Red Sox’ nightmare eighth leads to fifth straight loss, Garrett Whitlock dealing with elbow inflammation

A close game unraveled in a hurry Wednesday night when Boston’s bullpen imploded in the eighth inning, allowing five runs in a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.

The Red Sox have now lost five straight games for just the second time this season and have dropped consecutive series after winning nine in a row.

This one was tied 1-1 entering the bottom of the eighth before everything fell apart.

Tyron Guerrero, who has been one of Boston’s most dependable relievers, allowed consecutive singles to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk to open the inning. Kazuma Okamoto then lifted a soft flare into foul territory near first base that Willson Contreras appeared to have tracked down.

Contreras made the catch more difficult than it needed to be. He turned quickly in an attempt to threaten a throw to second and dropped the ball for an error.

“It looked also like it just drifted back to the right,” interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters. “It’s just a miss. It happens, and you got to move on.”

“I just dropped the ball,” Contreras said. “It’s an error, it’s not the first one I’ve made and it won’t be the last one. Turn the page. Tomorrow is another game.”

Okamoto made Boston pay almost immediately, lining an RBI single to left. Jarren Duran made a strong throw home, but the runner narrowly beat it to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

“I was given another chance right there,” Okamoto said through an interpreter postgame. “I was able to regroup. I wanted to at least move the runners over, so I was glad I got the big hit right there.”

After that, things completely unraveled for Guerrero and the Sox. 

Guerrero intentionally walked Andrés Giménez to load the bases before walking Ernie Clement after a nine-pitch at-bat, forcing home another run. He was pulled without recording an out.

Alec Gamboa inherited a bases-loaded, nobody-out mess and couldn’t completely stop the bleeding. George Springer lifted a sacrifice fly before Myles Straw ripped a two-run double into the left-center field gap to make it 6-1.

In a matter of minutes, a tie game had turned into a five-run deficit.

Guerrero entered the night with a 2.03 ERA and an impressive 34-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 31 innings. He had been even better recently, posting a 0.99 ERA with 27 strikeouts over his previous 27 appearances.

“It’s baseball,” Guerrero said. “Sometimes that’s what happens. I have been throwing the ball really good since I (got here), and today wasn’t the night.

“Nothing changed on me. I gave it everything that I had tonight. (Expletive) happens.”

He was charged with four earned runs on three hits and two walks without recording an out, ballooning his ERA to 3.19.

After the game, the Red Sox revealed why Garrett Whitlock never entered the game. The setup man was unavailable because of elbow inflammation.

“He’s dealing with a little bit of inflammation in his elbow, so we’ve got to check in and see where we’re at there,” Tracy said of Whitlock. “We’ve got to see how he responds, how he feels tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

Whitlock, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and had his 2024 season cut short by an internal brace procedure, downplayed concerns that he could be facing another significant elbow issue.

“I don’t think there’s anything structurally wrong with it,” Whitlock said. “Obviously, I’m sure there’s probably a lot of inflammation in there. My concern for need of any drastic measures is very low.”

Whitlock said he has not undergone imaging and believes the issue may simply be the result of a heavy workload, including repeatedly getting loose in the bullpen.

“We haven’t gotten any imaging or anything,” Whitlock said. “I don’t think… and I hope it doesn’t come to that kind of thing. Been throwing a lot, getting warmed up a lot which has been the big thing. Tightened up on me after warming up last night and we’re just gonna go from there.”

Even after the eighth-inning disaster, the Red Sox didn’t go quietly. Trailing 6-1 entering the ninth, Boston made things uncomfortable for the Blue Jays.

Contreras drew a one-out walk and Wilyer Abreu doubled before Caleb Durbin singled home Contreras. Duran followed with an RBI double to make it 6-3 and suddenly bring the tying run to the plate.

That was enough for Toronto to summon closer Louis Varland.

Andruw Monasterio brought home another run with a sacrifice fly, cutting the deficit to two, but Varland got Nick Sogard to ground out to end the game.

Another comeback attempt had fallen short which has become a frustrating theme during Boston’s five-game skid. 

The Red Sox have lost those games by a combined 11 runs and have repeatedly given themselves opportunities late, but the plays and big hits that routinely went their way during their remarkable run have suddenly become harder to find.

Long before his costly eighth-inning error, Contreras looked like he might be one of the heroes.

Boston had been held scoreless through four innings by José Soriano before Contreras worked a full count and crushed a curveball 408 feet to tie the game in the fifth. The ball left his bat at 105.9 mph for his team-leading 24th home run.

“We got a big swing from Willson, that was good to see,” Tracy said. “If we can get him going, that turns things. We grinded, the pitching performances on both sides were good.”

The homer was a welcome sight after Contreras had gone deep just once over his previous 18 games. Between being hit in the head by a pitch, dealing with an illness and battling various lower-body issues, the veteran hasn’t appeared completely healthy in recent weeks.

“It’s just baseball, man,” Contreras said. “You play six months of baseball, you’re going to go through ups and downs. I’m not going to be down on myself, because I know baseball is going to be this way. It feels good to connect with one and be able to hit a homer, for sure. You have to find your rhythm, keep having good at-bats and let baseball come to you.”

His 24th homer tied his career high; he hit 24 while with the Cubs back in 2019.

The Red Sox otherwise struggled against Soriano, who has enjoyed a breakout season and was acquired by Toronto from the Angels at the trade deadline. The right-hander limited Boston to one run and four hits over six innings. Boston had only five hits entering the ninth.

Ranger Suarez gave the Red Sox a chance to win.

The left-hander was better than his three-inning outing against the White Sox last week, holding Toronto to one run on six hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out two while throwing 81 pitches.

Boston will need Suarez to work deeper into games down the stretch, but the Red Sox are still building him back up after his stint on the injured list.

Abreu helped Suarez escape what could have been a much bigger fifth inning. 

With two runners aboard and one out, Guerrero Jr. lined a ball toward right. Abreu made a sliding catch before quickly getting to his feet and firing a one-hop strike to first, doubling Brett Bateman off the bag to end the inning.

At the time, Abreu’s play looked like it was about to swing the game in Boston’s direction. Instead, the game swung violently the other way three innings later.

Durbin also continues to grind through an obvious issue with his left pinky finger, which he initially dislocated in late June. Durbin spent time with a trainer before the game trying to make his batting glove more comfortable and appeared to aggravate the finger after fouling off a pitch in the fifth.

Tracy and a trainer checked on him, but Durbin remained in the game and later delivered an RBI single during Boston’s ninth-inning rally.

Ceddanne Rafaela recorded Boston’s first hit with a single in the fourth, then aggressively tried to advance from first to third on a wild pitch. Kirk threw him out easily, wiping away Boston’s first baserunner of the night.

Boston’s only other five-game losing streak came during its opening road trip, when the Sox dropped two in Cincinnati before losing three straight in Houston.

They’ll try to avoid being swept on Thursday afternoon. Payton Tolle (7-6, 3.20 ERA), coming off a dominant 14-strikeout performance against the Athletics, will start opposite future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer (1-4, 7.25 ERA).

First pitch is scheduled for 3:07 p.m. ET. The Red Sox will fly to Pittsburgh afterward to begin a three-game series against the Pirates at PNC Park.