Red Sox Notes: Boston Seeking Offensive Turnaround Amid Slump

The Red Sox dropped their third straight game as the offense has been in a slump during the team’s losing stretch.

Boston lost, 3-1, to the Twins at Target Field on Saturday. Minnesota ace Pablo López shut down the Red Sox as the bullpen held its own but was unable to break Rocco Baldelli’s side’s winning streak, which extended to 12 games.

The Red Sox hope to break out of their slump during their losing streak. Boston’s lineup is batting .118 with runners in scoring position and has scored 1.3 runs per game on a .490 OPS in the last three games. Those numbers are down from its four-game win streak when it averaged eight runs per game on a .967 OPS and batted .367 with runners in scoring position.

“… You go through stages where you got to catch up with the fastball,” Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Sometimes you don’t, and it seems like right now, it feels like their attack has been fastball-heavy. That’s a team that spins the ball a lot, but it’s all about scouting reports and adjustments. So far, in two games, they have the edge.”

Boston went 1-for-6 on Saturday with runners in scoring position. A key moment was in the seventh inning when the bases were loaded with two outs. Rafael Devers had a chance to give the Red Sox the lead, but Steven Okert struck out the star third baseman on a full count. Manager Alex Cora gave the Twins southpaw credit and didn’t lament the missed opportunity from Devers.

“We’ve put up some good at-bats. Sometimes we put pressure but not enough,” Cora said. “We had chances. The one with two outs, that’s a tough one. Less than two outs, those are the ones that we have to cash in, and we didn’t do that at home. We didn’t do that (Friday). (Saturday) was a tough one, but we’ll be ready for (Sunday).

Red Sox Wrap: Pablo López Shuts Down Boston’s Offense

May 4, 2024

Here are more notes from Saturday’s Red Sox-Twins matchup:

— Tyler O’Neill was 6-for-6 with a home run and a walk in his last seven plate appearances with no runners on and two outs, per Red Sox director of baseball communications and media relations J.P. Long. But he struck out in that situation Saturday.

— Pablo López put up a quality start against the Red Sox with one earned run allowed, eight strikeouts and a walk in six innings. Boston will face another tough pitching matchup with Joe Ryan scheduled for Sunday.

“Really solid starting pitching. They’re obviously on a really, really hot streak right now,” Rob Refnysder, who was a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Just got to grind at-bats out. I mean, we have Joe Ryan, another really tough pitcher. Like we talked about before the road trip, two really, really good teams. (Atlanta) Braves coming up. Just got to keep grinding it out. We’ve been close both games. Just really good starting pitching. …”

— Dominic Smith went 2-for-4 on the afternoon but made a costly base-running decision in the seventh inning when his flyball bounced off the wall and Max Kepler threw him out while stretching to second. Cora had no issue with the designated hitter’s “hustle” play and credited the Twins outfielder for making a good play.

— Kepler went yard and extended his solid production against the Red Sox. Since 2022, the outfielder has seven RBIs and scored 11 runs on a .953 OPS in 15 games against Boston.

— The Red Sox look to rebound Sunday in the series finale against the Twins. First pitch at Target Field is scheduled at 2:10 pm. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN starting with pregame at 1 p.m.