As it turns out, not absolutely everything is going to come up Red Sox during this weaker portion of the schedule.
That's all right. It is baseball, as we know. There are 87 of 162 to go this season.
Wednesday's 5-4 slip-up in 10 innings against the Twins proves that the valleys still lay ahead of the peaks.
The Red Sox returned to pre-winning-streak form at the plate, going 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. They were a combined 26-for-69 (.377) with RISP during the six-game heater. Boston failed to live up to its .262 average with RISP and two outs, which still sits second in the Majors, stranding six RISP with two outs as part of nine left on the basepaths in all.
“We didn’t do much [offensively],” Alex Cora told reporters. ‘We had a lot of opportunities, and we didn’t cash in.”
He later added, "I think it's the odds, right? You're never going to be as hot as that [during the streak]. We came back against probably the best reliever in the Big Leagues, you know, in the eighth inning. We'll take that and get a chance to win the series tomorrow. So, be ready for that one."
After not necessarily needing Rafael Devers in the first two games in Minneapolis, the Sox could have used a strong night from the face of the franchise on Wednesday, as Devers (1-for-5) went silent after an RBI double in the top of the first. He went down swinging for the third time on the night with a runner on second and a chance to take the lead in the top of the 10th.
Add in a list of injuries that goes on and on with now a right oblique injury for Reese McGuire, which has him headed for the IL, the struggling Corey Kluber going down with injury, Tanner Houck's surgery, Enmanuel Valdez's injury in Worcester, Yu Chang's extended rehab and Chris Sale's uncertainty, among others.
"It's his oblique. It looks like he's going to be on IL," Cora said of McGuire. "We were actually, before you guys came in, we were talking about it. We'll see what we're going to do."
McGuire said, "I kind of felt it and just wanted that not to be true, but I knew what I felt. So at that point, I just didn't have it. I knew I was going to obviously be missing a little bit of time, but that sucks. ... I take pride in being healthy and being able to be on the field and be with the team. And so I kind of just felt like in that moment, it was like, 'Man, this really just happened?' and it sucks. So just kind of got to rest it, recover it and we'll come back. But, yeah, it sucks to know I'll probably be away from the game for a little bit of time but I'll be back."
The pitching has held up despite the depleted bullpen, and although McGuire's bat is not a significant loss, his injury leaves Connor Wong as the only catcher on the 40-man roster. It's his team, but now the Red Sox will need to get creative, either turning to an option in Triple-A Worcester or searching outside the organization. The Rangers released old friend Sandy Leon just hours ago. All Boston really needs is a decent defensive option, which Leon was during his years within the organization. Mike Zunino was cut loose by Cleveland as well.
Cora later added he "thinks" there will be a scramble to get a catcher to Minnesota on Thursday, "I believe so. We'll talk about it after this."
With a cold offense and more roster uncertainty, it's easy to turn around and say, "Those are the Red Sox we know and loathe" after Wednesday's result, which squandered good-enough pitching from Garrett Whitlock before more automatic work from Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen. But the point made after Tuesday's thumping of the Twins for six wins in a row stands.
The time is still now for the Red Sox if what little hope that is starting to materialize has any chance of being sustained.
Boston still has a chance to win the series on Thursday's getaway day and take momentum to the struggling White Sox before the schedule stiffens up. But as quickly as the going could get tough, it's back to another few weeks on say street (at least on paper).
The last time the Red Sox had a big winning streak snap, they reverted to well below .500 baseball.
The response on Thursday and in Chicago will be telling.