Reyes a bright spot as lineup struggles in August

WASHINGTON -- While the spotlight was on Garrett Whitlock after his rough eighth inning for the Red Sox in Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to the Nationals, the more troubling storyline for Boston is the continued sporadic offense in August.

Through the first seven innings on Wednesday, the Red Sox generated one hit. They wound up with just four in the game. Only in the eighth, on a game-tying, two-run homer from Pablo Reyes, did the bats provide some spark.

At this critical juncture of the season, in which the Red Sox (63-57) trail the Blue Jays (67-55) by three games in the quest for the third American League Wild Card spot, Boston needs its offense to get going again and loosen the stress on the pitching staff.

“It is what it is,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We haven't been great. We’ve just got to be ready for [Thursday].”

In July, Boston showed what it was capable of offensively, putting together a sturdy batting line of .284/.340/.475 during a 15-8 month.

August has been a completely different story. In the first 14 games of the month, the Sox are 7-7 largely due to a lineup that is slashing .236/.293/.404.

Rafael Devers, the club’s most dangerous hitter, has just one homer and three RBIs so far this month. He has a slash line of .225/.367/.375. The solid on-base percentage for a hitter who isn’t particularly patient demonstrates that teams are pitching around him regularly.

They are doing this because they can afford to. If some other key bats in the lineup can start creating some more havoc, opposing pitchers will have to challenge Devers -- but that hasn’t happened yet.

Masataka Yoshida has hit something of a rookie wall while adapting to the more rigorous schedule in the Major Leagues versus Nippon Professional Baseball. His OPS is .602 in August, and like Devers, he has only three RBIs. Yoshida didn’t start either of the past two games, though he did get two at-bats off the bench on Wednesday and hit a deep flyout to left. Perhaps a more rested Yoshida will start doing some damage on Thursday.

Justin Turner, one of the team’s best hitters all season, is playing through a painful left heel injury. He is grinding, with a .796 OPS for the month, but his only two RBIs in August have come on solo homers. Much like Devers, Turner, who is a tremendous situational hitter, is likely to thrive with more crowded basepaths.

Jarren Duran, a spark plug for the Sox for much of the season, has two hits in his past 27 at-bats. The good news is that Duran had a similar slump in May and broke out of it in a big way. Given Duran’s speed, his resurgence would do a lot to get the Boston bats back on track.

Trevor Story’s recent return is going to help the Red Sox, given that he is likely the team’s best all-around player. In his first seven games back from right elbow surgery, Story is 7-for-26 with four doubles. He is still looking for his first RBI.

Triston Casas continues to give his team good at-bats, with an .824 OPS, three homers and seven RBIs in August. But Casas can’t do it all himself.

The gift that keeps on giving is Reyes, who smashed a two-run homer to tie the game in the eighth inning on Wednesday, only to have his effort go for naught when Whitlock allowed four straight batters to reach in the bottom of the frame, including back-to-back homers by Keibert Ruiz and Stone Garrett. It was Whitlock’s second appearance since returning from the injured list. He will likely get sharper the more he pitches.

Reyes was the clear bright spot of the night. After belting a walk-off grand slam on Aug. 7, he continues to be the one of the team’s most pleasant surprises.

“Oh, it was huge,” starter James Paxton, who allowed two runs over six innings, said of the equalizer by Reyes. “Getting the ballgame tied right there at 2-2, getting us a chance to come back and win that game, it was a big moment.”

However, much as things have gone for the better part of the last two weeks, the Sox didn’t have enough big moments offensively to turn that clutch knock into a victory.

They hope those fortunes begin to change in Thursday’s rubber game.