Red Sox Wrap: Phillies Outclass Boston To Start Crucial Test

BOSTON — The Red Sox opened a three-game series with a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

With the loss, Boston falls to 33-34, while Philadelphia improves to 46-20.

Check out the full box score here.

ONE BIG TAKEAWAY
Boston began a stretch of six consecutive games against the top teams in baseball, hosting the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees on this homestand.

In the series opener with the Phillies, Philadelphia came to play against the Red Sox by striking in key areas.

The Phillies got going early with the bats when former Red Sox slugger Kyle Schwarber homered on the first pitch of the game. He continued his return to Fenway Park with another long ball in the fifth inning to lead the offense against Kutter Crawford, who otherwise pitched to keep Boston in the game.

That was before Philadelphia took advantage of a key mistake.

Crawford forced a ground ball to second base with two runners on and two outs in the fourth, seemingly getting out of the inning. When Enmanuel Valdez fired to first, Dominic Smith could not hold on, allowing two unearned runs to score.

The Red Sox didn’t get a favorable draw with the bats, having to go up against one of the game’s premier starters — Zack Wheeler. The Philadelphia righty tossed seven innings of one-run ball.

Crawford did his best to keep the Red Sox competitive, though a high-powered Philadelphia club started the series with a statement.

STARS OF THE GAME
— Duran singled and scored as the central production for the Red Sox at the plate.

— Schwarber tallied the 27th multi-homer game of his career.

— Wheeler held the Red Sox to one run over seven innings to start the series to improve to 8-3 on the season.

UP NEXT
The Red Sox and Phillies continue the three-game series at Fenway Park on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.