Johnson struggles, Boston's bats quiet in loss

Red Sox maintain 7 1/2-game lead over Yanks; Cora: 'We're going to be fine'

September 2nd, 2018

CHICAGO -- For all that provided in Boston's win Saturday, proved a near polar opposite Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Johnson, who had pitched well as a swingman filling in the rotation for the injured Chris Sale, could not escape the second inning. The White Sox collected seven hits off Johnson while the left-hander recorded only four outs in Boston's 8-0 loss, as the Red Sox split their four-game series with Chicago.
"From the get-go, I wasn't very good. I was bad, it sucked, there's no way around it. It wasn't good." Johnson said. "I felt normal, it was just one of those days where it just sucked."
"His breaking ball wasn't good and his fastball command wasn't there," manager Alex Cora said of Johnson. "With his stuff, it's not that he has to be perfect, but has to be near the target. He wasn't, and he paid the price."

With the Yankees losing to the Tigers, 11-7, earlier Sunday, the Red Sox maintain their 7 1/2-game lead in the American League East.
Rather than add to an already impressive roster before the deadline to acquire players eligible for the postseason, the Red Sox stood pat and instead will wait for Sale and rotation-mate to return from the disabled list, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said before Saturday's game. Rodriguez also returned from the disabled list Saturday and made his presence felt with 12 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
But without Sale and Price, the Red Sox will have to continue leaning on rotation fill-ins like Johnson for the time being. That may not bode well, given Red Sox starters combined for a 4.46 ERA in August, well above their season-long ERA of 3.69 entering Sunday and July ERA mark of 2.97.

"We're going to be fine," Cora said. "When you start getting hurt, especially your main guys, it's not easy to go out there with the guys that we're throwing and keep throwing the ball well. They did it for a month and a half, right after the All-Star break, and now it's not that way.
"But I feel that the healthier we get, the better it's going to be," he added. "I like where the bullpen is at, regardless of how many guys we have now, but I think we have the right guys in the bullpen to help us out for innings. ... I think it's going to turn around because of that."

For now, will start Monday on three days' rest thanks to a rain-shortened outing Thursday where he went two innings, slotting in for Price's regularly scheduled day. Sale and Price are likely due to return during Boston's next homestand beginning Friday, Cora has repeatedly said this series, with Sale possibly making multiple starts as an "opener" in order to build up his shoulder strength.
"We've been pushing [Johnson] hard too. Whenever we talk about Chris and David and all those guys, [Johnson's] role has changed the whole season," Cora said. "He's not gonna use that as an excuse. He knows that he didn't execute, but we have to be careful with him, too, as far as his usage and getting him some rest."
The offense didn't help matters much Sunday, however, as Chicago starter held the Red Sox in check for six innings. Boston scattered four hits over Shields' six innings and advanced only two runners to second base after the second inning, one of which came on defensive indifference with two outs in the ninth.

Additionally, Boston utilized all three of its September bullpen callups -- , William Cuevas and -- in Sunday's loss. Cuevas exited in the sixth due to a heat-related illness, the team said.
"It was pretty humid out there, and obviously the innings were kind of long," Cora said. "He felt it I think the previous pitch, he stepped off and then he threw the wild pitch, and that's when Blake [Swihart] noticed that there was something weird there."
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
White Sox outfielder might have hit the first home run in MLB history in which the batter rounded the bases twice. In the fourth inning, Palka crushed a 1-0 pitch into the right-field stands that was originally ruled a homer, setting off the ballpark fireworks. But as he circled the basepaths, the umpires conferred and correctly ruled the ball foul.
A few pitches later, on a 3-2 count, Palka hit a home run for real to nearly the same spot, and the fireworks came out again. The long ball was Palka's 20th of his rookie season.

HE SAID IT
"It feels weird to take everybody out. I guess that's September baseball, but we'll see it as a positive. We stayed off some guys in the bullpen, we got some guys off their feet. It sucks to lose, don't get me wrong, I hate to do all that stuff. But if there's something positive about it, we were able to do that." --Cora, on a rare day where not much went right for the Red Sox
UP NEXT
The Red Sox head to Atlanta for a three-game Interleague series with the Braves starting Monday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Eovaldi (5-7, 4.35 ERA) gave up three runs on three hits in his rain-shortened outing on Thursday. Rookie right-hander Touki Toussaint will start for Atlanta.

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Max Gelman is a reporter for MLB.com based in Chicago.