The Boston Red Sox entered the All-Star break as the most in-form team in baseball. They had won 10 consecutive games, their longest streak since the 2018 championship season. Confidence was sky-high. That momentum, though, rammed hard into the walls of Wrigley Field, as the Sox fell to the Chicago Cubs in the first two games of the second half, 4-1 on Friday and 6-0 on Saturday. All of a sudden, their comfortable playoff cushion has shrunk to just half a game, and the team stands at a crossroads.
After Saturday’s loss, veteran Alex Bregman stood before the media and he didn’t make excuses. “Obviously, you gotta get traffic and um, we just didn’t do a good enough job today,” he admitted in his assessment. Bregman even dropped a quick scouting report on the Cubs’ dominant pitching. “Mostly heater split… good life on the heater. The split was dying so it kept us a little in between,” he explained.
The 31-year-old also pointed to a specific moment where the game got away from them. He expressed regret over a missed chance in the first inning against Chicago’s elite starter. “Yeah, for sure. Obviously, um, you gotta capitalize… I gotta uh drive ref in there in the first inning,” he said, taking full responsibility.
He further acknowledged the challenge of finding his own rhythm after a long injury layoff, but quickly pivoted, saying, “I’m getting there. Um, I’m going to get it squared away here and uh, get back, get back to rolling.” The self-criticism reflects the team’s frustrating reality on the field.
In a 4-1 loss on Friday, Bregman failed to drive in a run at a critical moment in the first inning. In that same inning, the Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito surrendered a back-breaking three-run home run to Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki. Those first-inning woes continued on Saturday afternoon as well, when Brayan Bello was tagged for two runs on back-to-back homers.
Boston’s offense also shot itself in the foot with a costly baserunning blunder when Abraham Toro was doubled off second base on a hard-hit Bregman line drive. Even so, Bregman didn’t wane in confidence following consecutive losses. He soon turned his attention to the next day’s crucial match with a sweep looming. “The best part about baseball is you get to go out there again tomorrow,” he said.
His confidence was based on a powerful fact as well. “We got our big guy on the mound tomorrow,” Bregman further added. That “big guy” is none other than Garrett Crochet, the team’s undisputed ace. In the ongoing season, Crochet is 10-4 with a spectacular 2.23 ERA and a league-leading 160 strikeouts.
Bregman’s words highlight a culture of accountability, but he isn’t the only one dictating the attitude in the Red Sox clubhouse. The manager’s reaction to the skid reveals just as much about the team’s mindset.
Alex Cora echoes Bregman’s thoughts
Manager Alex Cora echoed Bregman’s call for sharp execution. After the 4-1 loss, he observed that Abraham Toro had a “bad read” on a line drive. But he is also protective of his players. Cora showed confidence in his struggling catcher, Connor Wong, by letting him bat in a crucial spot. He said the decision was made in order to lighten the load of Carlos Narváez. “You’ve got to trust your players,” Cora stated firmly. “He’s playing today for a reason and I felt like it’s a good matchup… it just didn’t work out.”
The Red Sox have been propped up all season by a handful of elite players. Garrett Crochet has emerged as a Cy Young contender. And center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (3.9 WAR) is a balance of Gold Glove-level defense and solid power. Alex Bregman (153 OPS+) has been great even in an injured year. Wilyer Abreu, meanwhile, leads the club with 18 home runs. These four have been the team’s dynamos.
But underperformance from others has opened up huge gaps. Catcher Connor Wong’s power bat has vanished, with an awful 11 OPS+. The back of the rotation has been a problem, too. Walker Buehler and Tanner Houck have returned to the majors with ERAs of 6.12 and 8.04.
First baseman Triston Casas went down with a season-ending injury earlier and opened up a hole. The top-heavy roster construction means the team is incredibly fragile. These two losses at Wrigley have exposed how quickly things can fall apart when the stars don’t align perfectly.
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