Offense falters once again as postseason hopes wither away
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BOSTON -- The Red Sox, in the midst of an epic offensive slump, couldn’t come up with the big hit on Friday night. As a result, their postseason hopes took what is likely an unrecoverable blow.
After a 4-2 loss to the Twins in 12 innings, the Red Sox are now five games back of Minnesota for the third American League Wild Card spot with eight games to go.
Any real path for Boston to make it to the postseason would have required a sweep of the Twins this weekend. Instead, the Sox lost the series opener, and also trail the Tigers and Mariners in the standings.
The Twins came to Boston with their own problems, having lost 20 of their last 30, but now lead the Tigers by a game.
Not only that, but star third baseman Rafael Devers came out of the game in the 11th inning with discomfort in his right shoulder, and will undergo an MRI on Saturday. He is unlikely to play in the final eight games of the season, according to Sox manager Alex Cora.
A night after the Sox mustered just one baserunner in a 2-0 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field, their offensive futility went to another level on Friday, as the club went 1-for-19 in scoring position, left 17 on base and tied a franchise record by striking out 20 times.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating, simple as that,” said shortstop Trevor Story. “It's kind of hard to believe at this point that this is the way we're playing offensively. It's hard to imagine because I know the type of guys we have, the type of hitters we have. But we’re in a funk that we can't shake right now.”
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With the wind whipping around on a chilly evening, making offense a challenge for both teams, Minnesota finally prevailed with a three-run rally against reliever Cooper Criswell in the 12th.
The Red Sox could have won the game with a run in the ninth, but left two runners on. After the Twins couldn’t score in the 10th and the 11th, the Red Sox had a runner on third with one out in the bottom of those innings, needing just a sacrifice fly to prevail, but couldn’t come up with it.
When they finally scored a run in the bottom of the 12th, it was too late.
“Plenty of chances,” said Cora. “We didn't cash in. Plenty of strikeouts. When we put the ball in play, [the Twins] made a nice play [at the plate] on the contact play. Just another tough one, right? They battled. They played hard all the way to the end. Just didn't happen.”
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Rookie starter Richard Fitts was outstanding again. Boston’s No. 13 prospect became the first Red Sox pitcher to throw five-plus innings while allowing no earned runs in his first three career starts.
But in what has been a recurring theme for the Red Sox in recent weeks, a strong effort by a starting pitcher wasn’t enough.
“I had a couple of opportunities tonight myself. I just couldn’t get it done tonight,” said Tyler O’Neill. “We don't like scoring one run every game. Everyone is accountable, including myself.”