'It’s us versus us': Sox's margin for error slims

BALTIMORE -- The pressure is mounting, and perhaps that’s why the Red Sox looked out of sorts Tuesday night at Camden Yards, taking a 4-2 loss to the Orioles that put them two games behind the Yankees for the top American League Wild Card spot and just a half-game ahead of the fast-closing Mariners for the second spot.

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It was the fourth loss in a row for Boston, coming directly on the heels of a seven-game winning streak. This, with a mere five games left in the regular season.

“That [expletive] sucked, there’s no question,” said Red Sox ace Chris Sale, who took his first loss since coming back from Tommy John surgery on Aug. 14. “We’ve got to win these games. That’s it. Any game we lose, it [expletive] sucks. Any game we win, we’re one step closer.”

The advantage the Red Sox supposedly have this week on their competition for the Wild Card spots is strength of schedule.

While the Yankees (90-67) and Blue Jays opened their three-game series in Toronto on Tuesday, with a New York win, Boston (88-69) started a stretch with three games against the 51-106 Orioles and three more against the 65-93 Nationals. Toronto (87-70) remained a game behind Boston with its loss, and also has five remaining on the schedule. Meanwhile, the Mariners (88-70) won their series opener against a competitive Oakland team and have only four games left.

The Red Sox were swept by the Yankees in agonizing fashion last weekend, losing the lead with four outs left on Saturday and five outs to go on Sunday. They hoped Monday’s off-day would be a good tonic to regroup for a strong opener in Baltimore. As it turned out, not so much.

“We’ve been getting [dragged] through mud the last four games,” said Sale. “We’ve gotta find something, man. These games, they’re not making any more of ’em, and we’re getting toward the end. We know where we’re at. We know what we’re up against. It’s not even really us versus anybody. It’s us versus us. We’ve gotta win games, and the more we can get back to that, the better off we’re going to be.”

To get back on track, it’s pretty simple what the Red Sox need to do -- start hitting again.

Facing the team with the worst ERA in the Major Leagues, Boston mustered only three hits at Camden Yards. This, after scoring three runs in all three games at Fenway over the weekend against the Yankees.

“Offensively we didn't do much. There were a lot of empty at-bats,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We didn't put pressure on them. We are an offensive team. We're a lot better than what we showed today. A lot of quick outs.”

Never was that more evident than in the eighth inning, when the Sox made three outs on just four pitches against Joey Krehbiel, a 28-year-old righty making his sixth MLB appearance.

Offensively, the Sox couldn’t generate anything more than two solo homers off the bats of Kyle Schwarber and Hunter Renfroe. And after Renfroe’s shot led off the sixth, the next 12 Red Sox batters were retired in order to finish the game.

“They got us out, and there’s not much left to say,” said Schwarber. “You’ve got to be able to move on from it. It’s just one of those that leaves you scratching your head. And you’ve got to be able to turn the page. There’s nothing that we can do about this game anymore. We have to focus on tomorrow.”

On many occasions, a 2-0 lead with Sale on the mound would have been enough. The lanky Sale cruised through the first five innings. But the momentum shifted in the sixth when AL Rookie of the Year candidate Ryan Mountcastle blasted an equalizing two-run shot. Cora came out to get Sale when Austin Hays followed with a hard single up the middle.

Righty Hansel Robles, who had been red-hot of late, couldn’t get Sale out of trouble. Trey Mancini followed with a single and Pedro Severino stung a grounder by Rafael Devers and into left for a go-ahead RBI single.

“I felt good. I obviously had a pretty good thing rolling, and then just cut off a changeup,” Sale said. “Inconsistencies, especially in that moment, in that inning, later in the game. Just gotta be better.”

Sale will be ready and waiting to start again on Sunday in Washington in Game No. 162 if the Red Sox are still fighting for a spot in the postseason. The best-case scenario would have him resting for a tiebreaker game on Monday or the Wild Card Game on Tuesday.

The stakes will be high every day this week.

“We talked about it before. We know what we have to do,” said Cora. “Today, it wasn't a good start for us. Our goal is to win both series, one here, one in Washington, and they know it. Everybody knows where we're at. It's not like we're hiding from it. Of course they know what's at stake.”