Growing pains, home runs catch up to Early as Red Sox miss out on sweep

BOSTON – An electric crowd charged up with Scottish spectators (i.e., The Tartan Army) in town for the World Cup sent an anticipatory surge of cheers through the air seconds before Connelly Early threw the first pitch of the game for the Red Sox.

Wyatt Langford tore into the 93.3 mph offering and mashed it over everything in left field. It did nothing to diffuse the joyous Scots, who were having a ball with their chants and sing-alongs and still beaming over their nation’s historic win over Haiti in Foxboro on Saturday.

However, it was an early tone-setter in the wrong direction for the Red Sox in their first Sunday Night Baseball game of the season, which turned into a 6-4 defeat to the Rangers.

Early became the first Red Sox pitcher since pitch counts started being tracked in 1988 to be taken deep on his first pitch in consecutive starts. Only Josh Beckett (2007) and Garrett Crochet (last year) had suffered that indignity twice in the same season over that same span.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just early trouble for Boston’s 23-year-old lefty, who gave up 11 hits and six runs over 4 2/3 innings. He gave up a three-run homer to Kyle Higashioka in the second and was touched up for a two-spot in the fourth inning, pinning his team in a 6-2 hole.

It appears that Early has hit the rookie wall, which most pitchers do at some point.

After notching a 2.95 ERA in his first 11 starts, Early has a 7.36 ERA in his subsequent three turns.

“Yeah, I think a full season, there’s going to be ups and downs, so just how I can respond to that is the biggest thing,” Early said. “I think my preparation has been pretty good going into everything, so just trying to keep that dialed in. Keep going about the work the right way.”

Early flourished as a September call-up last year, posting a 2.33 ERA in his first four Major League starts. Couple that with his strong start to this season, and he’s currently in the first rut of his young career.

“We challenge him to take notes to learn from these and to write down his thoughts, because it's not the last time that he's going to struggle at the Major League level either,” said Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey. “And we have to recognize that, too. And it is a game of momentum, and ebbs and flows. How the delivery feels and how you're recovering. What we're working on – those types of things. So, yeah, obviously tonight wasn't a great one, but we learn from it, move on and get ready for the next one.”

The long ball has been an issue for Early, who has given up a team-leading 14 homers.

“I hope those come back to Earth a little bit,” said Bailey. “But when you look at the grand scheme of things, he does generate some whiff. The batted ball quality is a little bit concerning in that the slug is out of the park.”

Home runs are almost always a case of mislocation.

“I think with him being able to get to consistent locations, intended targets, taking a step forward [in that regard], his overall command is going to be fine,” said Bailey. “We know he has good stuff, and we’ve just got to be able to execute a little bit better.”

Early’s even-keel demeanor should serve him well as he tries to get out of his mini rut.

“Yeah, 100 percent,” said Early. “I've definitely had ups and downs my whole entire career. So that's a game of baseball, and that's why I love baseball. You're gonna hit bottom, but there's also the highs.”

The Red Sox, on the strength of two solo shots by the red-hot Willson Contreras, tried to battle their way back against Nathan Eovaldi, but the former Boston righty didn’t give up much else of substance.

Trying to pull off their first Fenway sweep of the season, the Sox instead settled for winning a series at home for the first time since April 8.

Early put the lack of the broom treatment on himself.

“Not good. Just need to do better come the next time,” Early said. “I thought the offense came out pretty well today for us. So, after two wins [this weekend], it's a tough one.”

Following an off-day, the Sox (29-40) will host the Blue Jays for a three-game series at Fenway beginning Tuesday night.