BOSTON – A homestand that started with renewed hope, generated by the excitement of a season-long, five-game winning streak, ended with an empty feeling for the Red Sox.
Knowing their time is growing short to make the type of run that would convince the front office to buy instead of sell at the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline, Boston opened July by getting routed, 10-2, by the Nationals in the rubber match of a three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Fenway Park.
While the ledger says it was a 5-2 homestand, the first five games provided a chance for it to be more. In the two losses, the Sox were outscored, 18-3, by the Nats.
As the 37-48 Sox head on the road for a three-city road trip (Angels, White Sox and Mets) that will take them to the All-Star break, the urgency is high to snap the current losing streak at two games.
“Call it a really good homestand [that] could have been a great homestand,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “You're going into today feeling, 'Let's make this a great homestand.' But you don't get on the plane feeling like 5-2 is bad. We're in a much better position than we were when we got back home. We've got a day off, we haven't had one in a while. Rest, recover, and then try to go have three really good series on the road, see if you can win a few series, and put yourself in a better position leading into the break. That's the mindset.”
Here are three key takeaways from a flat finale.
1. Tolle roughed up
The day after his close friend Connelly Early had to exit with an elbow issue after four innings, Payton Tolle had the unfortunate timing of turning in what was easily the worst of his 13 starts this season.
The big lefty got just nine outs and left with the bases loaded and no outs in the fourth after allowing the first four batters to reach. Tolle labored through 76 pitches, 47 of them for strikes. The Nationals pounded Tolle’s four-seamer in a way few teams have. Tolle allowed six runs on seven hits over his three-plus innings, walking three and striking out five.
“I think they were ready for it,” Tolle said of the damage done to his heater. “I think I was also probably just being too fine, trying to hit spots rather than just trying to execute pitches and just flying through the zone. But they were getting the head out. I didn't have my best stuff today, and they made me pay for it.”
The combination of the heat (95 degrees at first pitch) and a bad cold Tolle pitched through in his prior start against the Yankees might have played a role in his letdown on Wednesday.
2. Abreu shows uncharacteristic frustration
You typically don’t see much emotion from Wilyer Abreu after a tough day offensively. That’s what made Wednesday unusual. When Abreu came to the plate with the bases loaded and the Red Sox down, 7-0, in the bottom of the fifth, he had a chance to make it a game with a grand slam. Instead, he swung at a pitch well outside the strike zone to end the threat, then flung his bat down in frustration.
“Bad pitch. Swung at bad pitches. That was the reason,” said Abreu.
With Willson Contreras in danger of serving a suspension soon due to flinging his helmet during a bench-clearing fracas on Tuesday, the Sox could really use a hot streak from Abreu. In his past 17 games, covering 62 at-bats, Abreu has a slash line of .210/.306/.387 with two home runs.
3. Trying to get Romy going
Given the depletion of the Boston infield (Trevor Story, Marcelo Mayer and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are all on the injured list), Romy Gonzalez can be an important piece once he finds his groove.
Making his third start since his activation on Wednesday, Gonzalez got a single to right in his final at-bat to cap a 1-for-4 day, and give him two hits in his first 11 at-bats of the season.
Considering that Gonzalez didn’t have a Spring Training after undergoing left shoulder surgery, it has been a challenge for him to regain his timing after getting just 18 at-bats in his Minor League rehab assignment.
With the Red Sox scheduled to face multiple lefty starters in the coming days, interim manager Chad Tracy is trying to help Gonzalez shake the rust off his bat. Perhaps it will pay off on the upcoming, three-city road trip that starts Friday in Anaheim.