BOSTON -- After a successful weekend in Cleveland in which they took two out of three against the AL Central-leading Guardians, the Red Sox returned home Tuesday night, only to slip back into their Fenway funk.
The club’s struggles at home, which continued with a 4-2 defeat to the Orioles in the opener of a three-game series, continues to be the biggest issue for interim manager Chad Tracy’s team.
At Fenway, where the Sox hold the worst home record in the Majors at 9-20, they’ve lost 12 of their last 15 dating back to May 2. It is their worst start at home since 1932, when they went 7-22 through 29 home games.
Perhaps it is fortunate that this is just a three-game homestand for the 25-34 Sox, who head back out on the road this weekend to face the Yankees and then the Rays to start next week.
But after that, the home schedule is going to pick up, with 13 out of 19 games at Fenway between June 12 and July 1. That increases the urgency for the Sox to find a way to start delivering in their home park.
The night started with promise on both sides of the ball, as Connelly Early escaped a second-and-third, nobody-out jam in the first without allowing a run.
And Jarren Duran slapped a triple into the corner in left to open the first and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wilyer Abreu.
The Orioles got a big swing off Early out of Pete Alonso, who hammered a two-run missile over the Green Monster that snapped a 1-1 tie.
After Baltimore tacked on another run in the fourth, the Sox got one back in the fifth on a sac fly from Marcelo Mayer.
While it wasn’t the most economical night for Early, he did manage to keep the Red Sox in the game by grinding through 96 pitches over 5 1/3 innings in which he gave up six hits and four runs to go with one walk and six strikeouts.
The offense actually ticked up at home in the last homestand, despite a 1-5 record. But this was not the case Tuesday, as Boston got only four hits after the triple by Duran.
If they can win the final two games of this brief stop at home against the O’s, the Sox will have their first series win at Fenway since taking a rubber match against the Brewers on April 8.