Triggs' work undone by strained bullpen
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BOSTON -- The opener was about as smooth as could be. Andrew Triggs, making his first Major League start in more than two years, allowed one run in three innings on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.
But not long after he left, any possible bridge to the back end of the bullpen collapsed in ignominious fashion.
Attrition -- through injuries and Trade Deadline moves -- has eaten alive a Boston pitching staff that wasn’t deep to begin with, and there are going to be days like Sunday, when they just have to wear it.
In a 10-8 loss to the Blue Jays, Red Sox pitchers issued nine walks through the first six innings of the game.
“Yeah, we had plans for a position player to finish an inning and then we got close and didn’t want to do that. But yeah, it’s tough,” said Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke. “It’s tough when you try to protect your guys and you get in tight ballgames and it becomes a decision on how close does it need to be to use certain guys.”
With the bullpen overworked all season, Roenicke needed to be careful with who he used on Sunday.
“[Matt] Barnes, we wanted to stay away from unless we had a save situation or a tie game going into the 10th, so trying to stay away from him,” Roenicke said. “[Marcus Walden], we were trying to stay away from him. He told us he felt great and he could give us an inning, which he threw a real nice inning that was good to see. But it’s hard. No question it’s hard.”
Lefty Matt Hall was called up from the alternate training site in time for Sunday’s game, only to have a disastrous outing in which he gave up four hits, six runs and four walks in 1 2/3 innings. When Hall went to the mound for the top of the fifth, the Red Sox -- who got a three-run homer from Kevin Plawecki and a solo shot by No. 3 prospect Bobby Dalbec -- actually held a 4-1 lead.
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By the top of the sixth, after Robinson Leyer’s forgettable performance (one out, four hits, three runs), Boston was pinned in a 10-4 hole.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” said Plawecki, who was behind the plate for all nine walks. “Hard to get in a rhythm. It’s always tough when we’re not getting ahead of guys. It just makes it so much harder on us to get quick innings, get back in the dugout, and get back to hitting again. It’s frustrating, but we’ve got to move on.”
Credit the offense for not getting deflated by the sub-par pitching. Backed by a solo homer by José Peraza and a two-run dinger by Xander Bogaerts, the Sox were able to pull within two. But the hill was just too steep to climb.
“The offense was really good today. But it’s tough when you get behind,” said Roenicke.
This was the seventh time this season the Boston pitching staff has given up 10 runs or more.
Making the day sting even more, the Sox had a couple of players leave due to injuries. Yairo Muñoz, who has been hot since his callup, had to leave after suffering a right hip strain.
Roenicke said the Red Sox will have a better idea on the severity of the injury when Muñoz gets re-evaluated on Monday.
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Plawecki was drilled on the right hand by a pitch in the seventh, and was replaced on defense by Christian Vázquez in the eighth, forcing the Red Sox to give up the designated hitter spot. He was in agony after the pitch, but X-rays came back negative.
“I thought I broke it, to be honest with you,” said Plawecki. “Big man upstairs was looking out for me, thank goodness, but, yeah, I dodged a bullet and thank God.”
Plawecki will also be re-evaluated Monday.
“A little bit sore,” Plawecki said. “We’ll get some treatment done the rest of the day and tomorrow and hopefully be ready to go by Tuesday.”
The Red Sox, who are 14-28 with 18 games left, have days off on Monday and Wednesday. Those off-days are well-timed in that it will give an overworked bullpen a chance to regroup.
“Oh, for the pitchers, no question,” Roenicke said. “We talked about it. That staff has really worked hard and to have this day and then play the two [on Tuesday in Philadelphia] and then the day after is going to be important too, so if they can get a break, a little bit of a break, it’s really important right now.”