Red Sox waste opportunities, stumble late in 3-2 loss to Guardians

The Red Sox have already punched their ticket to October. Now the challenge is making sure they’re playing their best baseball when they get there.

Tuesday night offered little evidence of that, as Boston’s offense squandered opportunities and Erik Miller’s September struggles continued at the worst possible time, as the Red Sox opened their final homestand of the regular season with a 3-2 loss to the Guardians at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox (84-73) have now lost eight of their last 12 games and dropped below .500 in September at 9-10. The loss won’t jeopardize their postseason berth, which they clinched Sunday, but Boston has only five games remaining to straighten some things out before the Wild Card Series begins Sept. 29.

For Cleveland, the stakes were considerably higher. The Guardians remained atop the AL Central while continuing to battle the White Sox for the division.

For much of Tuesday, Boston’s biggest priority was getting Payton Tolle through his final tuneup before October.

After nine days between starts, the rookie left-hander wasn’t particularly sharp, but he battled through 5 2/3 innings despite allowing eight hits and two walks. 

Tolle has allowed two runs or fewer in 16 starts this season, including each of his last three. He’s just the seventh pitcher in Red Sox history, age 23 or younger, to record at least 16 such starts in a season and the first since Dennis Eckersley had 18 in 1978.

He threw 91 pitches and surrendered two runs while pitching with traffic throughout the night. Cleveland put at least one runner aboard in all six innings he appeared in.

Most of the damage came in the second when Angel Martínez opened the frame with a double and scored when David Fry hit a grounder that deflected off Tolle and rolled into right-center. Travis Bazzana followed with a single and Austin Hedges walked to load the bases before Brayan Rocchio’s double-play grounder brought home Fry for a 2-0 Cleveland lead.

Tolle kept the inning from getting worse and kept the Guardians off the board for the rest of his night.

With his next appearance expected in the postseason, newly minted Red Sox manager Chad Tracy, who officially received the job Tuesday morning, removed Tolle with two outs in the sixth, giving the Fenway crowd a chance to acknowledge an impressive rookie season.

Tolle finishes the regular season with a 3.03 ERA and 171 strikeouts across 148 2/3 innings and 26 starts. His next assignment appears likely to come on a much bigger stage at Yankee Stadium.

Boston’s offense, meanwhile, struggled to convert its opportunities against All-Star left-hander Parker Messick and Cleveland’s bullpen.

Adley Rutschman was one of the few exceptions, doubling in each of his first two plate appearances against Messick. He then hit a 99 mph flyout to center in the sixth before adding a single against Hunter Gaddis in the eighth. Before his final hit, nine of Rutschman’s previous 12 hits had gone for extra bases.

He’s hitting just .214 since joining the Red Sox, but there have been signs of the impact bat Boston hoped it was acquiring.

The Red Sox finished with eight hits but struck out 12 times, went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine.

Then Mickey Gasper changed the game with one swing.

Gasper spent the first 7 1/2 innings on the bench before being called upon to pinch-hit with Boston trailing 2-1 in the eighth. He jumped on Gaddis’ first pitch and drove it into the right-field seats to tie the game.

It was Gasper’s 10th homer of the season, all of them coming since Aug. 17, a span of just 30 games and 99 plate appearances. He became the sixth Red Sox hitter to reach double digits, joining Willson Contreras, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela and Caleb Durbin.

The tie didn’t last long after Miller entered for the ninth and immediately hit Chase DeLauter. Jo Adell followed with a seeing-eye single through the right side before former Red Sox first baseman Nathaniel Lowe lifted a sacrifice fly to put Cleveland back in front, 3-2. Four Guardians reached against Miller before he finally escaped the inning.

The performance continued what has become a concerning September for the left-hander. Miller was dominant after arriving from San Francisco, posting a 0.79 ERA with 20 strikeouts against just three walks in 11 August appearances. September has been an entirely different story. He has now surrendered six earned runs in 6 1/3 innings this month while issuing nine walks and hitting two batters.

“He’s working through stuff,” Tracy said after the game of Miller. “I thought today was even another step in the right direction, the hit batter, the free passes are what gets you and I think he also got some bad batted ball (luck).”

Sept. 22 is a bad time for a reliever to fall out of Tracy’s circle of trusted relievers. Miller is quickly running out of opportunities to reestablish himself as one of Tracy’s preferred late-inning options before the postseason.

Alec Gamboa, meanwhile, continues to quietly make his own case for October.

The left-hander recorded four outs in relief of Tolle and lowered his ERA to 1.16 over 31 major league innings. Most of his work has come in lower-leverage situations, and five of the nine runners he has inherited have scored, but his ability to consistently limit damage has put him in the conversation for one of the final bullpen spots, particularly with Tanner Houck now appearing unlikely to make the postseason roster.

Roman Anthony couldn’t carry his strong weekend in Tampa Bay back to Fenway. The rookie finished 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and three groundouts, including a first-pitch grounder with one out in the ninth.

With their postseason berth secured, the Red Sox also began using the final week to get some regulars additional rest. 

Trevor Story received Tuesday off, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa starting at shortstop and Andruw Monasterio at second. Contreras remained out with his hand injury, while Duran and Gasper began the night on the bench against the left-handed Messick.

Tracy told reporters after the game that Contreras continues to make progress but will not be in the lineup on Wednesday night. Rafaela is expected to be activated off the injured list on Wednesday. 

There isn’t much left for Boston to accomplish in the standings, but they still have something to gain by playing better baseball before October.

The Red Sox fell to 4-8 this season when tied after eight innings and have now been held to two runs or fewer in three consecutive games. 

With five games remaining, the Red Sox would have to win out just to match last season’s 89-73 record. Tuesday’s loss also ensured Boston will not reach 90 victories, something the franchise has accomplished only once since its 108-win championship season in 2018.

The Red Sox will try to get back on track Wednesday night when Sonny Gray (17-5, 2.82 ERA) faces Cleveland left-hander Foster Griffin (15-5, 3.67) at 7:10 p.m. at Fenway Park.

Weather Could Complicate Final Weekend

As the Red Sox map out their final week and prepare for the postseason, Mother Nature could complicate their plans.

Boston should be able to complete its series against Cleveland without issue, but the forecast for this weekend’s season-ending series against the Cubs is far less promising. A potentially significant storm could bring heavy rain and strong winds to the region, putting all three games at Fenway Park in jeopardy.

“What I’m hearing is that the weather doesn’t look good,” Tracy said before the game. “As far as what’s going to happen, I don’t know. I know there’s conversations already going on between front offices and MLB. Everybody is well-aware that the weather could get bad.”

The uncertainty has already impacted some of Boston’s pitching and roster planning for the final week.

While the games may ultimately have little impact on the Red Sox’ playoff positioning, Chicago remains involved in a tight National League Wild Card race and is jockeying for seeding with the Phillies and Padres. That makes simply canceling games unlikely, with Major League Baseball expected to make every effort to complete the full schedule.

Among the possibilities being discussed around Fenway on Tuesday was a Friday doubleheader followed by an early game Saturday in an attempt to beat the worst of the weather. Start times could also be moved if better weather windows emerge.

Nothing has been finalized, and a neutral-site relocation would seemingly be a last resort. The Red Sox would prefer to avoid additional travel immediately before an expected trip to New York for the Wild Card Series. Another possibility would be using Monday’s scheduled off day to complete the regular season if necessary.

“I don’t know what the ultimate decision there will be,” Tracy said. “I just know it’s very much on everybody’s radar through each organization plus Major League Baseball.”

For now, Boston can only wait for the forecast to become clearer, and hope the weather doesn’t turn its final weekend before October into a scheduling mess.