The Boston Red Sox have all the talent to be far better than 18-18 through 36 games.
But that’s where they are after Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park. For the second time this week, the Red Sox won the opening game of the series before dropping two winnable games and cost themselves the series. The Twins and the Toronto Blue Jays took advantage of a concerning trend against Boston.
The Red Sox keep scoring runs early but have failed to add on consistently in the late innings. On the other side of the ball, Boston’s trusted leverage relievers aren’t locating pitches as opposing hitters flipped the game on hanging mistakes.
That’s exactly what happened again Sunday. Boston scored three runs by the end of the third inning and did not score again until a lone run in the eighth. Meanwhile, Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten continued tough weeks after slips in Toronto and surrendered four runs as the Twins came back to earn the victory.
“Tough week for the bullpen,” Alex Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “They got good stuff. They’re good pitchers. We just have to make adjustments. Like I said before they game, we’ve got to make sure we execute. Lot of two-strike hits. We have to be better.”
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“That’s the most frustrating part is I’m shooting myself in the foot,” Slaten told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “… My stuff in the last three outings has been really good. I’m extremely confident with the way I’m throwing the ball. I’m making the right pitches before I get to two strikes.”
That’s the solution the Red Sox must find to not only break their .500 record in 2025 but the .500 ways of the last three seasons. Tack on late and execute location with high-leverage arms.
“We didn’t put pressure on them,” Cora said.
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Here are more notes from Sunday’s Twins-Red Sox game:
— Garrett Crochet tossed five innings with just one earned run allowed. He responded after Byron Buxton tagged the first pitch of the game for a leadoff home run. Crochet struck out six hitters and stayed in the game after a comebacker from Carlos Correa hit his nose.
The lefty didn’t seem too concerned about the ball that “grazed” him, he told reporters on NESN’s postgame coverage.
— Triston Casas had successful surgery Sunday after he ruptured his patella in his left knee Friday night. The Red Sox will be without their starting first baseman for the remainder of the season.
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— The Red Sox earned their ninth one-run loss of the season, the most in MLB this season.
— Wilyer Abreu had the best offensive performance for the Red Sox with three hits, including a solo home run in the eighth inning.
— The Red Sox welcome the Texas Rangers to town for a three-game series starting Tuesday. First pitch is set for 6:45 p.m. ET. You can catch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
Featured image via Paul Rutherford/Imagn Images
