All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' loss to the Cubs, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
HEADLINES
Sox bats silent: The Red Sox were quiet at the plate all night. They finished with just five hits, and on the rare occasions when they had some scoring opportunities, did little with them, going 1-for-7 with RISP. The lone run came in the sixth when Jackie Bradley led off with a double and, moved to third on a single from Jarren Duran and scored as Rafael Devers hit into a rally-killing double play. And it wasn't as if the Sox were matched up against an ace. The Cubs starter, Alec Mills, left with an injury after just seven pitches and the Sox could do almost nothing against Mark Leiter Jr, who allowed just one run in 5 1/3 innings despite a 5.55 ERA coming into the game. The big culprits were the Big Three of Devers, J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts, who combined to go just 1-for-11 with four strikeouts. Somehow, the Sox have managed just one run in the last 16 innings against an injury-depleted Cubs staff.
Winckowski strong in defeat: Josh Winckowski continued to prove he belongs in the Red Sox rotation, allowing just two runs -- one earned -- over six innings while also recording six strikeouts. Winckowski got seven outs on the ground, thanks to his effective two-seamer. On several occasions, the Cubs put the leadoff man on, and every time but one, Winckowski pitched out of difficulty. The two runs scored against him were the result of two sloppy throws -- one by Devers, followed by one from Winckowski himself. Those two errors led to the first two runs. Otherwise, Winckowski was tough to hit. Of the six hits he allowed, five didn't leave the infield.
Sloppy plays haunt Sox: When you're not hitting, it seems to smallest things come back to haunt you. That was certainly true of the Sox, who made back-to-back throwing errors in the second, leading directly to the first two Chicago runs. The Sox also failed to make a handful of other plays in the infield, too, but thanks to Winckowski's ability to pitch out of jams, those weren't as costly. Then, in the eighth, Bogaerts dropped a throw from Kevin Plawecki as the Cubs' Nelson Contreras stole second. He then took third on a wild pitch from Tanner Houck, then rode home on a run-scoring single from Patrick Wisdom. One more mistake, one more run.
SECOND GUESS
In the eighth inning, with the Sox trailing by a run, Franchy Cordero fanned against righty reliever Mychal Givens for the first out. That brought up light-hitting Kevin Plawecki. Alex Cora didn't have a lefty bat on the bench (Rob Refsnyder, Christian Vazquez, Christian Arroyo and Bobby Dalbec were available, all righthanded hitters), but any one of them would represent a better option that Plawecki, who came into the game hitting .157. Instead, Plawecki fouled out to first for the second out. Then, to make matters worse, the Cubs stole two bases in the bottom of the eighth, helping them score an insurance run. Had Vazquez replaced Plawecki behind the plate in that inning, the Cubs might not have tried to steal, and if they had, Vazquez would have had a better shot at throwing them out.
TWO UP
Jarren Duran: After sitting out the series in Toronto, Duran has returned with a flourish. On Friday, he hit the first pitch of the game for a homer and Saturday, he had two of the Red Sox' five hits.
Ryan Brasier: Brasier pitched a scoreless seventh inning, racking up two strikeouts along the way, and had his best outing in some time.
TWO DOWN
Tanner Houck: Yes, Houck struck out three, but he also gave up two hits and threw a wild pitch, all of which lead directly to a huge insurance run in the eighth for the Cubs.
Trevor Story: Story was 0-for-3, including two strikeouts in which he was way out in front on breaking balls. He later hit a ball hard to the warning track for a flyout, but he's not looked good at the plate the last few games.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"They didn't hit the ball hard, but we played horrible defense behind (Winckowski); that was the game right there.'' Alex Cora.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
* Alex Verdugo extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a second-inning single.
* The Cubs stole two bases against Kevin Plawecki, who has not thrown out a baserunner in 14 attempts this season.
* The Red Sox dropped to 4-5 in interleague games this season.
* The loss was just the second in the last 21 games in which the Red Sox got six or more innings from their starting pitcher.
UP NEXT: The Red Sox and Cubs close out their series Sunday afternoon at 2:20 p.m., with RHP Connor Seabold going for Boston and opposed by RHP Keegan Thompson (7-3, 3.34)