Moral victories aren’t enough as Braves top Red Sox in 10 innings on Mike Yastrzemski’s double

ATLANTA — Under better circumstances, the Red Sox could have taken Friday night as a moral victory: rookie Connelly Early held his own against the highest-scoring lineup in the majors, they mounted a late comeback via Marcelo Mayer’s home run in the seventh inning, and a couple of less-heralded relievers stepped up in a big way to push the game to extra innings.

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But the Red Sox need actual victories, not pretend ones. So all that mattered in the end was the score — 3-2, Braves in 10 innings — and the bad, unusual plays that helped get them there.

Mike Yastrzemski shot a walkoff double to left-center off lefthander Tyler Samaniego in the bottom of the final frame. The Sox are 18-26, eight games under .500 matching their season worst.

“The big thing tonight,” interim manager Chad Tracy said, “was probably careless mistakes on the bases more than anything.”

The Sox opened the game with a weird stretch: They put the leadoff hitter on base five times in the first six innings and did almost nothing with that. Those runners were picked off, erased by a double play, caught stealing second, and caught stealing third.

Finally, in the sixth inning, Carlos Narváez (double) scored on Mickey Gasper’s two-out single through the left side of the infield.

Under Tracy, who is wrapping up his third week since taking over for the fired Alex Cora, the Red Sox have made a point to be more aggressive on the bases. It largely has worked, but not this time.

“Those guys who are green, if they’re green, they can go,” Tracy said of his base-stealers. “But there’s also spots where you just want to pay attention.”

The first flub came in the fourth inning. With Gasper on first with one out and Willson Contreras at the plate, Gasper took off for second for some reason.

As he approached the bag, he slowed and looked up, thinking he heard a batted ball. The noise, though, was the ball popping the mitt of catcher Sandy Leon, who threw down to second to get Gasper.

“I broke stride, just slowed up a hair, tried to find it, and by the time I looked, it was too late,” Gasper said. “I do think if I’m just head down running, I’m probably in.”

An inning later, Ceddanne Rafaela doubled. With one out, he tried to steal third, despite already being in scoring position (and plenty fast). Leon threw him out.

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“I was trying to get to third with less than two outs. It was a perfect throw from Sandy,” Rafaela said. “I was just playing the game hard and trying to win ballgames.”

Such is the Sox’ practically nonexistent margin for error, especially against a team like the Braves, who, at 31-14, appear to once again be a powerhouse.

Altogether, righthander Spencer Strider gave up one run in 5⅓ innings, otherwise working around that traffic (three hits and three walks). He struck out four, including Wilyer Abreu in the fourth inning to end an at-bat that began with a rocketed, homer-length foul ball to right field.

Early was almost as impressive — maybe more so considering the quality of competition. He limited the Braves to two runs in five innings. He struck out six and walked none.

Atlanta’s runs came on a pair of solo homers: Drake Baldwin in the first inning, on a fastball over the middle of the plate, and Michael Harris II in the fourth inning, on a changeup that was actually above the strike zone.

“I feel like I did a decent job,” Early said. “The one that hurts is the 0-and-2 changeup . . . If I execute it the right way, down over the plate, probably a swing-and-miss.”

Tracy pulled Early, whom he has pushed in recent outings, after 86 pitches for two reasons: He will next pitch on four days of rest (Wednesday against the Royals), and he was able to bring in righthander Greg Weissert in for righthanded-hitting Austin Riley.

Weissert (four outs) and lefthander Jovani Morán (five outs) served as an unlikely bridge to Aroldis Chapman, who tossed a perfect ninth. Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten were unavailable after pitching each of the prior two days.

That left Tracy with three options in the 10th: Samaniego, Zack Kelly, and Ryan Watson.

For a second day in a row, Samaniego was the tough-luck loser. Yastrzemski tried and failed twice to get down a sacrifice bunt before coming through with the game-ending hit.

“We’re all working really hard,” Mayer said. “Obviously, a lot of guys aren’t where they want to be.”

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