18 hours Ago
CHICAGO — Aroldis Chapman’s Red Sox tenure got off to a very strong start in the first two weeks of the season. Saturday, though, brought the first meltdown of the veteran closer’s season — and it unfolded in a somewhat predictable way. Chapman, who owns a 4.
7-walks-per-nine rate throughout his 16-year major league career, issued a leadoff walk to Luis Robert Jr. in the ninth inning, setting the table for a White Sox walk-off. After the seven-pitch free pass to Robert, Chapman hit triple digits twice in striking out Andrew Vaughn before Robert successfully stole second without a throw from catcher Carlos Narváez, who couldn’t get a grip on the ball.
It took five pitches for 24-year-old Brooks Baldwin to lace a splitter down the left-field line to end the game . “Leadoff walks, it doesn’t matter if it’s the ninth or the first inning,” said manager Alex Cora. “Robert did a good job stealing second.
Then, the kid put a good swing on the fastball.” Chapman, in something of a surprise, won the ninth-inning job over Liam Hendriks (who ended up injured to start the year) and Justin Slaten with a dominant spring training in which he struck out 14 in 7 1⁄3 innings and owned a 2.45 ERA.
Entering Saturday, he was just as good in the regular season, picking up two wins in two saves in six scoreless appearances (5 2⁄3 innings) while posting an 8-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio . Baldwin’s hit was just the fourth by an opponent against him this season. “The plan was just to attack him with fastballs,” Chapman said through translator Daveson Perez.
“If needed, mix in a split. “It hurts all the same, every single loss we have. We’ve had some tough losses here of late.
This time, I took the L. But they all hurt just the same.” Saturday’s close loss saw an early-season strength for the Red Sox slip into a weakness, at least for a day.
The Red Sox entered the day with a 3.86 bullpen ERA that ranked in the top half of baseball, but the relief corps was to blame for the club’s fifth loss in six games. Starter Richard Fitts cruised through five shutout innings before departing with “right shoulder pain” while facing Miguel Vargas to lead off the sixth .
Reliever Zack Kelly was not warming before Fitts’ injury but had to quickly get warm on the stadium mound before beginning his outing with a 2-2 count to Vargas. Kelly walked him, then struck out Nick Maton before leaving a pitch in the middle of the plate to slugger Luis Robert Jr. Robert made Kelly pay, smashing a game-tying two-run homer to right-center, erasing a 2-0 Boston lead.
“It’s very hard,” said manager Alex Cora. “They’re used to warming up in the bullpen. You’re like in the middle of the island, everybody watching you warming up.
He’s not making any excuses.” Two Justins (Wilson and Slaten) kept the game tied with scoreless appearances but the Red Sox, continuing a week-long trend, didn’t get any offense going late in the game. So when Robert got on base to begin the ninth, it was enough of a threat to hand the ChiSox a win on a day when they only had four total hits.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, have scored just 11 times in six games since Sunday’s 18-run outburst. “They’re always tough (losses) but we didn’t score. At the end of the day, we’re going to start hitting.
We know that,” said Cora. “We’ve had like 33% of our at-bats with runners in scoring position. We just have not cashed in.
We’re swinging a lot. We’re chasing a lot. I think today was a little bit better.
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