The Red Sox have beaten themselves with poor defense too many times this season. They already led the majors with 66 errors before gifting the Giants two leads on two errors and lost 9-5.
All told, five of the Giants’ runs were unearned.
Lucas Giolito entered Sunday’s finale in San Francisco on a streak of 12 consecutive innings without an earned run.
That streak remained intact even as the Giants got on the board and took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third when third baseman Nate Eaton and left-fielder Jarren Duran collided attempting to catch a pop-up. Eaton was initially charged with the error, but it was later transferred to Duran.
Rob ‘Southpaw Slayer’ Refsnyder and Romy Gonzalez, who are essentially deployed as lefty specialists, retook the lead with a pair of home runs in the fifth, but Boston’s second and final advantage evaporated moments later when the Giants did the same.
In an alternate universe, Mike Yastrzemski signs with the Red Sox when they draft him in ‘09, and he’s wearing the same uniform as his famous grandfather. But in this universe, the younger Yaz is a Giant and likes to go yard against Captain Carl’s old club. He did so in his Fenway Park debut in September ‘19, when the Giants came to Boston last season, and to tie Sunday’s game in the bottom of the fifth. Two batters after Casey Schmitt led off the inning with a 352-footer to left, Yastrzemski hit one 352 feet to right.
After being taken deep by the grandson of a Red Sox legend, Giolito bounced back with a 1-2-3 sixth. It was his third consecutive start of at least six innings with no more than two earned runs allowed, a strong streak for a pitcher who had only reached six innings three times in his first six starts of the season.
The Boston bullpen, which has been so effective of late, struggled on Sunday. Greg Weissert couldn’t get out of the seventh; he gave up a leadoff single to Willy Adames, followed by a double to Schmitt. Tyler Fitzgerald’s sacrifice bunt tied the game and prompted Cora to make a pitching change.
With Justin Wilson on the mound, the Red Sox gave the Giants a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Yastrzemski lined a ball directly at Gonzalez, who dropped it and let it dribble past him into the outfield as the go-ahead run scored.
Some pitchers start strong and struggle down the stretch, others improve as they go. Robbie Ray falls into the latter category. The Giants left-hander entered Sunday’s finale with a 3.40 ERA between the first and third inning and a 2.17 ERA between the fourth and sixth. Opponents averaged .241 with a .668 OPS against him in their first plate appearances, .190 with a .572 OPS the second time, and managed just .160 with a .525 OPS the third time.
However, what the Red Sox woefully lack in defensive acumen they make up for when facing left-handers; they entered Sunday ranked sixth in slugging (.430), fourth in OPS (.784), third in batting average (.271), second in doubles (42), and first in on-base percentage (.354). They tagged Ray for four runs, three earned, on eight hits, including a pair of home runs, and knocked him out of the game after the fifth inning. He issued one walk and struck out seven on 88 pitches (61 strikes).
The Red Sox ultimately out-hit their hosts 12-11, including Ceddanne Rafaela’s eighth homer of the season in the sixth, but were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. Some base-running blunders didn’t help; in the fourth, third-base coach Kyle Hudson’s aggressive send of Abraham Toro led to an inning-ending out when he tried to jump around catcher Patrick Bailey’s tag and was ruled out for being outside the base line. Gonzalez was picked off and caught stealing second to end the seventh.
Robot umps and replay
It was a weekend full of missed calls by the umpires in San Francisco, and frustrations finally boiled over in the top of the eighth when Duran successfully stretched a single into a double only to be called out. The replay review clearly showed at least one of Duran’s fingers touching the base in time, yet the call stood.
Duran, who could be seen shouting and cursing and had to be led away by third-base coach Kyle Hudson, was subsequently ejected. Moments later, Cora was, too.
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