Most hitters hate to see Tommy Kahnle coming. The veteran has found new life with the Detroit Tigers, and his sub-one ERA and devastating changeup are enough to have batters shaking in their spikes.
But David Hamilton got to him in the eighth inning on May 13. The Boston Red Sox were down, 6-4, and Carlos Narváez stood on first base. Hamilton muscled a changeup from Kahnle over the right field fence and smiled before his follow-through was complete.
Hamilton's blast kept the game tied through the ninth inning and into the 10th, where he had another chance to bring the Red Sox home. After a leadoff single from Narváez advanced ghost runner Nick Sogard to third, Hamilton struck out to leave them on the corners.
Ceddanne Rafaela plated a run in the following at bat, but it didn't matter. A well-placed single off the bat of Trey Sweeney re-tied the game at seven in the bottom of the 10th frame with Greg Weissert on the mound.
The next inning, Kristian Campbell came through. The rookie cracked a two-run homer to give the Sox a 9-7 lead. Even that wasn't enough, though, as Weissert surrendered a second three-run homer to Javier Báez in the back half of the 11th frame, which pushed the Red Sox back down to a .500 record on the season and one game away from being swept for the first time this year.
Hamilton and Campbell had been slumping going into Boston's second game in Detroit. The former is only batting .204/.246/.333 in his 21 appearances this year, but he's come up big twice. He sent the Sox's bout with the Tigers into extra innings and knocked his first homer of the year for the only run against the Rays on April 16. Boston won that game, 1-0.
Campbell was in the throes of a 3-for-38 stretch when he broke through in the 11th frame. The homer was his fifth of the year and his first extra-base hit since April 29.
Not even homers from two slumping Red Sox could save them from another blown save and extra-innings loss to Tigers
The Red Sox's struggling bats had to get going, though, because their usual heavy hitters struggle in close games. Boston has struck out an MLB-leading 122 times with runners in scoring position, and it's cost it dearly, to the tune of 11 one-run losses.
The Red Sox have also blown an MLB-most 11 saves so far, which is partially due to sluggish offense, but the bullpen hasn't helped matters. Garrett Whitlock let up Báez's first three-run bomb of the night in the sixth inning, which highlighted his recent struggles. Whitlock has a 7.45 ERA in his last seven games. Weissert is up to a 3.44 ERA after his second blown save of the year.
Boston needs bullpen reinforcements after recent extra-innings games and short outings by starters. Top prospect Luis Guerrero could be a solid choice — he's clocked a 3.77 ERA over 14.1 innings in Triple-A, but a zero in his four appearances for the Sox this year.
The Red Sox need a spark all around their roster, from the offense to the bullpen. The Tigers are the best team in the American League through the first quarter of the season, but Boston's weaknesses have shown against other, much less impressive opponents. The Red Sox need to break their early-season habits if they hope to retain their standing or advance in the AL East.