The Boston Red Sox Wednesday, May 12, 2021 * The Boston Globe Red Sox bats perplexed for second straight game, dropping opener to Athletics at Fenway Julian Benbow The Red Sox have been in sole possession of the best record in baseball — surprising the league, if not themselves. But when they got back to Fenway Park on Tuesday (in front of a crowd expanded to 25 percent capacity) after taking three of four from the Baltimore Orioles, they were staring at a true test from an Oakland team only a few rungs down the ladder. A’s starter Chris Bassitt was dominant over his seven innings, giving up two runs on three hits with 10 strikeouts, and the Red Sox lost for a second straight night, 3-2. The Sox managed just four hits for the second straight game — they’re averaging nine per game during their 22-15 start. Michael Chavis went 2 for 3, Alex Verdugo singled as the second batter of the game, and Rafael Devers homered to the shelf above the Green Monster in the seventh, pulling the Sox back within a run. Sox starter Nate Eovaldi breezed through six innings, giving up just one run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts. “They were both phenomenal,” Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Bassitt has done it the last few years. His ball is going out everywhere. Good sinker, good four-seamer, good breaking ball. Had us off balance, then he was able to finish us off with fastballs up.” “Nate was solid. He was really good. He gave us six innings, did a good job with using his fastball a little bit more. It was a good baseball game.” The Sox ran into a buzzsaw for the second straight night, but while their 4-1 loss Monday came via arguably Baltimore’s Jorge Lopez’s best start in an up-and-down season, Bassitt has been a known threat despite being slowed down by Tommy John surgery in 2016 and a leg injury in 2019. Cora had no concerns that the Sox offense, leading the majors in runs scored, was hitting a wall. “Those two guys the last two days, they’ve been really good,” Cora said. “You’re going to run into this. Lopez, yesterday, was throwing 97 [mph] sinker balls and a big changeup. And this guy here, he’s been one of the best the last few years. You’re going to go through stretches.” Eovaldi appreciated the duel and tipped his cap. “Bassitt threw the ball well tonight,” he said. “Any time you can do that against our offense, you know you’ve got all your pitches working. They did a great job. They pitched really well. Our offense is the best in the league. For them to go out there and shut us down, that’s good for them. We’ve got two more games coming in, so we’ll go out there and get them tomorrow.” Eovaldi was able to pitch with an early lead when J.D. Martinez drove in Verdugo with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, and didn’t give up a hit until the fourth. He walked Seth Brown to start that inning, then gave up a Matt Olson RBI single two batters later that tied it at 1. But he used his fastball to get Jed Lowrie to ground into a double play. Eovaldi hasn’t given up a homer in 58 innings, dating to last Sept. 12. His 45-inning streak to start this season is the third-longest run to start a year by a Red Sox pitcher the last 25 years, behind only Derek Lowe (88⅓ innings, 2002) and Pedro Martinez (55 innings, 2001). The A’s got new life, however, when Darwinzon Hernandez came out of the Sox bullpen for the seventh. Hernandez threw 4⅓ innings with nine strikeouts, no earned runs, and just two walks in his previous five appearances, but when he issued a leadoff free pass to Olson, he gave the A’s the sliver of light they had been looking for all night. A single by Lowrie made it first and third and prompted a mound visit. It didn’t help, as Hernandez promptly gave up an RBI single on a 2-0 fastball to Matt Chapman that gave the A’s a 2-1 lead. “It was a good pocket for him, he just didn’t get the job done,” Cora said. “He was wild today. He wasn’t able to command the fastball and he put himself in a tough spot.” After a Mitch Moreland groundout advanced the runners, Cora dipped into the bullpen again for right- hander Adam Ottavino. Walking into a second-and-third situation with one out, Ottavino escaped some trouble when Devers scooped a ground ball from Sean Murphy and fired to the plate to keep Lowrie from scoring. But Elvis Andrus singled to right to push the lead to 3-1. Devers made it a one-run game in the seventh with his first-pitch solo homer off Bassitt, but the Sox couldn’t capitalize on a one-out, first-and-second situation in the ninth after two Jake Diekman walks, Devers grounding out and Christian Vázquez fouling out. “We had the tying run on third, the winning run on first on a night that we didn’t get too much offensively,” Cora said. “So we’ll take that and get ready for tomorrow.” ‘He’s relentless at what he does.’ Jason Varitek is thriving in first dugout job with Red Sox Julian Benbow As a player, Jason Varitek knew that embracing baseball’s movement toward analytics would only help him in the long run. He was a heady catcher by nature, but he approached preparation with added attention, burying himself in the data no matter what else was going on. “I saw him first-hand as a player on trips,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who played three-plus seasons alongside Varitek. “David [Ortiz] was playing cards and Jason was part of the card game, and while he was losing money playing cards, he had his scouting report at the same time.” In his first year as a full-time member of the coaching staff, Cora said Varitek has brought the same attention to detail that he did as a player. “He’s relentless at what he does,” Cora said before Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to Oakland. “One of the best catchers I ever played with. And for him to be part of the day-in, day-out process that we have, it’s been a plus.” The Sox created the title of game planning coordinator for Varitek this past offseason. Previously a special assistant to the general manager, Varitek’s focus has been on pitchers and catchers, but he’s added insight across the board. “He can talk hitting, he can talk defense, he can talk pitching,” Cora said. “We’re here to help each other out. That’s what good coaching staffs do. Obviously, he’s on top of pitch sequences and communicating with Christian [Vázquez] and Kevin [Plawecki]. That’s very important. But I think as a person, as the captain, he’s doing the things that he used to do, but in a different way. More vocal, more outspoken, which is great.” Varitek is also armed with information, using data to point players in the right direction. For instance, he sifted through the metrics on the advantages of the one-knee catching stance and convinced Vazquez and Plawecki it would be beneficial. “Any information in anything in this game — whether it be from a pro scout or an analytics department — and you’re not open-minded enough to engage and learn or maybe learn something that you didn’t know or add pieces to things that you didn’t know, you’re not doing yourself a favors,” he said. “This is a game about the players and it’s about them performing, and whatever pieces we can allow them to perform at their height — it shouldn’t be analytic department, staff members, and players, it should be one cohesive, one big group. And I think that’s, that’s why this team’s had some success.” Varitek acknowledged he eventually would like an opportunity to become a manager, but his role with the Sox is his primary focus. “Of course,” Varitek said. “But that’s not the focus right now. The focus right now is what you can do to make this team the best that can. We have an unbelievable leader around us, so it’s a great working environment to work with.” Mitch more than the averaging returning Red Sox Mitch Moreland returned to Fenway for the first time since being traded last August, receiving a warm ovation when he came to bat in the second inning, and it brought back some fond memories for Cora. “Mitch is a good player, man, and a great person,” Cora said. “What he brought to the equation in the clubhouse was kind of like, a sense of calmness. The way he operates, he takes care of himself. Sometimes it’s a grind physically, but he wants to post every day and I think that that helps the people around him. “They see Mitch play and they’re like, ‘You know what, I better play too. Let me get ready for this one.’ He did an excellent job for us in both years, and he did an excellent job last year for the Red Sox.” Moreland spent three seasons with he Sox, winning a World Series in 2018.