Crawford falters as pitching reinforcements close in 

BOSTON -- On Tuesday night, the Red Sox got a major boost on defense with the return of Trevor Story. Soon enough, they’ll get a major boost on the pitching side with a number of much-needed reinforcements on the way.

The bad news? Boston’s bullpen has been heavily taxed in the absence of Chris Sale, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck.

The good news? All three are on track to return within the next week.

On a night in which the Red Sox hoped to preserve their bullpen, Kutter Crawford took the loss in the Red Sox’s 9-3 defeat to the Royals on Tuesday, as Kansas City evened the series at Fenway Park. Crawford gave up three runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings, before a combination of three relievers recorded the next 17 outs.

“He got swings and misses, but location was off,” manager Alex Cora said of Crawford. “The stuff was OK I think. He was able to get the fastball up, got some swings and misses on the breaking ball. But overall he left some pitches in the middle of the zone and they put good swings on it.”

Primarily a long-relief option to start the season, Crawford moved back into the starter role on June 3 after Sale landed on the IL. On Tuesday, Crawford struck out six batters, generating eight swings and misses on his four-seam and seven on his cutter.

“It was shaky,” Crawford said of his command. “Some at-bats I felt like I was in control, and [then] another at-bat I felt like I had no control. So it was definitely a battle, just going to get back to work and fine tune all that.”

Boston’s bullpen has covered 460 2/3 innings this season, compared to 537 1/3 from its rotation. The club has turned to an opener in 14 starts, with those relievers responsible for 22 2/3 frames.

The Red Sox will forgo using an opener on Wednesday, and instead give the ball to former starter and now reliever Nick Pivetta. Pivetta has had night and day splits since moving to the bullpen, with a 2.40 ERA as a reliever compared to 5.89 as a starter.

James Paxton gets the ball in Thursday’s finale, before Sale makes his return as the starter in Friday’s series opener against the Tigers. Returning from a left shoulder blade stress reaction, Sale had an encouraging second rehab start with Triple-A Worcester on Aug. 6, tossing 4 1/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

Whitlock is set to make his first rehab appearance on Wednesday, and Cora is hopeful the right-hander will just need the one outing and could rejoin the bullpen as early as Sunday.

Houck returned to the mound for the first time since he took a line drive to the face on June 16, giving up two runs on three hits with two walks over 1 2/3 innings with Worcester on Aug. 5. Cora said Houck will pitch again for the Woo Sox on Thursday. While Sale and Whitlock are slated to return during this homestand, Houck will likely join the team during next week’s series in D.C.

As they await the upcoming reinforcements, the Red Sox selected Dinelson Lamet from Triple-A Worcester on Monday, designating Richard Bleier for assignment in a corresponding move. The intent with Lamet, who was signed to a Minor League contract on June 27, is to use the veteran right-hander out of the bullpen as a reliever who can offer length.

Lamet made his Red Sox debut on Tuesday, working around a leadoff single in the fifth before he was tagged for three runs on four hits, including a two-run blast by MJ Melendez.

“The stuff is there,” Cora said. “He got in trouble with a 3-2 walk and then they put some good swings on it. The slider looked decent from where I was, just one of those where we weren’t able to shut them down. We got close, 3-2, and we were hoping to at least get one more, but it didn’t happen.”