Taylor's streak ends in rare lapse for Sox 'pen

BOSTON -- All that separated Josh Taylor from a piece of Red Sox history was turning in yet another scoreless performance on Saturday.

Instead, the lefty picked an inopportune time to have his worst outing in months as Boston fell to the Phillies, 11-2, at Fenway Park.

With the Sox still within striking distance, down 3-2, Taylor struggled in the top of the eighth, allowing four straight baserunners to reach. The backbreaker was a two-run double by Rhys Hoskins.

After giving up zero runs in 26 straight appearances, Taylor gave up four on Saturday. The only out he recorded was when the Phillies got caught in a rundown to end the seventh.

If Taylor could have put up another unblemished appearance, he would have tied Koji Uehara’s club record of 27 consecutive scoreless outings from July 9-Sept. 13, 2013.

“I mean, it’s cool and all. That’s not really something I show up to the field worried about,” Taylor said of the best pitching stretch of his career to date. “Just want to go into the game and do my job. I have a job to get the outs I need and today I didn’t do that.”

The inning got away from the Red Sox even more after Taylor’s exit, as Brandon Workman and Austin Brice also pitched in what snowballed into an eight-run frame by the Phillies.

Though it was a tough day for Taylor, his hot streak -- which started on April 30 -- is something to appreciate.

“He’s been so great for two, two and a half months. It just happens,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He’s been getting lefties and righties out. I know there were a lot of righties there. I think [his] command wasn’t there. It’s just one bad one in, what, 28 outings? What he did was amazing. He’s been great. Hopefully he gets the ball tomorrow and he can do the job again.”

After a sluggish start to his season, Taylor moved his hands back to a position where he was comfortable and got on a roll, holding opponents to a .149 average and striking out 28 over 21 2/3 innings during the streak.

“It’s a comfortability thing,” said Taylor. “I’m not going to blame anything I’ve done before or blame anything I’m doing today. It’s just about being comfortable and being able to pitch and locate your pitches.”

It wasn’t just a bad day for Taylor and the bullpen. The offense also struggled with every opportunity it had, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

With one day left before the All-Star break, the Red Sox (55-35) lead the Rays by 1 1/2 games in the American League East.

“We’ve been doing a great job, man," said Red Sox lefty Martín Pérez, who took the loss. "I think we've been pitching good. We’re just throwing the ball well and like I say, we’ve been pitching every five days, so I think if we continue to do that, we're gonna get to October. We’ve just got to stay healthy and stay focused.”