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Boston Red Sox: Jackie Bradley Jr., Red Sox run into another loss

By Tarringo Basile-vaughan

BOSTON, MA - APRIL 25: Jackie Bradley Jr. #19 of the Boston Red Sox grounds out to first during a game against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning at Fenway Park on April 25, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox won 7-3. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - APRIL 25: Jackie Bradley Jr. #19 of the Boston Red Sox grounds out to first during a game against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning at Fenway Park on April 25, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Red Sox won 7-3. (Photo by Rich Gagnon/Getty Images) /
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Jackie Bradley Jr’s baserunning blunder in the bottom of the 11th came back to haunt the Boston Red Sox in another frustrating loss in 2019.

The Boston Red Sox watched a typical 2018 kind of victory turn into a typical 2019 loss in an up-and-down season that continues to trend following the All-Star break.

In the 7-4 12- inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the rubber match of the World Series rematch, the Red Sox came back in classic fashion just to see a baserunning blunder in the bottom of 11th lead to another frustrating loss.

It was a typical kind of loss for a team trying to regain that World Series winning magic from a season ago.  David Price struggled in the early innings that led the team to climb back from a 3-0 deficit to eventually tie the game at 4-4 due to back-to-back homers off the bats of J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.

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All was starting to go the Red Sox way Sunday night at Fenway Park until one of their best and most reliable baserunners got a little too aggressive.  After leading off the 11th inning with a double, Jackie Bradley Jr. ran into an out at third base when Marco Hernandez grounded out to shortstop Corey Seager.

With the play right in front of him, Bradley Jr. knew staying at second base was baserunning 101, but tried to put his team in a better spot to win the game.

"“First of all, I messed up,” Bradley said following the game, via MLB.com.  “but with that being said, my thought process was he was behind me and jockeying me to make sure I stayed close to the base.  With the lefty in Marco being up, I thought they were going to be shifted a little bit more toward the middle.“Initially, I thought it was the right read.  Once I went back and looked at the replay and saw Corey, he shuffled over more towards the hole more than I thought he would…it was a good play by them.  It was a tough play for me to read.  Instinctually, I just took off, being aggressive to get to third.”"

It was the kind of baserunning mistake the team got away with in 2018.  This season, however, it seems like any little mistake comes back to haunt this team.  As it turns out, the Red Sox ended up loading the bases in that same inning with the right man at the plate in J.D. Martinez.  He grounded out to end the inning and the Dodgers ended up taking advantage in the top of the 12th with three runs to take the game.

At this point in the season, it is how the Boston Red Sox will bounce back after another frustrating loss.  As been the case all season long, Jackie Bradley Jr. and the defending World Series champions are saying all the right things and certainly believe in themselves.  However, the talk and confidence is not translating on the field on a consistent basis.

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The positive for Red Sox fans is they really have yet to put it all together.  The negative is that they are running out of time.  Perhaps a big MLB Trade Deadline move is necessary to shake things up and give the team the kind of jolt that will turn luck back on their side.

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