The opening frame of Friday night’s series opener against Arizona painted a very familiar picture for these Red Sox.
By the time Brayan Bello had thrown his 13th pitch of the night, the Diamondbacks had jumped in front courtesy of a bases-loaded walk with nobody out. But Bello and Co. were able to mitigate the damage, escaping with only a 2-0 deficit.
Then before you could blink in the bottom of the first, the Sox had pushed across a run after only five pitches thrown by Arizona starter Ryne Nelson courtesy of back-to-back Green Monster doubles for Jarren Duran — his MLB-best 40th — and Wilyer Abreu.
But the Sox couldn’t find a way to get Abreu home from second, and the D’backs settled into a 2-1 lead they would hold until the sixth inning — when the wheels began to come off completely.
Arizona plated three in the sixth, four more in the seventh — all on Eugenio Suarez's fifth career grand slam over the Monster — and three more in the ninth to secure an ugly 12-2 defeat to kick off another important series for Boston.
FINAL: Diamondbacks 12, #RedSox 2
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 24, 2024
“Today was kind of like ‘blah,’” Alex Cora said with a chuckle. “Not much going on, right? So just got to be ready for tomorrow.”
It’s a blueprint these Red Sox have followed all too often this season. They dug themselves an early hole, showed some fight and looked like they might just be able to overcome it, only to wind up falling short.
It hasn’t always worked out to their detriment, though. Very often this season — including just this week in Houston — the Sox have bounced back with two strong showings to win the series. That could very well wind up being the case in this weekend’s series, too.
Yet at a time of the season when “two steps forward, one step back” really needs to be “three steps forward,” Boston’s 17-25 record in series openers and 3-8 record to being homestands — coupled with a .468 home winning percentage that’s tied for 27th in the majors — sticks out like a sore thumb.
“It’s not for lack of preparation, it’s not that we’re preparing different on the road,” Cora explained. “Like I said, we’ve got to figure it out here and start playing good baseball at home.”
On August 23rd, the truth is it is way too late to be figuring out something like that. If Cora, Craig Breslow and the brain trust be haven’t been able to find a reason by now, they are not likely to do so with only a month-plus remaining…
At this point, similar to Cora’s year-long refrain of “we at where we at,” well… they are what they are.
Bello took a step back after a string of solid starts, as his sinker-heavy pitch mix gifted Arizona five runs on seven hits with four walks in 5 1/3 innings. That snapped an impressive stretch of seven consecutive starts allowing no more than three runs.
“Obviously, it felt a little bit frustrating because I wanted to be able to give my team a chance to win tonight (and) to start the homestand in a good (position),” Bello said through a team interpreter.
After some encouraging showings at the end of their 4-3 road trip through Baltimore and Houston, the bullpen relapsed as well.
Joely Rodriguez — who I’m honestly shocked is still around and was surprised to see his name in the pre-game roster transaction email — gave up a run on only seven pitches thrown. Then Josh Winckowski had a meltdown to the tune of six runs allowed on eight hits with one walk over three innings of mop-up duty.
GENO GRAND SLAM!!! pic.twitter.com/NUgYykOdx2
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) August 24, 2024
Talk about tossing away all your positive momentum…
With just 34 games remaining to prove otherwise, the 2024 Red Sox are inching closer to cementing their “close, but no cigar” status as a ball club. Friday’s loss, coupled with Kansas City’s big win over Philadelphia, has them starting up at a four-game AL wild-card deficit.
Again, maybe they’ll prove us wrong again. A win on Saturday and another Sunday, and maybe they’ll be right back “in it.” You can count Bello as a believer in that…
“We’ll come back tomorrow and win the game tomorrow,” Bello said.
Except at some point, being “in it” isn’t going to be good enough. That day, my friends, is fast approaching…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.