Walker Buehler's early exit only added more stress to a stressful situation
Buehler's body language had a much different message on Friday night and no translation was needed. It screamed, 'Get me off this mound.'
In his first game against the Yankees as a member of the Red Sox, Buehler had the worst start of his career. He allowed seven runs, five earned, over two innings in what turned into a 9-6 loss.
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It was the first time in 132 career starts that Buehler pitched only two innings. He's now 4-4 with a 5.18 earned run average in 10 starts for the Sox after agreeing to a one-year, $21.05 million contract.
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'This organization put a lot of faith in me this offseason and I've been [expletive] embarrassing for us. So it's tough,' Buehler said.
There's been a lot of that going around for the Sox.
Brayan Bello was signed to a six-year, $55 million extension before the 2024 season has a 4.36 ERA in 39 starts since. He has completed five innings four times in nine starts this season.
Breslow awarded Lucas Giolito a two-year, $37 million deal after his poor 2023 season. Giolito missed last season after having elbow surgery and has a 6.42 ERA over seven starts this season.
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Tanner Houck, an All-Star last season, had an 8.04 ERA over nine starts before going on the injured list with a severe case of not being able to get outs. At least he's only getting paid $3.95 million.
The Red Sox have a true No. 1 starter in Garrett Crochet and a collection of No. 4 starters — if that — after him. It's why they are 30-35 and have lost 9 of their last 12 games.
They now trail the Yankees by 10½ games in the American League East and this seems sure to be the seventh consecutive season without a division title after winning three in a row under Dave Dombrowski.
Dombrowski was fired in 2019 because of philosophical differences. His philosophy was he liked winning.
What the team's philosophy has been since then isn't really clear.
That the Red Sox managed to make a game of it by scoring six runs is incidental. They can't win with this rotation.
They have allowed 16 runs in the first inning of the last five games. The bullpen, meanwhile, has pitched 24 1/3 innings over the last four games.
'It's hard to play this way,' manager Alex Cora said.
Impossible, really.
'We just got to get better, right? We have to pitch. We trust these guys,' said Cora, who has had to work hard to stay positive.
Buehler beat himself up talking to reporters. To his credit, he hasn't ducked from his performance. Buehler said he's throwing more sliders and sinkers than he's used to and doesn't have full conviction in how he's attacking hitters.
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'Good teams will make you pay for that,' Buehler said.
The Yankees, who have won 13 of 17, are very good and they did just that.
Crochet pitches on Saturday. It'll be his first start against the Yankees as a member of the Red Sox and he needs to work deep in the game to protect the bullpen.
As Cora said, it's a hard way to play.
Peter Abraham can be reached at
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