BOSTON -- Just 11 days ago, the Red Sox were riding the wave of a season-high, six-game winning streak.
Friday night, that wave officially crashed down on them with a losing streak that stretched to a season-high of -- yep -- six games in a 9-0 defeat at the hands of José Berriós and the Blue Jays.
As hard as manager Alex Cora’s team worked to go from five games under .500 on June 6 to three games over by June 20, the latest punchless performance by the offense and eight walks from the pitching staff conspired to drop them to 40-43.
After generating just three hits in the finale of the West Coast swing in Anaheim on Wednesday, a day of rest on Thursday didn’t lead to a rejuvenation for a Boston lineup that mustered four hits on Friday.
“It's been going on for a while, even before the road trip,” said Cora. “We grinded some games, winning 2-0, 3-1. That's part of the season. You're going to do that. We've just got to be better. There's certain at-bats that you look at and you're like, 'We have to talk about this one.' Starters are going deep into the game again, and [we’re having] noncompetitive at-bats. As a group, we have to improve.”
Coincidence or not, the offense has gone into a free-fall since star slugger Rafael Devers was traded to the Giants following the win that swept the Yankees on June 15.
In those 10 games post-Devers, the Sox are last in the Majors in batting average (.184), on-base percentage (.246) and slugging percentage (.309) while ranking 29th in runs (28) and tied for 21st in homers (nine).
“I just feel like we're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to just score a bunch of runs every single day,” said Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran. “And when we're at our best, we're just stringing the bats together, passing the baton. And right now, I feel like we're looking for that one big hit, like a homer or something.”
Not only is Boston adjusting to life without Devers, but Alex Bregman has been out for over a month with a sore right quad and Masataka Yoshida is still working towards his season debut after undergoing offseason surgery on the labrum of his right shoulder. Meanwhile, Triston Casas (ruptured left patellar tendon) won’t be back on the field until 2026.
What the Sox need to do is hold down the fort until Bregman and Yoshida return at some point in July. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow will also look to add some offense from outside the organization.
In the meantime, there is a lot of pressure for veterans like Trevor Story and Duran to perform, not to mention the young core of Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Marcelo Mayer (out this weekend on bereavement leave) to keep the offense afloat. Boston has totaled four runs in its last three games.
“I can speak for myself that I feel like I know that I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself like I do every night, but it feels a little tense right now,” said Duran. “But, I mean, that's just part of it. We're grinding right now, and I feel like that's just part of it.”
Duran is the player perhaps most capable of igniting the offense from the current active roster. Yet he’s had a hard time matching his All-Star performance of a year ago.
Through 82 games, Duran has a batting line of .254/.307/.402. Through that same number of games last year, Duran was slashing .287/.347/.482.
There have been week-long stretches when Duran flashed his 2024 form. Why hasn’t he been able to sustain it?
“No idea,” said Cora. “I wish I knew, but it's not lack of effort or preparation. It just hasn't happened, right? And I think he hit the ball hard a few times during the road trip, hopefully here he can hit a few off the wall and get that good feeling and have a two-week streak that carries an offense for a while.”
Duran will keep plugging away in hopes he is ready to surge again soon.
“If you want to pray for me to the baseball Gods for me,” Duran quipped to a reporter. “I'm hitting the ball really hard. Just at a bunch of guys, and today I got a broken bat knock and it's funny how the game works. I hit the ball 115 [mph], it’s an out. I break a bat and it falls in. It’s just baseball, but I'm just gonna stay the course. You got to ride the roller coaster.”