By After a promising stretch, in which they ripped off four wins in five games from Monday to Friday, the Red Sox delivered a dud Saturday against the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers smashed four home runs en route to a convincing 6-2 triumph at Fenway Park. Red Sox starter Brayan Bello allowed four earned runs in 4 2/3 innings, and the relievers let the damage escalate.
Justin Turner, who after missing four games with a bone bruise on his right foot, finished 2-for-4 with a home run. That was about all that went right for the Red Sox on this particular night. After a scorching May (2.
67 ERA) and June (2. 14), Bello has struggled in July (5. 48) and August (5.
33). This was the second time in his last five starts that he hasn’t made it to the fifth inning, plus his sixth in the last seven where he’s allowed at least one home run. Boston’s greatest hits: — Kerry Carpenter’s two-homer game (2023) — More Than a Feeling (1976) Kerry Carpenter sent one over the Green Monster in the second and Eric Haase did the same in the fifth.
Bello also surrendered an RBI single to Riley Greene in the third, and the Tigers scored one more on a fielder’s choice in the fifth. Bello did strike out five and didn’t walk any, but otherwise, it wasn’t his sharpest outing. His overall numbers are still solid (8-6, 3.
81), but he hasn’t quite looked like himself of late. Justin Torkelson (4-for-4) added a homer in the sixth off Brennan Bernardino, and Carpenter provided another in the eighth off Kyle Barraclough. The Red Sox have missed Turner’s consistency in recent weeks.
This was just his fourth game in August, but he’s continued to be reliable when he has played. The 38-year-old singled to left and scored on an error in the fourth to slice the deficit to 2-1. He then launched a solo shot over the Monster in the eighth.
JT blasts his 18th HR of the season. On the single, Turner made the conscious choice to stay at first rather than sprint to second for a double. When Pablo Reyes’s grounder squirted through the infield, he was able to hustle home with ease.
Turner took the wise approach by staying patient and poised on the base paths. The Red Sox need him healthy and in the lineup to have any chance to make some noise in the coming weeks. The Red Sox didn’t get their first hit until the fourth inning, but they finished with eight and had plenty of opportunities to chip away at the lead.
They finished 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base. After Turner’s blast in the eighth, Rafael Devers singled to center and Triston Casas singled to right. Devers moved to third on a grounder from Reyes, but Adam Duvall popped to short.
One of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen. Congrats on an incredible career, Miggy! In the ninth, Reese McGuire singled to center, but the Red Sox couldn’t rally as Alex Verdugo grounded into a double play to seal it. The Red Sox are now 7-39 this season when scoring three or fewer runs.
They’re 10-2 this season and 25-6 overall in their Nike City Connect Series uniforms. The series finale is set for Sunday at 12:05 p. m.
, then Boston heads to Washington to face the Nationals for a three-game set from Tuesday to Thursday. After that, it’s a big series in New York against the Yankees from Friday to Sunday. They’re still in the running for the final Wild Card spot, but time is ticking.
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From: bostonglobe
URL: https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2023/08/12/red-sox-tigers-takeaways-kerry-carpenter-brayan-bello-justin-turner-analysis/
