Red Sox drop fifth straight as Brewers complete series sweep in extra-innings win

The Red Sox season is rapidly deteriorating.

One night after Christian Yelich hit a walk-off grand slam, the Sox were swept in Milwaukee, suffering their second straight walk-off loss in as many nights. The Brewers defeated the Sox, 6-5, who have now lost a season-high five straight games, leaving the club with a 27-31 record as they head to Atlanta for a three-game series beginning on Friday night.

The Sox took a 5-4 lead into the top of the 10th thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice by David Hamilton. Unfortunately for Boston, Justin Slaten wasn’t able to slam the door shut on Milwaukee.

With the automatic runner on second to open the inning, Lexington native Sal Frelick bounced a grounder to first. Slaten was late coming off the mound and unable to beat Frelick to the bag, giving him a career-high four hits in the win.

The Sox had the infield drawn in, and Slaten was able to induce a grounder to second baseman Kristian Campbell, who rushed a throw to home and threw wide of the plate, allowing the tying run to score.

The Brewers had runners on the corners with no outs for Caleb Durbin, who delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly to secure the Brewers their second consecutive victory. Collectively, the Red Sox appear unsteady, committing three errors in the loss and only hitting 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t play well today. The score was the score, but we walked the leadoff guy, we didn’t cover first, we dropped a fly ball in left, we got thrown out at third, and we made the play at the end,” Alex Cora told reporters postgame. “The score will say it was a good baseball game, but we didn’t play well today.”

Boston has a much-needed off day on Thursday, and they’ll look to regroup before beginning a three-game series with the Braves on Friday night. It’s starting to feel like the season is slipping away, and the calendar hasn’t even flipped to the month of June yet.

“We just have to be better, the bottom line from top to bottom, from the manager all the way to the players, we have to be better,” Cora said. “Yeah, close games and all that, but we have to find ways to win games; that’s it. It’s not early anymore; we know where we’re at, we know what we have on the roster, and it’s not going to change.”

Ceddanne Rafaela was able to put the team on the board in the second inning when he belted a solo homer to make it 1-0. He made a tremendous leaping grab against the wall to save a run in the same inning.

The lead evaporated quickly when Jake Bauers crushed a solo homer in the third, tying the game 1-1.

Rafaela had a brutal base-running blunder in the fourth inning. Boston had runners at first and second with one out for Jarren Duran, who sliced a single to right field. With Rafaela sprinting from first, he never looked up, and when he slid into third, he was surprised to see Connor Wong there, who was held up by third base coach Kyle Hudson.

Rafaela was then tagged out; Duran took second on the throw. Rafael Devers singled up the middle, scoring two runs, but it could have been more. Devers has driven in 31 RBI in the month of May and is the 24th Red Sox player since 1970 to have 30 or more RBI in a single month.

The single gave the Sox a 3-1 lead.

The Brewers scored another run in the fifth and then two more in the sixth on a two-run double by Durbin off Hunter Dobbins, who made his first big league relief appearance, to take a 4-3 lead. In the top of the seventh, Wilyer Abreu demolished a fastball from reliever Nick Mears and launched the ball into the second deck in right for a game-tying solo homer. He now has a team-leading 13 home runs this season.

Marcelo Mayer was penciled in to the cleanup spot, becoming the first Red Sox rookie to hit out of the spot since Masataka Yoshida in 2023. Cora told reporters before the game that he liked Mayer’s ability to hit fastballs with Brewers starter Freddy Peralta on the bump. The Sox’ rookie struck out with two on and one out in the first, grounded out to second in the third, and rolled one to the pitcher in the fifth; he was 0-for-4 overall on the afternoon.

For the fifth straight start, Brayan Bello couldn’t go five frames. Cora lifted his starter after 4 2/3 innings, allowing two runs—one earned—while throwing 77 pitches. Duran didn’t help his pitchers’ cause, misplaying a sinking liner into left field that extended the inning.

Bello’s early exit forced the Red Sox to bring on their bullpen sooner than necessary, partly due to him working longer at-bats, driving up his pitch count.

Cora spoke to Bello after his start where he failed to go more than five innings in an attempt to push his young starter. 

“It wasn’t anything private or anything like that,” Bello said through translator Daveson Perez in Milwaukee to reporters prior to his start. “We were just talking about the hitters — that a lot of guys were fouling pitches off. Just little ways that I can get better. We’re always talking together. Before the game (Friday), he was hyping me up. We were talking a little bit in the dugout. Thankfully, we have a really good relationship. We’re always talking.”

Following the game, Cora said he spoke with bench coach Ramon Vazquez about how the Red Sox looked compared to their opponents, and it was abundantly clear which of the two teams looked better.

“The way we were playing, the way they were playing throughout the series, they ran the bases better than us, they played good defense, and obviously they pitched, but the little things,” Cora said. “Overall, as far as the fundamentals and clean baseball, they were a lot better than us.”

The season is not lost just yet, but the club has sunk into fourth place in the American League East and is now a staggering nine games behind the Yankees for first place.

“(Alex Bregman)’s not coming back anytime soon, so this is our team; we can’t sit here and be waiting for reinforcements; we have to find a way to get it done,” said shortstop Trevor Story. “We’re a versatile offense; we know we can win with speed, small ball, but it starts with us. We’ve got to find a way to win that night.”