On Wednesday afternoon, Corey Kluber took the mound for his second start of the season, looking to bounce back from a rough Opening Day in which he’d allowed five earned runs in just 3 ⅓ innings.
Bounce back he did, though without a crumb of run support.
It’s a puzzling phenomenon in Boston: when Red Sox pitchers dominate, the bats go silent, and vice versa. It happened with Chris Sale for years before the injuries took hold. Eduardo Rodriguez typically received avalanches of run support (a 15-2 victory over the White Sox comes to mind). Just last week, Kluber and Sale gave up a combined 12 earned runs in less than seven innings combined between their respective season debuts, and the lineup scored 18 runs over their first two games.
The first time through the rotation had gone poorly, confoundingly so. Starting from the top with Kluber felt like a chance to hit the reset button for everyone.
Over five innings, the two-time Cy Young Award-winner held the Pittsburgh Pirates to one run on three hits, walked one, and struck out two.
After a 19-pitch first inning that included loading the bases, the veteran righty buckled down. He faced the minimum in the second and third, and would have three-peated in the fourth, if not for a leadoff home run to Carlos Santana. It was no bomb; rather, a cheap shot by the Pesky Pole in shallow right.
“I think it was much better in terms of making quality pitches and being competitive,” Kluber assessed.
It was 38 degrees at first pitch for his debut, and 41 on Wednesday, far from an optimal pitching climate. “Not ideal conditions for feeling the baseball, but I think we all try to adjust as necessary, and I think I just did a better job today,” he said.
That he retired 14 of his last fifteen batters faced backs up that claim.
Despite his starter only throwing 67 pitches (44 strikes), Alex Cora didn’t think about keeping him in longer.
“That was good enough for us,” his manager said. “Five innings, he did his job.”
Kluber’s sequel probably would feel more encouraging if they’d won. The lineup was unable to get going at the plate, and fell to the Pirates 4-1 for the second time in 24 hours. Forget getting swept – which they did – this is the first time they’ve ever lost a Fenway series to the Pirates.
“We didn’t do much,” Cora said. “They kicked our butt.”
Chris Sale takes the mound next, on Thursday afternoon in Detroit.
Hopefully, the bats are making the trip, too.
Pirates starter Mitch Keller didn’t give an inch until the last minute on Wednesday.
Over the first six innings, he allowed three baserunners. Between the third and sixth, he faced the minimum each frame. Prior to issuing a one-out walk to Alex Verdugo in the bottom of the sixth, he’d retired 12 consecutive batters.
In the bottom of the seventh, Keller allowed a two-out double to Triston Casas and an RBI single to Christian Arroyo, the first run scored by Boston since the first inning of the previous game. For a moment, it looked like he’d given up a game-tying three-run homer to Reese McGuire, but it was overturned for a foul instead. Given a second chance, he struck McGuire out to end the inning and his start on a high note.
After only collecting one hit through his first five games of the year, Christian Arroyo led the way on Wednesday. Through the first six innings, he had the only Red Sox hit of the game, then added an RBI single and stolen base in the seventh. Before that, the Red Sox hadn’t scored since the first inning the night before.
The defense has been indefensible.
“You make bad decisions, you put yourself in a bad spot,” Cora said postgame. “We have a lot of work to do.”
At least Masataka Yoshida can make the excuse that he’s new to the ballpark and league; most of his teammates have no such absolution. Cora called out Rafael Devers for not cutting Yoshida’s throw home.
The defense is lacking on fundamentals, and it will get them about as far as a hot air balloon ride in a hailstorm.
James Paxton made a 3-inning rehab appearance on Tuesday, throwing 49 pitches in an intrasquad game at the team’s spring training complex in Fort Myers.
Brayan Bello made his first rehab appearance on Wednesday afternoon, throwing 72 pitches over five innings. He reported ‘no issues.’
The two were originally scheduled to join Triple-A Worcester at the beginning of their road trip to Buffalo, but were rerouted to Florida. Good thing, too; The WooSox’ Tuesday and Wednesday games were postponed due to weather. They now have to play doubleheaders on Thursday and Saturday, instead.
Joely Rodríguez (oblique) has begun throwing.
The Red Sox head to Detroit for the Tigers’ home opener at 1:10 PM on Thursday. They have a scheduled off day on Friday, then games at 4:10 PM on Saturday and 1:10 PM on Sunday.