BOSTON --- Familiar disaster struck for the Red Sox in the top of the sixth inning Tuesday night.
Boston started brightly enough against the Phillies at Fenway Park, but lurking under the surface was the club that came in losers of its last eight games.
Philadelphia sent 12 men to the plate in a game-changing rally. Eight straight reached safely with two outs. A two-run Red Sox lead was quickly washed away, and the Phillies were off to a 13-6 victory.
Bryce [...]
BOSTON --- Familiar disaster struck for the Red Sox in the top of the sixth inning Tuesday night.
Boston started brightly enough against the Phillies at Fenway Park, but lurking under the surface was the club that came in losers of its last eight games.
Philadelphia sent 12 men to the plate in a game-changing rally. Eight straight reached safely with two outs. A two-run Red Sox lead was quickly washed away, and the Phillies were off to a 13-6 victory.
Bryce Harper provided the killer blow, a three-run homer to deep right that landed in Boston’s auxiliary bullpen. Philadelphia went from a 4-2 deficit to a 9-4 cushion by the end of the frame, dooming the Red Sox yet again.
Josh Taylor was summoned to start the deciding frame, issued a leadoff walk to Didi Gregorius and retired the next two men he faced. Pinch hitter Phil Gosselin lined an RBI double to deep left-center and Roman Quinn grounded a run-scoring single inside the bag at third, knotting the game at 4-4.
Heath Hembree was called upon to escape the jam, and his 1.86 earned-run average tripled by the time his outing was over. Hembree didn’t retire any of the six men he faced, as Andrew McCutchen lined an RBI single to center and Rhys Hoskins walked to set the stage for Harper. He crushed a towering shot that scattered the remaining Boston relievers and took a high bounce into the vacant bleachers.
Hembree wasn’t done yet, allowing a double off the Green Monster by JT Realmuto and an RBI single to right by Gregorius. Alec Bohm added a looper to shallow center before Ron Roenicke reemerged from the home dugout. Colten Brewer came on to strike out Jay Bruce, bringing the inning to a merciful end.
The Red Sox had reason for optimism in the early stages. Xander Bogaerts grounded an RBI single through the right side for a 1-0 lead in the first. Boston pounded out three straight doubles to left opening the second, with Alex Verdugo, Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez combining to plate two more runs. It was a 3-0 Red Sox advantage and a rare good feeling.
Zack Godley even managed to wriggle out of some trouble in the fourth with minimal damage. Bruce’s RBI single to right cut the Phillies deficit to two and put the potential tying run aboard. Scott Kingery grounded back to the mound and Quinn sent a lazy fly to left, leaving the Boston bullpen with 15 outs to record.
Six Red Sox relievers took a collective hammering by the time this one was over. The Phillies piled up 12 earned runs, 12 hits, four round-trippers and a pair of walks. Phillips Valdez, Taylor, Hembree, Brewer and Marcus Walden were all charged with at least one run while Ryan Brasier squeezed out a scoreless ninth.
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