At this point of the season, every game matters for the Boston Red Sox. If they want to lock into a Wild Card spot and return to postseason baseball, Boston cannot be losing three straight games in frustrating fashion at home to sub-.500 teams.

But the Red Sox are licking their wounds Wednesday morning after suffering one of the team's most crushing defeats of the 2025 season Tuesday night, losing 4-3 to the Baltimore Orioles in 11 innings. The Red Sox had their chances -- so many chances -- to win Tuesday night, but instead lost for a third straight time at home to a sub-.500 team.

The Orioles swept their quick two-game visit to Fenway Park, which is salt in the wounds for Boston after the team dropped Sunday's series finale to the Miami Marlins. A 2-3 homestand against the Orioles and the Marlins (both of whom are 57-69 on the season) is a huge missed opportunity for the Red Sox to strengthen their place in the Wild Card standings.

The Red Sox have fallen to the third Wild Card spot in the American League, while the suddenly hot New York Yankees sit in the top position over Seattle and Boston. Next up for the Red Sox? A four-game series in the Bronx starting Thursday night.

Red Sox leave 'em loaded -- a lot

The Boston offense had a number of chances Tuesday night, but the bats failed to capitalize in key situations. The Red Sox were a dreadful 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, and left 13 runners on base.

Ten of those runners were left on base over the final four innings, as the Red Sox came up empty in not one, not two, but three bases-loaded chances.

The most frustrating failure by the Red Sox bats came in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Boston loaded the bases with no outs and scored no runs. With the Orioles on top 3-1, Boston got a runner on every base against Baltimore righty Kade Strowd. In came Rico Garcia, who is only with the Orioles after being DFA'd by three other teams this season, to face the heart of Boston's order.

Garcia looked like a future Hall of Famer against the Red Sox as he struck our Jarren Duran on three straight pitches -- all changeups. He followed it up with a strike out of Trevor Story on four pitches. Then he struck out Masataka Yoshida on five pitches to end the Boston threat. 

"Yeah, we chased a lot today," Boston manager Alex Cora said the loss. "We haven't done that in a while. We had our opportunities to win the game early in the game, in the middle of the game, late in the game. It just didn't happen."

The Red Sox got some ninth-inning heroics from newcomer Nathaniel Lowe, who crushed a two-run homer into the right field stands to tie the game at 3-3 and bring the ballpark to life. But that joy and euphoria did not last long at Fenway Park.

Abraham Toro and Connor Wong followed with back-to-back strikeouts, before Roman Anthony, Alex Bregman, and Duran all walked to load the bases, as Yaramil Hiraldo completely lost the strike zone. Story stepped to the plate with a chance walk it off for the Red Sox, but he grounded out harmlessly to third to send the game to extras. 

After holding the Orioles off the scoreboard in the top of the 10th, the Red Sox loaded the bases again with one out in the bottom of the inning. But Toro grounded into a double play to end the threat.

The Red Sox had plenty of chances throughout the game, but couldn't muster a single hit with a runner in scoring position. Story was the biggest offender, going 0-for-3, while Bregman, Toro, Yoshida (who struck out three times), and Duran all went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position. In their current three-game skid, the Red Sox were just 3-for-28 with runners in scoring position and left 23 runners on base.

Samuel Basallo put Baltimore ahead 4-3 in the top of the 11th with a scorching RBI fielder's choice that went just a few feet in front of Wong at home plate. The Red Sox had another chance in the bottom of the 11th, but a questionable decision on the base path led to another missed opportunity. 

Why didn't the Red Sox send Nate Eaton?

After falling behind in extras, the Red Sox actually employed some smallball when Wong bunted ghost runner Nate Eaton to third base in the bottom of the 11th. Anthony followed and did his job by lifting a deep fly ball to center, but Eaton was held by third-base coach Kyle Hudson.

Baltimore center fielder Colton Cowser had a great arm, but his throw from center way way off line and Eaton would have scored easily to knot the game at 4-4. Instead, he stayed at third, and was left there for good when Bregman popped out to end the game.

Why not send the speedy Eaton? Cora explained the cautious approach after the game. 

"That's an impact arm in center field," Cora said of Cowser. "We prepare before the series and we decide who we're going to challenge or not. So we didn't challenge him."

Given how the Red Sox hit -- or didn't hit -- when they had a chance to score runs Tuesday night, the team probably should have revisited their plan once they got to extra innings. 

Yankees up next after disappointing homestand

Boston will have a rare Wednesday off, and then start a massive four-game series against the Yankees in New York on Thursday night. New York has won four straight and seven of its last 10 to regain the top spot in the AL Wild Card race, and the Red Sox need to treat this weekend's set in the Bronx as a make-or-break series.

The Red Sox still hold a 2.5-game lead over the Kansas City Royals for the final AL Wild Card spot. But every game, every run matters at this juncture in the season. If things go south by the end of the season, it will be hard not to think back to all the missed opportunities against the Orioles on Tuesday night.