The Boston Red Sox certainly hope a return to Fenway Park will change their fortunes.
The Red Sox dropped the rubber match of their three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on Wednesday. Boston’s offense was completely shut down by Wei-Yin Chen and Co. as Baltimore rolled to a 6-0 win in a game interrupted by yet another rain delay.
The Red Sox finished their nine-game road trip with a 2-7 record, and Boston actually was fortunate to squeak out those two victories. The Red Sox mustered up just one run in their series against the Orioles.
Let’s go over some notes from Wednesday’s disappointing loss.
— Rubby De La Rosa got his butt whooped in the first inning. The right-hander kept scrapping, though, and he ended up lasting 5 2/3 innings.
De La Rosa surrendered three runs in the first inning, making it seem like he was in line for a long night. It was especially concerning that Adam Jones’ RBI double and Chris Davis’ two-run homer both came on changeups, which had been De La Rosa’s most effective pitch in his first two starts.
De La Rosa gave up just one run on five hits and one walk after his lackluster first inning. He struck out seven — five on fastballs and two on changeups — while mixing speeds well. De La Rosa’s fastball sat at around 90 mph at times, but he also dialed it up when necessary, topping out at 96 mph while striking out Nelson Cruz and Chris Davis in the fifth inning.
— Wei-Yin Chen was terrific for Baltimore.
Chen allowed just four hits over seven shutout innings. The left-hander struck out seven and didn’t walk anyone.
Chen only threw 87 pitches, but the Orioles obviously weren’t going to run him back out there after a rain delay that lasted one hour, 38 minutes.
— Edward Mujica needed one pitch to record the final out before the rain delay. He then came back out after the delay and recorded two punchouts in a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
— Chris Capuano’s struggles continue.
Capuano surrendered two hits and walked three in the eighth inning. He walked in two runs.
Capuano was so good at the beginning of the season, opening the year with a 15-inning scoreless streak. Since then, the left-hander owns a 7.24 ERA (11 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings) over 14 appearances. He failed to record an out in three of those outings.
— Brock Holt’s 10-game hitting streak was snapped. He went 0-for-4 on his 26th birthday.
Holt entered the game hitting .413 (19-for-46) over the life of his hit streak. He had reached base safely in every game since May 28.
Holt’s .380 average against left-handers entering Wednesday’s series finale ranked first among all major league left-handed hitters, yet he went 0-for-3 against Chen, who is a southpaw.
— Xander Bogaerts went 0-for-4. He’s now 0-for-16 with five strikeouts over his last four games.
Bogaerts’ average has dropped 21 points (.299 to .278) in that span, while his on-base percentage has dipped 20 points (.387 to .367).
Bogaerts has started 30 straight games and has appeared in every game since April 26 — a stretch of 39 games. Don’t be surprised if he’s given a day off as soon as Stephen Drew returns, which could be Thursday, according to Red Sox manager John Farrell.
