Boston Manager Ron Roenicke reaches to take the ball from relief pitcher Heath Hembree after he gave up a three-run home run to Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper during the sixth inning Tuesday at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox led 3-0 and 4-2, but the Phillies rallied for a 13-6 win. Winslow Townson/Associated Press
BOSTON — With one big inning, Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies crushed Boston’s hopes of snapping out of its losing streak.
The Phillies outfielder hit a three-run homer during a seven-run sixth on Tuesday night, and Philadelphia came from behind to beat the Red Sox 13-6 and send them to their ninth consecutive loss.
“You’re playing a really good game for a few innings, 4-5-6 innings, and all of a sudden it gets out of hand in a hurry,” said Red Sox Manager Ron Roenicke, who could empathize with Michael Chavis after he struck out five times. “You’ve got to be able to forget some things. It’s a very humbling game, as everybody knows.”
Rhys Hoskins, Phil Gosselin and Jay Bruce also homered for the Phillies, who fell behind 3-0 and still trailed 4-2 before sending nine batters to the plate with two outs in the sixth – getting seven hits and a walk before Colten Brewer, Boston’s third pitcher in the inning, struck out Bruce to end it.
Blake Parker (1-0) pitched two innings of scoreless relief for Philadelphia, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out three.
Rafael Devers had three hits for Boston, lining a single off the Green Monster in the first and a double off of it in the third. Both times he came around to score, helping the Red Sox go ahead 3-0 – their first lead since Saturday, and the the first time they scored first since Aug. 10.
But Didi Gregorius doubled and scored in the fourth, and Hoskins hit a solo homer in the fifth. The Red Sox made it 4-2 in the bottom half on Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly before falling apart in the sixth.
“We’re not giving up. We’ve just got to come back tomorrow with the same positive mentality that we had today,” said Bogaerts, who was asked to compare this losing streak with the 10-game skid the team had in 2014.
“Losing on a consistent basis 10 in a row, it’s not nice. It’s definitely not nice. but we’ve got to come back tomorrow with the same energy we had today. We started off today on a great note, with positive energy and the game just slipped away,” he said.
Taylor (0-1) came on to start the sixth and hit Gregorius to lead off the inning. Alec Bohm flied out to center field and Bruce struck out looking. Then it went like this: RBI double, RBI single, pitching change (Heath Hembree), stolen base, RBI single, stolen base, walk, homer, double, RBI single, pitching change (Brewer), single, strikeout. And suddenly it was Phillies 9, Red Sox 4.
In all, Taylor was charged with three runs on two hits. Hembree gave up four runs on four hits and a walk without retiring a single batter.
Gosselin, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth, also hit a solo homer in the seventh.
“He’s a spark plug for us,” Harper said. “We call him ‘Barrels’ because the guy doesn’t miss. He goes up there and has professional at-bats, never gets fooled.”
Bruce hit a three-run homer in the eighth to make it 13=5.
NOTES: J.D. Martinez left the game with dehydration, the Red Sox announced in the sixth inning. … CF Jackie Bradley Jr. sat out his third straight game because of a sore left wrist he injured while making a diving catch against the Rays. … C Christian Vazquez came out of Monday’s game with a sore heel and got Tuesday off.
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