All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Cubs, complete with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Bullpen to blame: Tanner Houck was back and available for the Red Sox after being ineligible for the series in Toronto, but that didn't help the Red Sox any. Houck is a high-leverage reliever who's counted on to preserve late-inning leads and the Red Sox couldn't provide him with one Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Relievers Tyler Danish, Hansel Robles and Jake Diekman combined to pitch one inning while allowing three runs on two hits with five walks and a wild pitch. When Danish took over for starter Rich Hill in the ffith, the Sox led 4-2; by the time Diekman was through pitching in the sixth, the Sox were trailing by a run. The worst part was all the walks -- the Red Sox actually outhit the Cubs handily, but the six bullpen walks played a big significant role in the defeat. The Cubs aren't very good -- they just finished a 10-17 month, and they're even worse at home. But when you give even a poor team free baserunners, it's going to come back to bite you more often than not. Having to go to the bullpen in the fifth inning, the Sox went with some of their low-leverage options and got predictable results.
Hill suffers injury: Rich Hill blanked the Cubs for the first four innings, allowing just one hit. But in the fifth, things unraveled, in part because of a knee sprain that the veteran lefty suffered when he twisted his leg awkwardly on a follow-through to the plate. Even after a leadoff walk and a triple that followed, Hill was one out away from getting out of the fifth up by three. Instead, the next three hitters reached and the Cubs were on the way way to a three-run inning. After the game, Alex Cora told reporters that Hill was "a little sore,'' and the team would know more about his condition in the morning. As it is, the Sox are still waiting for two starting pitchers to return from the IL -- Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Whitlock. Even with Chris Sale perhaps 10 days away from rejoining the rotation. the Sox aren't in a spot where they can afford to lose another starter.
Offense stalls out: The game couldn't have begun any better for the Sox. Jarren Duran hit the first pitch of the afternoon out to straightaway center and the Sox added three more runs in the second on a bases-loaded double by Jackie Bradley Jr. But after that, things stalled offensively in a big way, with the Sox managing just one additional run over the final seven innings. There were a lot of quick innings -- including four in which the Sox sent the minimum number of hitters to the plate. Over the final three innings, they managed just one baserunner. Their Big Three of Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts has cooled at the same time. They were 3-for-13 Friday afternoon -- one game after going just 1-for-12 in the final game in Toronto.
TURNING POINT
As poorly as the bullpen performed, the offense has to take some of the blame here. In the sixth, the Sox got three base hits and a walk, and yet somehow, only came away with a run. After Jarren Duran supplied a bases-loaded single to score Trevor Story, Christian Vazquez attempted to join him and was thrown out easily at the plate. Had Vazquez -- or third base coach Carlos Febles -- made the decision to stay at third, the Sox could have the bases loaded for Rafael Devers. Instead, Vazquez ran into an out and the Sox had to be satisfied with just one run. It would be the last one they scored on the afternoon.
TWO UP
Jackie Bradley Jr.: When you're hitless over 26 at-bats, even a bloop single is welcome. Instead, Jackie Bradley Jr. cracked a bases-loaded double in the second inning to snap out of the slump.
Hirokazu Sawamura: Not every reliever pitched poorly. Sawamura, who's been far better on the road than at home, gave them two scoreless innings.
TWO DOWN
Christian Vazquez: Vazquez had a single and scored a run, but he also was thrown out trying to score from second base and then failed to keep an errant pitch from Diekman in front of him, leading to a run.
Hansel Robles: Between allowing a two-run homer and issuing three walks, Robles was the worst of the four relievers the Red Sox ran through.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"Today was a bad day for the pitching department. We walked a lot of people today. You keep giving them at-bats and at-bats and at-bats with men on, that's going to happen. '' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* The blown save for Hansel Robles was his sixth this season and 17th for the team.
* Alex Verdugo's eighth-inning single extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
* A first-inning bloop single from J.D. Martinez snapped an 0-for-13 skid.
* The Red Sox interleague record for 2022 dropped to 4-4 with the loss.
* This marked the second straight series in which the Red Sox dropped the first game.
* This marked the third straight game that finished with a 6-5 score for the Sox -- two losses and a win.
UP NEXT: The interleague series continues Saturday at 7:15 with RHP Josh Winckowski (3-1, 3.60) vs. RHP Alex Mills (0-1, 9.87)