Sox know the task at hand: 'We still need to fight'

NEW YORK -- Fresh off the thrill of a three-run, walk-off homer by Tyler O’Neill that stunned the Orioles in 10 innings on Wednesday night, the Red Sox hoped to finally have that spark that would ignite an offense that has gone cold for most of the last three weeks.

Then they arrived in Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, and the flame again didn’t ignite.

In a game the Red Sox really just needed one clutch hit in the late innings to win, they couldn’t get one, generating a total of four hits in a 2-1, 10-inning loss to the Yankees that ended on a walk off-single by Juan Soto.

The Red Sox struck out 14 times and went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

"We haven't had our best offense in the second half, but we know the kind of team we have,” said Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers. “We’ve been a top offense for a long time, so we still have a few games to get their groove back, and we still need to fight.”

But time is running out in that fight.

This defeat put the Red Sox 4 1/2 games behind the Twins for the third American League Wild Card standings, with 15 games left.

Boston hosts the Twins for a three-game series at Fenway Park from Sept. 20-22, but the importance of that series might be lessened if things continue to go sideways between now and then.

There are three games left in this rivalry series in the Bronx. The Yankees are all but certain to make the postseason. The Red Sox are scratching and clawing to stay in contention for a Wild Card berth.

"You have to stay positive,” said Devers. “You can come tomorrow and win and then win the next two games and you’re right back there again in the fight. You have to keep playing, stay positive and anything can happen."

Yet again, not much happened for the Red Sox on Thursday.

"It’s been going on for a while now,” said manager Alex Cora. “We haven’t hit and we’re in this position. I mean, it’s a combination of a lot of things. We struggled from the mound for a little bit there, but it seems like when we turned a corner pitching wise, we haven’t been able to score runs. It’s been tough.”

Devers, Boston’s most dangerous hitter, remains in one of the worst slumps of his career as he plays through discomfort in both of his shoulders. The third baseman went 0-for-4 at a venue he typically thrives in, striking out in his first three at-bats. Devers did make two terrific diving plays on defense, including one that started a double play against Aaron Judge in the fifth.

“That's my job,” said Devers. “If I'm not hitting, I have to help the team in any other way and today it was on the defensive side. That's what I need to do. I need to focus on helping the team any way I can."

In his last 19 games, covering 72 at-bats, Devers has a slash line of .167/.238/.222, with one double, one homer and four RBIs.

"Clearly I’m not going through my best moment right now, but that's part of baseball,” Devers said. "There’s times you’re going to go through these stretches and that's what's happening to me right now. I'm not perfect, and that's just baseball.”

It isn’t fair to pin Boston’s recent offensive free-fall on Devers. He is far from alone in the slump department. Jarren Duran, Boston’s other All-Star position player, is going through his first prolonged slump of the season as well.

In his last 51 at-bats, Duran has a line of .196/.212/.216 with one extra-base hit while walking once and striking out 12 times. Triston Casas and Trevor Story are also struggling mightily at the dish after missing several months of action due to injuries.

What can hitting coach Peter Fatse do to generate some life from his offense?

"You have to remind them how good they are,” Fatse said. “At the end of the day, we didn’t get to this point by not being a good offense. For me when things aren’t going the way you want, you have to remind the guys just how good they are, and this group is good.”