Fresh off a badly needed series victory in Atlanta, the Red Sox came into Monday riding renewed momentum as they opened a crucial three-game homestand against the Los Angeles Angels.<\/p>\n
The good vibes lasted all of about five pitches.<\/p>\n
The Angels ambushed Richard Fitts for three home runs in a calamitous six-run first inning, chasing the Red Sox starter from the game after only three outs in what ended up being a 7-6 loss.<\/p>\n
Even with the horrible start the Red Sox still nearly came all the way back, twice drawing to within one run, but the club couldn\u2019t get over the hump. Now the Red Sox have lost seven of their last nine games and are 6-16 in one-run games on the season, accounting for nearly half of the club\u2019s losses overall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey fought it,\u201d Red Sox manager Alex Cora said afterwards. \u201cPut some good at bats in the middle innings and put pressure on them late, but it just didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coming off an abbreviated three-inning outing in his first start back off the injured list last week, the original plan was for Fitts to throw about 75-80 pitches as he worked his way back into form. But the Angels never gave him a chance, as Zach Neto set the tone with a 389-foot bomb to the Green Monster seats on the fifth pitch of the game.<\/p>\n
It only went downhill from there.<\/p>\n
Fitts walked Nolan Schanuel, allowed a single to Taylor Ward and then drew a grounder to third that Abraham Toro couldn\u2019t field cleanly, allowing Schanuel to score and putting two men on with no outs. That brought up Mike Trout, and when Fitts threw the future Hall of Famer a fastball right down the middle, Trout sent it 454 feet into the deepest part of the Monster seats for a three-run homer.<\/p>\n
Jo Adell delivered the exclamation mark two batters later with a solo shot to put the Angels up 6-0.<\/p>\n
Fitts finished the inning but was lifted for the second after recording only three outs on 39 pitches. In doing so he became just the second starter in Red Sox history to allow six runs and three homers in one inning or fewer, joining Oil Can Boyd, who did so on May 23, 1988.<\/p>\n
Cora said postgame that Fitts was having difficulty locating his fastball, and the right-hander said he didn\u2019t execute his off speed pitches either. As a result he frequently fell behind in the count and found himself in situations where the hitter knew a fastball was coming, and on several occasions he left those pitches over the middle and paid for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHorrible,\u201d Fitts said of his performance postgame. \u201cI felt like our team did enough to win tonight outside of me. I feel terrible about it, I put us in a terrible spot, not just for this game but for days to come with our bullpen too. Nobody hates this more than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
The outing also continued a concerning trend for the Red Sox, whose starters have not been able to consistently pitch deep into games. Boston\u2019s starters have now failed to complete five innings in 22 of 62 games, more than a third of the team\u2019s games played to this point.<\/p>\n