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 stalls out: What a difference 24 hours can make. In Tuesday's series opener, the Red Sox collected a season-high nine extra base hits and hit a staggering 25 balls 95 mph or harder. Fast forward to Wednesday night, and it was like a parallel universe: the Sox had seven hits and they were all singles, and only had 11 hard-hit balls on the evening. Worse, the Red Sox fell back into an old habit from earlier in the season when almost on a nightly basis, they were incapable of producing a timely hit. They were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position -- that one hit came in the first inning, when they notched their only run -- and stranded a dozen baserunners. They had chances to chase Chicago starter Lucas Giolito in the early going, but they left seven on base through the first four innings.
Hill done in by one pitch: Starter Rich Hill faced the minimum number of hitters through the first four innings, allowing just one baserunner (walk) and no hits. In the fifth, he allowed a leadoff double to Jose Abreu, followed by A.J. Pollock, who reached on an error by Rafael Devers. Next up was Jake Burger, against whom Hill quickly got into an 0-and-2 count. But Hill doubled up on a slider that had fooled Burger the pitch before and paid for it this time when he hung one and Burger crushed it, driving it deep into the left-field seats. It would be just the second hit allowed by Hill during his five innings of work, but the one swing provided the White Sox with all the scoring they would need to snap Boston's six-game win streak.
Error by Devers looms large: Through the first 42 games of the season, Rafael Devers had committed just two errors, as all of his work in spring training and before games paid off with much improved defensive play. Devers has learned to set his feet before making throws across the diamond, and that approach has greatly reduced the number of errant throws to first. But after fielding a shot by A.J. Pollock, Devers fell back into some bad habits, moving his feet as he threw, sending the throw to first baseman Franchy Cordero high. Cordero leaped and made the catch and tried to a sweep tag on Pollock as the outfielder arrived at first, but it wasn't in time. Instead of having a runner on second and one out, the White Sox had two on and no out, and when Burger put one in the seats next, the error proved especially costly.
TURNING POINT
In the seventh inning, trailing 3-1, the Red Sox managed to load the bases after singles from Devers and J.D. Martinez and a walk to Xander Bogaerts. A base hit could have tied the game, but instead, Alex Verdugo, whose opposite-field bloop single in the first accounted for the only Red Sox run of the night, bounced into an inning-ending, rally-killing groundout to second. The Sox were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, but this at-bat was perhaps the most critical, given the opportunity squandered late in the game.
TWO UP
Tanner Houck: Houck didn't have any easy innings and issued two walks, but he also contributed three scoreless innings when he took over Hill in the sixth inning.
J.D. Martinez: The veteran DH continues to be an on-base machine. He had two singles -- giving him hits in 23 of his last 24 games -- and also worked two walks as he reached base four times in five plate appearances.
TWO DOWN
Trevor Story: The team's hottest hitter had an off-night. He grounded out with two on to end the first, then bounced into an inning-ending double play in the third before fanning in his final two plate appearances.
Franchy Cordero: Cordero, too, cooled, with an 0-for-4 night that featured two strikeouts. For a change, he didn't hit the ball hard.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"I went to the well one too many times with that drop-down slider. That's on me. It's a tough one that keeps you up at night.'' Rich Hill on the pitch he threw that Jake Burger hit for a three-run homer.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* For the first time in 21 games, the Red Sox did not have multiple extra-base hits. In fact, they didn't have one, with all seven of their hits singles.
* The Sox also saw their homer streak come to an end at eight games.
* Christian Vazquez's six-game hitting streak was snapped after he was 0-for-2 with two walks.
* J.D. Martinez extended his hitting streak to five straight games.
UP NEXT
The rubber game of the series takes place Thursday at 8:10 p.m. with RHP Michael Wacha ( 3-0, 1.76) facing off against LHP Dallas Keuchel (2-4, 6.60)