In a game as unpredictable (and oftentimes unforgiving) as baseball, sometimes the best explanation is … well, nothing at all.
Ok, maybe a shoulder shrug will suffice.
But how else do you explain the last 24 hours at the plate for the Red Sox? For as much as Boston’s lineup looked like Murder’s Row reincarnated on Wednesday when they smacked 10 extra-base hits and crossed home 20 times — that same crew looked more like the Bad News Bears the following afternoon.
An RBI double from Rafael Devers and a sharp single from Kevin Plawecki were the lone hits that the Sox managed to notch on Thursday night, with Tampa Bay stymieing any and all momentum that Boston managed to muster following Wednesday’s blowout.
At the end of the day, Wednesday’s scoring showcase largely amounted to more of a stat-padding sojourn than a return to form for Boston — with Thursday’s 8-1 loss standing as another frustrating setback for Alex Cora and his players.
"Just part of baseball, I guess,” Cora acknowledged when asked how Boston’s offense could become some impotent in the span of a single day.
Perhaps it’s a fruitless venture to point fingers at the lineup on an afternoon in which just about everyone in the Sox order labored — but it’s hard to ignore the repeat offenders that have continued to hamper this club during its tailspin.
Franchy Cordero capped off three innings for the Sox on Thursday with three strikeouts. Marwin Gonzalez — batting .202 on the year over the span of 77 games — only offered a marginal improvement with two strikeouts.
Jarren Duran went 0-for-4 in the No. 2 hole and fanned three times — with the youngster going down on strikes in 29 of his 70 at-bats so far up at the MLB level.
It’s to be expected for guys like Xander Bogaerts (0-for-4) and J.D. Martinez (0-for-3, 1 K) to bounce back. But patience sure seems to be running thin elsewhere across the roster.
"We'll talk about it,” Cora said when asked about a larger roster shuffle in the coming days. “I mean, obviously, there's certain parts of our roster that we have to be better in overall. To win ballgames, it takes 26 guys and not everybody is playing well, not everybody's contributing the way they're capable of. So we'll talk about it.”
Some relief does appear to be on the horizon in the form of Kyle Schwarber, who began his long-awaited rehab assignment down in Worcester on Thursday — and may not be there for very long.
“We'll see after the game tonight how he feels and we will talk about it,” Cora said of Schwarber's timeline ahead of Thursday’s game. “It looks like it's gonna be sooner rather than later.”
Boston attempting to speed up the process and getting Schwarber back into an MLB lineup for the first time since July 2 shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Even with the question marks regarding where Schwarber fits in this Sox lineup (at least on the field), Boston could use a player like him that is much more than just a hitter known for his big flies (25 home runs in 265 at-bats this season).
“This is a guy who controls the strike zone,” Cora said of Schwarber. “He gives us a different type of hitter than the ones we have. Obviously, he has power but at the same time, he walks, he gets into deep counts. It’s somebody we’re looking forward to (having).
"I do believe our offense is going to be a lot better when he gets into it. … “We’ll find ways, whenever he’s here, to get him in the lineup and we’ll move people around. For how people think J.D. (Martinez) can not play the outfield, we feel comfortable with him moving around in left. I think Kyle can protect other guys in certain matchups against righties.”
But beyond the usual headline-grabbers like Schwarber and Chris Sale that will clearly give Boston a lift down the stretch, the return of guys like Ryan Brasier will also provide some much-needed relief to a bullpen corps that has sprung plenty of leaks over the last few weeks.
Brasier, who has not appeared in a game for Boston this season due to a myriad of misfortunes, still seems like a better bet than some of the names that Boston has trotted out as of late — especially deadline pickups like Hansel Robles (5.40 ERA) or Austin Davis (6.28).
Of course, even if Schwarber slots right in and starts mashing, Sale anchors a starting rotation and Brasier adds an effective arm in the bullpen, the case could be made that Boston still has plenty of holes to fill — a task easier said than done with the trade deadline now in the rearview mirror.
But alas, such is the hand that Cora and the Sox have been dealt — in which reinforcements down in Worcester will offer a much-needed boost, but potentially not enough to cover the flaws found elsewhere on the roster if other regulars are not pulling their weight.
