Red Sox bats remain lifeless and suffer fourth straight loss as Christian Yelich hits walk-off grand slam in extra-innings

One night after veteran Rob Refsnyder said that he was “tired of losing,” the Red Sox responded by scoring a single run that was gifted to them by the Brewers in the sixth inning courtesy of a wild pitch. The lone run wasn't enough for the Red Sox, who lost their fourth straight game. 

With the club clinging to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, closer Aroldis Chapman blew his first save of the season as the Brewers forced the game into extra innings. Christian Yelich nailed the Sox’ coffin shut, crushing a slider deep to right field for a walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning off reliever Liam Hendriks (0-2) for a 5-1 victory at American Family Field.

“We’ve got to be better,” Alex Cora told reporters following the game. “The margin for error — it’s hard to win games 1-0, and we didn’t do a good job with runners in scoring position.”

The Brewers rallied in the ninth to force extra innings after Yelich doubled down the left field line to open the inning against Chapman. The veteran outfielder stole third, and then the Sox’ closer walked Rhys Hoskins. Lexington native Sal Frelick hit a line drive into center field that sent the game to extras. It was Chapman’s first blown save of the season.

That one run the Red Sox managed to put on the scoreboard wasn't enough, as their anemic offense continues to scuffle, finishing 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, which includes a key moment in the 10th inning. With the automatic runner on second, Abraham Toro collected an infield single, putting runners on the corners with no one out.

The Sox left Toro and Trevor Story stranded on the bases when both Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran struck out, followed by Rafael Devers lining out, keeping the game tied at 1-1.

“Credit to them, they did the little things, especially late in the game,” Cora said. “That’s why they won the game.”

BREWERS GIFT SOX A RUN

Boston’s only run of the game was gifted to them by the Brewers after Rafaela led off the sixth with a double down the right field line off Brewers starter Aaron Civale. Milwaukee would make a pitching change, and lefty reliever Aaron Ashby entered the game and struck out Duran with a nasty slider. Devers managed to hit the ball to the right side of the infield, moving Rafaela to third base with two outs. He would score after Ashby threw a sinker that ran high to Carlos Narváez, allowing Rafaela to score.

Civale limited the Sox’ offense to just three hits over five frames, stifling the bats over the first three innings before allowing doubles in the fifth inning to Marcelo Mayer (2-for-3) and one in the sixth to Rafaela.

Boston had a chance to do some damage following the Mayer double, but a poor base-running decision from the rookie killed any momentum the Sox were beginning to build. Following the double, Story hit a fly ball to shallow right field, and Mayer tried to test Frelick’s arm. The Brewers outfielder gunned down Mayer at third base for a double play.

"It's one of those, we talked about him (Frelick) pre-series," said Cora. "He has a good arm. Obviously, he got behind it. That's one of those that, yeah, a little bit too aggressive."But we don't want to take the aggressiveness out of him. There was a dirt ball later on he was a little hesitant about. He got a great read and he stopped. We talked to him, walked him through what we saw and he'll let us know what he saw, then keep getting better at it."

FITTS RETURNED, BULLPEN KEPT SOX ALIVE

Richard Fitts made his return to the mound, activated off the injured list prior to the game, rather than making another rehab start in the minors. The right-hander threw 38 pitches in a rehab outing last week and threw 44 pitches in three innings. He allowed two hits and a walk while striking out two, and he threw 29 of his 44 pitches for strikes.

Greg Weissert, Justin Wilson, and Justin Slaten tossed five scoreless innings in relief of Fitts, allowing just one hit with five strikeouts and one walk.

Weissert worked around a Rafaela hiccup in center when Jackson Chourio led off the bottom of the sixth with a liner that was charged hard, but he pulled up on the ball late, resulting in it skipping by him.

Chourio advanced to third with one out on a groundout. The Brewers had the tying run on third, and Cora summoned Justin Wilson for a left-on-left matchup against Yelich. The southpaw escaped the jam, getting Yelich to pop up and then Hoskins to fly to right to keep the one-run lead.

Wilson has been stellar out of the bullpen on the road, recording a 0.00 ERA in 9 1/3 innings of work.

RED SOX NOTES

Prior to the game, the Red Sox traded pitcher Sean Newcomb to the Athletics for cash considerations.

The Middleborough native was designated for assignment this week after he appeared in 12 games for Boston, making five starts while going 0-4 with a 3.95 ERA in 41 innings. The 31-year-old made the Sox’ Opening Day roster out of spring training when Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Lucas Giolito all went down with various injuries.

Zack Kelly was optioned back to Triple-A Worcester to make room for Fitts on the 26-man roster. The righty was up from the minors for just two games and has posted an 8.25 ERA, giving up 11 earned runs in 12 innings with 11 strikeouts in eight appearances for the Red Sox.

Boston activated Zach Penrod from the 60-day IL and assigned the lefty to Triple-A Worcester. Penrod had a chance to make the Opening Day roster out of camp, but elbow soreness sidelined the southpaw. He will pitch for the WooSox as he builds himself back up and could position himself as a candidate for the Sox’ bullpen in the coming weeks. Penrod made his debut last September and allowed two runs in four innings over seven outings, recording a 2.25 ERA.

According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, the Sox transferred lefty reliever Chris Murphy to High-A Greenville on Tuesday for a rehab assignment.

Murphy has been on the 60-day IL recovering from Tommy John surgery. He made his big league debut in 2023, logging 47 2/3 innings while posting a 4.91 ERA in 20 games, all out of the Sox’ bullpen. The left-handed hurler can rehab for up to 30 days before the Red Sox make a decision on his roster status; he has minor league options remaining but occupies a 40-man roster spot, which will require a roster move to activate him off the IL.