Red Sox 4, Dodgers 7: The loss that should have been a win

Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty ImagesThat’s about as frustrating as a loss can get. The Red Sox and Dodgers both got off to hot starts in the first inning on Sunday night in the rubber match of this three-game set. The starting pitchers settled in as the game went on, but Boston was trailing 4-2 heading into the eight. Back-to-back homers from Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez tied it up, but then the offense failed to cash in on multiple prime scoring chances over the next few innings. The bullpen did its job pretty much all night, but then Hector Velázquez came in and gave up the lead (and then some) in the twelfth. He was awful in this outing and deserves criticism for that, but if you’re looking to dole out blame don’t forget about this offense squandering multiple chances and making some really bad, basic mistakes.

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