BOSTON -- How does a 5-1 week turn into a 2-4 week?
When the bullpen suffers three blown saves and the offense develops a habit of scoring early in games and not adding on.
That’s what happened to the Red Sox this week, capped by Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Twins in the rubber match of a three-game series.
The tough turn of events left Boston at .500 (18-18) for the first time since April 16.
Though there is still a lot of baseball left, this season hasn’t started the way the Red Sox had hoped after an offseason that added Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman to a promising young core.
While it’s perhaps too early to look at things from a macro level, here is a micro look at Sunday’s unfulfilling finish to the week.
Bullpen has another letdown
On Wednesday, Lucas Giolito left with a 6-3 lead after six innings in his comeback start. But it vanished when Garrett Whitlock gave up an equalizing three-run homer to Anthony Santander in the seventh inning. Justin Slaten was on the wrong end of a walk-off rally in a 10-inning loss.
One night later, Slaten had a 2-1 lead in the eighth and gave up a three-run homer to Guerrero.
Then came the capper on Sunday. Crochet departed with a 3-1 lead after five innings. Whitlock had a strong sixth. But in the seventh, Ryan Jeffers smoked a game-tying two-run single. In the eighth, Slaten gave up his two runs on an RBI double off the Monster by Harrison Bader and an insurance RBI single by Trevor Larnach.
“I mean, if you look at the pitch to Jeffers, it was right down the middle,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He hung an offspeed pitch down the middle. The fastball to Bader was up in the zone. He was hunting, and he got it and he put a good swing on it.”
Slaten’s inning got off to a tough start when Carlos Correa’s liner went just over the glove of shortstop David Hamilton, who seemed to mistime his jump. Just like in Toronto, Slaten made no excuses.
“It’s three games in a row now for me where I felt like I've had really good stuff. And I'm getting ahead of guys, getting the swing and miss, but it's not happening in the two-strike counts, and that’s what matters most,” Slaten said. “And that's the most frustrating part about it, is that I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot when I get to those positions, and I’m not executing.”
With eight blown saves, the Red Sox are tied with the Phillies for the MLB lead.
“Tough week for the bullpen,” said Cora. “We had good stuff. They’re good pitchers. Just have to make adjustments. Like I said before the game, we have to make sure we execute. There were a lot of two-out hits, two-strike hits, and we’ve just got to be better.”
Offense not adding on
The other similarity from the three bullpen losses is that the Red Sox scored early in all of those games and failed to add on. Boston scored two in the second and one in the third to build the 3-1 lead on Sunday. The only run the Sox scored the rest of the game was a solo shot by Wilyer Abreu in the eighth that chipped Minnesota’s lead to 5-4.
How does a talented offense reverse this troubling trend?
“Keep working,” said Cora. "That’s the most important thing. Wily, he put a good swing at the end. Hamilton hit the ball hard. Just got to keep working, and things are going to change.”
Strange Crochet Day
Crochet lacked his usual power, and as a result, his efficiency suffered. He also allowed a home run to Byron Buxton and had a liner by Correa deflect off his glove and bloody his nostril in the fourth. But he stayed in the game.
“Fine,” said Crochet. “It barely grazed me. Honestly, just more shaken up with additional impact than anything.”
Overall, Crochet did his job, allowing one run in five innings. How about the dip in velocity, evidenced by a fastball that averages 95.9 mph, per Statcast, but was down to 94? His sinker had an almost identical dip in velo.
“Not quite sure, to be honest,” said Crochet. “My bullpens in between starts, I’m working on my mechanics, trying to clean up command as a whole, and velocity as well. It’s the first week of May. That’s kind of just what I’m chalking it up to.”