Old Issues Haunt Dustin May Again Vs. Pirates

Dustin May’s Boston Red Sox tenure has not gone smoothly. After his start on Saturday, Boston has now lost four of the five games he’s started since joining the team at the trade deadline.

There have been flashes of brilliance from May, but he hasn’t been able to string scoreless innings together consistently. Outside of six innings of shutout baseball against the Houston Astros, May has allowed at least two runs in each of his five appearances.

On Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, May ran into an issue that’s plagued him throughout his career — the third time throughout the order.

Through four innings, May had allowed just one run as he fought through traffic. In the fifth inning, when hitters got an opportunity to see the pitcher for the third time, he ran into trouble.

Each of the first five hitters in the inning reached base, scoring three runs. May escaped the fifth but went back out for the sixth. He allowed a leadoff home run to Oneil Cruz, a double to Joey Bart and finished his outing by walking Jared Triolo in his fourth plate appearance.

All pitchers struggle the deeper they go into games, but May has a particularly hard time. The first time facing a hitter in a game, he limits opponents to a .590 OPS. The third time, that number rises to .801.

If the Red Sox make the playoffs, they can shorten up the pitching staff and use May as a reliever, limiting opponents to one matchup with the righty. To get to the playoffs, they’ll have to navigate a pitching staff that’s a little shorthanded if they can’t rely on the deadline acquisition to pitch more than four or five innings.

The Red Sox lost to the Pirates, 10-3, on Saturday. Losses like that won’t help their playoff chances, but they have an opportunity to avoid a sweep on Sunday in the series finale.