Sox brought back down to earth with fifth straight loss

TORONTO – It was less than a week ago that it felt as if the Red Sox could do no wrong.

But over the past five days, it seems like nothing is going right.

Wednesday night’s 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre extended their losing streak to five games. It’s the first time the team has dropped five consecutive games since their season-opening road trip through Cincinnati and Houston.

Just like that, one of the league’s hottest teams has turned into one of the coldest.

Much of the poor performance in this series can be pinned on the offense. Through the first three games, the lineup is collectively 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position. When including the two losses to the Athletics over the weekend, Boston hitters are 5-for-42 with RISP.

Interim manager Chad Tracy called the at-bats against José Soriano on Wednesday “hit and miss.” He was happy to see a good swing from Willson Contreras, who swatted a solo shot in the top of the fifth to tie the game 1-1.

“We got a big swing from Willson, that was good to see,” Tracy said. “If we can get him going, that turns things. We grinded, the pitching performances on both sides were good.”

Tracy cited Soriano’s sinker as being especially tough.

“His sinker is really good, it’s hard,” he said. “He flips that breaking ball in there for a strike, but the sinker is an effective pitch.”

It’s been a tough month for Contreras, as he’s hitting .185 with a .609 OPS in August.

It didn’t start well physically, either, when he was hit in the head by a pitch on Aug. 1. An illness and a bit of a leg issue he hinted at postgame have also hampered him of late.

“It’s just baseball, man,” Contreras said. “You play six months of baseball, you’re going to go through ups and downs. I’m not going to be down on myself, because I know baseball is going to be this way. It feels good to connect with one and be able to hit a homer, for sure. You have to find your rhythm, keep having good at-bats and let baseball come to you.”

Making matters worse, Tracy mentioned postgame that reliever Garrett Whitlock was down due to inflammation in his elbow. It’s an issue that’s being monitored and Tracy was unsure if it would require an IL stint, with more being known in the coming days depending on how he feels.

A couple of miscues also proved costly in the game.

In the top of the fourth, Ceddanne Rafaela attempted to take two bases on a wild pitch but was thrown out at third.

Then in the bottom of the eighth, Contreras dropped a pop-up in foul territory before the Blue Jays plated five runs to take the lead they would never relinquish.

“I just dropped the ball,” Contreras said. “It’s an error, it’s not the first one I’ve made and it won’t be the last one. Turn the page. Tomorrow is another game.”

It wasn’t all bad on the night, as Ranger Suarez worked five innings and allowed one run on six hits in his longest outing since coming off the injured list on July 26. He walked one and struck out two.

The start represented Suarez’s third good outing against the Blue Jays this season. Over 17 innings against Toronto, spanning three starts, the left-hander has given up just one run. He tossed eight scoreless innings in a win on April 27 and held Toronto off the scoreboard across four innings in a victory the day he came off the IL last month.

The lineup showed late life on Wednesday, as well, plating three runs in the ninth off reliever Matt Waldron before the rally was eventually snuffed out by Blue Jays closer Louis Varland.

Tracy is hoping it’s a sign of things to come.

“It was a collection of really good at-bats, once again getting the tying run to the plate,” he said. “You hope you can take something like that and carry it into tomorrow.”