The Red Sox aren’t having trouble creating traffic. They’re having trouble cashing it in.
That’s been the story through a four-game skid that has exposed one glaring flaw: Boston keeps putting runners aboard, then watches the big hit disappear when it matters most. The latest example came Tuesday night in Toronto, where the Blue Jays handed the Red Sox another loss and the offense once again came up empty in the decisive spots.
Boston went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the 5-3 defeat and stranded nine overall. In the ninth inning, Masataka Yoshida doubled with one out, but the rally stalled there. Newly acquired catcher Adley Rutschman, making his Red Sox debut, grounded out to end it with a runner on second and Boston still down two.
That kind of missed opportunity has defined the slump. Over the four-game losing streak, which also includes two losses to the Athletics, the Red Sox are hitting just .083 - 3-for-36 - with runners in scoring position. They’ve left 38 runners on base in that span.
Manager Chad Tracy isn’t sounding alarms.
"I think the approach is the same, we're just going through it right now that's all," Tracy told reporters postgame, via the NESN broadcast. "We've had some chances where it's one swing into the gap, we've been there before, we'll grind through it."
Tracy added: "You’re not going to get the clutch hit for six straight weeks and keep getting it. There’s going to be times when you’re just going to have to grind through it, and we’re in that space right now. We just got to keep grinding.”
That patience makes sense when you zoom out. Boston’s been one of the better teams in baseball at delivering with runners in scoring position this season, ranking 13th in MLB with a .254 average in those spots. Since June 25, the Red Sox have been even better, hitting .301 with runners in scoring position - third-best in the majors and first in the American League.
The turnaround has been dramatic. Before June 25, Boston sat in last place in the AL East heading into a four-game series against the Yankees.
Then came the sweep at Fenway Park, and everything changed. Since then, the Red Sox have won 32 of their last 41 games and moved into the American League’s second wild card spot.
Even the recent cold stretch hasn’t been a total shutdown. Over the last three games, Boston has piled up 19 hits, drawn 15 walks and struck out only 19 times.
The baserunners are there. The contact is there.
The finishing touch has not.
That’s what makes this feel less like an offensive collapse and more like a timing problem. During their nine-game winning streak from July 29 through Aug. 7, the Red Sox hit a league-best .360 with runners in scoring position. Right now, they’re in the opposite lane.
The process hasn’t gone away. The hits in the clutch just haven’t shown up lately. And if Boston keeps reaching base at this rate, the runs should follow soon enough.
In Other News...
Orioles Just Learned The Full Price Of Bostons Adley Blockbuster
Adley Rutschmans first game in a Red Sox uniform gave Boston an immediate look at why the club was willing to make a serious move for him. He went 1-for-3 with two walks and handled catcher duties cleanly, a tidy debut that fit the idea of a roster upgrade designed to matter right away. The swap also finally got buttoned up behind the scenes, with the player to be named later piece of the deal now settled.
For Baltimore, the real sting is in what eventually crossed over to complete the trade. Boston sent over minor league outfielder Harold Rivas, an 18-year-old with enough status in the organization to make him more than just a throw-in. It is the kind of final accounting that can quietly shape how a blockbuster is remembered, especially when the first big league glimpse from the new catcher already looked so settled. [Read more 🡒]
Vaughn Grissom Just Made His Red Sox Exit More Personal
Vaughn Grissoms departure from Boston already looked like one of those moves that quietly lingered in the background, and now it feels a lot more personal. The infielder said the Red Sox front office never gave him a fair chance to play, arguing they leaned too heavily on analytics instead of what he was doing on the field. Since moving on, Grissom has settled in as a more regular starter with the Los Angeles Angels, where consistent playing time has given him a steadier role.
Grissom also believes he has gotten better simply by being on the field every day, and his season line reflects a player who has found some rhythm. He is hitting .254/.315/.392 with seven home runs and a 0.5 bWAR in 78 games, numbers that do not turn the story into a full redemption arc but do make the contrast with his Boston tenure harder to ignore. For the Red Sox, it is another reminder that player evaluation does not end when someone leaves town. [Read more 🡒]
Adley Rutschman Already Changed A Big Red Sox Question
Adley Rutschman wasted little time making his presence felt in Boston, stepping straight into the middle of the lineup and behind the plate after being acquired in a trade and activated from the injured list. In a 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays, he started at catcher and batted third, and even after more than three weeks away with wrist inflammation, there was little sign of rust as he settled into his new surroundings.
For the Red Sox, the early takeaway was bigger than one game in the standings. Rutschmans arrival immediately changes the look of a catching situation that was already under scrutiny, and the club plans to handle his workload carefully as he gets up to speed with a new pitching staff and a new dugout. The next question is less about whether he fits and more about how Boston chooses to use him in the first stretch of this new chapter. [Read more 🡒]