The Red Sox look like a team ready to come home

Ten years later, it’s all over again. The Sox have lost five of their last six games and at 89-70 are tied with the Mariners for second wild card with three games to go.

The Blue Jays are one game behind. In theory, the Red Sox are in control of their destiny. Win three games against the Nationals in Washington starting Friday and their season will continue one way or another.

But on the pitch, the Sox look like a team ready to come home. After Kiké Hernández hit the first pitch of the game for a home run, the squad had only a handful of good hitters left.

Alexander Wells, a rookie who entered the game with an earned-run average of 8.13 in seven starts, pitched six innings and allowed just one run. He struck out 16 of the last 18 batters he faced.

“We weren’t able to slow the game down,” manager Alex Cora said.

Xander Bogaerts has been 0 for 3 with a walk and twice on the ground in double play. He’s 2 for 23 with no hits or runs in the last six games.

He subsequently appeared inconsolable.

“Just don’t do it. My batting was bad, ”said Bogaerts. “Just very unproductive at-bats… I can’t react the way I want to.”

Cora said Nick Pivetta gave the Sox a chance to win. But after striking out the first six batters with four strikeouts, Pivetta walked rookie Tyler Nevin on four pitches to start the third inning.

Pivetta correctly characterized the walk as uncompetitive.

This led to three points as Pat Valaika scored a single and Ryan Mountcastle scored with two strikeouts, carrying a fastball to center field.

In the sixth inning, Garrett Richards allowed three runs on three hits and two wild shots.

That the Red Sox can still extend their season without outside help is a surprise. But can they take advantage of it?

“It doesn’t sound great,” Cora admitted. “But at the same time, as I keep telling them, we’re still a good team. We have won a lot of games this year and we still have a chance to do it.

This group of players presented Cora with a lot of challenges on and off the pitch given the vaccination issue.

So it seemed useful to ask him before the game if this season had been fun for him. Cora is only 45, but there have been days this month where he looks exhausted.

“It’s funny; it’s stressful – all of the above. That’s why you sign up to play baseball, for a shot at qualifying for the playoffs,” Cora said. “Let’s take care of the business and let’s avoid the drama. ”

A few hours later, the drama was only mounting.

“We are not looking for excuses. But we have to win. We have to win, ”Cora said. “We have to win this series and see where it takes us.”

Due to the pandemic, journalists have not been allowed in clubs since 2019. So what’s the team vibe like, Alex?

“We’re ready to go to Washington, to be honest,” Bogaerts said. “They surpassed us here. It’s a bad time for us to do that, to play worse than the Orioles, because obviously we need it more than them at this point.

“Let’s get out of here, man. Sleep well and come back [Friday]. “

Peter Abraham can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @PeteAbe.