The Boston Red Sox came up short in their nine-game West Coast road trip, ending it on the same note Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
With a chance to sweep the Diamondbacks in three games and head back to Fenway Park with a winning record to end the trip, Boston was once again haunted by a shortage of offensive production.
During the nine-game stretch, the Red Sox batted just .213 and recorded a minus-five run differential. They were also held to three or fewer runs on six occasions, despite a solid showing from Boston’s bullpen, which notched a 2.35 ERA on the trip.
Heading back home just a game shy of dead last in the American League East, Red Sox manager Alex Cora took the positives after Boston’s 4-2 loss in Arizona.
“It wasn’t bad,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Of course, we wanted to go 5-4 or win every series, you know, we won two. The one in Anaheim, the first two games we pitched great. We were able to win games, so that was the pickup of the whole trip. We came in here, beat them two out of three, we went to San Diego, beat them two out of three. We gotta figure out Sundays. That’s the next step.”
In searching for a sweep of the Diamondbacks, Arizona pitcher Merill Kelly stepped in Boston’s way. The right-hander pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one earned run off four hits while walking one and striking out 10. It was the second time this season Kelly racked up 10 strikeouts.
“You gotta tip your hat,” Cora said. “He’s one of the best in the league.”
