CHICAGO — Instant reactions to another brutal Red Sox (7-9) loss as Brooks Baldwin walks off Aroldis Chapman and the White Sox come back to win, 3-2, meaning Boston will leave the South Side with a series loss:
1) It’s hard to do, but the Red Sox lost a game in which they gave up just four hits. The game-winner was a rocket line drive to left field by Brooks Baldwin, who plated Luis Robert Jr. with one out in the ninth.
It represented Aroldis Chapman’s first blunder in a Red Sox uniform. Robert walked to lead off the inning, then stole second before Baldwin drove him in. Catcher Carlos Narváez didn’t even get a throw off on the stolen base attempt and manager Alex Cora said it’s because he couldn’t get a grip on the ball.
2) Innings prior, the turning point was the mini-avalanche that collapsed on Boston when Richard Fitts’ dominant outing ended abruptly due when he exited with “right shoulder pain” with a 2-2 count against the leadoff man in the sixth.
Zack Kelly, who seemingly leads the league in entering games with little or no notice, walked Miguel Vargas. Then, after punching out the light-hitting Nick Maton, Kelly left a middle-middle fastball for Luis Robert Jr., who promptly tied the game with a two-run opposite-field blast.
3) The prevailing worry coming out of Saturday will be the status of Fitts, who exited with “right shoulder pain” after throwing a 2-2 sweeper in the sixth inning. The rookie’s discomfort was immediately evident as he reacted to the pitch and Alex Cora raced onto the field. Fitts will head to Boston for an MRI on Sunday.
Before he got hurt, Fitts was putting together one of the best Red Sox starts of the young season. The rookie allowed just three baserunners (one walk, two hits) through five shutout frames, striking out five. There’s a strong case to be made Fitts has been Boston’s second-best starter through three turns, so losing him for any period of time would be significant.
4) The offense came from an unlikely place to break a scoreless tie in the fifth. Carlos Narváez singled, then came around to score easily when Ceddanne Rafaela rocketed an RBI triple down the left field line. One batter later, Romy Gonzalez — the leadoff man for a day — made it 2-0 with a run-scoring single. Any production from the bottom of the lineup like that would be much welcomed by Alex Cora. Rafaela had his third multi-hit game of the season.
5) The Red Sox remain in the midst of a long power outage. Boston has not had a home run in six games, with the last one coming in Game 2 of Sunday’s doubleheader when Alex Bregman went deep against St. Louis. The Sox had just 11 homers so far this season, ranking in the bottom third in baseball in that category.
Overall, the offense is not in sync. Outside of the fifth-inning rally, the Red Sox got nothing going against Pérez and a parade of unknown Chicago relievers. They’ve scored 11 runs in six games since Monday.
6) One positive was that the Red Sox finally figured out how to get their former prospect, Chase Meidroth, out. Meidroth reached in all four plate appearances in his MLB debut Friday, then singled off Fitts in the second inning Saturday. The sixth time was the charm as Fitts got him to ground out to shortstop in the fifth. Meidroth was 1-for-3.
7) Garrett Crochet (1-1, 1.45 ERA) will make his much-anticipated first start against the White Sox in Sunday’s finale. Surprisingly, he’ll be tasked with helping Boston avoid a sweep.
Chicago’s pitcher will throw under sentimental circumstances, too. Rookie righty Shane Smith (0-0, 1.54 ERA), a Danvers native who attended The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, will pitch against his hometown team.
First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. ET. The Red Sox will fly to Tampa after the game and face the Rays in a three-game series that starts Monday.
