Red Sox Notes: Pitching, Offense Not ‘Clicking’ At Same Time

The Boston Red Sox got strong outings from Kutter Crawford, Rich Hill, and Greg Weissert in Thursday night’s series finale against the Blue Jays, but Boston’s offense could not solve Toronto’s pitching and lost the game 2-0.

“Baseball is a game of waves; it’s highs and lows on both the pitching and the hitting side,” Crawford told reporters, per NESN’s postgame coverage, following the series split with Toronto. “I think that’s just kind of where we’re at right now with the offense. They’re competing. The pitching staff, we’re doing everything we can to try to keep us in the ballgame because we know the offense has carried us as well. Just not clicking together.”

The trio of Red Sox pitchers surrendered seven hits and walked three batters while striking out five, while the offense managed just two hits and struck out six times without earning a walk in the loss.

Despite an abysmal 2-5 homestand, Red Sox manager Alex Cora believes the offense will bounce back when Boston faces the Detroit Tigers on Friday.

“We saw good pitching against us,” Cora said after the game. “The big boy (Rafael Devers) didn’t play three days. We’ll get him (back) tomorrow, and we’ll get going.”

“This homestand was definitely a little disappointing for us,” Crawford said. “We definitely want to try to win the series. But I think everybody in this clubhouse still believes we got a chance. There’s nobody in this clubhouse throwing in the towel. We still got a month left.”

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:

— Rich Hill made his season debut for the Red Sox, coming out of the bullpen for Crawford in the seventh inning. He tossed 1 1/3 hitless innings, striking out the first batter he faced.

“He did an outstanding job,” Cora said.”We brought him in with men on to get a lefty out; did a good job.”

— Rafael Devers missed his third straight game but is expected to return to the lineup on Friday night.

— Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis retired the first nine batters he faced before Jarren Duran reached on throwing error in the fourth inning. Nick Sogard broke up Francis’ no-hitter bid when he singled to left in the bottom of the sixth inning. It was the only hit Francis surrendered through seven innings.

— The Red Sox were shut out for the sixth time this season, falling to 13-6 when one team is held scoreless.

— Boston fell to 22-16-6 in series play, including 11-9-3 at home. The Red Sox are 5-2-2 in their last nine series since July 29, after going 0-3-0 in the first three series following the All-Star break.

— After going 2-6 on the homestand, including the suspended game from June against the Blue Jays, the Red Sox fell to 31-38 at Fenway Park and will look to improve their road record of 38-27 over the next six games with the Detroit Tigers and New York Mets.

— The Red Sox will begin a three-game set with the Tigers in Detroit on Friday. The first pitch from Comerica Park is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET. You can watch the game on NESN following 60 minutes of pregame coverage.