Red Sox fall in extras as Orioles complete series sweep at Fenway Park with 10th-inning surge - The Boston Globe (2024)

The Sox were swept in the three-games series as the result of the 9-4 loss. Campbell conceded a combined eight runs over the last two games.

“I just didn’t do my job,” Campbell said. “I didn’t give my team a chance to win in extra innings. I left too many pitches over the plate.”

The Campbell outings played a part in the three-game broom job at the hands of the Orioles.

But what played an even louder tune was the Sox’ horrific defense.

The Red Sox rank No. 1 in the majors with 16 unearned runs allowed, and the eighth inning was another example of just how bad their infield defense is without injured shortstop Trevor Story, who is scheduled for season-ending shoulder surgery Friday.

There was one out in the eighth with a runner on first base and the Red Sox leading, 2-1, when reliever Joely Rodriguez induced what should have been an inning-ending double play. Ceddane Rafaeala, moved to second base from center field for defensive purposes, initiated the play and fed shortstop David Hamilton, who came across the bag and made an on-the-run throw to Triston Casas at first for the final out of the frame — or so the Sox thought.

The Orioles challenged the play at second base, arguing that Hamilton missed the bag and that Jackson Holliday, initially ruled out, was safe. The call was overturned.

Manager Alex Cora then summoned Greg Weissert from the bullpen and on the very first pitch of his outing, Anthony Santander launched a two-run homer to right field that gave Baltimore a 3-2 lead.

“I thought Rafaela was pretty close to it so I just assumed that he would get there himself,” said Hamilton. “But I mean, that’s wrong of me to assume that. I mean, I [have to] be there and be ready to turn the double play. I’m not sure what else to say.”

In translation: Hamilton thought Rafaela was close enough to step on second and fire to first. But when Rafaela decided to go for a flip, Hamilton had to rush to get to the bag, which led to him missing it.

Yet this isn’t all on Hamilton either. Go back to the beginning of the inning and you’ll see a trickle-down effect.

Holliday hit a grounder to Pablo Reyes, filling in for the injured Rafael Devers (shoulder), at third. But Reyes botched the play, leading to Holliday reaching base. If Reyes converts that first out, the Hamilton play doesn’t happen.

“The routine plays we have to turn into outs,” Cora said. “That’s one that for me, as a manager, I always pay attention to. We can talk about range or your first step, arm strength, and all that, but out conversion at this level is a must.”

The defensive lapses overshadowed a solid outing from Garrett Whitlock, who yielded just a run on a solo blast from Cowser in the fifth inning. The fifth required the righthander to throw 26 of his 85 pitches and included a Jordan Westburg walk following Cowser’s homer, but Whitlock escaped further harm when he collected back-to-back strikeouts and a fly out to end his final frame.

Whitlock owns a 1.26 ERA in 14⅓ innings pitched this season across three starts.

“We made some adjustments in the bullpen this week,” Whitlock said. “So I was really happy with the changeup, and really happy with the cutter, honestly.”

But the Red Sox give away outs with an infield defense that’s seemingly incapable at the big-league level. Even though Whitlock had a quality outing, navigating the remaining four frames with this defense could be likened to a temporal explosive — and the Sox bombed.

So, even though the Red Sox tagged Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez for two runs behind three doubles in the first inning, and Wong brought his team back to tie it in the eighth, the defensive miscues were too much to overcome, especially against the Orioles.

“We have been missing a lot of routine plays the last five or six games and we’ve been paying the price,” Cora said.

Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him @byJulianMack.