Sunday in the MLB felt like a plot twist straight out of a baseball drama. First, the Yankees were stunned by a controversial foul call. Then, the Red Sox—yes, the 9-time World Series champs—somewhat fell short to the struggling White Sox. On paper, Boston looked like the heavyweight in the ring. But on the field? They were swinging at shadows. Even manager Alex Cora seems to be scratching his head, wondering how it all unraveled.
Following a discouraging 8-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday at Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox found themselves at a crossroads. With a 5-16 record, the White Sox have had challenges this season but have managed three of their five wins versus Boston. This calls into question the Red Sox’s consistency and capacity to seize opportunities against the underperformance of other teams.
The Red Sox bullpen has raised concerns, particularly in Sunday’s game. Reliable in past visits, Zack Kelly was unable to handle the White Sox’s attack. The Red Sox also wasted multiple scoring chances, failing to capitalize on runners in scoring position. These mistakes came back to haunt the Bostons in a game within grasp. Alex Cora said, “Um, we had two bad games, I guess, out of the six.”
In the post-match presser, he added, “The first one over there and today wasn’t great. So it’s baseball. That’s the way I see it. They’ve got good arms just like everybody else and you have to play 27 outs.”
Saying it was “two bad games out of six,” maybe Cora’s trying to keep things from turning too negative. But it also reflects the basic reality of baseball: any team can win on any given day. For the Red Sox, the game started really promisingly. Boston had an early lead after Wilyer Abreu unleashed a three-run bomb in the first inning. Adding an RBI single in the second, Jarren Duran gave the 4-2 further edge. Then the sudden shift in momentum. In the seventh inning, the bullpen stumbled. Struggling reliever Zack Kelly let the White Sox gather and finally prevail.
In the aftermath, with all the things going in the wrong direction for the Fenway Faithful’s team. Was there anything positive? Yes, but did they turn it to their advantage? No. Tanner Houck gave a really outstanding performance, but the bats went silent at the most crucial moments.
Houck’s performance was overshadowed by bullpen blunders
On Sunday, Tanner Houck gave a remarkable effort, throwing six innings and allowing only two earned runs on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. Against the Rays, he dropped 12 runs in 2.2 innings. Thus, this was a notable return from his last start. “He did an amazing job, gave us six, his best start of the season,” Manager Alex Cora said.
Houck said, “I’ve kind of been scuffling, even in spring training, with delivery stuff, but slowly just kind of working your way through it, and showing up each and every day with a good attitude, and chipping away at it, kind of the recipe to success.” He admitted ongoing difficulties with his delivery techniques. However, for the Red Sox amid all those challenges, it’s positive news.
Despite Houck’s efforts, the Red Sox bullpen lost control of the advantage. In the seventh inning, Zack Kelly and Justin Wilson faltered, which allowed the White Sox to rebound and take the lead. Not holding words in his evaluation, Cora said, “Guys have to step up in the bullpen, that’s the bottom line. … Yesterday was a walk at one point, today is (three) hit-by-pitches, so we just got to be better.”
Going 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position and leaving eight men on base, the Red Sox had offensive chances but missed. Notwithstanding these overall offensive challenges, there were times when it showed what the club is capable of. With a three-run homer in the first inning, Wilyer Abreu gave a highlight, but the club lacked the momentum to go on. Jarren Duran added an RBI single in the second inning, extending his hitting streak to seven games.
Boston’s four-game winning run was broken with the setback, which also showed inconsistent bullpen performance. This recent loss has disrupted their momentum due to late-inning issues and missed opportunities, overshadowing strong starting pitching and moments of offense. The Red Sox must solve these problems if they are to support their starters and turn great performances into wins as they prepare for the game on Marathon Monday.
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