Garrett Whitlock is back on the IL. Curtis Mead is still banged up. The Red Sox just lost to the last-place Pirates, 8-4.
They’re 65-57 now.
Two weeks ago we flagged the deadline test. It’s failing. Right now, in real time.
This team went 27-3 over its best 30-game stretch in franchise history. Since then, six losses in seven games. They’ve scored four runs or fewer in every single one of those losses, per BOSSportsGordo’s breakdown.
That’s a lineup that stopped hitting the moment the calendar flipped. Not bad luck.
Whitlock landed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to Aug 10, with elbow inflammation that had been building for weeks. He was already unavailable Aug 12 before it became official. A guy running a 2.05 ERA. Gone.
Jake Bennett was supposed to help cover the gap. Instead his ERA has ballooned from 1.17 over a six-start run to 5.57 in his last five. He lasted four innings against Pittsburgh. Season low.
Payton Tolle just joined Cy Young and Pedro Martinez as the only Red Sox pitchers with 14-plus innings, 18-plus strikeouts and four or fewer hits allowed across a two-start stretch. Didn’t matter.
Craig Breslow added pieces at the deadline and skipped a starter. Tyler Milliken already connected that dot days before this game:
6 losses in 7 games for the Red Sox. Rough.
If you were worried about Jake Bennett hitting a wall and Breslow not acquiring a starter at the deadline, this is the game to point to. Lots of innings continuing to get thrown on the bullpen.
Defense has been a headache lately.… pic.twitter.com/OoZhKLVzBS
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) August 15, 2026
Here’s Ian Browne putting the whole collapse in one tweet:
Immediately following the best 30-game stretch in team history (27-3), the 65-57 Red Sox have lost 6 of last 7, losing 8-4 to Bucs tonight. Bennett looked a bit flat, going season-low of four innings. After a 1.17 ERA in a 6-start run, Bennett has a 5.57 ERA in his last five.
— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) August 15, 2026
Chad Tracy says the team is “just going to keep grinding.” Fine. But grinding isn’t a plan, it’s a shrug. Tracy’s own 13-game hot streak made the case for the permanent job two weeks ago. His roster just un-made half that argument for him.
Nobody’s saying the season’s over. They’re still 40 games from proving this was a blip.
Just stop calling it bad luck. The front office had a shot at real pitching depth in July. They bought a bench instead.
