Erik Miller gives up lead in ninth as Red Sox lose third straight
For all intents and purposes, none of these last games down the stretch mean anything to the Red Sox. They have already punched their ticket to the playoffs and nothing that happens from here on out will change that.
But while readying themselves for the games that matter, the Red Sox would still prefer to go into the postseason with some momentum, and Tuesday’s performance was at times pretty hard to watch.
Playing without three projected postseason starters, the Red Sox suffered a listless 3-2 loss in their series opener against the Cleveland Guardians. Despite a game-tying pinch hit home run by Mickey Gasper in the bottom of the eighth, the Red Sox gave the lead right back in the ninth, capping off a night riddled with poor decisions and uncharacteristic mistakes.
Reliever Erik Miller saw his struggles continue by allowing two hits, a walk, a hit batsman and the go-ahead sacrifice fly by Angel Martinez in the top of the ninth, and outside of Gasper and Adley Rutschman going 3 for 4 with two doubles and a run scored, there wasn’t much to write home about as the Red Sox suffered their third straight defeat.
“He’s working through stuff,” Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said postgame of Miller. “I thought today was even another step in the right direction, the hit batter, the free passes are what gets you and I think he also got some bad batted ball (luck).”
Making his final start before the playoffs, Payton Tolle wasn’t as sharp as he would’ve hoped, but once again he gave the Red Sox a chance to win.
After posting a scoreless first, Tolle allowed two runs and five baserunners over the course of a challenging second inning. He started by giving up a leadoff double, had a soft grounder from David Fry deflect off his leg and into the outfield for an RBI single, and allowed another single and a walk to load the bases with nobody out.
Tolle was able to minimize the damage from there, allowing a second run to score on a double play ball by Brayan Rocchio before escaping the inning. He continued facing traffic for the rest of his outing but grinded his way into the sixth and departed to a standing ovation from the Fenway Park faithful.
Tolle finished with two runs allowed on eight hits, two walks and a hit batsman over 5 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. He fell one out short of recording another quality start, leaving him with 13 in 26 outings, and he ends his rookie regular season with a 3.03 ERA and 171 strikeouts in 148 2/3 innings.
When Tolle next takes the mound, it will most likely be at Yankee Stadium to start a game in the AL Wild Card Series.
“I’m really proud of this group,” Tolle said. “I’ve had so much fun obviously with these guys and to continue to go into the postseason with them and I’m really excited about us.”
The Red Sox got a run back in the bottom of the second after Rutschman led off with a double and came around to score on an RBI groundout by Andruw Monasterio, but otherwise the bats struggled against Guardians rookie Parker Messick. The left-hander, who came into the game with a 2.57 ERA and projects as a possible AL Cy Young Award finalist, limited the Red Sox to one run on five hits over five innings.
One thing Boston was able to do was drive up the rookie’s pitch count, particularly in the fourth when Monasterio was able to work a 12-pitch walk. That helped force the lefty from the game after five, giving the Red Sox a chance to try their luck against Cleveland’s bullpen.
The Red Sox let a golden opportunity go to waste in the bottom of the sixth, leaving men at second and third, but Alec Gamboa kept it a one-run game in the top of the seventh despite the Guardians taking advantage of some sloppy baseball to get runners at second and third themselves with one out.
Cleveland’s Fry, who had already grounded into a fielder’s choice where the runner was thrown out at the plate earlier in the third inning, did so a second time for the second out of the seventh, and Gamboa struck out former No. 1 overall pick Travis Bazzana to end the inning.
Then, in the bottom of the eighth, Gasper struck for his 10th home run of the season, hitting the first pitch he saw from Guardians reliever Hunter Gaddis 390 feet to the right field stands.
The good vibes didn’t last long.
Miller, who had proven an impactful bullpen addition since his arrival at the trade deadline, saw his recent control issues continue with his latest ugly outing. The left-hander hit the first batter he faced, gave up the lead on a sacrifice fly by Martinez and eventually loaded the bases before getting a fly out to keep things from spiraling further.
Miller has now allowed six runs and six walks over his past 3 1/3 innings, a trend the Red Sox can’t afford to continue if he’s to remain a high-leverage option in the playoffs. Miller said postgame that he felt less comfortable on Tuesday than he had the last time out in Tampa Bay, but while his patience is wearing thin the only way to overcome his struggles is by pitching through them.
“I would like to have been through this by now and be over it but all I can do is keep taking the ball and get through it,” Miller said. “There’s no way I can feel better and get through without throwing in games so that’s how it’s going to have to be, just keep throwing and get through it.”
As for what he hopes to see from his club over the last week, Tracy said the big thing is keeping everyone healthy and engaged.
“You’re still working on timing, you’re still working on things with your swing, so all of that matters,” Tracy said, adding that the other big priority is being proactive with the pitching staff. “Looking at it before the game, who do we want available today, being strict to it and trying to get the guys in the bullpen the work that they need but still being competitive in that game. So there’s a lot of things that you’re doing.
“I told the guys before we earned the right to be in a position to line things up, but that being said we still want to go out and win games,” Tracy continued. “We had a chance to do that tonight, we did some things well, I think we were (0 for 9) with runners in scoring position, so we had our chances.”
Rafaela expected back
Following the game Tracy said he expects Ceddanne Rafaela will be activated from the injured list on Wednesday. Willson Contreras still has some soreness in his hand and won’t return to the lineup but is getting closer, and Tracy confirmed Trevor Story was given a scheduled day off to give him some rest ahead of the playoffs.
Aroldis Chapman, who has been dealing with some lat tightness, may also be ready to return to action on Wednesday as well, though Tracy said they’ll want to make sure he feels good pregame before making that call.
