Much of the Red Sox’ success over the past two years has been built upon a relatively simple element: The avoidance of prolonged struggles. A team that never lost more than four straight games in all of 2016 managed to get through more than 100 games this year without a losing streak in excess of three straight.
They’d avoided the sort of malaise that engulfed the Yankees in June, when a seven-game spiral turned a three-game advantage in the standings into a half-game deficit. The steadiness of the Sox’ play helped to separate them from their American League East competitors.
That characteristic once again seemed to be on display on Tuesday, when the Red Sox erased an early 3-0 deficit against the Mariners to rally for a 4-3 lead. Even after Heath Hembree permitted a game-tying homer in the seventh, the Sox remained undaunted until finally breaking through in the 13th inning for a 5-4 advantage – bringing a potentially momentous victory within their grasp.
Instead, Seattle’s two-out, two-run rally in the bottom of the 13th sent the Red Sox to a crushing 6-5 walkoff defeat, while extending the team’s losing streak to four games – its longest of 2017. The defeat left Boston clinging to a one-game lead in the AL East (and trailing New York in the loss column) following a 6-12 stretch over the last three weeks.
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The struggles have arrived at a most uncomfortable time for the club. The five days remaining before the trade deadline create uncertainty about the roles of veterans and how radically the front office might reshape their team. At the same time, the team’s clubhouse culture is being critically scrutinized with intensity unmatched since 2012; as Dan Shaughnessy writes, there are plenty of questions about the team’s leadership.
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Yet while it’s easy for narratives to form about the relationship between those issues and the team’s struggles, it’s just as easy to overlook central elements of the team’s slide. The Sox’ three-week struggle coincides with the disappearance of the Red Sox’ young core – the very group expected to anchor the team’s push for contention.
Though Andrew Benintendi had a solid game at the plate on Tuesday (2-for-5 with a walk), that performance represented a reversal of his second major slump of his rookie campaign. Meanwhile, Mookie Betts (0-for-6, 2 strikeouts) took some of his worst swings of the season, Xander Bogaerts (0-for-5, 3 strikeouts, walk) continued to look like someone who may be dealing with injury-induced mechanical woes, and Jackie Bradley Jr. (1-for-6 with a strikeout – though also the go-ahead hit in the seventh) did little to dispel the notion that they’re immersed in funks.
For all of the discussion of what the Red Sox might or might not do before the trade deadline, and how the team has already altered its mix with the additions of Rafael Devers (0-for-4 with two walks) and Eduardo Nunez, the team’s ability to correct course depends on its stars performing at a level befitting the title.
Chris Sale can do his part by serving as a stopper on Wednesday afternoon, but until the team’s young core regains its footing, the team’s midsummer stumble will prove difficult to correct.
PA | Avg/OBP/Slg | |
---|---|---|
Mookie Betts | 85 | .241/.294/.354 |
Andrew Benintendi | 76 | .169/.289/.185 |
Jackie Bradley Jr. | 72 | .203/.236/.275 |
Xander Bogaerts | 56 | .157/.232/.255 |
Follow Alex Speier on Twitter at @alexspeier.