The swirling, 15-mile-per-hour gusts at first pitch weren’t the only winds Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
In the continuation of an increasingly alarming pattern, the Red Sox once again contributed their own displacement of air, achieving an ignominious new landmark for 2025 by striking out 16 times — 10 against starter Tylor Megill, six against the bullpen — in their 5-1 loss to the Mets.
The contest marked the 26th time this year that the Sox have struck out at least 10 times, and dropped the team to 7-19 in those affairs. Six Red Sox struck out multiple times, headlined by Alex Bregman, who fanned four times for the first time in his career.
“A lot of strikeouts,” rued Sox manager Alex Cora. “It’s just a tough one offensively for us.”
It wasn’t an isolated contest. The Sox have scored two runs or fewer seven times in May, contributing to an 8-11 record in the month.
Cora has left Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, and Alex Bregman as fixtures atop the order, but has spent the month conducting trial-and-error experiments with the rest of his lineup.
Wilyer Abreu and Kristian Campbell have cycled through the cleanup spot to little effect, with the Sox getting a .128/.148/.256 line from the fourth spot in the order. Trevor Story (.167/.203/.212 with 24 strikeouts and two walks in May) has moved from fifth to sixth to seventh in the batting order this month.
“We’ve been [moving guys in the lineup] throughout the month, moving guys around, trying to find the perfect match,” said Cora. “We’re going to continue to do that.
“We’ve got to keep moving people around. Is it tempting to move [Carlos Narváez, hitting .386/.460/.591 in May] up [to cleanup]? Yes, but no. . . You’ve just got to keep working, keep getting better, be more consistent and do the little things so big things happen.”
Any chance that the team’s inconsistent offense could result in a near-term callup for top prospects Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer?
“I understand where you’re coming from, but we are where we’re at,” Cora said about potential callups. “We’ve got some guys here that are playing great baseball. We understand that at one point, I do believe [Anthony and Mayer] are going to be part of this, but as of right now, we haven’t made that decision.”
The Breakfast Club
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor has known Red Sox manager Alex Cora since he was a Little League player in Puerto Rico.
In 2017, when Cora assembled Puerto Rico’s team for the World Baseball Classic, Lindor was one of his first choices.
“Somebody I look to and admire a lot and have a lot of respect for,” Lindor said. “He’s a great manager and one of the smartest guys around.”
But business is business, so when Cora came out of the dugout to argue with the umpires in the third inning of Tuesday’s game, Lindor encouraged them to throw his friend out of the game.
“It’s just part of the game,” Lindor said. “As a competitor I want all the advantages possible.”
With Lindor on second base motioning for an ejection, home plate umpire Mike Estabrook tossed Walker Buehler and then Cora. But the Red Sox went on to win the game, 2-0.
Cora and Lindor met for breakfast on Wednesday.
“We talked about it,” Lindor said. “It was funny.”
Cora said he talked to Michael Hill, MLB senior vice president of on-field operations, about his ejection, and said there would be no suspension from the ejection.
Downpour on tap?
Torrential rains are in the forecast throughout the day on Thursday. Cora said he didn’t have any information about whether the scheduled Red Sox-Orioles game will be played, but acknowledged that there would “probably” be some benefit to the Sox having a chance to reset their taxed bullpen with a day off in the middle of a stretch of scheduled games on 13 straight days.
He also lamented the late-May weather that brought three straight games of 50-something-degree first pitches against the Mets.
“It’s May 21, man,” said Cora. “Somebody said, ‘Ah, this is the Northeast.’ Bro, I’ve been here half my life almost. It’s not this.”
Setback for Gonzalez
Infielder Romy Gonzalez (quad contusion) suffered a setback in his rehab when he started running, a development that will prolong his injured list stint. “He’s not bouncing back the way we wanted,” said Cora. “It’s going to take longer than expected.” . . . Masataka Yoshida was scheduled to resume a throwing progression at 60 feet on Wednesday . . . Richard Fitts is scheduled to make a minor league rehab start on Thursday, weather permitting. The outing was originally scheduled for Triple-A Worcester, but the WooSox game has already been canceled. Fitts hopes to pitch in Double-A Portland. . . Righthander Noah Song, who pitched two scoreless innings and struck out four for the rookie-level FCL Red Sox on Tuesday, will make his next outing at a full-season affiliate.
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