On Thursday afternoon, the Red Sox almost beat the Blue Jays after rallying from three runs down. Almost.
Grim realism is taking hold in the Red Sox clubhouse.
Defeats no longer occur in isolation. Instead, players recognize each loss adding to the ominous shadows that have nearly engulfed a season that has yet to reach its midpoint.
On Thursday afternoon, the Red Sox nearly concocted their biggest comeback win of the season. After their lineup managed just one base runner through six innings while crawling into a 3-0 hole, the Sox enacted a three-run surge across the seventh and eighth innings to tie their game against the Blue Jays.
But hope proved a mirage, easily dispelled by hostile winds that played a key role in the Sox’ 4-3 loss. The fourth straight loss overall concluded a three-game sweep for the Jays at Fenway Park, and dropped the Sox to 29-43 — a 72-game mark from which no team has ever recovered to reach the postseason.
“We’re not good. We’re just not a good team right now. That’s just a fact,” assessed starter Sonny Gray, who allowed three runs over seven innings while earning a no-decision. “I can only speak for myself, but it’s frustrating.”
The frustration was amplified by the course of the final innings.
The Jays ambushed Gray for a pair of early runs and, behind solo home runs from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (4) and Nathan Lukes (2), eventually forged a 3-0 lead for Trey Yesavage, who dominated the Sox through six innings. With Toronto’s bullpen shorthanded, the Jays asked Yesavage to pitch deeper into a game than he’d ever done as a major leaguer.
The Sox scratched a run against him in the seventh, before Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Caleb Durbin hit back-to-back homers to lead off the eighth against the rookie to tie the game. Fenway — enlivened once more by the presence of the Tartan Army that has brought joy to Boston throughout the World Cup — pulsated.
“We get two big swings, fight back, and have ourselves in position to win the game,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “Morale was through the roof.”
Just as suddenly, morale was crushed by the forces of nature.
With a runner on first and two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman (pitching for the fourth time in 29 days) elicited a foul popup from Brandon Valenzuela. Catcher Connor Wong turned toward the backstop to see if the ball would remain in play. Durbin was a spectator at third base.
“Off the bat, it looked like it was almost going out [of play],” said Durbin. “But you can’t really leave that up to chance.”
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It was not chance but rather a snarling zephyr (gusts up to 30 miles per hour) that caught the ball and, to the horror of the catcher and third baseman, pushed it down the third base line. Wong and Durbin mounted late but futile charges as they recognized the ball’s shifting trajectory.
“[It] moved a ton,” said Wong. “Even when I was running after it, I was like, ‘Man, this thing is just not stopping.’ That tends to happen. If the wind’s going to hit it, it’s going to keep hitting it. And it’s what happened.”
The ball dropped roughly halfway down the third base line, just out of Wong’s reach. Durbin got nowhere close to it, lamenting he hadn’t made a more aggressive initial pursuit.
Two pitches later, Valenzuela skied what should have been a routine fly ball to left. Again, a gust caught and carried the ball, and it clanged off the Wall for a double that gave the Jays a 4-3 lead.
With the wind knocked out of them by the wind, the Sox mounted no response in the bottom of the ninth. Fill-in Jays closer Mason Fluharty needed just five pitches to dispatch Wilyer Abreu, Willson Contreras, and Jarren Duran to end the game.
The Red Sox suffered their fifth sweep of the season and their third at Fenway, while falling to 6-17 (.261) against American League East teams and 12-25 (.324) at home.
“Swept at home, in division, it doesn’t get worse than that,” said Kiner-Falefa.
The Sox, who left after the game for a six-game trip to Seattle and Colorado, are seven games under .500 (19-26) under Tracy, the same depth they reached when they fired Alex Cora after a 10-17 start. Though the trade deadline is nearly seven weeks away, their players recognize the reckoning that may be nearing.
“We’ve got to go on a streak, and we’ve got to go on a streak now. It’s time to go on a streak or we’re going to be having new players in this locker room,” said Kiner-Falefa. “So, just got to figure it out ASAP.”
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