A rough series against the Houston Astros at the start of May highlighted one of the main flaws the Boston Red Sox have been facing in 2026: hitting with runners in scoring position. In the three-game set, the Sox went 1-8, 2-9, and 0-11, a combined 3-28 (.107 batting average). As a team, they are hitting .244 this season with runners in scoring position.
The 0-11 in the final game of the series, a 3-1 loss, seemed to be the final straw for the team, and veteran Willson Contreras made some seemingly pointed comments. The veteran mentioned that it might be hard for the younger players to get into a rhythm and break out of early season slumps.
When those quotes made it to Marcelo Mayer, he seemed to push back. The second year infielder called blaming the young guys "an excuse," and said they are all pros who know what they need to do to win.
Red Sox media swarmed around the quotes and started to point to a division in the clubhouse. It would've just added insult to injury on an already hard Red Sox season. Luckily for Red Sox fans, Mayer and Contreras dispelled any rumors of a split in the locker room.
Red Sox Willson Contreras and Marcelo Mayer say all is well after conflicting postgame comments
Speaking to the media prior to Boston's May 4 series opener in Detroit, Mayer dispelled any ideas of tension between himself and Contreras.
"I think things just got taken out of context. I didn’t mean to take a shot at anybody, obviously, especially not to Willson," Mayer said. "It was more of, just, we acknowledge as a team that we’re young, but we have high standards and we expect to win with this team that we have. That’s pretty much it. Classic blown out of proportion, Twitter-type things."
FWIW there’s no beef between Willson Contreras and Marcelo Mayer. The quotes from yesterday painted a different picture than what’s going on behind closed doors. They’re very much on the same page.
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) May 4, 2026
Mayer praised Contreras as a teammate and leader in the clubhouse. Contreras also disputed any thought that he was blaming the less tenured players in the lineup.
"What I said was, when you’re young, it’s easy to fall into the trap of the numbers. I’m here to help the guys. And when we lose, we all lose as a team."
Red Sox Nation can exhale now. The last thing the 2026 Sox need is for there to be players fighting against each other, and it was good to see both parties vehemently deny that there was any tension.
The Sox also looked like they may have taken the first step out of the rut they've been in in game one against Detroit. They completed their first comeback of more than two runs this season, and went 3-10 with runners in scoring position. That included an RBI single by Mayer to push across what would end up being the deciding run in the game.
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