Four steps ahead, one step again.
After successful 4 consecutive collection, the Red Sox regarded poised to proceed their climb again into the American League’s postseason image with two collection in opposition to last-place groups at dwelling earlier than they embark on a West Coast highway journey.
But after dropping three in a five-game collection this weekend, together with a meltdown final Friday night time and capped by a 10-0 Memorial Day loss on Monday to the lowly Orioles, the Red Sox couldn’t proceed the momentum. A day after hitting 5 homers, the Red Sox regarded lifeless of their most lopsided lack of the season.
At least many of the consideration within the metropolis, for now, is staying on the Celtics, who begin NBA Finals play this Thursday.
Rich Hill continued his latest slide with one other forgettable efficiency, giving up six earned runs over 4 innings, whereas the offense produced its worst efficiency in additional than a month.
“It falls solely on me,” Hill mentioned. “I take full responsibility for that. You have to pitch better than that. You can’t go out there and throw the ball and put us in a hole like that.”
Hill clearly didn’t have it from the primary pitch of Monday’s loss. His management was off as he hit Austin Hays with the primary pitch of the sport earlier than Trey Mancini teed off on a fastball, drilling it to heart for an RBI triple because the O’s struck first.
Hill’s lack of command really contributed to an out, as a pitch received by Christian Vazquez however bounced arduous sufficient off the backstop for the catcher to corral it and throw out Mancini at dwelling plate, the place the 42-year-old lunged for the tag.
That was about the one spotlight of Hill’s night time.
The Orioles weren’t fooled by Hill. Eight of the 13 balls put in play in opposition to the lefty have been smoked with an exit velocity of 99 mph or extra. That included two dwelling runs – Ryan Mountcastle’s solo shot within the first and Ramon Urias’ two-run, 422-foot homer to lifeless heart – and one other triple off the middle discipline wall from Jorge Mateo.
Hill walked Mancini to start the fifth inning earlier than Mountcastle ripped a ground-rule double down the left discipline line earlier than Alex Cora had seen sufficient. Hirokazu Sawamura allowed each runs to attain, placing the Red Sox in a 6-0 gap that they didn’t come near climbing out of.
“I’d say out of the 92 pitches, 40 of them came out of my hand the way I wanted to,” Hill mentioned. “That’s a big indicator of the things that were not going well. …The way the ball was coming out of my hand tonight hasn’t happened in a while, so it’s extremely frustrating. The work starts again tomorrow.”
Hill mentioned he skilled tipping points within the first inning on Monday, one thing he handled two begins in the past and thought he had fastened in final week’s begin in opposition to the White Sox. But he didn’t need to use that as an excuse for his poor efficiency.
“At the end of the day, I didn’t throw the ball well and just sucked,” Hill mentioned. “I don’t know the way else to place it. …
“There aren’t any excuses,” he continued. “It’s not mechanically. It’s not tipping. It’s not any of those things. Those are side notes to what’s going on. However, you’ve got to figure it out and get the job done when you’re out there.”
Hill’s ERA has jumped from 2.89 to 4.85 over his final three begins, a stretch by which he’s allowed 12 earned runs in 11 innings.
Orioles starter Tyler Wells silenced the lately surging Red Sox offense to simply two hits over six innings. Xander Bogaerts offered Boston its finest probability in opposition to him with a two-out double to left within the fourth, however Alex Verdugo flew out to finish the inning. By the eighth inning, Cora determined to relaxation star third baseman Rafael Devers as they have been effectively on their method to the loss.
Matt Barnes put a bow on it by permitting a three-run homer to Anthony Santander within the ninth as his struggles continued.
The Red Sox have now misplaced every of their first 5 collection in opposition to AL East groups this season. They’re 7-14 in opposition to the division.
“Stuff-wise, they’re really good,” Cora mentioned of the Orioles’ pitching. “You see it. Everybody sees it. We saw it early in the season. … They’re really good. They’re catching the ball a lot better than last year and the pitching keeps them in the game. They’ve got some solid hitters that hit the ball out of the ballpark. That was the whole series right there. We didn’t keep it in the ballpark. They did damage and that’s why they won the series.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com