Historic pitching woes continue for Red Sox

We’re watching the worst pitching staff in Red Sox history as we sit here on this Saturday night.

That’s no hot take. It’s not even a mild opinion.

No collection of Boston pitchers has ever allowed as many as eight runs in six straight games. No Red Sox team has ever posted an earned-run average north of 6.00 — only one has dared to go beyond 5.00.

The club, founded in 1901 and formerly known as the Americans, Speed Boys, Puritans and [...]

We’re watching the worst pitching staff in Red Sox history as we sit here on this Saturday night.

That’s no hot take. It’s not even a mild opinion.

No collection of Boston pitchers has ever allowed as many as eight runs in six straight games. No Red Sox team has ever posted an earned-run average north of 6.00 — only one has dared to go beyond 5.00.

The club, founded in 1901 and formerly known as the Americans, Speed Boys, Puritans and Pilgrims, is being battered in 2020 by the opposition like never before.

This 11-5 loss to the Yankees came with what seemed to be Boston’s best hope taking the ball. Nine hits and eight earned runs later, Nathan Eovaldi saw his personal ERA swell to 5.93. The owner of the only two Red Sox quality starts in 21 games appeared a bit shell-shocked as he watched the final three innings play out.

"It seems like when it rains, it pours," Eovaldi said. "Right now we’re all kind of going through it. We’ve got to find a way to get back to having fun playing the game."

That wouldn’t seem remotely possible for Boston at the moment. The Red Sox have lost six straight and been outscored by a whopping 63-30 in the process. Mitch Moreland’s walkoff homer against the Blue Jays last Sunday seems ages ago.

"It sucks," said J.D. Martinez, who singled twice and drove in a pair of early runs. "It’s definitely not fun. It’s not fun going out there and getting your head beat in every day."

Martinez’s liner to left was the highlight as Boston plated three runs in the top of the third inning. But no lead is safe for the Red Sox at the moment, and certainly not one that stands at just 3-2. New York wiped that out against Eovaldi in the fourth when Gary Sanchez smashed a two-run homer to left and the recurring nightmare started all over again.

"We’re not playing good baseball," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. "We’re lacking in something, it seems like, every day.

"Maybe we don’t play good defense one day. Maybe we don’t hit another day or we don’t pitch. We need to start playing good baseball and I think the wins will start coming. Until we do that, it’s going to be tough."

Is it possible with this roster? Martinez pulled the curtain back a bit on what it’s like to be a hitter when your pitching staff is incapable of slowing opposing bats. Boston currently sports a 6.10 ERA, more than a run north of the team-worst 5.02 it logged in 1932.

"It’s hard to hit when your offense is always on the field just tired," Martinez said. "Whenever you’re out there for 30, 45 minutes before you’ve got to get in there and hit it’s not easy. It’s tough."

Roenicke announced a five-man rotation prior to Saturday’s game, one that still features something of a bullpen collection on Sunday night. Chris Mazza was called up from the alternate site to make the start and isn’t likely to go all that deep. Roenicke intimated not having five starters and some semblance of a routine is taking its toll on some Red Sox pitchers.

"We’ve put some different requirements on some of the guys instead of having defined roles," Roenicke said. "I told them I would try to do a little better on that. But we’ve mixed guys up a lot.

"Some guys have opened up. Some guys are long. So we’ve tried to make that a little easier for them so mentally they’ll be prepared for more of a role when they come in."

Boston is obviously missing the likes of Chris Sale and Eduardo Rodriguez. The Red Sox have allowed two runs or more 14 times in the first three innings and seven runs or more in 11 games. Those two left-handers weren’t going to start every night, and they might consider themselves lucky to not be a part of this ongoing ignominy.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25