3 Boston Red Sox to blame for embarrassing sweep at Cardinals' hands

3 Boston Red Sox to blame for embarrassing sweep at Cardinals’ hands

BOSTON, MA - MAY 13: As Enrique Hernandez #5 of the Boston Red Sox holds his head in his hands, pitcher Kenley Jansen #74 hangs his head after hiving up three runs to the St. Louis Cardinals during the ninth inning in their 4-3 loss at Fenway Park on May 13, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo By Winslow Townson/Getty Images) /

2 of 3

Boston Red Sox, Justin Turner. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

Red Sox to blame: Justin Turner

In the two-game set prior to the Cardinals series against the Braves, veteran offseason addition Justin Turner was a stud for the Red Sox. He went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, two walks, two RBI and three runs scored. The hope was that, considering how solid he’d been overall on the year, that he was about to take off.

Unfortunately, the opposite was true. In the first game of the series, Turner did look solid as he drew two walks and scored a run despite going 0-for-2, but things then took a turn for the worse as he went just 1-for-8 over the final two games in the series, including three strikeouts.

Yes, Turner doubled and scored in the Saturday loss that resulted from the Hernandez error in the final frame, but the fact of the matter is that the former Dodger just didn’t deliver consistent results and, with his high strikeout rate in the series, he was an issue for the Red Sox in killing any rallies as well.

This shouldn’t be a long-tmer concern for Turner as he’s still bee good overall for Boston as a veteran bat in the lineup, hitting .265 on the year with a .746 OPS. Having said that, he needs to be less hot and cold given what we’ve seen, especially in matchups against teams like the Cardinals that have been struggling to get outs consistently.

Home/Boston Red Sox