DETROIT — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (22-22) lose in heartbreaking fashion to the Tigers, as Javier Baéz hits two dramatic three-run homers and Detroit wins, 10-9, in 11 innings:
1) You won’t see many May games more insane than that one. In the end, the resurgent Baéz was just too much for the Red Sox, hitting similar three-run shots off both Garrett Whitlock (sixth inning) and Greg Weissert (11th).
Boston had a two-run lead entering the bottom of the 11th inning. It took just three Weissert pitches for Detroit to end the game.
2) The Red Sox had three late one-run leads — and the bullpen blew each of them. In the sixth, with Boston ahead 4-3, Garrett Whitlock gave up a two-out, three-run homer to the resurgent Baéz. Four innings later, after the Sox scratched a run across in the top of the inning, Weissert got two quick outs before Trey Sweeney, 0-for-4 before stepping to the plate, found the right-side hole and ghost runner Zach McKinstry beat out a strong attempt from Wilyer Abreu to throw him out at the plate.
The good feelings entering the 11th lasted about 90 seconds. Jace Jung singled, then Baéz got a low sweeper from Weissert and demolished it 371 feet. A 9-7 lead became a 10-9 loss instantly.
3) It looked like Kristian Campbell would be the hero for Boston, as he hit a two-run shot in the top of the 11th. If there was ever a time for the scuffling Campbell to right the ship, it was then. The rookie, who was hitting just .088 (3-for-34) in his last eight games before Tuesday and began his night 0-for-4 with a walk, got a first-pitch slider from Beau Briske and simply willed it out of Comerica Park the other way. Campbell’s fifth homer of the season was a big one.
The rookie, as you might expect, was amped as he ran the bases. That good feeling didn’t last long.
4) David Hamilton doesn’t get many opportunities but he didn’t let one slip away Tuesday. After singling and scoring in the fourth and getting hit by a pitch in the sixth, he was the eighth-inning hero for the Red Sox, smoking a no-doubter two-run homer off Tommy Kahnle (who entered with a 0.61 ERA) to tie the game, 6-6. Hamilton has two homers this year, and they have both been of the clutch variety. The other was in the 1-0 win in Tampa on April 16.
5) Including Hamilton, the bottom of the Sox’ lineup had a really good night. A group that doesn’t look very menacing on paper — Sogard, Carlos Narváez, Hamilton and Ceddanne Rafaela — combined for eight hits (including three-extra base hits) and five RBIs while reaching base 10 times.
That group keyed the fifth-inning rally that put Boston up, 4-3. Hamilton singled, then scored on a well-placed Rafaela double. In the eighth, Narváez hit a two-out single before Hamilton went yard off the usually lethal Kahnle. The 10th inning brought a lead-off Narváez single that advanced Sogard, the automatic runner, to third; he scored on a Rafaela grounder.
6) Boston’s bullpen has generally righted the ship over the last week after a period of three big-time blow-ups. But Monday represented a step back — and a big one for Whitlock, who has now been credited with four blown saves in his last five outings. He took over in the sixth with Boston up 4-3, then was a bit wild before Baéz continued his 2025 resurgence by smoking a three-run homer with two outs that put Detroit up, 6-4. Baéz sat back on a 1-0 slider and launched it 392 feet to left field to flip the game on its head.
Whitlock has all the talent in the world but Cora might be forced into giving him some low-leverage work to get back on track. He has a 10.80 ERA (8 earned runs in 6 ⅔ innings) while allowing nine hits, issuing four walks and allowing two homers in his last five outings.
Liam Hendriks has pitched eight straight scoreless innings in low-leverage situations, striking out six and allowing just four hits. At some point, you’d have to assume he will get tasked with preserving a lead or two. He was the only Sox reliever, outside of Sean Newcomb (who threw 98 pitches Monday) who didn’t pitch.
7) Brayan Bello was nowhere close to his best in a start in which he labored through 4 ⅔ innings. He struggled through a long first inning, settled down in the second, then had issues again in the third and fourth. Bello’s advanced numbers paint a much uglier picture than his 2.33 ERA would suggest through five starts. Ultimately, though, he didn’t factor in the decision as he allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits in 4 ⅔ frames. His 92-pitch night was cut a little short by the fact Alex Cora’s bullpen was very well-rested after two long starts over the weekend in Kansas City by Garrett Crochet and Lucas Giolito and Newcomb‘s 98-pitch relief effort in Monday’s blowout.
8) An overall strange game included a few plays you don’t see every night. One was lucky for the Tigers — and one was just plain smart. In the third, with Baéz on third after walking, Narváez tried to throw him out with a backpick but hit Baéz with the throw, which trickled into left field and allowed the former Cub to score a run that made it 2-1.
Later, in the fifth, after Jarren Duran hit an RBI single, Rafael Devers lifted a fly ball into left field where Riley Greene looked to pull off an intentional deke, allowing the ball to fall. He threw out Duran at second, removing the much-faster runner from the basepaths. The Jung hit-by-pitch that preceded the Báez homer was also a strange play as the pitch bounced before it hit Jung — and he nearly swung at it, too.
9) The struggles of Duran so far (.681 OPS) have flown a little under-the-radar, but they have been pronounced. He had a strong offensive night, though, hitting the go-ahead RBI single in the fifth (to make it 4-3) and ripping a 110.4 mph double to work a two-out threat in the eighth. Entering the night, Duran was hitting just .170 with a .422 OPS in May.
Devers, however, was 0-for-6 with three strikeouts. He has come back down to Earth since leaving Kansas City on Sunday night.
10) Alex Bregman has been booed loudly every time he has hit so far at Comerica Park, and that’s no surprise after he spurned the Tigers to sign with the Red Sox in the offseason. The boos got even louder when Bregman launched his 10th homer of the year in the third to tie the game, 2-2.
11) At some point, lefties Justin Wilson (2.70 ERA) and Brennan Bernardino (1.65) deserve some credit. Also, Justin Slaten looked electric after a three-day break. He struck out the side in order to preserve the tie in the bottom of the eighth. It was a night of high highs and low lows for the relief group.
12) It was the longest Red Sox game of the year, finishing at three hours and 37 minutes.
The previous record-holder? Game 1 of the doubleheader sweep over the Cardinals on April 6, which was three hours and 24 minutes.
13) The Red Sox will need to be up for a challenge in Wednesday’s series finale. As they try to avoid a sweep, they’ll face reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal (4-2, 2.08 ERA). Rookie Hunter Dobbins (2-1, 2.78 ERA) will toe the rubber for Boston with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. ET once again.
