BOSTON — Nethaniel Lowe watched Monday’s Red Sox loss to the Orioles as Trevor Rogers tore through Boston’s righty-heavy lineup. He retired 20 out of 25 Sox hitters he saw. The right specialists Romy González, Ceddanne Rafaela, Abraham Toro and Nate Eaton, just called up from AAA with Wilyer Abreu and Rob Refsnyder injured, went down in nine out of their 10 at-bats against Rogers.
Lowe, a lefty, finally received an opportunity in the ninth and walked, setting Jarren Duran to close the gap, 6-3, in a loss that wasn’t as close as the final score showed. Rogers and two lefty Orioles relievers silenced Boston’s bats in what became the team’s fourth night scoring three or fewer runs over its last five. The Sox’ absences became apparent as they dove into their depth and found few solutions.
Rafaela, an every day player between the outfield and second base, fell to 2-for-18 over the past week. González and Toro declined to a combined 4-for-27 over that stretch. Duran, Carlos Narváez and Masataka Yoshida all hovered around .200. Boston has increasingly relied on Abreu, Trevor Story, Alex Bregman and Roman Anthony for offense. After Sunday’s late meltdown against the Marlins, Alex Cora pointed to their lack of productivity at the plate. That continued into a short series against the O’s.
“The command of the fastball, both of them, is elite. The changeup is a real good one. He’s doing that to everybody,” Cora said of Rogers. “What he’s is doing now is what they traded for, and he’s one of the best pitchers in the big leagues.”
Eaton ran out an infield single and Story singled after fighting for 12 pitches early, then 14 of the next 15 Sox hitters went down between the second and sixth innings. Meanwhile, Dustin May lost control early, tossing balls on six of his first eight pitches and three of the first eight Orioles on base. He left a fastball over the middle to Gunnar Henderson with two outs in the third that started Baltimore’s scoring run with a long solo shot to center.
Samuel Basallo doubled and later scored to start the next inning, but May escaped the frame with two runners on and no outs. He retired the next seven batters and stranded seven Orioles total after finishing six innings with 100 pitches thanks to help from Narváez, who downed Jeremiah Jackson as he slid into second on a steal attempt. Boston trailed, 2-0, entering the seventh.
“Tonight was definitely a rocky one. I had no idea where really anything was going. Kind of settled in a little bit in the fifth and sixth,” May said. “But in the first four it was scrambling just trying to figure out how to keep the ball in (the strike zone).”
There, Henderson extended a double into a triple when Anthony fumbled a line drive down the right field line defending in place of Abreu. Jovani Morán allowed two runs in the seventh before his demotion to AAA later in the night. Duran and Rafaela left Story at third base after pulling within 4-1 on his double. The Orioles added two insurance runs in the ninth off Jordan Hicks, who Boston plans to roll with despite his struggles since arriving in the Rafael Devers trade.
“He didn’t finish the slider,” Cora said. “Foul tip with two strikes, then a fastball up that the guy got to it. We gotta continue to work with him. We’re not going to give up. This is who we are, this is the roster that we have and this is our job. Keep grinding with them. We’re not gonna give up.”
- Boston recalled LHP Brennan Bernardino after demoting Morán. He posted a 3.33 ERA in 43.2 innings to begin the season as a lefty specialist. He last pitched with the Red Sox on July 28 before his option to AAA.
- Cora said before the game that Toro and Lowe will platoon first base for now against lefties and righties, respectively, while González will likely play more second base: “Dependable hitter that’s been there, done that. He was part of the Rangers when they won,” Cora said of Lowe. “Up-and-down season with the Nationals. Hopefully he comes here, we talked a little bit about the wall, what it means to lefties. He’s excited to be here. We’ll use him against righties, certain lefties, pinch hit late … (defensively he’s), this year, ok, previous years, he’s been really good.”
- RHP Justin Slaten will begin his rehab assignment with AAA-Worcester on Tuesday. They’ll proceed carefully with him, Cora said, and didn’t immediately commit to using him for multiple innings upon return.
- Abreu (calf) felt better on Monday after exiting Sunday’s loss. Cora didn’t rule out an IL trip for him as they move patiently with him. Refsnyder went to the 10-day IL with an oblique injury retroactive to Monday.
- Hugo González, Luka Garza, Amari Williams, Max Shulga, Josh Minott and RJ Luis Jr. attended Monday’s game from the Celtics alongside Joe Mazzulla and several assistants.
- With the Yankees and Guardians off, and the Blue Jays and Mariners losing, Boston didn’t lose significant ground in the playoff race. They’re in a three-way tie for the first wild card spot with Seattle and New York, who they face Thursday-Sunday in the Bronx. They’re 3.0 games up on the final playoff spot above Cleveland, and 3.5 ahead of Kansas City. They’re 5.0 games behind Toronto in the AL East.
