Sox 'pen reeling amid four-game skid to open 2nd half

DENVER -- From Dodger Stadium to the Rocky Mountains the Red Sox went, but the new venue housed the same results on Monday night for a team that has come out of the All-Star break with four consecutive losses, three of them heartbreakers in the late innings.

The latest was the longest -- a 9-8 defeat to the Rockies in 12 innings.

As for the root of the struggles on this trip, it is no mystery.

The bullpen -- with two key setup men (Justin Slaten and Chris Martin) on the injured list simultaneously and closer Kenley Jansen out for the series due to a pre-existing heart condition that gets exacerbated by high altitude -- is sputtering.

In the four games on this road trip, Boston’s relievers have five blown saves, with two more of them coming in the zany opener in Denver which saw the Sox come back from an early 4-0 deficit to tie it, then fall behind by a run and tie it again when Connor Wong led off the eighth with a solo shot to right.

And when the Sox took a two-run lead in the 10th (pinch-hit, RBI single by Dom Smith, sacrifice fly by Rafael Devers) and went up by one in the 12th (RBI single by Wilyer Abreu), it wasn’t enough.

“Pretty tough,” said reliever Zack Kelly. “Just all around. Offense fought back tooth and nail every single time and put us in a position to win a number of times and unfortunately we just couldn’t come through tonight.”

Kelly turned in an impressive bottom of the ninth to get the game into extras. But in the 10th, with the Red Sox two outs from victory, the righty served up an equalizing two-run shot to Sam Hilliard on a misplaced changeup.

Given the shortage in the ‘pen, pitchers are being used in higher-leverage situations than normal.

Such was the case when Bailey Horn and Chase Anderson were asked to preserve that lead in the bottom of the 12th, but couldn’t do it.

The numbers in the last four games tell the story.

Over that span, in which the Sox have gone from two games up in the American League Wild Card standings to two games back and from 4 1/2 games off the pace in the AL East to seven back, the bullpen is 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA, a 2.00 WHIP and 1.15 K/BB ratio.

Over the last 15 innings, Boston’s bullpen has given up 17 hits, 12 earned runs, four homers and 13 walks while striking out 15.

With six games left before the July 30 Trade Deadline, the Red Sox need to stop the bleeding in short order.

“It’s been a tough four games for us, but that’s all it’s been,” said outfielder Tyler O’Neill. “I’ll keep saying it. we’re just one swing away, one out away in all these games here. We could easily be 3-1 in the last four games. That’s just the way baseball goes. It’s just one of those stretches where we’re coming up a little short but we have confidence in ourselves and hopefully come out there and show up tomorrow and bring it to them.”

The Red Sox have shown resolve at various times this season, but they are now at their most critical juncture so far. The current losing streak ties the high for the season, matching the May 15-18 dry spell.

“It’s a little different. We haven’t been in this position all year, really,” said Kelly. “We’re not playing bad baseball. We’re in these games. It’s just not going our way. We still have an opportunity to win this series and get back home for a week. All the guys are going to be ready to go tomorrow.”

There are no excuses within the clubhouse.

“We understand where we’re at,” Kelly said. “We understand what our jobs are. It’s kind of just show up and pitch. There are different guys in this bullpen who are used to coming in and going back to back, and multiple innings two out of four games. From a workload standpoint, I don’t think anything changes.”

What will need to change is the level of success, and that could come via some external additions, internal improvements or the return of some of the pitchers currently on the shelf.

“Another tough one,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We kept playing. Just got to keep rolling. Made some good swings, made some good defensive plays, we made some pitches, but not enough.”