Walker Buehler has spent weeks now trying to figure things out. Over the past month the veteran starter has struggled to find any semblance of consistency, and whenever he’s seemingly made a breakthrough, something goes wrong and he finds himself back at square one.
In that respect, Sunday was a microcosm of his whole season.
Buehler struggled again as the Red Sox lost 5-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays, their seventh loss in eight games. Buehler allowed four runs over a listless four-inning performance, and the offense squandered several key scoring chances late.
As a result the Red Sox (41-44) are once again three games under .500 and have now lost their last three series.
Last time out Buehler walked a career-worst seven batters, and things didn’t get off to a promising start on Sunday either when the Blue Jays tagged the veteran for back-to-back home runs out of the gate.
Addison Barger hit a solo shot to right field to start things off and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. followed with a bomb to the Green Monster seats, making it 2-0 after the first. From there Buehler settled down for a bit and retired 10 straight batters following Guerrero’s homer, but with two outs in the fourth inning he completely lost his command.
“It’s somewhat even more frustrating than the ones in the past couple of starts,” Buehler said. “Because I felt like I had it for a second and then it kind of falls through your fingers.”
After starting the fourth by drawing a flyout on an incredible diving catch by Ceddanne Rafaela, Buehler got a ground out and another ground ball in the infield that was misplayed at third base by Nate Eaton. The play was ruled a single instead of an error, but it still allowed the inning to continue. From there Buehler allowed a walk, an RBI single by Andres Gimenez and two more walks, the latter coming with the bases loaded to put the Blue Jays up 4-2.
Things could have gotten a lot worse had catcher Carlos Narvaez not picked off Tyler Heineman at first base with the bases still loaded to end the inning. Even still, Buehler’s day was done.
Buehler finished with four runs allowed over four innings on four hits, three walks and three strikeouts. The right-hander has now thrown four innings or fewer in four of his last five starts, and his ERA for the season sits at 6.45.
Following the game Buehler said he feels like he’s halfway there as far as working through his issues and said he’s proud of the improvements that came this week, but that at the end of the day baseball is a results business, and he’s not getting results.
“I’ve run out of ways to say that I’m embarrassed by what I keep running out there with, but it’s not for lack of effort from the organization or myself,” Buehler said. “I’m so excited to be a Boston Red Sock and I want to be really good here and I really enjoy being around this group, but it’s getting to the point where I can’t just expect to run out there and give up four, five, six, eight runs every time I walk out there and be part of a group that deserves a lot more out of me.”
Though manager Alex Cora said they aren’t currently considering pulling Buehler from the rotation, the right-hander recognizes that his performance hasn’t been up to par. Asked if he feels like he’s fighting for his spot in the rotation, Buehler sounded resigned to the possibility that his days in Boston could be numbered.
“I think I’m fighting for my spot in the game honestly,” Buehler said. “I think at some point throwing the way that I’ve thrown, there’s not a lot of places for seven ERA starting pitchers in the big leagues. I don’t know what the next step is and obviously I want to take the ball every fifth day and keep going and keep fighting, but at the end of the day we have depth and talent in this organization and there are realities in this game.
“So regardless of whatever happens I’ll keep going and keep trying to figure it out, I think I owe that to my family and myself given the rehab that we go through and what that does to you,” he continued. “I’m going to find it and have a run, I just don’t know when or where that will be.”
Offensively, the Red Sox gave themselves a chance to compete, but couldn’t capitalize on several scoring chances that could have helped put them over the top.
After falling behind 2-0 early the club quickly tied the score, getting a solo home run from Narvaez that curled around Pesky’s Pole to lead off the second before Trevor Story singled, stole second and scored on Rafaela’s RBI double.
When Toronto took a three-run lead in the top of the fifth on Nathan Lukes’ RBI single, the Red Sox answered again with back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the inning by Sogard and Romy Gonzalez to make it 5-3. But after the Red Sox got men at second and third with one out shortly afterwards they couldn’t convert, and the club fell short again in the sixth when Jarren Duran hit a triple down the right field line but was left stranded at third base.
The Red Sox once again got a runner in scoring position with one out in the eighth after Narvaez walked and advanced to second on a groundout, but Duran and Rafaela each flew out to end the inning. The Red Sox went quietly in the bottom of the ninth, and all told the Red Sox went 3 for 11 with runners in scoring position, and 0 for their last 6.
“We had our chances,” Cora said. “The line was actually moving today, I thought the quality of the at bats was good, we just didn’t cash in.”
Kelly injured
Red Sox right-hander Zack Kelly was removed from Sunday’s game in the top of the sixth inning with right oblique tightness. Kelly had already pitched a full inning at the time of the injury, allowing one run in the fifth, but upon his return for the sixth he hit Andres Gimenez and was immediately attended to by the trainer and pulled from the game.
“Just tight. Probably an MRI tomorrow,” Cora said postgame. “We’ll see where we’re at and hopefully nothing serious.”
Kelly has posted a 5.56 ERA for the Red Sox in 17 MLB appearances this season.
Up next
The Red Sox will open a series against the Cincinnati Reds at Fenway Park on Monday. The series marks the return of former Red Sox manager Terry Francona, now manager of the Reds, and also comes on the 50-year anniversary of the two clubs’ matchup in the 1975 World Series.
Garrett Crochet (7-4, 2.06) is expected to take the mound against Reds rookie Chase Burns (0-0, 5.40), who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and who allowed three runs over five innings with eight strikeouts against the Yankees in his MLB debut last week.
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