What went right and what went wrong for Red Sox in weekend series vs. White Sox
The Red Sox avoided a sweep at the hands of the lowly White Sox on Sunday, thanks to Garret Crochet tossing a near no-no against his former team. The ace being an ace was one of the few things to actually go right for Boston over its weekend in Chicago.
Losing two of three to a team that had lost eight straight heading into the series is not how the Red Sox envisioned the start of their seven-game road trip. Boston is now just 8-9 on the season, and a woeful 2-6 against teams under .500 on the year. The Red Sox have lost five of their last seven games overall.
At least there were a few signs of improvement over the weekend, though that really won't make anyone feel any better about dropping two of three to a team that lost 121 games last season.
The Good: Garrett Crochet is filthy
The lefty had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning Sunday and struck out a season-high 11 batters in Boston's 3-1 victory. He was Boston's stopper for a second time this season as he halted another losing streak, though that really shouldn't have to be the case in a series against the White Sox.
The Bad: Red Sox only won one game vs. White Sox
In taking two of three from the Red Sox, the White Sox won their first series of the 2025 season over the weekend. The Red Sox have lost their last two series, going back to losing three of four to the Blue Jays at Fenway Park last week.
The Good: Error-free baseball for two days
The Red Sox played error-free baseball on Saturday and Sunday, which is a huge step in the right direction. Why is this such a big deal?
The Ugly: Friday's defense was abhorrent
If you skipped out on Friday night's game, you made the right choice. The Red Sox committed five errors in that one, handing the White Sox an 11-1 victory. Those 11 runs were a season-high for Chicago, after the team had scored just 12 runs in its previous six games leading up to the series against Boston.
On Friday, Triston Casas, Josh Winckowski, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Blake Sabol were all charged with errors. Sabol was hit with a pair of catcher's interferences behind the plate, and the White Sox were also a perfect 4-for-4 in their stolen base attempts. Rough night all around for the Boston backup catcher, and the Red Sox defense in general.
"It's a horrible night, we know it," manager Alex Cora said after the loss. "It's a horrible night in every aspect of the game."
Casas' error was the real back-breaker for Boston. He couldn't handle a grounder by Omar Narvaez with one out and one on in the bottom of the fourth, which should have gone as an inning-ending double play. But Casas bobbled the ball and the Red Sox failed to get an out on the play, which extended the inning for starter Sean Newcomb. After a strikeout by Newcomb, the White Sox put together three straight hits to stretch a 2-0 lead into a 6-0 advantage.
Six of Chicago's runs were unearned on Friday night. That has been par for the course with the Red Sox this season, who lead the Majors with 19 errors on the year. So you can understand why two straight games without a fielding error seems like a big deal for this club.
For all that talk about Rafael Devers' defense at third, Alex Bregman leads the team with three errors this season. Casas, Jarren Duran, Kristian Campbell, and Sabol (in just three games) have all committed two errors. Boston has been hit with four catcher interference errors over the first 17 games.
The Good: Trevor Story is hot at the plate
The Boston shortstop had just two hits in his first five games of the season, but has been on a tear since April arrived. Story is hitting .360 for the month (18-for-50) with three homers and eight RBI, and had a huge day at the plate Sunday.
Story was 3-for-4 on Sunday and drove in all three of Boston's runs. He clubbed a two-out, two-run double in the top of the sixth, and then launched a 404-foot solo homer in the top of the ninth to give the Red Sox an important insurance run.
Story is riding a four-game hitting streak where he's slashed .451/.471/.706, and has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games.
The Bad: Triston Casas remains cold
Casas' struggles aren't just in the field. He's hitting just .185 for the year with 16 strikeouts in his 54 at-bats. He has drawn just four walks on the year, which is extremely un-Casas-like.
Casas does have a hit in three straight games and four of his last five, but he's driven in just one run over that span. He has just four extra-base hits for the season.
The Ugly: Red Sox can't hit with runners in scoring position
Timely hitting has been missing for Boston all season, though the Red Sox were 2-for-5 with runners in scoring position on Sunday.
But they were just 1-for-9 on Friday and 1-for-6 on Saturday when runners were at second or third, and left nine runners on base in both games. Even on Sunday, the Red Sox left nine ducks on the pond.
For the season, Boston batters are hitting .235 with runners in scoring position, which is the ninth-worst average in baseball in those situations. The team's 23.5 percent K-rate with runners in scoring position is second-worst in baseball behind only the Rockies, who are striking out 30.8 percent of the time with runners in scoring position.
The Red Sox fanned 11 times on Friday night and 10 more times on Saturday. The team has struck out 10 or more times on 10 different occasions through the first 19 games this season, and leads all teams with 165 strikeouts.
