Bookended by pitching implosions, Red Sox drop Diamondbacks series opener

It took eight innings for the Red Sox offense to show signs of life, and about five minutes for Diamondbacks to stamp out every rally spark and force Alex Cora to wait at least one more day for his 600th managerial victory.Bookended by Payton Tolles five-run start and Justin Slatens four-run implosion, Friday night marked Bostons second frustratingly unforgettable loss in a row, a 10-5 mess in Arizona.Even though the Red Sox had Thursday off after Wednesdays unpleasant bullpen loss at Fenway the night before, Tolles short start was suboptimal.

The lefty prospect lasted just three innings in his second career start, and needed 77 pitches to slog through them.

He yielded five earned runs on five hits including a pair of homers and walked four.

He struck out only two.

His fastball couldnt induce the DBacks to swing-and-miss; they whiffed just three times.Tolle faced 17 batters.

Nine forced him to throw at least five pitches.

The Sox southpaws night began with a first-pitch out, Ketel Marte flying out to left.

Then, No.

2 hitter Geraldo Perdomo took him deep on the ninth pitch for an immediate 1-0 lead.

Arizona scored again in the second, on a wild pitch.

Moments later, Marte worked a walk on the 13th pitch of his at-bat, already Tolles 50th of the game.Tolle, who faced only righties in his debut the week before, managed to strike out lefty Corbin Carroll to begin the third, but followed with back-to-back walks for Gabriel Moreno and Blaze Alexander.

Ildemaro Vargas third home run of the year was the dagger.We hate failing, but if you dont fail, youre not going to learn anything, Tolle told reporters postgame.

I gotta pull something out of it.

I cant just go back to the hotel room and sit there and feel sorry for myself.No offenseIn just two games since Roman Anthonys injury, the Red Sox offense looks largely lost.

They scored just once in Wednesdays 8-1 loss, and floundered through most of Friday.Eduardo Rodriguez gave his former team chances in Fridays early innings, but the only damage came on a game-tying RBI triple by Nathaniel Lowe, whose 410-foot knock would have been a home run in 26 of 30 major league ballparks.After the Diamondbacks retook the lead with another run in the second, the Red Sox had runners on first and second with two outs when Romy Gonzalez singled to center.

Despite catcher Carlos Narvaezs ongoing knee issue, third base coach Kyle Hudson made the decision to send him all the way home from second base.

Alexander gunned from the outfield to Moreno at the dish, and Narvaez was out to end the inning.Boston Red Sox's Carlos Narvaez, left, is tagged out by Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno at home plate during the third inning of a baseball game Friday, Sept.

5, 2025, in Phoenix.

(AP Photo/Ross D.

Franklin)Bostons failure to capitalize on their limited opportunities coupled with a comfortable lead after his Diamondbacks teammates extended their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the third seemed to fuel the veteran lefty.

ERod settled in and finished his night with back-to-back 1-2-3 fifth and sixth innings.

Overall, he yielded one earned run on four hits, walked two and struck out four.

Boston went 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base against him.Overall the Red Sox collected eight hits, including two apiece for Gonzalez and Alex Bregman, and went 4 for 9 RISP with five men left on base.

Ceddanne Rafaela was the third out three times in the first seven innings, while Jarren Duran marked his 29th birthday with an 0 for 4 performance in which he walked, scored a run, and ground out to end the game.Diamondbacks pitching had retired 11 Boston batters in a row when Narvaez led off the eighth with his 24th double.The rookie catcher became the first of four consecutive men who reached against Bryce Jarvis, who then walked Jarren Duran, gave up a two-run double to Bregman, and a single to Trevor Story before Torrey Lovullo made a pitching change.Story, who on Aug.

26 broke the American League record by going 23 for 23 in stolen base attempts, immediately put DBacks lefty Andrew Saalfrank off-balance by extending his perfect mark to 26 for 26.

(Story is one steal away from tying his career-high set in 18.)Gonzalezs sacrifice fly made it a two-run game.

Rob Refsnyders RBI double brought Boston within one.The momentum lasted all of five minutes.

As pinch-runner David Hamilton watched from second base, Saalfrank went from one out to three by getting Lowe to fly out and striking out Nate Eaton.Taking over for Chris Murphy, who managed to hold the Diamondbacks to one run in three innings despite walking three men, Slaten promptly erased the lineups progress.Like Tolle, Slatens night began with a first-pitch out and devolved from there.

Tyler Locklear singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and to third on Jorge Barrosas single.

Slaten got Marte swinging, and for a moment it seemed he might evoke Houdini.Instead, Perdomos single brought Locklear home.The final nail in the coffin was hammered by Carroll, who sent a first-pitch 84 mph curveball from Slaten 375 feet to right field for a three-run homer.After that, Taylor Rashi got the Red Sox to go 1-2-3 for the fifth and final time.Facts and figuresThe Red Sox are 78-64.

They are 25-44 when opponents score first.This is Bostons last interleague series of the season; they are (25-20) against the National League.The Blue Jays beat the Yankees 7-1 Friday night, but with a loss of their own, the Red Sox are now below both teams in the division standings: 4.5 games out of first and a half-game back from New York..

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