BOSTON — The Red Sox’s season is getting uglier.
The Red Sox suffered their sixth straight loss Wednesday at Fenway Park. Edwin Encarnacion clobbered two more home runs as the Toronto Blue Jays secured a 6-4 win.
Boston’s current losing streak is the club’s longest since dropping the final eight games of the 2012 season. Clearly, something needs to change. And fast.
Let’s go over some notes from Wednesday’s defeat.
— Clay Buchholz delivered another dud.
Buchholz gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out two, walked two and threw 90 pitches (53 strikes).
Buchholz continues to state there’s nothing physically wrong with him, which is fortunate yet also somewhat troublesome because it makes his 2014 struggles even harder to explain.
“I thought there was better finish to his stuff from the middle of the third inning through unfortunately the time he came out of the game (in the fifth inning), but physically there’s no complaints, there’s no issues,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “We’ve got to make either an adjustment or a correction mechanically because there’s too many misfires up to the arm side.”
Buchholz has allowed at least nine hits in each of his last three starts.
— Encarnacion’s two home runs marked his second straight multihomer game. The slugger now has four multihomer games this month, making him the first major leaguer with four multihomer games in a single month since Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki accomplished the feat in September 2010.
— Shane Victorino launched his first home run of 2014 while batting out of the No. 6 spot in Boston’s order.
Farrell said before the game that dropping Victorino down in the order was a product of the outfielder’s recent struggles against right-handed pitching. Farrell also didn’t rule out Victorino eventually returning to switch-hitting, although the skipper didn’t disclose too many details from their conversation.
— Xander Bogaerts had a tough day Tuesday, committing two errors after learning he was being shifted off his natural position in the wake of Stephen Drew signing with the Red Sox. The 21-year-old responded nicely Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
— A.J. Pierzynski collected three hits. Mike Carp produced two doubles.
Carp has hit safely in nine of his 12 starts this season, hitting .317 (13-for-41) in that span. Mike Napoli was out of the lineup with flu-like symptoms.
— Grady Sizemore led off for the 10th time this season. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, including one with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
Sizemore is 1-for-16 during the current homestand, dropping his average to .218.
“To me, against right-handers, (he’s) out front on the changeup, and the breaking ball from left-handers is giving him some trouble,” Farrell said.
— Victorino’s home run was the only hit produced by the Red Sox’s outfield. The trio of Sizemore, Victorino and Jonny Gomes combined to go 1-for-14 with six strikeouts.
Farrell was asked about the outfield’s recent lack of production after the game.
“There’s ongoing discussion, not just today but there has been for some time, and we’re trying to get the best read we can on our guys here,” Farrell said. “That doesn’t suggest there’s any change imminent, but we’re trying to find the right combination.”
