Red Sox lose game and series to Phillies at Fenway Park as offensive futility spoils a strong Ranger Suarez start

The burden of putting just one run on the board has gotten so heavy for the Red Sox offense that the hitters can feel the weight of every micro-decision.

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Every runner on base feels precious. A runner in scoring position feels fragile. A two-out scenario feels stress-drenched.

The longer the scoreless night stretched Thursday against the Phillies, the more the Sox’ scoring opportunities felt like abstractions.

Forced to sit with a 3-1 loss as the team heads out on a six-game road trip starting Friday in Atlanta, interim manager Chad Tracy replayed every opportunity to score the Red Sox left on the table.

“We had our chances, for sure,” Tracy said. “We had a couple chances for a two-out hit and we had a couple chances with a man on third and less than two [outs]. Four separate opportunities to kind of grab a lead there.”

Tracy thought about the third inning, with Carlos Narváez on third with two outs when Jarren Duran grounded out to the pitcher.

And the fourth, when Wilyer Abreu got picked off at first after a one-out single. The Sox still created a scoring chance thanks to a two-out double by Willson Contreras, but couldn’t cash in because Ceddanne Rafaela flew out to center.

And the fifth, with Caleb Durbin (hit by pitch) on first and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (walk) on second with two outs, a scoring opportunity squandered when Duran popped out to shortstop.

And the sixth, when Andruw Monasterio led off with a double before three straight ground balls snuffed out the scoring chance.

And the seventh, when Durbin delivered a two-out double but Marcelo Mayer struck out.

“There were chances there,” Tracy said. “We gave ourselves the opportunities and we’re a hit or two away from leading that game late and pushing it along.”

With Ranger Suarez on the mound and dealing in his return from a hamstring injury, Tracy had a plan. But again it felt more like a hypothetical.

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“If we get a lead, nurse it along,” Tracy said. “[In a] 0-0 ballgame late, you’re trying to play the zero game with them and see if you can strike first.”

Suarez threw 5⅓ scoreless innings, stretching his streak of shutdown frames to 19 and joining a list of 16 Sox pitchers who threw at least three straight starts of four or more scoreless innings. Tracy knew Suarez was on a roughly 75-pitch limit (he threw 76), but he was hoping the Sox could hang on long enough to get to a save situation with Aroldis Chapman in the ninth.

“The way we’ve been going offensively, it was like, let’s get another zero,” Tracy said. “Like, how many zeros can we put up to see if we can give ourselves a chance? Just keep sending guys out where we feel like there’s good spots to get ourselves a zero and see if we can get a lead.”

It never got to that point.

In a series where every game was decided by virtually one swing, the Sox spent the night searching for it while Kyle Schwarber once again provided it for the Phillies.

Schwarber’s two-run homer in the eighth broke the gridlock, and Brandon Marsh’s RBI single later in the inning all but ensured that a struggling Sox offense wouldn’t be able to mount a late comeback.

Schwarber, who went 1 for 5 with three strikeouts, took advantage with Tyler Samaniego on the mound, lifting a 3-1 cutter to right field for his 18th homer of the season.

“Things change,” Tracy said. “They change with momentum, they change with our missed opportunities, and you just have to keep going.”

The Sox fell to 18-25.

Their lone run came on an RBI single from Abreu in the eighth inning. They left nine runners on base and went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

The offense has reached levels of futility unseen since the dead-ball era. The Sox have scored just 22 runs in their last 12 home games, tied for the fewest over any 12-game home stretch in a single season in Fenway Park history and the lowest since 1917.

“It’s hard, of course, but I think we’re playing very good baseball,” Abreu said. “These three games, or this series, was really good for us. We played really good defense, we took pretty good at-bats. We’ve been through this all season.

“We’re still waiting for that moment, that big hit. I think we’re creating opportunities, but at the same time, we need to accomplish.”

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