Red Sox 1, Cardinals 9: Oy Vey

Not to be too confident, but the Red Sox should have had this series. James Paxton and Chris Sale threw absolute gems for two of these games. Hell, Sale threw what has to be far and away the best start of anyone from the rotation this season so far. But then things fell apart. Kenley Jansen blowing back-to-back saves? Not a great look.

There’s a lot more to worry about now.

Corey Kluber continues to be awful. I’m still baffled that he was the only offseason addition to the rotation, and no, I’m not taking the “Chris Sale coming back is the biggest addition anyone could make” argument, despite his recent success. For all of the talk between Bryan Bello getting sent down or Nick Pivetta getting jettisoned to the bullpen once Garrett Whitlock is healthy, I wouldn’t be surprised if it were Kluber not even getting demoted, just straight up DFA’d.

An offense that was blazing hot, a major part of an eight-game winning streak at the beginning of May, has gone ice cold. Only three runs yesterday and just one today on an RBI single from Rafael Devers. They don’t look aggressive and ready to pounce, they look timid now. I don’t know if it was the pressure to keep it up, or looking at the need to win in a division where every team is over .500, it’s like their confidence has been shaken in just three games.

Even tonight, down 4-1, Brendan Bernadino and Ryan Brasier didn’t do anything to keep the Sox in this one. We continue to lament why Brasier is on this roster after giving up an absolute tank to Nolan Arenado.

The one bright spot of the last few days has to be the defense of Enmanuel Valdez and Pablo Reyes. Both made web-gems like plays in Sunday evening’s bout.

Even still, for Valdez, this gets overshadowed by a potential home run being overturned to be a foul ball.

Something has to change, and fast. This division will run far, far away from you before you know it.

FanGraphs

Three Studs

Rafael Devers (.051 WPA, 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K)

You get the most credit for driving in the only Red Sox run tonight, Raffy.

Alex Verdugo (.028 WPA, 1-for-3, 1 run scored, 1 BB)

You got the game started off right with a double in the hopes of responding to Kluber’s rocky start, and added in a meaningless walk in the 7th.

Triston Casas (.008 WPA, 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K)

A one-out single turned into a 4-6-3 DP from Valdez the very next batter. There were also a few rockets that got by Casas in the field for base hits.

Three Duds

Corey Kluber (-.180 WPA, 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 HR, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K)

I talked enough about Kluber above, and I know there will be some comments below.

Masataka Yoshida (-.111 WPA, 0-for-4)

Still up and down for Yoshida, who had a tough weekend overall.

Justin Turner (-.086 WPA, 0-for-4, 1 K)

The same for Turner as Yoshida. It’s nothing offensive, it’s just nothing in general.

Play of the Game

For the whole game, it’s Andrew Knizer’s two-run homer off of Kluber in the top of the 4th with a WPA of .153. For the Red Sox, it’s Raffy’s RBI single in the 1st with a WPA of .086.