Red Sox lose to Rockies after Aroldis Chapman blows save for first time since July
DENVER — For the first time in nearly a year, Aroldis Chapman blew a save Monday night.
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He melted down in the ninth inning against the Rockies, dooming the Red Sox to a 3-2 loss.
Chapman threw eight pitches, did not record an out, and got no help from his defense. With the bases loaded, Jake McCarthy snuck a grounder down the left-field line. It kicked around the corner, eluding Jarren Duran, as all three runs scored.
Duran took long enough to field it that there was no play at the plate.
Chapman last had lost a lead on July 23. Since then, he had converted on a career-high-tying 29 consecutive save chances. In those games he allowed zero runs and four hits, holding opposing batters to a .047 average.
That ruined what had been a solid all-around game for the Red Sox, particularly lefthander Jake Bennett, who turned in by far the best of his five big league games: six shutout innings, four hits, no walks, nine strikeouts.
The Sox’ lead was previously threatened in the eighth, when the Rockies strung together four consecutive singles off Garrett Whitlock — but didn’t score a run.
On the third of those, center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela fielded Willi Castro’s line drive and fired to the plate to cut down Edouard Julien for an out.
On the fourth, Tyler Freeman lined a pitch to right field, where Wilyer Abreu fielded it cleanly and likewise fired home. This time, Mickey Moniak didn’t test Abreu’s arm, retreating to third. But that surprised Castro, who was caught between second and third for the inning-ending out.
Whitlock was about the last off the field afterward, loitering to make sure to give thank-you pats to Rafaela and Abreu.
Bennett and Feltner matched zeroes through most of their outings, with nary a threat.
Feltner took a bit to settle in, walking two of his first three hitters (and three of his first seven). But a double-play grounder from Ceddanne Rafaela in the first helped him avoid trouble, and the Red Sox didn’t make anything of Caleb Durbin’s one-out double in the second.
The Sox had two on and one out in that second frame. Feltner retired the next 13 hitters, which got him into the sixth.
That streak ended when Wilyer Abreu’s soft ground ball to the left side of the infield was good for a single, kickstarting the Sox’ key rally.
Willson Contreras, who after his previous unsuccessful at-bat chucked his helmet down the tunnel next to the dugout, doubled to right field to bring in Abreu and put the Sox ahead. Jarren Duran walked, and Durbin lined an RBI single to left to add a run.
By the end, Feltner had thrown 34 pitches in the inning — including 26 with two outs, including 10 with two outs and two strikes.
Bennett, meanwhile, was efficient and effective from the outset. He threw nine pitches in the first inning, eight in the second, and 14 in the third.
Colorado didn’t put a runner on base until Kyle Karros, the No. 8 hitter, singled in the third. They didn’t have a plate appearance with a runner in scoring position until the fifth, when Braxton Fulford singled and stole second with two outs. It lasted one pitch. Bennett struck out Karros swinging.
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