All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the White Sox, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Offense? Same old story: For the first four innings, the Red Sox were held scoreless by White Sox starter Vince Velazquez, stretching their scoreless streak to 13 straight innings. They finally managed a run in the fifth, then got another in the eighth, but it wasn't nearly enough as the Sox lost for 12th time in the last 16 games. Manager Alex Cora noted that even with his hitters got ahead in the count, they showed an over-eagerness that resulted in swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. "We've got to slow down the game,'' he said. "There were some pitches in certain situations where we got out of the plan and we were too aggressive and chased pitches. Just another night, right? We're struggling. This is a group that is used to hitting and we just haven't done it.'' Once again, the Sox were at their worst when presented with scoring opportunities, collecting just one hit in eight at-bats with RISP.
Eovaldi not as sharp: Nathan Eovaldi has been solid all season and kept the Red Sox in most of his starts. On Friday, he wasn't as good as he's been of late though three runs allowed over five innings was far from terrible. All three of the runs off Eovaldi came in the third, with two coming on a monster homer from Luis Robert, who got a breaking ball that backed up and clubbed it over everything in left. Eovaldi's fastball command wasn't as precise as usual, and the righthander said he could feel himself rushing his delivery at times. That mechanical flaw was enough to contribute to 101 pitches, and a season-high three walks. The three walks were as many as Eovaldi had allowed in his first five starts combined, covering 28.2 innings.
Some mistakes didn't help: When a team isn't hitting, some small mistakes get magnified. In the sixth inning, Rafael Devers was on first when Xander Bogaerts lined to second. Inexplicably, with the play in front of him, Devers began to break toward second, making it impossible to get back to first before being doubled up. Another issue, though it didn't cost the Sox a run, came in the sixth when the Sox were in position to turn a double play. Reese McGuire hit a grounder fielded by Bogaerts, who, with the Sox in the shift, threw to Devers covering at second. Devers then had a chance to double up McGuire at first. His throw was to the outfield side of first base, but Bobby Dalbec failed to stretch far enough and the ball ticked off his glove and rolled into foul territory.
TURNING POINT
The Red Sox barely threatened for most of the game, but seemed poised for a bit of a breakout in the fifth. A leadoff double by Alex Verdugo and a one-out run-scoring double from Jackie Bradley Jr. put the Sox on the board in the fifth inning and brought the potential tying run to the plate for three successive at-bats. But Kevin Plawecki grounded out, and after Jarren Duran was hit on the hand, giving the Sox two baserunners, Trevor Story was rung up on a bad call from first base umpire Carlos Torres, who ruled, improperly, that Story had swung when he obviously didn't. That killed the threat.
TWO UP
Jackie Bradley Jr.: Bradley smacked his fourth double in the last four games, and also gunned down a runner at the plate with a strong throw from right field in the ninth inning.
John Schreiber: Added to the roster to replace Rich Hill (COVID-restricted list), Schreiber faced five hitters and allowed just an infield single while recording two strikeouts.
TWO DOWN
Ryan Brasier: The reliever wasn't as sharp as he'd been in recent outings and allowed an insurance run after giving up two hits in his only inning of work.
Kevin Plawecki: he was 0-for-3 at the plate, and had two baserunners steal off him. He's yet to throw out a runner this season in four tries.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I know the season is young, but we gotta go. We gotta go.'' Xander Bogaerts.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The Red Sox were held to four runs or fewer for the fifth time in the last eight games.
* Red Sox starters have held the opposition to three runs or fewer in 15 straight games.
* Since the start of 2021, the Sox are just 3-5 vs. Chicago
* Trevor Story had his fifth RBI in the last four games.
* Jackie Bradley Jr's assist in the ninth inning was his third of the season.
UP NEXT
The Red Sox and White Sox play the middle game of their series at 4:10 p.m. The Red Sox will send RHP Nick Pivetta (0-4, 7.84) to the mound, opposed by RHP Dylan Cease (4-1, 2.48).