The Red Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games, dropping to.500.
BOSTON — In a 5-1 defeat to the Nationals on Friday at Fenway Park, the Red Sox went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position while leaving 11 men on base.
Boston has the 23rd highest batting average (.238) among major league teams with runners in scoring position. They rank 19th in on-base percentage (.322) and 21st in slugging percentage (.365) when runners are in scoring position.
The Sox have lost six of their last seven games, dropping to.500 (19-19). They’ve left 278 men on base this season.
Boston missed opportunities in the first, fifth, and sixth innings.
“We didn’t get the big hit,” manager Alex Cora explained
Tyler O’Neill singled to center field with two outs in the first inning, and Rafael Devers walked. Connor Wong hit to right field, and O’Neill attempted to score. But right fielder Victor Robles threw O’Neill out at the bat.
“This isn’t a fantastic toss. “It’s off the line,” Cora explained. “It just happens that Tyler was right there.”
Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran hit consecutive singles to start the bottom of the fifth inning. Rob Refsnyder then flew out to right field, and Rafaela advanced to third. But O’Neill struck out looking, and Devers grounded out.
Boston loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth inning. Vaughn Grissom hit a single with one out. Wilyer Abreu and Rafaela walked with two outs. However, Duran struck out swinging at a 95.1 mph fastball from lefty reliever Robert Garcia, who was sent in to face the left-handed batter.
“The way you come out of this is you keep putting good at-bats, have traffic,” Cora stated. “Obviously, at some time, we’ll take a major hit. It did not happen tonight. We walked five times. But we also struck out nine times. So keep working, and perhaps tomorrow will be the day.”
