CLEVELAND -- First impressions from the Red Sox' 6-0 loss to Cleveland in Game 2 of the ALDS, which puts them in an 0-2 hole in the best-of-five series:
David Price's playoff redemption will have to wait
Price, who entered Friday's game with zero playoff wins as a starter, left with the same number.
He imploded in the second -- first due to some bad luck, later of his own volition as he gave up a three-run homer to No. 8 hitter Lonnie Chisenhall.
Up until that at-bat, Chisenhall had gone the entirely of the 2016 season without a single homer off a left-handed pitcher.
Prior to the homer, Price had given up a ground ball single, an infield chopper and a soft liner to center, producing one run. Chisenhall's homer, by contrast, was all on Price -- a poorly located pitch to a bottom-of-the-order hitter with little success against lefties.
Whether Price was trying too hard on putting himself under too much pressure isn't clear.
What is clear is that he'll likely have to wait another year to turn around his dreadful playoff history, which now includes a career ERA of 5.94.
The offense didn't help. At all
At least in Game 1, the Red Sox managed three homers -- ableit solo - and scored four runs. In the ninth inning Thursday, the Sox had the potential tying run on base with two outs in the ninth.
The Sox banged out eight extra-base hits in Game 1 and, with Cleveland's Game 2 starter, Corey Kluber, fighting both rust and a groin pull/hamstring, it seemed the Sox might be poised to bash their way to a win.
Wrong.
Instead, the Red Sox were feckless, with a grand total of three hits -- one of which didn't leave the infield. It wasn't until the eighth inning that the Sox moved a baserunner past second base.
There seemed to be little of a game plan in place, as hitters often helped Kluber by swinging early in the count.
The best opportunity seemed to present itself in the fourth when two walks with one out sent David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez to the plate.
But Ortiz got underneath a fastball and popped out to short, while Ramirez watched a third strike go by -- the very same pitch he took for a called strike three two innings earlier.
Remember when the bullpen was thought to be the biggest problem?
In the two games to date, Sox relievers pitched a total of 7 1/3 innings and have allowed only two runs -- and just one earned. They've struck out 10 and issued just two walks.
And it didn't matter.
Since both Red Sox starters left after just 4 1/3 innings, the bullpen was called upon early in both losses. And while they admirably kept both within reach, in each case the early leads proved insurmoountable, especially given how lifeless the bats have been.
Before the series began, there was concern over what the Sox could expect from closer Craig Kimbrel. That became academic when the Sox didn't come close to needing him. He got the final out in the eighth merely to get him work.
Boston's last lead in the series came in the third inning of Game 1.