BOSTON -- In a captivating pitchers’ duel between aces current (Garrett Crochet) and former (Chris Sale), the Red Sox weren’t able to take much enjoyment from it thanks to overzealous baserunning that contributed heavily to a 4-2 defeat on Friday night at Fenway Park.
At 22-24, this Boston team isn’t performing up to expectations following a winter that included two major acquisitions in Crochet and Alex Bregman.
While those two studs have been just as good if not better than the club hoped, the team as a whole isn’t firing on all cylinders, as evidenced by a 5-9 record in May.
Though there’s still all kinds of time for the Sox to get back on track, they now trail the Yankees (26-18) by a season-high five games in the American League East.
Many of the defeats have been just like Friday, in that they were close. And that is what is making lack of execution at inopportune times more noticeable.
“The margin for error at this level is very slim,” said Bregman. “It comes down to executing better than the other team, and tonight we didn’t do that. Best part about baseball is tomorrow you get another chance to do it and get right back after it.”
Saturday, the Sox hope, will be the day they snap a four-game losing streak. Saturday, they hope, will be the day they execute well in all facets of the game.
While Crochet (seven innings, two runs, seven hits, no walks, eight strikeouts) essentially went toe-to-toe with Sale (seven innings, one run, five hits, two walks, eight strikeouts), his team’s trio of mistakes on the basepaths was likely the difference in the game.
The first miscue occurred in the bottom of the third. With one out, Jarren Duran tripled and Rafael Devers walked, putting Boston in good position to chip into a 2-0 deficit against Sale.
Even after Sale delivered a nasty fastball on the lower, inner half that punched out Bregman looking, lefty destroyer Rob Refsnyder -- who would later homer against Atlanta’s ace lefty in the seventh -- was coming to the plate.
However, the slow-footed Devers took the bat out of his teammate’s hands, getting caught between first and second in a rundown on what went down as a caught stealing.
“I mean, it's frustrating,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “When you go through weeks like this, you don't have to push the envelope. It's the other way around. We have to slow it down as a team. And I don't think we did that today.”
In the sixth, with Refsnyder again at the plate, it was the speedy Duran who got fooled on Sale’s pickoff move and was easily tagged out on an attempted steal.
That only became more glaring when Refsnyder’s homer to lead off the seventh was a solo blow instead of a game-tying two-run shot.
Down 2-1 later in that seventh, Nick Sogard drilled one off the Monster against Sale, and it looked like the offense could chip away against Sale. But as the carom went right to Braves left fielder Eli White, Sogard hesitated as he rounded first and then got thrown out at second.
“Yeah, it's easy for everybody to second guess. It's not an easy read,” said Cora. “He hasn't played here that often, and I bet if he has to do it again, he won't do it again. But you have to read it and you make a decision. Sometimes you're safe, sometimes you're out.”
Crochet has a 2.00 ERA and leads MLB in innings (63) and the AL in strikeouts (73). He has gone seven innings or more five times, which also leads MLB. The Red Sox are 6-4 in his starts.
“We just haven't been playing really good baseball and especially with Crochet on the mound,” Refsnyder said. “It's unfortunate, because he's been throwing really well. And it seems like every game he throws, we're in it because of how good he is. So yeah it sucks.”
While the big picture can be tough to see during a losing streak, one thing that is clear is that the Red Sox have a true ace ready to lead them not just this season, but in the coming years.
"He's one of the best on the planet right now and I think he was as advertised tonight,” said Sale.