Red Sox' loss to Twins underscores urgent need for bullpen help at trade deadline

Boston Globe

4 days ago

'It's emotional. It's not a normal day,' Baldelli said 'We have a lot of days that kind of remind you of the [previous] one. Today won't be one of those.'
Yet it proved to be a joyous day, too. After a 90-minute rain delay, the Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth and
The Sox sent Jordan Hicks to the mound to protect a 4-3 lead. He allowed a leadoff single, hit the next two batters, then got an out before Brooks Lee singled to left field and two runs scored.
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It was non-competitive.
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This was one time a team was probably rooting for more rain. Had the game been suspended and picked up on Tuesday, the Sox would have been in a much better position.
Hicks pitched 1 2/3 innings and threw 25 pitches to get a save on Sunday after Aroldis Chapman left the game with back spasms.
Chapman was unavailable on Monday, as was Garrett Whitlock, who was sick. The Sox also didn't have Justin Wilson who had pitched two days in a row. That left it to Hicks.
He warmed up prior to the rain delay, warmed up again, and had nothing.
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'That was uncomfortable,' Sox manager Alex Cora said.
Instead of being virtually tied with the Yankees for the top Wild Card spot in the American League, the Sox are now in the third position, a half-game behind the Mariners and a half-game ahead of the surging Rangers.
For the moment, the Sox need help from within to have enough pitchers to get through the rest of this series.
The game also spoke to the need for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to play his role and trade for pitching help — at least — before the deadline on Thursday afternoon.
Rookie righthander Richard Fitts took another turn in the rotation on Monday and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks over four innings.
He allowed three line drives that were caught in the first inning then put seven batters on base over the next three innings, throwing 52 pitches.
'He got hit hard today,' Cora said.
Fitts has made seven starts since coming off the injured list on May 27 and has a 6.00 earned run average. Fitts has the ability to help the Sox out of the bullpen, but at this point he should not continue in the rotation.
That relies on the Sox having better options.
Hunter Dobbins was lost for the season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Tanner Houck hasn't pitched since May 12 and won't be on the mound any time soon — if at all this season — because of his arm issues.
If the Triple A rotation offers any answers, they're risky ones. Lefthander Kyle Harrison, who was obtained from San Francisco in the Rafael Devers trade, has a 5.13 ERA in six starts for Triple A Worcester — 4.03 in five starts this month.
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He's an option, but presumably a team with designs on playing in October can do better. Harrison made four starts for the Giants this season and gave them only 18 1/3 innings.
The Sox need more reliability than that to protect their increasingly overworked bullpen.
The deadline is an inflection point. The Twins selected their path on Monday. We wait for the Red Sox to show their hand.
Peter Abraham can be reached at