PHOENIX — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (78-65) suffer their third straight loss, falling in sloppy fashion to the Diamondbacks, 5-1, on Saturday night:
1) Trevor Story has had a very good defensive season and his out conversion on routine grounders has been steady all season. But he rushed a play in the second and committed a rare mishap that put the Red Sox in an early hole.
After two Arizona singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, No. 9 hitter Jake McCarthy hit a slow grounder up the middle that looked like an easy inning-ending double play ball. But Story, coming in, booted it and the ball trickled into center as two runs scored. It was really a three-run play as Geraldo Perdomo made it a 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat.
The Red Sox never really recovered after that.
2) A game that was lost due to poor defense also featured some of the best glovework of the entire season. With one out in the fifth, Corbin Carroll smoked a Giolito pitch into deep right field, right in front of Chase Field’s famous pool. Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela raced back to the wall and climbed it before sticking his glove over the fence and pulling the ball back for a no-doubt home run robbery. Rafaela celebrated on his knees on the warning track as Lucas Giolito, in disbelief, exclaimed on the mound.
You can see Rafaela’s catch here.
Carroll’s 100.9 mph, 404-foot blast would have been a homer in 25 ballparks (including Fenway Park). It was a clear catch of the year candidate — and one of two robberies on the night.
The Diamondbacks countered in the eighth when Alex Bregman launched a deep fly ball off lefty Jalen Beeks and left fielder Blaze Alexander scaled the fence, contorting his body to pull it back for a robbery of his own. It was one of those nights for Boston.
3) Story’s play wasn’t the only example of shocking play on the defensive end from the Red Sox, who once again fell victim to a miscommunication between Rafaela and left fielder Jarren Duran. Similar to a costly play in Baltimore late last month, the two outfielders let a high Carroll fly ball fall between them for a double that allowed runners to take second and third in the seventh. Blaze then gave the D-Backs an insurance run with a sac fly.
4) Giolito needed to battle to get through five innings in an outing that was uneven from the start. In his 23rd start of the season, the veteran worked through constant traffic, allowing seven hits and walking three batters. Catcher James McCann singled off him three times.
Giolito would have limited damage if not for Story’s error, and in the end, was tagged with two earned runs (and four total). There was too much traffic, though.
Giolito is now at 130 ⅓ innings this season, less than 10 frames short of the all-important 140-inning mark that will effectively determine if he hits free agency or not. Considering he’s expected to pitch at least three more times this season, that shouldn’t be in question (barring something wonky). Expect Giolito to test the open market.
5) It’s clear Boston’s offense is trying to find a new identity in the wake of Roman Anthony’s oblique injury. Facing a pitcher in Brandon Pfaadt who entered with a 5.33 ERA in 147 innings, the Sox could get little going while trailing early.
Pfaadt struck out seven and allowed just one run on six hits in six innings. He didn’t walk a batter. Two key sequences from players near the bottom of the lineup sunk the Sox.
In the fourth, with two men on in a 3-1 game, Carlos Narváez struck out to end the inning. Two frames later, it was Romy Gonzalez who was caught looking on strike three with two runners on base.
6) Masataka Yoshida was 1-for-4 with an RBI single in his debut as Boston’s leadoff man. He provided the only run of the game for the Sox, singling home No. 9 hitter Nate Eaton in the third inning after Eaton led off with a double.
Boston had three chances with men in scoring position and left six on base.
7) The Red Sox won’t hesitate to use Justin Wilson in big spots down the stretch. His latest magic act came in the sixth, when he relieved Giolito with two men on base and no outs… and recorded three straight strikeouts to escape unscathed. Wilson punctuated his outing by winning an eight-pitch battle against pinch-hitter Jordan Lawlar.
8) In Sunday’s series finale, it’ll be righty Brayan Bello (11-6, 3.07 ERA) tasked with avoiding a sweep (and a four-game losing streak). Arizona will send righty Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.57 ERA) to the mound.
First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. ET.
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