Everyone who's seen a Boston Red Sox game this year also saw the Milwaukee Brewers' May 28 comeback from a mile away.
The only run the Red Sox mustered was off a wild pitch. Ceddanne Rafaela's savvy baserunning wasn't enough to save Boston from the Brewers — Aroldis Chapman's first blown save and an eventual walk-off grand slam were the nail in the Sox's coffin that sent them spiraling to three games below .500, their worst record of the year. Boston hasn't reached three games under since March 31.
But the bullpen can't take the blame much longer. After an eager Richard Fitts missed his second rehab start to join the team in the big leagues, his three scoreless innings should've been enough motivation for the offense to get something going. Instead, the Red Sox's offense looked lifeless as ever.
Kristian Campbell, who is batting .119/.175/.169 in his last 15 games, batted cleanup on May 27. Marcelo Mayer, who's been in the major leagues for four days, would've been a better choice. Trevor Story came up four times with runners on base and didn't get a hit or advance the runner a single time. Boston had runners on the corners with no outs in the 10th inning, but made three straight outs before anything could come of it.
The Red Sox can't keep playing the same lineup and expect a different outcome
The Red Sox use the same or very similar lineups every day and expect something to change. Shuffling Story up and down the lineup hasn't helped him find his footing, and it won't help now. Forcing Campbell to take up multiple positions when he doesn't excel at any of them defensively is a questionable strategy. Needlessly waiting to call up the top position-playing prospect in baseball is even more confounding, especially when he's raked all year long — Roman Anthony is batting .320/.452/.529 with a .981 OPS, and he has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.
If this is what Boston's offense looks like without Alex Bregman in the lineup — it has scored five runs in its past four games and is already down to its worst winning percentage of the year — it's in deep trouble. Over a third of the way into the season, the Red Sox are as mediocre as ever, and they're slipping down the standings in the American League East as the Yankees continue to collect wins.
The Red Sox could field a better team by playing Anthony and Masataka Yoshida, two contact hitters who could've helped them stave off a walk-off grand slam at the hands of another perpetually .500 club. Instead, Boston is showcasing the definition of insanity by playing the same, underwhelming team each day (which was underwhelming even with a healthy Bregman) and expecting a different result.