The Red Sox Bullpen Is A Mess
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- As a light rain trickled from the sky at Fenway Park late Tuesday night (and early Wednesday morning), the floodgates opened on the Red Sox worse loss of the year. It was another failed outing for Boston's bullpen by committee, which blew a 5-2 lead in the ninth inning en route to a 7-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
The loss was a costly one, as the Red Sox could have picked up a game in the standings. Instead, they remain 6.5 games back of the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Cleveland didn't score until the eighth inning, when they tagged Marcus Walden for a pair of runs in his third of an inning, forcing manager Alex Cora to go to Matt Barnes early. Barnes got out of the frame unscathed, but it forced Cora to go to Ryan Brasier in the ninth inning.
In his first save opportunity in three weeks, Brasier was completely ineffective. He gave up a solo homer to the first batter he faced, Robert Perez, to make it a 5-3 game, before walking Jake Bauers on eight pitches. Greg Allen stepped to the plate with his .087 batting average, and deposited the second pitch he saw from Brasier into the right field stands to tie the game at 5-5.
Rookie Travis Lakins replaced Brasier, and did nothing to stop the bleeding. He hit Mike Freeman with his first pitch, and promptly loaded the bases (with an unsuccessful sac bunt mixed in). Jordan Luplow then laced a two-run double to right for the game-winning runs.
Tuesday night was Boston's ninth blown save of the season, with Brasier getting tagged with his third.
"No excuse right there," Brasier said after the loss. "A three-run lead, it should be in and out but I made a few bad pitches and they made me pay for it."
Despite the bullpen's struggles this season, Cora isn't budging from his reliever by committee approach.
"We feel we've done an outstanding job so far, so nothing is going to change right now," he said.
Yeesh. At least the "right now" leaves the door slightly ajar for some change. But what that change could be is limited.
If you're hoping the Red Sox bring in free agent Craig Kimbrel, you'll be waiting for a while. The Red Sox already tout the highest payroll in baseball, and they won't be dolling out big money for him to save the day. Even if Kimbrel does return, he'll need some seasoning in the minors to knock off any rust that has oxidized during his lengthy layoff.
Chances are the Red Sox will try to find some relief relief on the trade market, or hope that there's a young (or old) arm in the system that can come up and save the sinking ship. Veteran Jenrry Mejia has six saves in Pawtucket, but has also blown four opportunities and sports a 5.06 ERA. While he'd fit right in with this current crop of Sox relievers, it doesn't seem like he'd help their cause at the moment.
Whatever route they choose to go, the Red Sox better act quick. The bullpen is costing them some much-needed wins, which they cannot afford after their slow start to the season.
