely frustrating. '' -- Matt Barnes.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The loss was the fifth in extra innings for the Red Sox this season, though this was the first suffered at home.
* Rafael Devers saw his nine-game hitting streak come to end.
* The homer by Xander Bogaerts was the fourth go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later of his career.
* The Sox have homered in each of the last four games after hitting just one in the span of 10 games.
* The six runs allowed in the 11th inning was the most for the Sox in a single extra inning since Sept. 6, 2006, when they allowed six to Kansas City in the 12th inning.
UP NEXT
The two teams conclude their three-game series Thursday at 1:35 p.m. with LHP Rich Hill (0-1, 3.71) vs. RHP Shohei Ohtani (2-2, 4.29)