Red Sox doomed by sloppy play vs. Mariners, suffer sixth loss in last eight games

BOSTON— It’s been assumed for weeks now that the Red Sox have a playoff spot all locked up. They’ve been comfortably ensconced in the American League’s second wild-card spot, and until this past Sunday looked to have a great shot at catching the Yankees for a chance to host their first-round series.

But if the Red Sox don’t get their act together, September could start getting pretty uncomfortable.

The Red Sox’s recent stretch of poor play continued Wednesday with an ugly 8-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The club gave up four runs in both the third and sixth innings, marking the fifth consecutive game the club largely laid an egg.

If not for Monday’s epic comeback victory, the Red Sox might be looking at a five-game losing streak. Instead they’ve dropped six of their last eight dating back to the final game in Miami, allowing the Cleveland Guardians to creep back within four games for the second wild-card spot.

The start of Wednesday’s game was marked by some sloppy, mistake-filled baseball.

In the bottom of the first the Red Sox strung together three straight singles that would have set up a bases-loaded, one out opportunity. But third base coach Chad Epperson waved Mickey Gasper home on a Wilyer Abreu single to shallow left, and the first baseman was easily thrown out at the plate.

The Red Sox wound up coming out of the inning empty-handed.

On the flip side, Patrick Sandoval started strong with two perfect innings out of the gate, but the third inning was a largely self-inflicted disaster.

Weston Wilson and J.P. Crawford led off with singles, and Wilson broke the ice by scoring from third on a wild pitch. Sandoval drew two quick outs afterwards and nearly limited the Mariners to just one run, but then he walked Dominic Canzone — losing an ABS challenge in the process on ball four — and gave up RBI singles to Julio Rodriguez and Josh Naylor.

The Naylor single was made worse when Jarren Duran airmailed his throw to third, allowing a fourth run to score and Naylor to advance to second, and Sandoval then lost track of the baserunner and allowed Naylor to steal third uncontested.

The Red Sox got out of the jam before things got any worse, but only after they’d already dug themselves into a 4-0 hole. Sandoval wound up pitching into the fifth inning, finishing with four runs allowed on five hits, three walks and two strikeouts over four-plus innings.

Trevor Story helped get the Red Sox on the board in the bottom of the fourth, continuing his big first week back off the injured list. Story’s RBI double down the left-field line made it 4-1, and he’s now 7 for 16 (.437) with four doubles and four RBIs since being activated on Sunday.

Caleb Durbin helped keep it a three-run deficit after the Mariners threatened again in the fifth. With two men on and nobody out, Durbin first recorded a force out at third base before then turning a brilliant double play on a broken-bat chopper the next batter up, tagging the advancing runner out before firing to first to end the inning.

But outside of Story the Red Sox couldn’t come up with the big hit to get themselves back into the game.

Boston stranded runners on second and third in consecutive innings, first after Story’s double in the fourth and again in the fifth after Ceddanne Rafaela reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to third on a Abreu double. Overall the Red Sox were 2 for 7 with runners in scoring position with seven runners left on base through the first five innings.

Eventually the dam broke.

Brayan Bello came on for Sandoval with nobody out in the fifth and, with Durbin’s help, kept the Mariners off the board. But coming back in the sixth he immediately loaded the bases on a hit batsman, a walk and a single and allowed all three to score on a two-run single by Jhonny Pereda and an RBI single by Randy Arozarena.

An RBI double by Canzone made it four runs with six straight Mariners reaching safely to start the inning, and when Bello finally drew a groundout to the mound for the inning’s first out he was met with mock cheers from the Fenway crowd.

Down 8-1, the Red Sox were essentially cooked.

Much like Tuesday the Red Sox made a late push. Roman Anthony hit a solo home run in the seventh, his first at Fenway Park this season, and Gasper and Eli White followed back-to-back doubles to make it 8-3. But the seven-run deficit was too much to realistically overcome, and Wednesday marked the fifth straight game the Red Sox have allowed at least eight runs.

Poor as the club has played over the past week the Red Sox have an opportunity to meaningfully shore up their standing. After the Guardians, who currently occupy the AL’s third Wild Card spot, one of the first teams below the playoff cutline is the Baltimore Orioles, who are tied for the first spot out with the Texas Rangers and who Boston will face in a four-game series starting on Thursday.

Take care of business against the Orioles and the Red Sox will be in great shape. But should this skid continue and the Red Sox lose three out of four or worse, then next week the club may find itself in a perilous position.

First pitch in Baltimore on Thursday is set for 7:15 p.m.