Garrett Crochet’s 11 strikeouts not enough as Red Sox bats remain flat, drop series opener to Brewers 3-2

One day after Alex Cora talked about how his club needs to get on a hot streak, his offense continued to struggle, scoring just two runs off seven hits as the Brewers defeated the Red Sox 3-2 during their Memorial Day matinee from American Family Field.

Red Sox ace left-hander Garrett Crochet dominated the Brewers on the mound, striking out 11 batters in 6 2/3 innings, but his effort wasn’t enough as Boston’s offense couldn’t get anything brewing in the Cream City.

Crochet (4-4, 2.04 ERA) was outstanding, allowing two runs on five hits with two walks, but mistakes early on plagued the southpaw. The hard-throwing lefty opened the game hurling a 96-mph fastball that was left over the heart of the plate, and Brewers exciting young outfielder Jackson Chourio belted the offering 413 feet into his team’s bullpen in left-center. It was just the second time this season that Crochet allowed a first-pitch home run.

“Obviously, first pitch of the game I’m gonna throw a fastball, everybody knows that. I’m never not going to do that,” Crochet told reporters. “The guy next game could clip me on a heater, and I’d be OK with that. It’s just not making that one pitch (to Monasterio) I feel like really came back to bite me.”

Over the next four frames, the Sox' lefty dominated the Brewers but faced a significant obstacle in the fifth inning. Joey Ortiz doubled to open the inning and get in scoring position. Crochet quickly got ahead in the count to No. 9 hitter Andruw Monasterio, 0-2, but left a sweeper over the middle of the dish, and he ripped it down the line for an RBI double.

“Right now, we’re not putting a complete game together,” Cora told reporters postgame. “As of now, it’s not happening to us.”

The Brewers' two-run lead appeared insurmountable for the Red Sox, as their offense found it difficult to get anything going against the Brewers' pitching.

Boston was able to avoid getting shut out for the first time this season when Kristian Campbell recorded an RBI groundout in the eighth. The Brewers quickly tacked on another run in the home half of the inning against reliever Garrett Whitlock. The insurance run was a dagger to the chest for the Red Sox, who tried to rally in the ninth.

In the ninth inning, the Sox attempted to rally; Trevor Story walked with one out, followed by Rob Refsnyder walking with two outs and Ceddanne Rafaela pinch-running for him. Jarren Duran smoked a single into right field, scoring Story and moving the speedy Rafaela to third base. Milwaukee wanted no part of red-hot slugger Rafael Devers and intentionally walked him for Connor Wong, who was in the No. 3 hole after he pinch ran for Carlos Narváez an inning prior.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy's strategy worked as Wong would fly out to right field to end the game.

Boston is now two games below .500 (26-28) and seven games out of first place with seemingly has no answers on how to drum up any offense. The Red Sox suffered another one-run loss and have scored just four runs in the last three games.

“I think that we have a lot of faith in our offense, at any given moment we’re going to break out and the rest of the season we’re going to forget about these first two months,” Crochet said. “I think the most important part is that we’re getting in the situations to have success, and eventually the ball is going to go our way.”

RED SOX NOTABLES

Marcelo Mayer found his missing car keys on Monday. Meanwhile, the Red Sox bats remain on hiatus. With his keys in a safe spot, the rookie went 1-for-4 and has now hit safely in his last two games.

He singled to right in his first at-bat and lined out to left in his second. Mayer was later robbed of a hit when he smoked a low liner to shortstop, and Ortiz made a lunging grab, robbing him of his second hit of the game.

Story’s offensive challenges are becoming magnified as each game passes. Cora initially planned to sit the slumping shortstop in the series opener, but changed his mind, hoping Story was ready to break out. Cora's gut was wrong; Story was 1-for-3 with a walk, popping out to short with two on and one out in the second. He struck out in the fourth, got a hit in the seventh, and walked and scored in the eighth.

The loss of Alex Bregman is negatively affecting the team, as there is currently no significant threat in the middle of their batting lineup. Cora penciled Narváez into the No. 3 hole, and he singled in the eighth and was removed for a pinch runner. The Sox’ 3-4-5 hitters of Narváez, Campbell, and Wilyer Abreu are just not enough, and the front office needs to recognize that now before they fall deeper out of the race for first place.

Garrett Whitlock pitched well in relief of Crochet, recording the final four outs of the game, even though he allowed a crucial run in the eighth. The positive is that it gave the bullpen an extra day's rest, with no starter named for Tuesday. It’s unclear if the Sox will have Richard Fitts make his return off the IL or go with an opener. The Brewers will feature right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale (0-1, 9.00 ERA) on Tuesday night.