Early's dazzling home debut spoiled as Red Sox drop series opener

BOSTON -- In recent seasons for the Red Sox, a pitcher turning in a second consecutive sparkling start like Connelly Early did to open a career would be the story of the game.

But this stretch run in Boston is different in that the final score at this late juncture of the season is what matters most.

A recent rut for the Red Sox, particularly on offense, continued into Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.

Manager Alex Cora’s club, trying to lock down its first postseason appearance since 2021, has lost four out of five and is 4-7 since star rookie Roman Anthony went down with a left oblique injury that is likely to keep him out until at least the end of the regular season.

“Not much tonight,” said Cora. “We walked and we had a few hits, but [we were] 0-for-7 with men in scoring position. Just got to keep getting better with men in scoring position. Hit the ball the other way. Put the ball in play. I don’t think we hit the ball in the air that much today. We struggled today.”

However, it was more than an isolated night. Instead, it has been a stretch-run trend. In their last five games, the Sox are 6-for-47 with runners in scoring position.

With 11 games left in the season, Boston (82-69) slipped to the third American League Wild Card spot, trailing the Yankees (84-67) by two games and the Astros (83-69) by a half-game. The Sox own the tiebreaker for homefield advantage against both those clubs. The sizzling Guardians (79-71) are also lurking, just 2 1/2 games behind Boston.

A rejuvenated offense would go a long way toward giving the Red Sox the final push they need to secure a postseason berth.

“Like I've said all year, the ‘less is more’ [approach] sometimes works a lot more than you think. It's to hard to do that,” said Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story, who had three of his team’s eight hits and two stolen bases to reach 30 for the first time in his career. “It's simple, but it's hard. I think being able to calm yourself and take a base hit and just pass to the next guy or take a walk [is key].”

The bottom of the second inning was a perfect illustration of the club’s recent woes, when a bases-loaded opportunity with nobody out didn’t lead to a run. Ceddanne Rafaela struck out and Romy Gonzalez hit the first of his two inning-ending double plays on the night, and the promising threat was over just like that.

“Obviously it's not ideal,” said Story. “We're not stacking up at-bats together like we have for most of the season, and it shows. The pitchers have had our backs, they've kept the games really close and done really well there. And, you know, especially tonight, Early was amazing. The bullpen held it down for the most part. So, you’ve got to score more than one or two to win on a nightly basis.”

Early, Boston's No. 6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, did all he could, striking out seven and exiting to a standing ovation -- with a 1-0 lead -- with one out in the top of the sixth.

“Yeah, it was amazing. Getting that standing ovation is something I want to get every single time when I go out there,” said Early. “Just feeling the city of Boston standing up and cheering me on is amazing.”

However, the mood dampened shortly after Early’s exit. The lead vanished as the A’s scored twice against lefty reliever Greg Weissert. At that point, the cheers had turned to boos from an angsty Fenway crowd of 35,886.

Boston’s middle relievers have had a tough time of late with inherited runners.

“It’s huge. I mean, it's everything,” Weissert said on the importance of stranding runners. “We lose that game because I can't do my job. Early pitches an unbelievable game. And I go in there and do that … it sucks.”

Though it was diminished by the loss, Early’s excellence in his first two starts is something to appreciate.

With 18 strikeouts in his first two starts, Early tied five pitchers (most recently the Pirates' Paul Skenes in 2024) for the most K’s in a pitcher’s first two outings since the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg had 22 in 2010.

The only other Red Sox pitcher with 18 or more K's in his first two MLB outings was Don Aase in 1977.

“What I want to get out of the rest of the season is go out there and give the offense an opportunity to win every single time,” said Early. “We need to win as many games as possible.”