Bullpen disaster: Red Sox blow 9th inning lead, fall 7-5 to Indians
By Matt McCarthy, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Red Sox suffered what was easily their worst loss of 2019, giving up five runs in the ninth inning en route to a 7-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
W: Nick Wittgren (2-0)
L: Travis Lakins (0-1)
S: Brad Hand (14)
Here are four takeaways from the loss:
1. Bullpen disaster:
The Red Sox clearly need bullpen help. Games like this are unacceptable.
The Sox led 5-2 in the ninth and turned the ball over to Ryan Brasier, who gave up two home runs to surrender the lead. Brasier served up the game-tying two-run homer to Greg Allen, who entered the night with an .091 batting average.
Travis Lakins came on, and it didn’t get much better:
Walking Carlos Santana on 4 pitches to get to Jordan Luplow was a bold strategy, Cotton.
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) May 29, 2019
Let's see if it paid off ...#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/ffGoT1boso
Lakins couldn’t find the plate, throwing only nine strikes out of 25 pitches.
2. The eighth inning wasn’t much better:
Tasked with holding a 3-0 lead in the eighth, Marcus Walden gave up two runs and left a man at second base.
Matt Barnes, the lone bright spot in relief, came on in place of Walden and picked up a big strikeout and induced a Jose Ramirez groundout to end the inning, preserving a 3-2 lead.
3. Price dominates:
An early rain delay didn’t stop David Price, who tossed six shutout innings on a cold and miserable night at Fenway Park. The lefty allowed three hits, struck out six, and walked one. Price threw 96 pitches, 63 for strikes.
4. Not bad for someone who never played 2nd base before:
Michael Chavis continues to find ways to impress:
MICHAEL CHAVIS, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! pic.twitter.com/chQcSSJbjo
— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 29, 2019
Chavis played just five games at second base in the minor leagues before he was called up in April.
Up next:
The Red Sox and Indians play the final game of their series Wednesday night. Ryan Weber (1-0, 1.29 ERA) will take the ball against Shane Bieber (3-2, 3.11 ERA)
You can hear Matt McCarthy on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s own Hardcore Baseball podcast and on various 98.5 The Sports Hub programs. Follow him on Twitter @MattMcCarthy985.