The Boston Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds met on Friday night at Great American Ball Park for the first of three games this weekend and Alex Cora’s team suffered a 5-2 loss.
Boston’s hitters, who had been playing well over the last month, went quiet as they struggled to read Cincinnati’s pitchers. They managed just six hits and their only two runs came on solo home runs by Jarren Duran (2-for-4) and Connor Wong (2-for-4) in the first three innings. They also struck out 14 times.
The Red Sox pitchers weren’t bad either. Starting pitcher Kutter Crawford allowed three earned runs in the first three innings, all solo home runs. He allowed five runs overall, but two of those came in the seventh inning, in which Boston made three errors, including a flip by reliever Cam Booser that flew over catcher Connor Wong’s head at the plate, allowing both runs.
Brad Keller also served as a relief pitcher and threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and one walk.
This loss drops Boston to 40-36 on the season and 22-16 away from Fenway Park. It also ends their five-game winning streak, preventing them from winning six games in a row for the first time this season.
The Red Sox and Reds meet for the middle game of the series on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. ET.
