3 storylines after a tough start to Sox's pivotal road trip 

BALTIMORE – What looms as a big seven-game road trip given the opponents and the state of the postseason race got off to an inauspicious start for the Red Sox on Thursday night at Camden Yards.

Wilyer Abreu got the visitors out in front with a solo shot he pummeled onto Eutaw Street in the top of the fourth, but the hitting highlights stopped there on a night Zach Eflin stifled the Red Sox in a 5-1 loss to the Orioles.

With the Royals enjoying an off-day, the Red Sox fell 2 1/2 games behind Kansas City in the fight for the third American League Wild Card spot.

Here are three storylines from the opener of a road trip that includes four games in Baltimore and three in Houston.

Minor League veteran savors debut

For the second time this week, a Minor League veteran who has paid his dues experienced the joy of a Major League debut.

On Monday night at Fenway, it was 28-year-old Mickey Gasper drawing a walk in the bottom of the 10th inning in his first career plate appearance, helping to set up a walk-off hit by Rob Refsnyder.

This time, it was righty Chase Shugart, a 12th-round pick by the Red Sox in the 2018 Draft, who went 2 2/3 innings in relief, giving up three hits and a run while striking out two.

“Good stuff,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “[He] wasn’t afraid. Like we talked about afterwards, nobody can take that away from him. He’s a big leaguer. Whatever happens in the future, it happens. This day is going to be remembered.”

When the 27-year-old from Bridge City, Texas, got to the mound and warmed up, his family members seated on the first-base side of home plate started shrieking. They soon had more to cheer about as he got Adley Rutschman on a flyout to left and struck out MLB’s No. 1 prospect, Jackson Holliday, to end the bottom of the sixth.

Shugart was added to the roster on Monday, but didn’t pitch in the three-game series against the Rangers at Fenway Park.

“Getting in the game tonight, that’s a dream come true,” said Shugart. “And I just can't help but think about the people that got me here, all the work I put in to get here, and it's a good feeling.”

Some of the supporters Shugart referred to were at Camden Yards due to an impromptu decision.

“They were actually heading home [from Boston] to Houston, so their layover was in Baltimore, and they're like, ‘You know what, we're just getting off the plane. We’re going to come [to the game],’” Shugart said.

Slump continues for Raffy

On July 31, when Rafael Devers belted a walk-off double against the Mariners, it was the completion of a torrid month which saw the star slugger notch a 1.132 OPS along with six homers and 24 RBIs.

Thus far, August has been nothing like it. After an 0-for-4 performance on Thursday that included three strikeouts, Devers has a line of .224/.321/.388 with one homer, three RBIs and 14 strikeouts in 56 plate appearances.

“He’ll get it [back],” said Cora. “It’s just a matter of just making adjustments in the cage and it takes one swing to get out of it.”

It is no secret that Devers has played with a nagging left shoulder injury for most of the season. Of late, Devers has been grimacing after some swings and misses.

“I feel good, nothing new to report,” Devers said. “I feel good. It just hasn’t been going my way, but I’ll make my adjustments and there’s still a lot of games left.”

Pivetta strong in return

Given that Nick Pivetta missed his last start due to arm fatigue, the Red Sox were encouraged by what they saw in his return on Thursday. Over five innings, Pivetta allowed three hits and three runs while walking one and striking out six. Unfortunately, two of the hits were homers, including a two-run shot by Gunnar Henderson in the fourth that came one pitch after Pivetta thought he had Anthony Santander struck out on a 3-2 pitch. Instead, it was called ball four.

“I executed my pitch and it was called a ball,” said Pivetta. “I still have to execute my next pitch, and I feel like I just left it too much over the plate and he was able to put a good swing on an 0-0 curveball, and that’s just how it went.”