“We were like, we’re good coverage unless something bad happens. And it happened,” said manager Alex Cora.
Starter James Paxton dropped to his knees after throwing just five pitches and collecting two outs. Paxton, in his attempt to cover first base on a Yordan Alvarez grounder, grabbed at his right leg just beyond the mound, suffering what would be deemed a calf strain.
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“Yeah, it hurts,” said Paxton. “I was feeling really good. I was really looking forward to helping this team go where they wanted to go. Hopefully, I can come back here at some point toward the end. So, we don’t know what the severity is. So we’ll see. Yeah, it hurts.”
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The Sox’ starting staff is hurting, too, posting the fifth-worst ERA in baseball since the break at 5.63. During that period, their 65 earned runs are the third most allowed, while the 28 home runs — including 13 in four starts by Kutter Crawford — are the most.
Paxton, a deadline acquisition, was supposed to be the veteran who was finally healthy and could eat innings. Instead, the remainder of his season is in question and the Sox are already reeling in that department beyond production. Cooper Criswell is on the seven-day COVID-injured list and can’t return until Wednesday.
Nick Pivetta was recently pushed back because of general arm fatigue. Pivetta has improved, according to Cora, and will start the series opener against Baltimore Thursday. That positive development, however, doesn’t diminish the difficulties the Sox face in managing their rotation while also providing rest for the bullpen as the club tries its best to stay in a postseason hunt that has been put on life support.
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“Honestly, we’re going to sit down now and there’s going to be tough decisions coming up because we have to reset this [bullpen],” said Cora. “We have to. Between [skipping] Nick and Cooper being sick, we extended [Josh Winckowski] and [Brad] Keller yesterday. So, we’ll see where we are at. We’re going to meet right after this and go over this.”
The contest on the field matched the overall day for the Red Sox.
Lucas Sims took over for Paxton and made it through two innings mostly unscathed. With two on and two outs in the third, however, Cora summoned Brennan Bernardino from the bullpen for the lefty-on-lefty matchup against Yordan Alvarez. Bernardino plunked Alvarez to load the bases and relinquished the first run via a wild pitch. It only got worse for Bernardino, who was forced to toss a career-high 39 pitches with the Sox bullpen already on fumes.
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Bernardino yielded back-to-back singles before Alex Bregman launched a 440-foot shot to Lansdowne Street, Bregman’s longest homer of his career. Alvarez, who hit two homers Saturday, added another Sunday, giving the Astros back-to-back four-baggers when he clipped Bernardino for a solo shot to center.
“‘I’m just not making pitches and some of the pitches I did make have been hit,” said Bernardino, who was optioned to Triple A Worcester after his outing. “It’s just not going my way right now.”
Cora went back to his bullpen with his club down, 5-0, electing to go with Luis García. The Astros pounded García for five runs, highlighted by a Jeremy Peña two-run shot in the sixth. Since being acquired at the deadline with hopes of strengthening the bullpen, García has posted a 12.00 ERA over six innings and surrendered two home runs.
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The Sox scored two runs against Houston starter Hunter Brown in the sixth inning. Brown, who pitched 5⅓ innings and struck out nine, was otherwise dominant.
By the end, Red Sox first baseman Dom Smith was on the hill, pitching a scoreless ninth.
The Red Sox (61-55) are three games out of the final American League wild-card spot. The club has been swept four times this season, with the last broomstick coming against the Dodgers out of the break. This marks the first time the team has been swept at home since April against the Orioles, a team that could potentially bury the Sox in the standings with their upcoming four-game series.
“Let’s not make it bigger than what it is,” said Cora. “We lost three games.”
Fair point.
Because the Sox have bigger issues to address.
Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him @byJulianMack.
