MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MAY 27: Ceddanne Rafaela #3 of the Boston Red Sox scores on a wild pitch during the sixth inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 27, 2025. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)Getty Images
Instant reactions from the Red Sox’ 5-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field:
1) For eight innings, the Red Sox bullpen was brilliant, contributing five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit. But with Sox clinging to a 1-0 lead and three outs away from a shutout win in the ninth, Aroldis Chapman was guilty of his first blown save in nine tries this season. In the 10th, the Brewers jumped on Liam Hendriks, with Christian Yelich torching him for a grand slam. It was Yelich’s first career walk-off homer.
Hendriks, who recently asked to pitch in higher-leverage situations, now has a 6.59 ERA in 14 games this season. He has been tagged for eight earned runs on five hits in his last four outings (3 total innings). On Wednesday, with the ghost runner on second in a 1-1 game in the 10th, Hendriks was done in by a single, walk, then one-out grand slam on a slider that hung over the plate against Yelich.
2) Exactly two months into the season, the Red Sox are still struggling mightily with runners in scoring position. The Sox were 1-for-10 in that department, with the worst exampled coming in the top of the 10th. With the automatic runner, an infield single by Abraham Toro gave the Sox runners at the corners and no outs. But they couldn’t produce the run to give them the lead.
3) The Red Sox decided not to push it with Richard Fitts. Fitts threw 38 pitches in his first rehab outing in the minor leagues, and it was thought that he might be permitted to throw 55-60 pitches Tuesday in his accelerated return to the majors. But with just 44 pitches through three, Alex Cora went to his bullpen and summoned Brennan Bernardino to pitch the fourth. Fitts was fine while he was in, allowing two singles, a walk and a hit batsman while fanning two. It’s expected he’ll remain in the rotation, with fellow rookie Hunter Dobbins, for now, heading to the bullpen to provide some length there.
4) Young players can bring energy and enthusiasm to a team, but they can also be somewhat reckless. In the fifth inning, Marcelo Mayer led off with a double. But when Trevor Story hit a fly ball to relatively shallow right field, Mayer decided to break for third and was promptly thrown out easily by Brewers right fielder — and Lexington, Mass. native — Sal Frelick.
5) Ceddanne Rafaela has been superb in center field and came into the game with 11 defensive runs saved. But he committed what could have been a costly mistake in the sixth. Leadoff hitter Jackson Chourio hit a liner to center and rather than try to make a diving catch, Rafaela allowed the ball to drop in front of him. But that ball then took a funny bounce on the turf and skipped by him. Wilyer Abreu, alertly backing up the play, chased it down and limited Chourio to a double. Justin Wilson pitched around the miscue and kept Chourio at third.
6) Baserunning miscue aside, Mayer continues to show he belongs. In four trips, he reached base three times (walk, double and single). The two-hit game was his second in four games since his promotion to the big league roster Saturday.
7) Jarren Duran has been trending up offensively in recent weeks, with multiple-hit games in nine of his last 16 games. But Tuesday represented one of his roughest games at the plate in some time, with a flyout and four strikeouts in an 0-for-5 performance. Particularly with Alex Bregman lost for some time, the Sox need the instant offense that Duran can provide at the top of the lineup.
8) One-run games have not been kind to the Red Sox, who entered Tuesday’s game with an MLB-worst 6-14 record in such games. Boston was a few outs away from a 1-0 victory until Chapman blew the save in the ninth. The Sox had previously blanked Tampa Bay by the same 1-0 score back on April 16.
9) The three-game series concludes Wednesday afternoon at 1:10 Eastern, with the Red Sox sending RHP Brayan Bello (2-1, 4.08 to the mound to face RHP Freddy Peralta (5-3, 2.55).
