BOSTON — After a dramatic win Saturday over the Dodgers, the Red Sox tried to pull off another late-game comeback Sunday against one of the best teams in baseball.
This time, though, they didn’t have enough.
With a depleted bullpen and facing an unrelenting Dodgers lineup, the Red Sox fell flat, losing 7-4.
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Prior to the game, the Red Sox placed Brennan Bernardino on the COVID-19-related injury list, where he’ll have to remain for at least seven days. In his place, the team recalled Chris Murphy, and the lefty was thrust into action right away to help bolster an overtaxed bullpen.
Manager Alex Cora referred to his bullpen usage chart before the game as “rainbow bullpen” noting the red, yellow and orange colors denoting players’ overuse.
“That’s part of 162,” he said. “We’ve just got to find a way. We’ve got to get better. We’re facing some good hitters lineups just like ours that are going to keep grinding with you.”
Tanner Houck pitched well, battling out of a tough first-inning bases-loaded jam, but was only scheduled for 80 pitches, making just his second start back after two months on the injury list with a facial fracture.
“We’ve got to be smart about it,” Cora said of limiting Houck.
Houck allowed one run on five hits over four innings before Murphy took over in the fifth. The Dodgers kept adding to their lead. Mookie Betts’ two-run homer in the sixth made it 4-0 and the Dodgers added three more runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Betts went 3-for-5 on the day and finished 7-for-15 in the series.
The Red Sox offense, meanwhile, had little to show early in the game with just two hits through the first five innings off opener Caleb Ferguson and bulk man Gavin Stone. A two-run homer from Triston Casas in the sixth briefly gave the Red Sox some life and pulled them closer at 4-2, but the next three batters went down in succession.
The same thing happened in the eighth when Justin Turner and Adam Duvall hit back-to-back homers to make it 7-4. Ryan Brasier, who signed as a free agent with the Dodgers in June after being released by the Red Sox, entered in relief and got Casas and Trevor Story to strike out before Pablo Reyes grounded out.
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The one piece of good news out of Sunday was that Rafael Devers, who was hit on the wrist Saturday and scratched from Sunday’s lineup, is feeling better. X-rays were negative and Cora said he hopes Devers will be back in the lineup Monday or Tuesday.
Saturday’s win showed the Red Sox can still pull out big games, but the loss on Sunday put them right back in a tough spot. It’s been a theme all season, but as the calendar closes in on September their chances are dwindling.
FanGraphs projects the third wild-card winner will need 90 wins, and if that’s the case, the Red Sox need to go 21-10 in their final 31 games. In those final 31 games, only the Rays have a tougher schedule among AL wild-card hopefuls.
“Every series the rest of the year is going to be big,” Turner said. “We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. Just got to show up tomorrow and figure out how to win a game tomorrow and continue taking it one day at a time.”
Meanwhile, the club is in a stretch of 16 consecutive days played. They’ll get their first off day in over two weeks on Thursday, but before that arrives they must get through three more tough games against the Houston Astros, a team they just faced last week, splitting the series in Houston 2-2.
“We just played them so there’s not too many secrets, right?” Cora said. “Just go out there and play good baseball.”
Good baseball might not be enough at this point. The Red Sox might need some good fortune if they want to squeeze in like they did down the stretch in 2021. Players are keeping that chaotic finish two years ago at the top of their minds, holding onto hope that anything can happen if they stay within striking distance.
“Just keep working,” Houck said. “I think ‘21 was a great learning experience for me that it takes a full 162 to play it out and see how things go.”
(Top photo of Betts’ home run off Murphy: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)