BOSTON — For the first time this season, Bryce Elder had an outing to forget.
The Braves’ right-hander didn’t make it out of the fourth inning, an inning in which the Red Sox scored six runs, and the visitors couldn’t make up the big deficit in an 8-0 loss Wednesday at Fenway Park. The two teams are scheduled to play at 4:10 p.m. Thursday to decide the three-game series.
“They were swinging it early and hitting it,” Elder said. “I think it’s kind of one of them starts I’ll go back and look at it, but it wasn’t like I was just making terrible pitches. But obviously they could have been better, too.”
Elder’s troubles began in the fourth inning Wednesday. After a single, walk and sacrifice bunt, Elder (4-3) was in a pickle with runners on second and third and one out. Marcelo Mayer hit the first pitch he saw to first where Matt Olson made a rare error that allowed Masataka Yoshida to score, giving the Red Sox the lead.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa lined an RBI single to left making it 2-0 before Jarren Duran’s broken-bat single to center loaded the bases. Ceddanne Rafaela broke the game open with a two-run single to left, putting the Sox ahead 4-0.
And just like that, Elder’s evening was over in what amounted to his shortest outing of the season. He went 3 1/3 innings, threw a season-low 59 pitches, gave up nine hits (all singles) and walked one. Five of the six runs charged to Elder were earned.
“I think my stuff could have been a little bit better, but I mean at the same time, gonna take my chances 0-0. Not that they were all 60 (mph) off the bat, they were whacking it pretty good,” Elder said. “I’ve never given up nine singles for nine hits. So, 0-0 I’m gonna continue to take my chances and tonight they put good swings on stuff.”
Dylan Dodd relieved Elder and served up a two-run single to Wilyer Abreu, making it 6-0 in favor of the Red Sox (23-31) who broke a four-game losing streak with the win.
Carlos Carrasco gave up a run on a two-out RBI single in the seventh, and another on a solo home run off the bat of Durran. The veteran righty ate up four innings of relief.
The Braves (37-19) were shut out for the fifth time this season. They were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base during the loss.
Defensively, the Braves also made three errors.
“Turn the page on this one. Game got away from us in the fourth inning there. We didn’t really take care of the ball,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “Hard to tell location from the dugout, but probably a lot of the pitches from (Elder) were on the plate. It was a lot of singles for a while, but they put ‘em together, and then we didn’t take care of all the ball and the fourth got away from us.”
Red Sox starter Connelly Early (5-2) threw seven scoreless innings and left to a standing ovation after stranding a runner at second in the top of the seventh. Early struck out seven, walked three and worked around four hits while throwing 97 pitches (65 strikes).
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