Red Sox takeaways: Fenway failures, Willson Contreras frustrated, roster issues persist

BOSTON — The dismal, dreary weather on Sunday proved a fitting backdrop for the Boston Red Sox, whose season continues to spiral into bleak terrain. With another late rally stalled in the ninth inning, the Red Sox were swept by the scuffling Minnesota Twins in a 6-5 loss. For as good as the Red Sox have played on the road this month with a 7-2 record in Detroit, Atlanta and Kansas City, they simply cannot get out of their own way at Fenway Park. Their 8-17 home record is the worst in baseball. “I’m not sure, I’m not sure,” said starter Sonny Gray, staring blankly when asked why the team has struggled to build momentum. Gray pitched just four innings, allowing three runs on six hits, admitting the weather was “brutal” on Sunday before noting everyone had to play in the same conditions. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, whose pinch-hit RBI double in the ninth pulled the Red Sox within one, didn’t have any answers for the team’s inability to string together wins either. “I wish I knew,” he said. “I think everybody in here is trying to figure that out. We know we have to be better.” Aside from a lack of consistent offense, part of the problem has been a series of mental mistakes. With an already thin margin for error, every mistake is magnified. With two on and one out in the ninth, Kiner-Falefa hit a high fly ball toward the wall in left-center that he thought cleared the Green Monster for a walk-off, three-run homer. It did not. One run scored, but had he been running harder out of the box, he might have reached third with the throw coming home. Third-base coach Chad Epperson made an aggressive send in the slick conditions as Carlos Narváez was tagged out at home. “I’m lucky the guy didn’t throw the ball to second base, probably would have been out,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So next time, that won’t happen. But I put a good swing on the ball and I thought I got it.” With Kiner-Falefa still on second, reliever Yoendrys Gómez balked, moving Kiner-Falefa to third. A balk with him on third would have scored the tying run. Jarren Duran was hit by a pitch, but Ceddanne Rafaela flied out to end it as the missed opportunities continued to plague the Red Sox. “It’s tough, just because you feel like obviously you’re in position to win a couple of them,” interim manager Chad Tracy said of the weekend series. “You’re battling back on the others and you feel like you’re right there in the ninth, and it ends up being a sweep. Obviously, we were riding high coming in (after the sweep in Kansas City). They grinded, I give him credit, they didn’t quit. But yeah, it’s tough.” With nearly one-third of the season in the books, the Red Sox have just one series win at home, where they continue to flounder. “At some point we need to change things up or just, I don’t know, we gotta do something,” Kiner-Falefa said. “What we’re doing right now is not good enough.” Willson Contreras plays with emotion. Earlier in the year, after getting hit for the 24th time in his career by the Milwaukee Brewers, he said he’d “take action” if they hit him again. On Saturday, he was in the middle of a brief benches-clearing situation after getting tagged out by Twins catcher Victor Caratini on a play at the plate. Tensions began in the fourth inning when Contreras tried to beat out a throw on a grounder to deep third and slid head-first into first base, tripping up first baseman Kody Clemens. He was safe. Then Rafaela doubled, driving in one run as Contreras tried to score the tying run. He had his head down as he approached third and didn’t see a late stop sign from Epperson. As he headed home, he slowed up but remained standing as he ran through home plate and was tagged out. Caratini got up and followed him, putting a hand on his chest as both benches cleared, though they did nothing more than stand around once on the field. Contreras said Caratini thought he should have slid. Contreras thought that if he’d slid, he would have come in harder on Caratini. “When I was getting to home plate and saw that I was going to be out, I tried to stop myself, but at the end of the day, if I dive, I might hit him harder,” he told reporters. “He saw he was out, and he kind of started to slow up and hit Caratini,” Tracy said. “I don’t think it was a big deal.” Nevertheless, Contreras was frustrated by some of the questions after the game on Saturday. None of it boiled over to Sunday, even as Contreras hit a two-run homer in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3. But if the team continues to struggle, Contreras’ fiery nature might be on display again soon. With the return of reliever Danny Coulombe from the injured list on Sunday, the Red Sox optioned lefty Tyler Samaniego to Triple-A Worcester. Samaniego had been one of the team’s best relievers since his debut last month, posting a 1.04 ERA in 18 appearances. On the flip side, Rule 5 draftee Ryan Watson has posted a 5.28 ERA in 19 appearances. But because the Red Sox cannot option Watson, who needs to remain on the active roster or be sent back to his original team (the Athletics), the Red Sox sent down the better reliever in Samaniego. “A lot of lefties in the bullpen and we have an optionable lefty,” Tracy explained. “That’s part of the equation.” It’s also part of the problem. Though Watson has been used in mop-up situations and helped the bullpen in that way, sending down a stronger reliever in Samaniego just to keep Watson on the roster makes the bullpen weaker. Optionable players are always a part of roster maneuvering for front offices, but it also speaks to the way the team was built that Samaniego had to be the odd man out after managing high-leverage innings well. Similarly, earlier in the weekend, the team sought to add another arm to the bullpen and called up hard-throwing reliever Tyron Guerrero. They optioned Zack Kelly, who has mostly been solid this season after ineffectiveness in prior years. The roster issues are nothing new for the Red Sox, as they’ve juggled an awkward outfield mix before Roman Anthony went on the IL. They will have to hop back on that outfield carousel when he returns. No roster is perfect, but the Red Sox seem to have more issues than most and their record reflects that.