Red Sox wild card bid stalls with 4-2 loss to Orioles

BALTIMORE (AP) — There is no sure thing these days for the Boston Red Sox, who are faltering at the worst possible time in their bid to earn a playoff berth.

Rookie Ryan Mountcastle hit his 32nd home run to help the Baltimore Orioles rally past nemesis Chris Sale and the Red Sox 4-2 Tuesday night, extending Boston's losing streak to four games.

Boston maintained a one-game advantage over Toronto for the second and final AL wild-card slot with five games left and dropped two games behind the Yankees for the No. 1 spot. New York swept a three-game weekend series at Fenway Park.

After a day off to regroup, Boston launched its final trip of the season with a matchup against the last-place Orioles. The Red Sox had won 12 of their last 13 games against Baltimore, and Sale’s domination of the Orioles — 10-0 in his previous last 13 starts — made the matchup appear even more lopsided.

And yet, the Red Sox managed only three hits and made two errors in a humbling defeat.

“There’s no doubt we’ve been getting (dragged) through the mud the past four days,” Sale said. “We know where we’re at, we know what we’re up against.”

Kyle Schwarber put the Red Sox up with his 32nd home run in the second inning, and Hunter Renfroe added a solo shot in the sixth. But Boston's only other hit was an infield single by Renfroe in the third.

“There were a lot of empty at-bats and we didn’t put pressure on them. A lot of quick outs,” manager Alex Cora lamented. “We need to be better offensively.”

Sale (5-1) coasted through five innings, but in the sixth Kelvin Gutiérrez beat out an infield hit and Mountcastle went deep to tie it.

“He was throwing me a lot of those changeups, and that one he left over the plate,” said Mountcastle, who struck out his...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Red-Sox-wild-card-bid-stalls-with-4-2-loss-to-16494964.php