That’s a flawed approach, one that points to the lack of depth within the organization.
As the Sox continue to lose their grip on postseason aspirations, Monday’s defensive showing might be another example of why they just aren’t ready for contests beyond No. 162.
The team faceplanted in their series opener, once again undone by their biggest weakness in a 4-1 loss to the Mets at Citi Field.
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The Red Sox fell behind, 1-0, in the second inning with Brayan Bello on the mound. But a Ceddanne Rafaela triple off New York starter Luis Severino that snuck under the glove of a diving, overly aggressive Brandon Nimmo in center, backed by a Jarren Duran RBI single, quickly tied the game in the third.
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Yet after Francisco Lindor reached on a single in the bottom half, any chance of the Red Sox putting up a fight was short-lived. Nimmo laced a ball to Duran in center. Duran came in, but the ball sailed over his head. Lindor scored for a 2-1 lead.
“He’s going to make mistakes sometimes, right,” said manager Alex Cora, who called Duran the best defensive center fielder in the big leagues. “So for me, it’s just a kid trying to make a play. Bad read and he didn’t make the play. That’s going to happen.”
In the fourth, Connor Wong dropped a Jeff McNeil foul ball. Though Bello retired McNeil via strikeout and induced a Starling Marte ground out, the next batter, DJ Stewart, kept the frame alive with a two-out single.
Luis Torrens then tagged a Bello offering to left. The ball landed down the line near Tyler O’Neill, who appeared as though he had a play, but coasted to the spot. O’Neill tried to backhand the ball on a hop, but it deflected off his glove. Stewart scored from first on the error.
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Lindor then delivered the final blow in that inning with an RBI single.
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“It obviously bounced a little differently off the dirt,” said O’Neill. “Just kind of kicked up on me. It went off the end of my glove. I tried to regroup and relay it in as quickly as I could.”
O’Neill, a two-time Gold Glove winner with the Cardinals, has committed seven errors in just 80 outfield games this season — two short of his career high, which he reached over 131 games in 2021. The Sox errors gave them 101, the first team to surpass 100 this season.
“We’re not playing well right now,” added Cora. “It’s not going our way right now. And then we have to show up tomorrow and try to win the game, man.”
Bello lasted five innings, needing 91 pitches, and was charged with four runs on seven hits.
“It obviously wasn’t the best outing for me today,” said Bello. “But I was out there competing.”
Severino, meanwhile, registered seven frames in which he would allow just that one run on six hits, lowering his ERA to 3.84.
Although the Red Sox collected just six hits, which further highlighted their recent offensive mishaps, they had runners at first and second for Rafael Devers in the sixth with two outs. However, Devers lined out to Nimmo in center to end the threat.
In the eighth inning, lefthanded reliever Danny Young walked Romy Gonzalez and then hit O’Neill with a pitch. It was Devers at the plate again with two outs. A wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, but Devers grounded out to second. He’s 1 for 17 after missing three games with two bad shoulders.
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“I mean, know where he’s at,” said Cora. “He’s grinding.”
The Red Sox are grinding, too. But, equally, spiraling.
They have lost their last three, eight of their last 11, and are 13-17 since Aug. 1.
The Twins beat the Rays, 5-4, to move ahead of the Royals in the standings. Despite Kansas City’s six-game losing streak, including Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Guardians, the Sox are still 4½ games behind the final wild-card spot.
“We’re running out of time. Let’s put it that way,” said Cora. “I know what the other teams are doing. They’re not playing well either. But the days that we don’t take advantage of, it’s a wasted day.”
Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him @byJulianMack.
