SAD NEWS – Aces Falter as Wild Card Hopes Take a Hit
BOSTON — The Red Sox entered this week with an opportunity to seize momentum and vault into an American League Wild Card spot. Instead, their most trusted arms came up short at the worst possible time. Two consecutive losses, fueled by uncharacteristic struggles from the team’s top starters, left a packed Fenway Park silent and the clubhouse searching for answers.
On Tuesday night, ace right-hander Brayan Bello couldn’t escape the fourth inning. His fastball lacked its usual life, and the Yankees pounced with three early runs. The next evening, veteran southpaw Chris Sale fared little better, yielding four runs over five uneven innings as Boston fell 6–2 to the Rays. For a club that had relied on its rotation to carry the late-summer push, it was a stunning stumble.
“It’s a tough one,” manager Alex Cora said afterward. “We had a chance to make a move in the standings, but we just didn’t execute. Our starters have been great all year, but this week wasn’t our best.”
The Red Sox offense offered only sporadic resistance. Rafael Devers homered in the first game, but the lineup stranded 18 runners across the two losses. Timely hitting, a strength all month, suddenly vanished when it mattered most.
“It’s baseball,” Devers said, shrugging. “Sometimes the hits don’t fall. We can’t dwell on it. We have to keep fighting.”
Boston’s pitching staff has been its backbone all season. Bello entered the series with a 3.21 ERA, while Sale had dominated in September. But the margin for error in the Wild Card race is razor thin. After the pair of defeats, the Red Sox slipped to 82–70, one and a half games behind the final playoff spot with just ten games remaining.
Opponents know Boston’s rotation is still dangerous. “Those guys are elite,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You don’t expect to get to them like that. We caught a break.”
The schedule doesn’t offer relief. Upcoming series against the surging Orioles and pesky Blue Jays loom large. Cora insisted that urgency remains high but panic is not an option.
“We’ve got to flush it,” Cora said. “This group has bounced back all year. I expect us to come out ready tomorrow.”
Fans at Fenway voiced a mix of frustration and loyalty. “You can’t win every night,” said longtime season-ticket holder Marcus Hill. “But these are the games you circle. We needed at least a split.”
The Red Sox clubhouse echoed that sentiment: disappointment, but no despair. “We know what’s at stake,” Bello said. “The only thing we can control is the next start, the next game. We move forward.”
If Boston does reach October, these stumbles may fade into a footnote. But for now, the team must quickly rediscover the consistency that carried it into contention in the first place. The clock is ticking, and the aces will get another chance to prove why they earned that title.
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