The Boston Red Sox fell into a big, early deficit against the Los Angeles Angels on June 2. Richard Fitts' second start off the injured list — without a rehab assignment beforehand — went sour quickly after a leadoff homer. Two others and sloppy defense in the first inning led to a 6-0 lead for the Angels and yet another lopsided score for the Red Sox.
But Boston nearly worked its way out. Rafael Devers knocked an RBI double in the third inning and a four-run fifth frame lifted the Sox within one. A second Jo Adell homer could have killed the Red Sox's rally in the sixth inning, but Ceddanne Rafaela clobbered one of his own in the eighth to keep his team alive.
With one out on the board, Jarren Duran took the plate in the eighth inning. After looking at a strike and two balls and fouling off another pitch, Duran checked his swing on the fifth one he saw. Third base umpire Edwin Moscoso thought otherwise and called Duran out swinging.
The outfielder approached the umpire to argue his case, but Alex Cora emerged from the dugout to ensure Duran didn't get ejected. Duran went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and a strikeout, which he never should've received, against the Angels, but it wasn't enough to stave off another demoralizing loss.
A botched strike three call on Jarren Duran checked swing killed Red Sox rally against Angels
Bad calls happen all across baseball, and umpires are human. But Duran absolutely checked his swing, and a look at a replay shows he wasn't particularly close to a complete swing. There was no guarantee Duran would've gotten a hit to continue the Sox's rally, but having it killed by circumstances outside of their control is somehow even more frustrating than an ordinary strikeout would've been.
The Red Sox have dropped to 6-16 in one-run games. They struck out 10 times to the Angels' five. They left eight men on base. Fitts had only made one start after his month on the injured list with a pectoral strain and Boston was still going to monitor his pitch count on Monday night, but it only got one inning out of him before the bullpen had to carry the other eight frames. Hunter Dobbins ate most of the workload and got the job done, surrendering one run on four hits with four strikeouts over five innings.
But good teams find a way to win one-run games, even if the umpires cut a rally short in one inning. The Red Sox had plenty of other, better opportunities to plate runs, and couldn't deliver, including a bases-loaded scenario in the sixth inning. Boston has battled the same internal issues all season, and short outings from starters, frequent strikeouts and an uncanny ability to fall short with men on base will be its killer if it doesn't find a way to address at least one of those problems before July.