Sox blow late lead in bid to sweep ChiSox

BOSTON -- The first Red Sox regular season flight to cross the Atlantic Ocean will be an unhappy one.

That comes thanks to the latest bullpen meltdown from Matt Barnes, one that scuttled what had the chance to be a three-game sweep of the White Sox at Fenway Park.

Jose Abreu played the spoiler with a two-run homer onto Lansdowne Street in the top of the ninth inning. Chicago rallied for an 8-7 victory, reclaiming a win that looked to be stolen by Boston the previous half-inning.

Abreu won a 10-pitch duel with Barnes by sending an inside fastball over everything in deep left. The right-hander’s earned-run average jumped to 10.39 on the second day of back-to-back outings this season – he’s at a trim 2.13 otherwise. This bit of bad timing was just the latest for a Red Sox relief corps that has now blown five saves in the ninth inning alone in 2019.

“I didn’t do my job,” Barnes said. “Offense did a phenomenal job of coming back and scoring three in the eighth. Then to give it up like that is tough.”

Barnes didn’t retire any of the three men he faced. Leury Garcia singled to left and was caught stealing on a nice throw-and-catch from Christian Vazquez to Xander Bogaerts. Yolmer Sanchez followed with a sharp single to right, setting the stage for Abreu.

“I know the usage is there, but everybody has been used a lot,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We’ve just got to get the job done.”

Bogaerts was in position to be the hero to that point, grounding a two-run single up the middle against Alex Colome in the eighth. Brian Johnson – the unlikely pinch runner for Brock Holt, who is battling left hamstring tightness – and Mookie Betts both scored on the play, erasing a 6-5 deficit. Betts plated a run on a grounder to third earlier in the inning, as Boston looked on the verge of heading to London for their international weekend series with the Yankees a season-best eight games over .500.

“Everybody is fatigued in the bullpen,” Cora said. “We went through a stretch there where we had to use everybody. We know that. The stuff was there.”

Chicago batted around against Chris Sale in the first, putting each of its first four men on base and building a 3-0 lead. Abreu lined an RBI double to the corner in deep right, James McCann grounded an RBI single through the left side and Jon Jay flicked an RBI single into short right-center. Sale labored through 34 pitches before retiring the side.

“I’ve got to find a way to get out of the gate better,” Sale said. “The last couple times out early in the game I’ve just put us in a hole. I’ve got to find a way to get out of that.”

The White Sox struck for two more runs in the second. McCann cracked a hanging slider to the Monster Seats for a solo home run and Ryan Cordell’s infield single plated Jay all the way from second. Michael Chavis held the ball at first base a touch too long while Jay capitalized, making it a 5-2 game.

Cordell was the last man to reach against Sale, who retired the final 10 batters he saw. The left-hander reached 10 strikeouts for the 10th time this season, but he remains in search of a first victory at home since July 11 of last season. Sale blanked the Rangers over seven innings that night, setting up a 4-2 win.

“The last couple years I’ve felt like I’ve done pretty well here,” Sale said. “We always have good crowds and pitching at Fenway is always fun. For whatever reason I just haven’t been able to put it together here.”

The Red Sox threatened to escape their hole immediately. J.D. Martinez lifted a two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the first and Boston had two men in scoring position after Jackie Bradley Jr. singled to left and Chavis banged the Green Monster with a double. Marco Hernandez popped to shallow left, ending the inning.

Reynaldo Lopez found more trouble in the third when Rafael Devers sent a towering leadoff double off the wall in left. Devers moved up on an error and scored on a wild pitch, making it a 5-3 game. Boston stranded another pair when Hernandez popped to third, and Lopez was in line for the win when he left after six innings.