Bradfo rants from Seattle
SEATTLE - There was a lot of good for the Red Sox Saturday night. But it still wasn't good enough.
Think about it. Can you imagine if someone told you that the Red Sox starting pitchers would have gone a combined 17 innings in the first three games and gave up just three earned runs while striking out 19 and walking one? That was where the Sox have landed after Kutter Crawford's six-inning, one-run outing.
Or how about if it was suggested the revamped bullpen was going to be rolling out the stuff and results supplied by Isaiah Campbell, Greg Weissert and Chris Martin, of of whom came on to throw scoreless frames after Crawford.
And then there was the resolve that allowed for a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the 10th inning, with Alex Cora's team finally breaking through thanks to big hits from Pablo Reyes and Masa Yoshida.
Sure, there was no Rafael Devers (shoulder) or Kenley Jansen (back). But the perceived grit, guile and guts of this scrappy bunch would figure it out.
Not quite.
Thanks to a Mariners' 10th-inning rally against Joely Rodriguez - who was brought into close things out because of Jansen's absence - some less-than-stellar play in the field, and ultimately Julio Rodriguez's walk-off hit against rookie Justin Slaten (who was brought to face Rodriguez with runners on first and third for his big league debut), the end result was a 3-2 Seattle win.
As Red Sox manager Alex Cora pointed out after the game, the Red Sox' lack of offense is due in large part to a Seattle pitching staff that is considered one of the best in the game. But the absence of Devers once again was significant, especially with the struggles of fellow middle-of-the-order hitters Trevor Story (now 1-for-13 in the series) and Triston Casas (1-for-12).
The room for error - or, in the case of this loss, errors - is just seemingly so small. Why this feeling? Because when you add up all that good and still land with two losses in three games, it suggests the need for even more grand gestures.
They are the seventh team in major league history to record 35 strikeouts with five or less walks in the first three games of the season. But, again, there is just one win.
Perhaps what we're witnessing is the foundation for better results around the corner. (You do, after all, have the A's waiting after Sunday.) Tweaks will be made roster-wise, perhaps painting a more palatable big picture.
But, for now, it is what it is. And that - all things considered - is just a tad more uncomfortable than the Red Sox were banking on heading into Game 4.
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Jansen said that his back issue was similar to the one he dealt with at the end of spring training, although not as bad. It is an ailment he described as waking up with Saturday morning.
"I just woke up with a bad back again today, nothing I can do about it," he said. "Tried to come to the ballpark and get ready but it wouldn’t allow me so I got to be smart. I go out there and aggravate it and then it could be worse for a week or two so I’d rather lose one day or two so I’ll be back."