Red Sox bullpen collapses in sixth leading to 10-2 loss to Braves

The series finale between the Red Sox and Braves at Fenway Park on Thursday afternoon featured a compelling pitching matchup between one of Boston’s potential future rotation anchors and their former ace and World Series champion.

In the end, however, the showdown between Payton Tolle and Chris Sale was overshadowed by yet another Red Sox bullpen collapse.

With the game tied 2-2 entering the sixth inning, Boston’s relief corps unraveled completely. Danny Coulombe and Greg Weissert combined to allow five runs in a disastrous sixth inning that turned a tightly contested game into a blowout as the Braves rolled to a 10-2 victory.

The inning spiraled quickly for Boston.

The Red Sox walked three consecutive batters, including a bases-loaded free pass to Mike Yastrzemski that forced home the go-ahead run. Moments later, Ronald Acuña Jr. delivered the knockout punch, crushing a grand slam into the Green Monster seats to blow the game wide open.

For Weissert, the outing continued an alarming trend. The right-hander has now allowed 13 of 22 inherited runners to score this season, further cementing what has become one of Boston’s biggest bullpen problems. Craig Breslow should consider alternatives such as Zack Kelly or Tommy Kahnle while allowing Weissert an opportunity to reset at Triple-A Worcester.

The loss dropped Boston to 23-32 overall and 9-19 at Fenway Park. The Red Sox are now 5-12-1 in series play this season.

Much of the pregame attention centered around Sale’s return to Fenway Park.

The former Red Sox ace entered the afternoon with a 1.89 ERA and 72 strikeouts across 62 innings in 10 starts this season, continuing to pitch like one of the premier left-handers in baseball.

Boston did make Sale work throughout the afternoon. 

The Red Sox consistently put runners on base early and forced the veteran to throw 96 pitches over five innings. Boston placed runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings, though Sale repeatedly escaped trouble before Atlanta finally struck first in the fourth.

The Braves pieced together four consecutive hits against Tolle in the inning, including a comebacker off the bat of Jorge Mateo that struck the rookie left-hander and plated the game’s first run.

Tolle immediately gave a thumbs up toward the dugout after being hit by the liner and stayed in the game.

Dominic Smith followed with an RBI single to extend Atlanta’s lead to 2-0 before Tolle escaped further damage by striking out Sandy León with runners at second and third.

Boston answered immediately in the bottom half.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa drew a leadoff walk before Caleb Durbin ripped a double down the left-field line to score Boston’s first run. Durbin advanced to third on the throw home and later scored on Jarren Duran’s RBI single to tie the game at 2-2.

Durbin finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in one of his better offensive performances of the season.

Tolle recorded two more outs in the fifth inning before his afternoon came to an end with his pitch count climbing to 94.

The rookie allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings on five hits while walking two and striking out seven. Though he attacked the zone throughout the outing, Atlanta consistently extended at-bats and forced him into several labor-intensive innings.

The Braves repeatedly spoiled pitches and elevated Tolle’s pitch count. He threw 27 pitches in the third inning, 28 more in the fourth, and another 21 in the fifth. Across those three frames alone, Atlanta hitters recorded four separate at-bats in which they fouled off at least three pitches.

The left-hander threw 54 four-seam fastballs, 26 sinkers, and 11 cutters while mixing in just two curveballs and one changeup. According to Baseball Savant, his four-seamer touched 98.3 mph and averaged 96.6 mph throughout the outing.

Despite the loss, Tolle once again showed flashes of why the organization views him as a significant piece of Boston’s future rotation. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the bullpen once again erased any chance of turning a competitive game into a victory.

Boston will now head to Cleveland to open a three-game series against the Guardians on Friday night at Progressive Field.

The Red Sox have not yet announced whether Brayan Bello (2-5, 6.43 ERA) will start traditionally or once again pitch behind an opener. Cleveland is expected to counter with right-hander Slade Cecconi (3-5, 5.18 ERA).

Red Sox Injury Updates

The Red Sox placed reliever Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list Thursday afternoon with left knee inflammation. The move is retroactive to May 25.

To fill Whitlock’s spot on the active roster, Boston recalled left-hander Tyler Samaniego from Triple-A Worcester. Samaniego had been optioned to the minors last week when the Red Sox reinstated Danny Coulombe from the injured list.

Whitlock last pitched Sunday against the Twins and later revealed he hyperextended his knee while pitching on the rain-soaked mound at Fenway Park.

The veteran right-hander was charged with a blown save in that outing after allowing both inherited runners to score during Boston’s eventual loss to Minnesota.

Whitlock has been one of the Red Sox’ most dependable bullpen arms this season, making the injury another significant blow to Boston’s pitching staff.

The right-hander owns a 2.41 ERA across 26 appearances this season and has consistently been used in high-leverage situations by both Alex Cora and Chad Tracy.

“Obviously the conditions were super wet, like kind of slipped and hyperextended my knee,” Whitlock said before the Sox’ 8-0 win over the Braves on Wednesday night. “So we’re just kind of dealing with some soreness and just going to kind of take it day by day and go from there.”

Whitlock had hoped to avoid an injured list stint, but after the Red Sox stayed away from using him during the first two games of the Atlanta series, the club ultimately decided additional rest was necessary.

With Boston heading to Cleveland on Friday night, Samaniego could potentially emerge as an opener option ahead of Bello.

The Red Sox have used Jovani Morán as an opener in three of Bello’s last four outings, though the results have been mixed. While Morán has excelled in a traditional relief role, he has struggled to consistently provide clean first innings when used ahead of Bello.

Bello has a 9.68 ERA in seven starts, allowing 33 runs in 30 2/3 innings. He has had drastically better results following an opener, with a 0.98 ERA (18 1/3 frames, two earned runs) in his three bulk relief appearances.

“You can’t ignore how Bello has pitched behind an opener,” Tracy said. “You can’t ignore how Jovani (Morán) has fared.”

Tracy added on about the importance of Morán to the Sox' bullpen. 

“And you don’t want to mess with Jovani because he’s been so effective coming out of the bullpen later in the game,” Tracy said. “So you’ve got to factor that in. You also have to consider who’s actually opened before. Have they done it? Are they comfortable doing it? So there’s so many things we look at. In this case, Jovani’s done it before, but he’s given up some runs. So we’ll do the same thing tonight — like what’s the best way to do this based on what happens in the game today?”

There was more encouraging news elsewhere on the pitching front.

Garrett Crochet, who has been sidelined for roughly a month because of shoulder fatigue, threw a one-inning live batting practice session Tuesday and reportedly felt good afterward.

Boston plans to have Crochet throw another live bullpen session once the team returns home June 2, and that appearance is expected to be stretched into a multi-inning live batting practice outing as the Red Sox continue ramping their ace back toward game action.

Meanwhile, Roman Anthony also appears to be progressing in his recovery.

Anthony, sidelined since May 4 with a strained ligament in his right hand, took additional dry swings Wednesday and reportedly felt good afterward.

The 22-year-old revealed Thursday during an appearance on Rob Bradford’s Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast that the injury involves a partial tear in his finger.

“I don’t know if it’s made clear, but it’s a partially torn ring finger ligament,” Anthony told Bradford. “My ring finger CMC (carpometacarpal), to be exact.”

Anthony initially took 12-to-15 dry swings May 26 before increasing the volume the following day. The next step in his progression is expected to come May 28, when he begins tee work as the Red Sox cautiously continue building him back toward full baseball activities.