This weekend’s trip to Wrigley Field was supposed to represent an easy portion of a brutal stretch in the Red Sox’ schedule. Three games against the lowly Cubs that followed a series with the Blue Jays and precedes two weeks against no one but the Rays and Yankees going into the All-Star break.
Not so fast.
What started as a promising road trip with last weekend’s sweep of Cleveland has turned frustrating. A day after their bullpen blew a late lead in a bad loss, the Red Sox blew a very winnable game. Rookie Josh Winckowski produced another strong start, but it was wasted by defensive mistakes and his offense’s inability to capitalize in a sloppy 3-1 loss on Saturday night.
The Red Sox dropped their second consecutive series — this one even more painful against a rebuilding Cubs team — and they’ll look to rookie Connor Seabold on Sunday to help them avoid an embarrassing sweep.
The takeaways:
1. Sloppy defense the difference
Rafael Devers has certainly been better defensively at third base, but he’s still been prone to miscues. A costly throwing error in the second inning paved the way to a Cubs lead they ultimately wouldn’t give back.
Patrick Wisdom started the frame with a lazy roller to Devers, who tried to make a tough play on the run but threw the ball away into the dugout, putting Wisdom at second. Nico Hoerner, the next batter, then laid down a perfect bunt down the third-base line, but Winckowski also threw the ball away into the dugout to let Wisdom score.
Two batters later, Hoerner came around to score on a sac fly to give the Cubs a 2-0 lead.
It was a tough day defensively all around the infield, which included a grounder to first that Franchy Cordero dropped in sixth. In the eighth, the Cubs added an insurance run thanks to some more Red Sox sloppiness. Wilson Contreras hit a one-out single and pinch-runner Nelson Velazquez stole second, but Kevin Plawecki’s throw was dropped by Xander Bogaerts. Tanner Houck then threw a wild pitch, and Wisdom’s single to left gave the Cubs a two-run cushion.
2. Josh Winckowski deserved better
There are going to be some moving parts in the Red Sox’ rotation over the coming weeks, as Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi return and the staff reshuffles without Rich Hill, who went on the injured list Saturday. As the dust settles, Winckowski has proved he deserves a shot to stick around in the rotation.
Winckowski delivered another strong start Saturday that was deserving of a better outcome. Over six innings, the rookie was the recipient of some bad luck. He allowed six hits, but somewhat unbelievably, five of them didn’t leave the infield. All six were singles and the hardest-hit one was 88.8 mph off the bat.
Besides the second-inning mess, Winckowski did a good job of pitching himself out of trouble, as he struck out six and got five of his eight whiffs on his slider. The rookie, who has now made five career starts, has a 1.96 ERA in four outings since rejoining the rotation after Eovaldi’s injury.
3. The Cubs lost their starter, but the Sox didn’t capitalize
The Red Sox seemed to get a break in the first inning, when Cubs starter Alec Mills left the game injured after throwing just seven pitches. He was replaced by Mark Leiter Jr., who entered the game with a 5.55 ERA as a multi-inning reliever.
But the Sox looked out of sorts against him. Perhaps they were unprepared for a pitching change so early in the game, but they made Leiter Jr. look like an All-Star, especially so when Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts went down in order on six pitches in the fourth.
Boston only mustered four baserunners against the right-hander over 5 1/3 innings. They finally broke through in the sixth, when Jackie Bradley Jr. doubled and the Red Sox finally threatened. But with runners on first and third with no outs, Devers grounded into a double play and they only scored one run out of the chance.
The Red Sox weren’t any more successful against the rest of Chicago’s bullpen. Down two in the ninth against Cubs closer David Robertson, they looked ready to rally after Jarren Duran’s leadoff double. But Devers and Martinez both struck out looking, and after Bogaerts worked a walk, Alex Verdugo hit a deep fly out to end the game.
