The Boston Red Sox came short of sweeping the Cincinnati Reds, falling 5-1 on Wednesday at Great American Ball Park.
With the defeat, the Red Sox now own a 72-76 record while the lowly Reds improve to 59-90.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
As has been the case for the Red Sox throughout this season, one inning made all the difference.
It was the fifth frame this time, with the Reds breaking a 1-1 deadlock by scoring three times in the stanza. Cincinnati's offense didn't come close to putting on an offensive clinic in the frame, but got timely hits -- even if they were only bloopers -- and some assistance from the Red Sox to pull ahead for good.
Connor Seabold, who hadn't pitched for the Red Sox in over six weeks, didn't help his cause with two of his four wild pitches coming in the bottom of the fifth along with the only walk of his outing. The Reds took advantage to leave the Red Sox trailing and Boston's lackluster offense, which produced only six hits, couldn't make up the difference.
Just another case of one inning hampering the Red Sox's chances of coming out on the winning end of things.
STARS OF THE GAME
-- Reds starting pitcher Chase Anderson kept the Red Sox offense in check, earning the win by tossing five innings, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out four and walking none.
-- Alex Verdugo drove in the lone Red Sox run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to score Rafael Devers. Verdugo finished 1-for-3 in the loss.
-- Jonathan India paced Cincinnati's offense with a 2-for-4 effort with two RBIs.
WAGER WATCH
DraftKings Sportsbook set Seabold's over/under for strikeouts at 3.5. After striking out the side in the first inning, Seabold just got one more strikeout the rest of the way to hit the Over. With -105 odds, a $100 bet would have netted a total pay out of $195.24.
ON DECK AT NESN
The Red Sox begin a four-game set with the New York Yankees at Yankees Stadium on Thursday (7:15 p.m. ET) with the series opener being televised on FOX. Friday's matchup between the rivals, which is a 7:05 p.m. start, can be viewed on Apple+. The Red Sox return to NESN airwaves on Saturday as they continue their series with the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m., and you can also catch an hour of pregame coverage on NESN.
