Red Sox

Red Sox are in last place in the AL East standings after loss to Guardians

Josh Winckowski struggled against the Guardians in an 8-3 loss.

By Tom Westerholm

July 27, 2022

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Prior to the Red Sox’s loss to the Guardians on Tuesday, when they were still fourth in the AL East standings, Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom spoke to NESN’s Tom Caron about the looming trade deadline.

“I think everybody kind of moved between what happened before the break and what happened this weekend and wrote off this group,” Bloom said. “We’re not. We’re trying to make the postseason. So, whatever that means — we’re going to explore a lot of stuff. Some of them might be things people expect, some of them might not be. But we want to get this group into the postseason.”

Bloom’s optimism was perhaps premature. The Red Sox moved one step further from the postseason, falling to the Guardians 8-3. Josh Winckowski fell behind 1-0 in the first inning en route to allowing six hits, two homers and five runs, which set the stage for a disappointing outing.

With the loss, the Red Sox slid down to 49-49. The Orioles, meanwhile, beat the Rays 5-3. In the hyper-competitive AL East, the Red Sox are now in last place at .500 by half a game. The Yankees still hold a commanding 11.5-game lead over the second-place Blue Jays as well as a 13.5-game lead over the Rays, a 16.5-game lead over the Orioles and a 17-game lead over the Red Sox.

On Tuesday, the Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak with a well-played 3-1 win over the Guardians. Afterward, Alex Cora said he hoped it was a turning point.

“Hopefully this is the beginning of something good,” Cora said. “It’s a W. It’s a big, big W.”

The Red Sox — who are now 6-16 in July and 2-10 in their last 12 — will have another chance to start something good at 7:10 p.m. on Wednesday against the Guardians. The MLB trade deadline is Aug. 2.