The Red Sox had no trouble getting men on base. Boston’s lineup combined for eight hits, six walks and got runners into scoring position in six out of nine innings.

Yet when it came time to get the big hit, the Red Sox collectively couldn’t come through.

Boston went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 men on base in Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, a frustrating performance against one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. The Red Sox also wasted a solid start by starting pitcher Kutter Crawford, who held his own against one of the deepest and most relentless lineups in baseball.

“We had traffic all over the place and we didn’t cash in,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said afterwards. “In certain situations we have to be humble and take what they give us, advance the runner, put the ball in play, and we didn’t do that.”

Crawford allowed just two runs over six innings, striking out six while walking two and allowing five hits. The right-hander’s ERA for the season is now 1.75, and Crawford has posted a quality start in five of his eight outings, including each of the last four.

The one blemish on Crawford’s line was a two-run home run by Jarred Kelenic, which was his first of the season and put the Braves up 2-0 in the third. The Red Sox had no shortage of baserunners, but the offense wasn’t able to answer until the bottom of the sixth, when Braves starter Reynaldo Lopez abruptly lost his command.

Boston drew three walks in the inning, including one with the bases loaded by Reese McGuire to cut the deficit to one. That marked the end of Lopez’s night, and Ceddanne Rafaela welcomed reliever Aaron Bummer by bouncing a soft chopper right off the back of his left. Had the ball been fielded cleanly it could have been an inning-ending double play, but instead it wound up in no-man’s land and Vaughn Grissom came in to tie the game.

That was the only hit the Red Sox could muster with men in scoring position all game, and beyond that the team couldn’t capitalize any further.

Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers struck out with the bases loaded to end the threat, and from there the lineup kept wasting opportunities. The Red Sox caught a particularly unlucky break in the eighth, when Tyler O’Neill laced what looked like a go-ahead two-run double into left field, only for former Red Sox outfielder Adam Duvall to race in and make an incredible sliding catch to end the inning.

The Braves, meanwhile, didn’t get nearly as much traffic but capitalized on their big opportunity in the bottom of the eighth. After Justin Slaten allowed a leadoff walk to Ozzie Albies, the Braves retook the lead on a Marcell Ozuna RBI single and added another run-scoring fielder’s choice by Orlando Arcia, which could have been an inning-ending double play but instead made it 4-2 Atlanta.

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