ST. LOUIS — Instant reactions as the Red Sox (4-9) offense goes quiet again in a 3-2 loss to the Cardinals to open a two-city road trip:
1) The Red Sox offense was likely salivating ahead of first pitch with former teammate Dustin May on the mound. May, after signing a $12.5 million deal with St. Louis over the winter, had allowed 13 earned runs and 17 hits in 7 ⅓ innings, good for a 15.95 ERA in two starts.
But without Roman Anthony, Boston’s punchless offense couldn’t solve May, who carved up the lineup for six innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits while striking out four on an efficient 75 pitches before Oli Marmol’s early hook.
2) Despite the struggles against May, the most disappointing offensive sequence of the game for the Red Sox took place in the eighth. Trailing 3-2, Boston looked to be in business when Ceddanne Rafaela hit a bloop double to lead off the inning, then took third on a Jarren Duran flyout (and Caleb Durbin was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners). Lefty reliever JoJo Romero bounced back to freeze Masataka Yoshida on a 3-2 sinker, then get Willson Contreras to fly out and strand the tying run on third.
In all, the Red Sox managed just five hits (including four singles) and were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position. There were seven strikeouts and no walks. In the ninth, closer Riley O’Brien needed just eight pitches to retire the three batters he faced in an inning emblematic of a night-long offensive approach.
3) With Justin Slaten out, someone is going to get more high-leverage opportunities as a bridge to Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman. Zack Kelly is a prime candidate for that role but did not help his candidacy for more opportunities Friday.
Kelly relieved Connelly Early with one out in the fifth and allowed a single to Jordan Walker before walking Ramón Urías. Thomas Saggese then tied the game with an RBI single to left and José Fermín put St. Louis up with a sacrifice fly. Kelly took the loss.
4) For the second straight outing, Early was not ineffective, but very inefficient. Six days after needing 88 pitches to get through four innings against San Diego, the lefty labored through 4 ⅓ frames and was pulled at 86 pitches. Early has given the Red Sox 13 ⅔ innings through three starts this season. With questions about the middle relief group, that’s simply not enough.
The lefty did constantly work out of trouble and avoided damage Friday. In the second, he allowed a single, double and two walks yet allowed just one run. In four straight innings, Early got a clutch strikeout to end the inning with at least one man on base. Twice, Iván Herrera was the victim.
5) The Sox took advantage of a bad decision by the Cardinals to plate the go-ahead run in the fourth. After Trevor Story tied the game, 1-1, with a fielder’s choice (and throwing error) on a grounder to shortstop, Marcelo Mayer singled to move Story to third. With Carlos Narváez batting, Mayer broke for second and catcher Pedro Páges popped up to throw down to second. Story reacted by breaking home and was safe with a steal of home (Mayer was also safe).
It was the first Red Sox steal of home since Duran did it (on a straight steal) in Cleveland last April. For Story, it was his first steal of home (and his first stolen base of 2026).
6) In his return to St. Louis, where he spent the last three seasons, first baseman Contreras received a nice ovation from a sparse crowd (27,125) and tipped his helmet in response. The veteran had some standout defensive plays but was not a factor offensively, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the loss.
7) Duran’s tools were on display, even if he didn’t show up in the box score. The left fielder smoked a 114.7 mph grounder to second base in the third and was thrown out easily by JJ Wetherholt, then had one of his better throws in recent memory on the attempt to gun down Walker on the Saggese game-tying single.
8) Anthony never entered the game despite some opportunities with runners in scoring position late. It seems like the Red Sox could have used his bat at some point.
9) The Red Sox will now face an uphill battle to win their second series of 2026. Unless they win the next two games, the Sox will have dropped four of five series to begin the year.
Boston is 1-4 in one-run games so far. For the second straight season, the Red Sox are not winning close games early in the year.
10) Prized free-agent acquisition Ranger Suárez (0-1, 8.64 ERA) will look to put together his first good start in a Red Sox uniform on Saturday night in the middle game of the series. The Cardinals will send right-hander Kyle Leahy (1-1, 5.40 ERA) to the hill. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. ET with the game airing nationally on FOX.
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