HOUSTON — Just prior to dropping their final game before the All-Star Game break, the Boston Red Sox enjoyed a 15-7 stretch in which they did not lose consecutive games, a run that gave them hope of climbing back into contention in the wide open American League East.
On Tuesday night, Boston dropped its sixth consecutive game, falling 8-3 to the Houston Astros. Combined with the New York Yankees’ 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the Red Sox dropped 10 games out of first place.
Just as quickly as it arrived, hope appears to have vanished.
“We’ve got to lead from the mound. We’ve got to give our offense a chance to get on track,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said, discussing the myriad problems plaguing the team. “That looked to be the case tonight where we put together some hits and scored the three runs. We were swinging the bat pretty darn well. We had a number of hard-contact hits tonight that they made some very good defensive plays on. But this is frustrating for everyone involved.”
The Red Sox, whose pitching has been ineffective this season, hoped that right-hander Justin Masterson could provide a boost following a move to the bullpen that included consecutive scoreless outings. However, against the Astros, he surrendered three runs on four hits while recording just five outs.
After the Red Sox were on the wrong end of a four-game series sweep against the Angels, with the final two losses coming Monday in a doubleheader that forced Farrell to juggle his rotation, Boston is in desperate need for someone, anyone, to step forward.
“Yeah we got to be professional,” catcher Ryan Hanigan said. “Keep playing hard, representing the city of Boston. We got to go out there and compete. We’ve got a lot of talented guys that have been through adversity, and there’s a lot of season left. We just have to get ourselves going. Have everything click at the same time — offense, defense, pitching, the whole deal.”