The Boston Red Sox fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in their series finale, 9-1, at Fenway Park on Sunday night.
The Red Sox dropped to 22-19 on their campaign while the Cardinals improved to 16-25.
Check out the full box score here.
ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston came up short all around.
First, Corey Kluber, who took the mound winless at Fenway Park this season, struggled with keeping the ball in the park once again. The Cardinals launched two home runs against Kluber, charging the 37-year-old with four earned runs through five innings pitched. St. Louis quickly snagged momentum from Kluber who appeared on a roll, striking out three straight after allowing a run in the first inning.
But in the batter’s box, the Red Sox were unable to find momentum as well.
Aside from an overturned home run off the bat of Enmanuel Valdez, the Red Sox lineup was unable to make any sort of noise against the Cardinals, regardless of who threw the ball from the mound. Boston left eight runners stranded on the base path, going just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and totaling only five hits.
St. Louis never took its foot off the gas, totaling five runs on the board against Boston’s bullpen and hitting three home runs as a team.
The Cardinals became the second team to sweep the Red Sox at Fenway Park this season, joining the Pittsburgh Pirates.
STARS OF THE GAME
— Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado haunted Red Sox pitchers once again, hitting a third home run in as many games against Boston. Arenado went 2-for-5 in the series finale, hitting a home run while driving in four RBIs.
— Rafael Devers supplied the Red Sox with their only run ounce of scoring production, going 2-for-4 with an RBI single. Alex Cora’s No. 4 hitter was the only one in Boston’s lineup to record a multi-hit performance.
— Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbar went 3-for-6 at the plate with two doubles.
WAGER WATCH
FanDuel Sportsbook set the odds of Devers recording two-plus hits against the Cardinals at +170 before first pitch. Being the only one in the Red Sox lineup to do so, Devers cleared those odds after hitting a pair of singles. A $100 wager placed on the two-time All-Star would’ve resulted in a $270 total payout.
UP NEXT ON NESN
The Red Sox return to NESN on Monday night, opening up a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, and you can catch the game, plus a full hour of pregame coverage, live on NESN.
