Red Sox shutout for the first time this season 5-0; promote outfielder and reliever following game

The miserable month of May for the Red Sox has mercifully come to an end. Boston was shut out for the first time this season, losing to the Braves 5-0, and, in the process, handed their sixth loss in their last seven games.

Atlanta starter Spencer Schwellenbach bullied the Sox’ lineup, hurling 6 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and no walks, while tying his career high in strikeouts with 11. Boston went without an extra-base hit in the afternoon contest, and the Braves righty had a perfect game heading into the fourth, when Wilyer Abreu and Carlos Narváez collected a pair of back-to-back singles to end the bid.

Struggling Trevor Story nearly put his club on the board with a leadoff homer in the third, but Michael Harris II made a leaping catch to rob him of the blast. Story was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Schwellenbach worked around a pair of singles by Abraham Toro and Ceddanne Rafaela with two outs in the fifth. Boston’s fifth and final base hit of the day was a single off the bat by Marcelo Mayer to lead off the seventh.

Schwellenbach induced 16 swings-and-misses while dominating the Red Sox offense with his four-seam fastball. Five of his strikeouts came on the heater, according to Baseball Savant. The Sox struck out 14 times, including three from rookie Kristian Campbell, who will make his debut at first base in the series finale on Sunday.

Campbell, who was red hot in the month of April and named Rookie of the Month, has cooled down considerably at the dish. In the month of May, big league pitchers figured out the aggressive righty, holding him to a .182 batting average(11 for 82) with 27 strikeouts in 22 games.

Walker Buehler, unlike Schwellenbach, struggled with his command in the first inning and ended the afternoon with an ugly pitching line. He allowed five earned runs off 10 hits, including two home runs, while walking two and striking out six over 5 2/3 frames.

Austin Riley, who narrowly missed a solo blast down the left field line in the fourth, was able to straighten the ball out a few pitches later, getting a solo homer 400 feet into the left field seats. Ronald Acuña Jr. made it 5-0 with a two-run opposite-field blast later in the inning.

“Physically, I felt fine,” Buehler told reporters following the game. “Today was probably the hardest I’ve thrown in a start in years. So even with all the (expletive) we looked through on velocity and spin and all that stuff, sometimes you kind of realize it’s not all about that, and not that I felt like I was trying to overthrow, I just had good velocity today, but obviously it didn’t work out for me and for the team.”

Buehler now has a 4.44 ERA through nine starts this season. He’s been the team’s second-best starter behind Garrett Crochet. Boston needs more from their starting rotation, which has struggled to pitch deep into games the last few weeks. 

“It’s very important,” said Alex Cora of attempting to get more out of his starting rotation. “When we played good baseball for a while there, there was a string of quality starts, right? I think it was like 15 of them.”

Brennan Bernardino pitched again, making his 16th relief appearance in the month of May, relieving Buehler. He threw one pitch to catcher Drake Baldwin to force an inning-ending groundout. The southpaw has been one of the few bright spots for the Sox this month. He recorded a 0.71 ERA over 12 2/3 innings. He has made 27 appearances and is one behind nine other big league relievers who have 28.

“I know the bullpen has done a good job, but it starts with the rotation to gain momentum,” Cora said. “Tomorrow, we’ve got Garrett and a chance to win the series. Win it and move on and go home and play better.”

The club will turn to its ace on Sunday to help secure a series win as Crochet (4-4, 2.04 ERA) faces righty Bryce Elder (2-2, 4.50 ERA) in the rubber game of the series. The first pitch is at 1:35 p.m.

ROSTER MOVES

The Red Sox are making two roster moves ahead of Sunday’s game.

Boston will promote utility man Nate Eaton from Triple-A Worcester, per source. The club is also promoting right-handed reliever Luis Guerrero, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.

The corresponding moves are not known yet, but Eaton offers the Red Sox flexibility in the outfield and at third base. He is also a right-handed hitter, which will serve him well as the Sox are expected to see lefties in the coming games. Boston could option Nick Sogard back to the WooSox, but they will need to make a 40-man roster move to add Eaton to the 26-man roster.

Guerrero, who was optioned six days ago, is only eligible to come up if someone is hurt and heading to the IL.

Eaton, 28, has 72 MLB games under his belt, all with the Royals, and has hit .277 with five homers, 27 RBI and an .811 OPS while playing six different positions for the WooSox this year.

The addition of Eaton means Roman Anthony’s promotion will be delayed a few more days at the very least.

“I don’t think there’s a perfect answer to that,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Saturday when asked about a timeline for Anthony’s Major League debut. “We’re trying to balance what’s best for Roman and his development with where we are as a team and the way we’re prioritizing our 2025 season. We try to lean on the goals and process you think about in the offseason when the noise isn’t quite so loud.

“I think you also have to be willing to react to the situation you have right now. It’s impossible to ignore the performance he has had in Triple-A and how that’s lining up with our struggles here at the big league level, but we’re also trying to be mindful of the environment that we put him in, what he still has to work on, and what the pressure and demands would be. We’ll try to make the best decision we can for him.”

Guerrero has alternated between the major leagues and Triple-A Worcester this season. He has a 1.69 ERA in four big league games and a 4.43 ERA in 20 ⅓ innings for the WooSox.