Daily Dose: Slumping Sox

The Red Sox can keep digging, but why bother? They’ve already hit rock bottom.

Saturday’s 7-1 loss to the Blue Jays was Boston’s seventh defeat in their last eight games. Joe Kelly left in the sixth inning after giving up a career-high seven walks. Kelly has bottomed out over his last four starts, going 0-2 with an ERA approaching nine. Boston starters have now allowed six or more runs six times this season. Only the Rockies and Phillies have matched that level of futility.

Since peaking at four games above .500, the Red Sox have gone 6-14, losing five of their last six series. Leads have been hard to come by lately as the Red Sox have led a combined seven innings over their last eight games. The Red Sox are alone in last place and it feels like they belong there.

The Red Sox of old could play from behind. These Sox can’t. This season, the Red Sox are 5-15 when their opponents score first. The first inning has been especially brutal for Boston. They’ve been outscored 24-9 in that frame. Only the Indians have given up more first-inning runs.

The floodgates are open. GM Ben Cherington has gone nuclear before and he’s not afraid to do it again. In the last week, he’s already canned pitching coach Juan Nieves, traded Edward Mujica and optioned outfielder Allen Craig to Triple-A. If Boston doesn’t right the ship soon, the Sox could have another fire sale at the trade deadline. It’s hard to believe this train wreck of a team is only two years removed from winning the World Series.

At least the Red Sox can take solace in getting away from their division. Sunday’s series finale against Toronto will end a 22-game stretch against AL East opponents.

Bryce is Nice

Walk-off home runs call for something special. But what do you do when the player who hits one has six home runs in his last three games?

Simple. You turn his head into an ice cream sundae.

After Bryce Harper’s ninth-inning blast secured an 8-6 Nationals win, Max Scherzer celebrated by suffocating Harper in chocolate syrup. Harper probably didn’t think so, but for me, it was refreshing to see a player get drowned in something other than Gatorade, or worse, a pie to the face.

What can you say about Harper? After living in Mike Trout’s shadow the last three years, he’s finally come into his own. He’s raised his average almost 50 points in the last week and now leads the National League with 11 homers.

Aside from Harper’s contributions, the Nationals got help from an unlikely source. Catcher Jose Lobaton delivered three hits Saturday, including two off Braves starter Julio Teheran. A .229 career hitter, Lobaton has always been a tough out for Teheran. He’s 7-for-13 against him with two home runs and five RBI.

Though it’s hard to believe given the final score, Nats starter Doug Fister took a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Alberto Callaspo broke it up with a single to left field.

Nationals reliever Aaron Barrett made a brief cameo in the eighth inning. He struck out one hitter, giving him at least one K in each of his league-high 16 appearances.

Chocolate syrup is great but winning comes first. The Nationals moved to 16-15 after Saturday’s win. It’s the first time all year they’ve been above .500.

For all the latest news and notes around the league, keep refreshing Rotoworld's player news page and also be sure to follow @Rotoworld_BB and @JessePantuosco on Twitter.

Tor-ific

Torii Hunter turns 40 in a couple months but you wouldn’t know it by the way he’s been hitting.

The Twins outfielder went 3-for-5 Saturday including his fifth home run of the season. Hunter is seven for his last nine and has raised his average 43 points since Thursday (.252 to .295). His OPS has increased from .679 to .824 over that same span. Hunter hasn’t finished with a batting average lower than .286 since 2011. The five-time All-Star is quietly making his case for the Hall of Fame.

Evan Almighty

After playing 270 straight games, Rays third baseman Evan Longoria finally sat out Thursday. That was the longest active streak in the majors.

Fortunately for Longoria, the one-game layoff didn’t leave him any worse for the wear. Longo has been swinging a hot bat all week. In fact, he’s homered in three of his last nine at-bats.

Longoria’s home run Saturday was appropriate because it coincided with Evan Longoria Bobblehead Night. Saturday’s game drew 20,943 fans to Tropicana Field, way up from Thursday’s season-low attendance of 8,701.

American League Quick Hits: Giants manager Bruce Bochy will present Pablo Sandoval with his World Series ring on Sunday. The Red Sox are playing the A’s on Monday but the team’s hotel is in San Francisco … Hanley Ramirez returned to the lineup Saturday after missing a few games with a sprained shoulder. Despite having ten home runs, Ramirez hasn’t hit a double yet this season. Talk about all or nothing … Shane Victorino is close to returning from a strained hamstring. He’s gone 0-for-6 in the first two games of his rehab assignment with Double-A Portland … Tigers slugger Victor Martinez hasn’t shown much power from the left side. His sixth-inning double off Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie was his first extra-base hit as a left-handed batter this year … James McCann caught for Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez on Saturday. Sanchez’s ERA this year is 13.50 with McCann behind the plate. When McCann doesn’t catch for him, his ERA is 3.20. Hmmm … Nobody in the Royals lineup had ever homered off Sanchez until Saturday. Alcides Escobar changed that in a hurry. He went deep in the first at-bat of the game … Worried about David Price (strained hamstring)? Don’t be. He expects to make his next start Thursday against the Twins … Drew Smyly, one of the players Price was traded for last year, was diagnosed with a torn labrum. With Smyly likely done for the year and Alex Cobb headed for Tommy John surgery, it’s been a rough week for Tampa Bay’s starting pitching … The benches cleared Saturday in Tampa when Rays shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera shoved Texas second baseman Adam Rosales. Rosales quickly apologized for blocking Cabrera with his knee, which ended the feud pretty quickly … Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder celebrated his 31st birthday Saturday by stretching his hitting streak to nine games. His .342 average this season is sixth-best in the American League … Carlos Rodon’s first start in the big leagues was a success. The 2014 first-round pick tossed six innings for the White Sox, allowing two runs en route to his first career victory … White Sox shortstop Alexei Ramirez became the tenth Cuban-born player to reach 100 home runs on Saturday. The career leader, of course, is Rafael Palmeiro with 569 … White Sox right-hander Hector Noesi left Saturday’s start in the second inning after getting hit by a Billy Hamilton line drive. He’s day-to-day with a lower back contusion … Jake Marisnick was in a bit of slump, so the Astros moved him into the leadoff spot. It worked—he went 2-for-5 with a double on Saturday. It seems like everything first-year manager A.J. Hinch touches turns to gold … Zack Meisel of the Cleveland Plain Dealer made an important observation on Twitter: the velocity of the game’s first pitch thrown by Indians starter Bruce Chen (80 mph) was lower than the temperature outside (88) … Michael Brantley’s contact rate is ridiculous. Entering Saturday, Brantley had seen 318 pitches. Out of those 318, he swung and missed four times … Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen entered Saturday with the lowest ERA of any starter without a victory. After beating the Yankees, that honor now belongs to Arizona’s Chase Anderson (2.97).

National League Quick Hits: Chase Utley broke a 0-for-19 slump Saturday with a pinch-hit single. The slumping second baseman is barely hitting over .100 and is 2-for-28 against lefties this season … Tony Gwynn would have been 55 on Saturday. The Hall of Famer lost his battle with salivary gland cancer last June … Clayton Kershaw’s pursuit of win No. 100 will have to wait another day. Saturday’s game at Colorado was rained out. Sunday will be Kershaw’s fourth try at 100 … Kris Bryant launched his first career homer Saturday against Brewers right-hander Kyle Lohse. To tease him, his teammates went to the clubhouse, leaving Bryant with an empty dugout … Speaking of Cubs rookies, second baseman Addison Russell extended his hitting streak to 12 games Saturday with a third-inning single. Not bad for a 21-year-old … Christian Yelich is a brave man. Here’s why: Saturday he became only the second left-handed position player to bat against Madison Bumgarner this season. He went 0-for-2 with a walk … The Pirates made history Saturday by recording MLB’s first 4-5-4 triple play. Neil Walker snatched Yadier Molina’s line drive, threw over to third to get Jhonny Peralta, then caught a throw to nail Jason Heyward at second … Jonathan Lucroy joined the Brewers for batting practice on Saturday. He’s missed the last three weeks with a broken toe … Is Adeiny Hechavarria the best offensive shortstop in baseball? You could make that argument. So far, he’s first among shortstops in hits (37), tied for first in RBI (19) and second in batting average (.319).