DETROIT — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (22-23) lose another hard-fought game and are walked off again by the Tigers, who win, 6-5, on a Justyn-Henry Malloy single off Aroldis Chapman in the ninth:
1) Chapman has been excellent for the Red Sox so far this season but costly walks are always in play with him. Pitching with the score tied, 5-5, in the ninth, Chapman came out wild and walked Andy Ibañez to lead off the inning. That came back to bite Boston almost immediately when Ibañez stole second on a 1-2 pitch — and took third, easily, when Connor Wong, just into the game, overthrew the base.
Chapman got a quick strikeout and pop fly. But after two straight balls to Malloy, he gave him a pitch to hit and Malloy turned it around, hitting an opposite-field single to end it.
The Red Sox went 2-4 on their trip to Kansas City and Detroit. They’re 5-8 in May. It’s hard to believe, but they’re 4-12 in one-run games, too.
2) It’s not hyperbole to say the loss included one of the absolute craziest plays in Red Sox history. With Liam Hendriks in and the game tied, 5-5, in the seventh, Kerry Carpenter drove a deep fly ball to right — 371 feet at 104.8 mph. Wilyer Abreu jumped to attempt to rob it and with his globe, knocked it back into play, where Ceddanne Rafaela was standing and caught the tip.
See the video here.
The old 9-8 flyout, 371 feet away from home plate. Wow. It looks like Boston’s outfielders have been practicing the tip drill, NFL-style. Or a basketball-style alley-oop, as injured starter Walker Buehler called it from home.
3) Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins went toe-to-toe with Skubal… until he didn’t. The two starters have much different track records but each had allowed just two runs through five easy innings. Things turned for Dobbins in the sixth.
After a fifth-inning in which Detroit hit two 108 mph rockets off Dobbins, he hit the wall hard in his next frame. Colt Keith hit a high fastball for a single, then Riley Greene smoked a middle-middle heater 111.3 mph for the go-ahead homer. A Dillon Dingler single ended Dobbins’ night after 88 pitches (57 strikes). He allowed five earned runs on five hits while striking out four in 5+ frames.
4) Soon after Dobbins faltered, the bottom of Boston’s order spurred another punch-back inning — immediately after the three-run Tigers’ sixth. With one out, Nick Sogard and Ceddanne Rafaela sandwiched singles around a Carlos Narváez walk to make it 5-3. That set the table for left-on-left, back-to-back RBI singles from the top of the order (Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers) as the Red Sox tied it, 5-5.
Skubal’s line looked uglier on paper than in reality, but he was tagged for five runs on seven hits in 6 ⅓ innings. He struck out 11.
5) Alex Bregman’s trip to Detroit was a very good one — and even included a little fun with the reigning AL Cy Young winner. Bregman ambushed Skubal for first-pitch hits (single, homer) in his first two at-bats, resulting in the lefty dropping a changeup on him to kick off his sixth-inning at-bat.
Bregman had three more hits Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with a homer, two singles and a walk. He left Detroit (a place where he almost signed) with two homers and four hits.
6) The Red Sox were very well set up to go ahead in the top of the ninth when No. 8 and 9 hitters Narváez and Rafaela led off with back-to-back singles and they had runners on the corners (including speedy pinch-runner David Hamilton at third) with one out. But Will Vest reached back and struck out Rafael Devers with a 96 mph heater down the middle, then Gleyber Torres made a nice play to end the inning by corralling a hard-hit Bregman grounder up the middle and flipping to second for the inning-ending out.
7) Birthday boy Joey Cora had a great night as the Tigers’ third base coach. In the second, he pushed the envelope by sending Greene home from second on a Trey Sweeney single to left and Greene, with a fantastic slide, got in safely to make it 2-1. In the sixth, after a Justin Wilson wild pitch moved Dingler to third, Cora tested Rafaela’s arm by sending Dingler home on a sacrifice fly. Again, the runner barely beat the Narváez tag.
8) The Red Sox didn’t show any trepidation against Skubal in the first. With one out, Devers and Bregman hit back-to-back singles before Rob Refsnyder, swinging at a 3-0 pitch, plated the game’s first run with a sac fly.
9) The Red Sox fought hard over the last two days against the best team in the American League but there are no such things as consolation prizes for teams with designs on October. This upcoming homestand — a 10-game jaunt against the Braves, Mets and Orioles — is of utmost importance. That’s not hyperbole for May.
10) The Red Sox will get a rest Thursday before opening the long homestand with three against the Braves. They’ll see old friend Chris Sale in the opener. Here’s the schedule, with pitching probables:
Friday, 7:10 p.m. ET — LHP Chris Sale (1-3, 3.97 ERA) vs. Garrett Crochet (4-2, 1.93 ERA)
Saturday, 7:15 p.m. ET — RHP Grant Holmes (2-4, 4.14 ERA) vs. RHP Lucas Giolito (1-1, 5.51 ERA)
Sunday, 1:35 p.m. ET — RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (2-3, 3.31 ERA) vs. RHP Brayan Bello (2-0, 2.33 ERA)
