Red Sox 3, Mariners 6: Jekyll and Hyde

See team one. Forcing a Mariners starter in Logan Gilbert—who rarely serves up walks, at the best rates in the AL—to give up three free passes. Jaren Duran tagging him for a looping homer to right field, one we all thought was just off the end of the bat. That extends his hitting streak to five games. Rafael Devers making a stellar basket catch in foul territory. Kutter Crawford mowing down M’s like it was his job to get back to Fenway Park as fast as possible. Up 3-0, things feel good.

Then a two-run shot by Cal Raleigh makes things too close for comfort. It’s OK, the Red Sox can hold on, right? Wrong.

John Schreiber serves up a walk and a single to set up Richard Bleier for disaster. Game-tying RBI single for Cade Marlowe. A broken-bat, go-ahead RBI single for Julio Rodriguez that frankly should have resulted in at least one out, but Devers and Yu Chang don’t even look in the other direction and run clear into each other as they try to field the ball while it dribbles through them into left field. Another RBI single, this time by Eugenio Suarez. A double steal pulled off to perfection, and suddenly, a three-run lead is now a three-run deficit. I’m fairly sure NESN even said the Red Sox excel when they score four or more runs in a game. Three was just shy. Damn broadcaster jinx.

It’s so desperate how this team needs reinforcements. It hurt not having Justin Turner in the lineup, sure, but the wear on the bullpen is starting to show, as they had to go to a still rusty-looking John Schreiber and a terrible Richard Bleier in key late-game situations. They needed to add a starter to stop the bleeding plaguing the bullpen, and Chaim Bloom failed to do so. “Oh, but Chris Sale, Tanner Houck, and Garrett Whitlock will be back in a matter of weeks”, this team doesn’t have weeks, especially heading back to Fenway to face the team they’re chasing down in the Toronto Blue Jays. Let’s see if the Red Sox can buck the extreme lack of confidence Bloom gave them at the deadline throughout August, or is this the swoon of death that kills any chance of hope?

FanGraphs

Thee Studs

Kutter Crawford (.252 WPA, 5.0 IP, 4H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K)

I genuinely can’t complain about what Crawford did today. Exactly his job as a back-end rotation piece, he grinded through five shutout frames and kept the Red Sox right where they wanted to be. He’ll be pivotal in August as Houck and Whitlock adjust to the rotation again, alongside Nick Pivetta as a piggyback while they stretch out.

Jarren Duran (.138 WPA, 1-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI)

Who needs speed when you can just hit it into the bleachers? What a confidence boost early to grab a homer.

Masataka Yoshida (.020 WPA, 1-for-4, 1 RBI)

The only other RBI in the game for Boston, he’s breaking out of his mini-slump.

Three Duds

Richard Bleier (-.367 WPA, 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 K)

John Schreiber (-.346 WPA, 1.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K)

I’m writing one blurb for both Bleier and Schreiber. Be better. Shake off the bad defense, shake off getting barreled, and just get outs. That’s your job. There’s a glut of relievers from Worcester chomping at the bit to take your jobs. How long a leash does Cora have with them?

Adam Duvall (-.063 WPA, 0-for-4, 1 K)

After some power earlier this week, just not Duvall’s day.

Play of the Game

By WPA, it was Cade Marlowe’s RBI single to tie the game in the seventh inning. For the Red Sox, it was Duran’s homer.