BOSTON — The Red Sox have lost four straight games. They have scored 10 runs in those four games, five of them in one inning on Sunday night.
The offense has been shaky, and Monday night, the team lost slugger Hanley Ramirez to a shoulder injury that doesn’t appear too serious.
But the pitching continues to be the main problem.
Clay Buchholz wasn’t horrible on Monday night. But he did put his team in an early 4-0 hole before going on to work 6 1/3 innings. When the smoke cleared, he had allowed five runs, the 10th time in 26 games the Boston starters have allowed at least five runs.
Buchholz is 0-4 since winning on Opening Day. His ERA is a robust 6.03.
“We can’t think that going into every game we’re going to put seven or eight runs up — that doesn’t happen in this league,” said manager John Farrell. “We have to rely on a starting group that pitches more consistently.”
Tuesday night, it’s Rick Porcello’s turn. He’s coming off a strong start, but consistency hasn’t been a strong suit for this rotation.