Following a weekend sweep of the best team in baseball, the Boston Red Sox took a step back down the ladder Tuesday.
The Sox dropped the nightcap of twin bill against the Detroit Tigers 4-2, their second loss of the day after falling 7-4 in the afternoon performance.
Hector Velazquez took the loss despite after his spot start fell apart in the fourth inning.
Despite the loss, the Red Sox got an impressive showing from rookies Darwinzon Hernandez and Travis Lakins out of the bullpen after they were called up earlier Tuesday. Michael Chavis, in his second game at Fenway Park, homered in the loss.
Boston falls to 9-15 with the loss, while the Tigers move to 11-10 with the win.
Here’s how it all went down.
GAME IN A WORD
Juvenescence
While the Red Sox could cap a comeback, the rookies showed promise.
ON THE BUMP
— As has been the case with all his spot starts, Velazquez did not go particularly deep, but mostly did the job filling in for the injured Nathan Eovaldi before turning it over to the bullpen.
The righty chucked three scoreless to start the game before running into trouble in the fourth.
Jeimer Candelario started the frame with a single. After Velazquez struck out Nicholas Castellanos, he allowed Miguel Cabrera to knock a single and then walked Niko Goodrum to load the bases. That led to Alex Cora to come with the hook.
— Marcus Walden could not clean up the mess left for him by Velazquez.
Inheriting a bases-loaded situation with one out, Walden allowed Brandon Dixon to double down the left field line, plating all three runs. Dixon was gunned down at third by Christian Vazquez after a throw to the plate. All three runs were charged to Velazquez.
Walden got out of the fourth without any more damage.
— Hernandez made his Major League debut in the fifth inning.
And the 22-year-old southpaw came out firing. After allowing a leadoff double to Josh Harrison, Hernandez retired the next three in order, including a pair of strikeouts.
A walk and a double put runners on second and third with two outs, but Hernandez struck out Ronny Rodriguez to get out the jam with his third strikeout of the inning.
Hernandez was lifted in the seventh after allowing two singles to start the frame. He finished after 2 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking one while allowing four hits.
— Lakins was the next Sox pitcher to make his debut on Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old right-hander inherited another sticky situation, with two on and no outs in the seventh, but retired each of the first two batters he faced to escape the jam.
He set the Tigers down 1-2-3 in the eighth after Dixon was gunned down by Andrew Benintendi at second base on a single to left.
Detroit tacked a run on Lakins in the ninth after a leadoff double from John Hicks. Candelario drove him in with a one-out single to make it 4-2. Lakins finished after 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits with two strikeouts.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— It was a deathly quiet night at the dish for the Sox, entering the seventh inning with just three hits, all singles.
— Boston rallied to score their first run in the seventh as Benintendi and Mitch Moreland each laced base hits with one out. Xander Bogaerts then plated Benintendi with a run-scoring single to make it 3-1.
— Chavis chipped away at the lead in the eighth, clubbing his first career home run with a massive blast to make it 3-2.
Benintendi would single to put the tying run on, but Betts popped up to end the inning.
— J.D. Martinez singled in the ninth, but Boston could not muster any magic from there.
TWEET OF THE DAY
Go B’s!
UP NEXT
Boston’s homestand continues with the third game of a four-game set on Wednesday. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET.
