Red Sox reactions: Offense K’s 10 times vs. Cy Young winner; Brayan Bello scuffles in loss

4) The Red Sox who Skubal victimized most? No. 3 hitter Willson Contreras and No. 4 hitter Trevor Story were both 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

Contreras singled to lead off the ninth against ex-Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen and Story grounded into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Jansen then delivered his fifth save of the season two batters later.

5) Boston had chances to do some damage in the middle of the game but Skubal escaped. With the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth, Connor Wong came to the plate as the potential tying run — and promptly grounded into a double play as the Tigers gladly traded a run for two outs. One pitch later, with the score 4-1 and a man on third, Isiah Kiner-Falefa popped out to end the inning.

Two singles to open the sixth put runners on the corners with no outs but two strikeouts and a groundout later, Skubal went back to the dugout unscathed.

6) For the Red Sox, it was a much-different outcome — with a much-different lineup — than they had against Skubal in Detroit last spring. A lineup that featured Rafael Devers, Alex Bregman and lefty-masher Rob Refsnyder tagged the Tigers ace for five earned runs on seven hits in 6 ⅓ innings at Comerica Park on May 14 of last season, though Skubal did have 11 strikeouts. Detroit won that game, 6-5, on a walk-off single by Justyn-Henry Malloy.

7) An early bright spot for the Red Sox’ bullpen? Jovani Morán, who continued a very strong start to the season with three shutout innings in relief of Bello. Throwing 41 pitches, the lefty allowed a hit and walked one batter while striking out three. His ERA for the season is 1.35 through 13 ⅓ innings.

8) The loss snapped a brief two-game winning streak for the Red Sox, who are back to four games under .500. Detroit had lost nine road games in a row before the win. Boston fell to 4-4 at home so far and lost to a left-handed starter for the first time all season (in just three tries).

9) Sunday will mark the return to the mound for lefty Garrett Crochet (2-2, 7.58 ERA), who will have plenty of eyes on him as he attempts to get back on track after a disastrous start Monday night in Minnesota. The task won’t get much easier for the Red Sox, who will face Tigers lefty Framber Valdez (1-1, 3.75 ERA). First pitch is at 1:35 p.m. ET in the third game of a four-game set.

More Red Sox coverage

• Red Sox’ Brayan Bello (6.75 ERA in 4 starts) offers simple fix for early-season struggles
• Who’s the Red Sox No. 1 catcher? Alex Cora dodges the question
• Red Sox lineup vs. Tarik Skubal doesn’t have Friday hero — or Jarren Duran
• Finally, run prevention works in Red Sox’ favor | Sean McAdam
• ‘Lucky’ Red Sox hero Masataka Yoshida: ‘You never know when my number gets called’

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