It’s all starting to snowball on the Red Sox now.

Coming off a backbreaking extra-innings loss on Tuesday, the Red Sox badly needed a win to stop their slide. Instead, Wednesday’s finale against the Milwaukee Brewers brought more of the same, as the Red Sox watched another early lead slip away before losing 6-5 in 10 innings to complete the three-game sweep.

Caleb Durbin came through with the game-winning sacrifice fly to give Milwaukee its second straight walk-off win, and he was helped by a Red Sox club that committed three errors while going 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t play well today. The score was the score but we walked the leadoff guy, we didn’t cover first, we dropped a fly ball in left, we got thrown out at third, we made the play at the end,” manager Alex Cora told reporters in Milwaukee postgame. “The score will say it was a good baseball game but we didn’t play well today.”

The Red Sox (27-31) have now lost five straight games, their longest losing streak of the season, and have fallen a season-worst four games below .500.

With an off day Thursday, it’s beginning to feel like the Red Sox season is at a crossroads.

“(Alex Bregman)’s not coming back anytime soon so this is our team, we can’t sit here and be waiting for reinforcements, we have to find a way to get it done,” said shortstop Trevor Story. “We’re a versatile offense, we know we can win with speed, small ball, but it starts with us. We’ve got to find a way to win that night.”

“We just have to be better, the bottom line from top to bottom from the manager all the way to the players, we have to be better,” Cora said. “Yeah, close games and all that, but we have to find ways to win games, that’s it. It’s not early anymore, we know where we’re at, we know what we have on the roster and it’s not going to change.”

All year long the Red Sox have been plagued by inconsistent offense, inefficient pitching and inexplicable lapses on defense and on the base paths. The club fell victim to all of those on Wednesday.

Offensively, Wednesday marked a step forward, though the overall trends are still poor. The Red Sox initially took a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Ceddanne Rafaela muscled a solo home run just over the wall, and in the bottom of the frame he made an incredible leaping grab against the wall to save a run.

But after the Brewers tied the game on a solo shot by Jake Bauers in the third, Rafaela nearly derailed a Red Sox rally in the following inning with a brutal baserunning gaffe. With two men on and one out Jarren Duran singled, but instead of loading the bases Rafaela attempted to go from first to third even though Connor Wong had been held up at third ahead of him. Duran advanced to second behind him, leaving Rafaela caught in no-man’s land for an easy out.

Fortunately for Boston, Rafael Devers came through with a two-run, two-out single to put the Red Sox up 3-1.

The defensive lapse came in the bottom of the fifth and played a significant role in starting pitcher Brayan Bello once again failing to complete five innings. The Brewers got a leadoff walk from Bauers and moved him to second on a sacrifice bunt, but Brice Turang hit a sinking liner into left that should have been the second out of the inning. Duran dropped the ball, giving Milwaukee two men in scoring position with one out instead of just the man at second with two, and that proved costly when Jackson Chourio grounded out immediately afterwards.

What might have been an inning-ending rally-killer instead brought Bauers in to score, and that also marked the end of Bello’s day after 4.2 innings.

Bello has now failed to finish five innings in each of his last five starts, and through eight starts he’s managed only 40 innings total. On Wednesday, he allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits and two walks, but also only had two strikeouts and needed 77 pitches to record 14 outs.

The Brewers took a 4-3 lead in the sixth on a two-run double by Durbin off Hunter Dobbins (two runs over three innings of relief) to complete the comeback, but this time the Red Sox had an answer when Wilyer Abreu hit his 13th home run of the season in the seventh to tie the score.

Though the Red Sox squandered a golden opportunity to pull ahead in the top of the ninth, leaving the bases loaded after Nick Sogard struck out looking to end the threat, the club was able to force extras and re-took the lead after Hamilton grounded out to score the ghost runner Story from third.

But scoring just one run as the road team in extras is always risky, and the Red Sox got burned again when Lexington’s Sal Frelick (4 for 5) beat Justin Slaten to the first base bag for an infield single to lead off the bottom of the 10th. That put the Red Sox in a serious hole, one the club made worse when Kristian Campbell threw away a ball at second trying to nail the lead runner at the plate on Isaac Collins’ infield grounder.

With the score now tied at 5-5, a man at third and no outs, all Durbin needed was a fly ball to win the game. He sent one just deep enough, and with that Frelick came in to send the Brewers and their fans home happy.

Following the game, Cora said he’d been talking to bench coach Ramon Vazquez about how their club looked compared to the opposing side, and it wasn’t hard to tell which was playing a better brand of baseball.

“The way we were playing, the way they were playing throughout the series, they ran the bases better than us, they played good defense, obviously they pitched but the little things,” Cora said. “Overall, as far as the fundamentals and clean baseball, they were a lot better than us.”

Now the Red Sox are left to take a long, hard look in the mirror as they try to figure out a way to get their play — and their season — back on track.

Jacob deGrom took a no-hitter into the eighth inning while Josh Jung drilled a two-run homer and drove in three runs as the Texas Rangers defeated the host Baltimore Orioles 7-0 on Wednesday.

Colton Cowser’s eighth-inning single marked Baltimore’s only hit.

deGrom (8-2) carried a perfect game into the seventh, but Jackson Holliday worked a leadoff walk on seven pitches. With two outs in the inning, Ryan O’Hearn drew another walk.

Cowser hit deGrom’s third pitch of the eighth to right field for a single, which led to a pitching change. deGrom, who improved to 4-0 in June, finished with seven strikeouts. Jonah Heim homered as the Rangers captured the rubber game of the three-game series to finish a 4-2 road trip.

Brewers 4, Pirates 2

Rookie Jacob Misiorowski threw five shutout innings to outduel 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and spark Milwaukee to a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.

Misiorowski (3-0) struck out eight while scattering two singles and two walks in his third major league start. Skenes (4-7), who entered the game with a big-league-best 1.85 ERA, allowed four hits and four runs with four strikeouts and two walks over four innings.

The Brewers batted around in the second to score their runs as they strung together Joey Ortiz’s RBI groundout, Eric Haase’s RBI double, Sal Frelick’s run-scoring fielder’s choice and Christian Yelich’s RBI single.

Padres 1, Nationals 0

Nick Pivetta scattered three singles and struck out a season-high-tying 10 over seven innings as San Diego registered its 13th shutout of the season to defeat visiting Washington.

For the fourth time this year, Pivetta (8-2) fired seven shutout innings. Jonathan Estrada and Adrian Morejon closed with perfect innings as the Padres allowed no runners into scoring position.

Luis Arraez’s two-out single in the second drove in Tyler Wade with the game’s only run. Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore (3-8), who was traded from San Diego to Washington in the 2022 Juan Soto deal, gave up one run and five hits over six innings.

Yankees 7, Reds 1

Max Fried allowed one unearned run over seven innings to help New York salvage the finale of a three-game series at Cincinnati.

Fried (10-2) struck out seven as he became the majors’ first 10-game winner. Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered and Trent Grisham and Jasson Dominguez had four hits apiece for the Yankees.

Elly De La Cruz produced two hits for the Reds, who had their three-game win streak snapped. Brady Singer (7-6) yielded four runs on six hits over five innings, fanning nine.

Astros 2, Phillies 0

Jeremy Pena scored following his leadoff double in the first inning and Victor Caratini added a critical insurance run with an eighth-inning homer as Houston topped visiting Philadelphia.

Left-hander Colton Gordon (3-1) threw four innings for the Astros, and four more lefties completed the shutout. Josh Hader recorded his 21st save with a perfect ninth.

Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh had two hits apiece for the Phillies, who were shut out by the Astros for the second straight night. Zack Wheeler (7-3) allowed four hits and one run in six innings.

Athletics 3, Tigers 0

Nick Kurtz hit a three-run homer, Jacob Lopez pitched seven strong innings and the visiting Athletics blanked Detroit.

Kurtz had three of the Athletics’ seven hits. Lopez (2-4) allowed just three hits and walked one while striking out six in seven innings. Mason Miller got the last three outs for his 15th save.

Detroit starter Jack Flaherty (5-9), who gave up the homer, lasted six innings. He allowed five hits and four walks and struck out seven.

Marlins 8, Giants 5 (10 innings)

Rookie Heriberto Hernandez drove in four runs, including two on a double in the four-run 10th, helping visiting Miami defeat San Francisco.

Otto Lopez had three hits and three RBIs for the Marlins, who have won three in a row to match their longest winning streak of the season. Calvin Faucher (3-2) gave up two runs to blow a ninth-inning lead but still got the win.

Mike Yastrzemski led off the first inning with a homer for the Giants. Camilo Doval (3-2) allowed four runs, three earned, while getting two outs in the 10th.

White Sox 7, Diamondbacks 3

Lenyn Sosa went 3-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs and Andrew Benintendi also homered as host Chicago avoided a sweep against Arizona.

Sosa’s two-run homer off Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (5-9) snapped a 2-2 tie in the fourth. Gallen allowed eight hits and five runs over 5 1/3 innings. Josh Naylor went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first.

White Sox starter Sean Burke (4-7) posted a season-high-tying seven strikeouts in his five-inning stint while giving up five hits and two runs. Luis Robert Jr. exited due to left hamstring tightness in the first inning.

Angels 5, Red Sox 2

Yusei Kikuchi had a season-high 12 strikeouts and Travis d’Arnaud went 3-for-4 with a home run to help Los Angeles complete a three-game sweep of Boston in Anaheim, Calif.

Kikuchi (3-6) surrendered two runs (none earned) and three hits over seven innings. Jo Adell added a solo shot to open the scoring for the Angels, who won for the fourth time in five games. He and d’Arnaud drove in two runs each, and Ryan Zeferjahn secured his second save.

Trevor Story had two RBIs for the Red Sox, who lost their fifth game in a row. Richard Fitts gave up two runs on four hits while striking out six in four innings. Luis Guerrero (0-1) allowed two runs in the fifth inning.

Guardians 5, Blue Jays 4 (10 innings)

Jose Ramirez singled home the winning run in the 10th inning for his eighth career walk-off hit, giving Cleveland a victory over visiting Toronto.

Blue Jays reliever Mason Fluharty (3-2) allowed Ramirez’s sharp no-out single to left. Rookie and cancer survivor Nic Enright (1-0) worked a scoreless 10th for his first win in the majors, allowing Cleveland to even the three-game series at one victory apiece.

Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer, activated earlier in the day, pitched five innings and allowed three runs on six hits. The 40-year-old struck out four and walked three over 83 pitches in his first appearance since his Toronto debut March 29. Vladimir Guerrero hit a solo home run and George Springer had two hits and two RBIs.

Mets 7, Braves 3

Juan Soto hit two homers for host New York, which ended its drought against Atlanta by cruising to a victory in the third game of a four-game series.

Soto notched the 27th multi-homer game of his career — the most multi-homer games in MLB history for a player before turning 27. Soto broke a record he held with Jimmie Foxx. Ronny Mauricio homered among his three hits for the Mets, who entered the game 0-5 against the Braves since June 17.

Drake Baldwin homered in the fourth and Ronald Acuna Jr. had a two-run single in the ninth for the Braves. Didier Fuentes (0-2), a 20-year-old who is the youngest player in the majors, gave up six runs on eight hits over 3 1/3 innings.

Rays 3, Royals 0

Drew Rasmussen and four Tampa Bay relievers held reeling Kansas City to just three hits and sent the host club to a ninth consecutive home defeat.

Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe and Chandler Simpson each had two hits for the Rays, whose 11 hits were all singles. Tampa Bay has won five straight road games and 24 of its past 33 contests overall. Rasmussen (7-5) yielded two hits and two walks while striking out five over five innings.

The Royals have managed just one run in the first two games of the current three-game set and have been outscored 39-12 while going 0-9 at home in June. The Royals are on their longest home losing streak since a 10-game slide in 2023.

Twins 2, Mariners 0

Joe Ryan struck out eight batters over six scoreless innings, and Minnesota held on for a win over Seattle in Minneapolis.

Kody Clemens hit a solo home run for Minnesota, which snapped a five-game losing streak and won for only the second time in its past 13 games. Willi Castro also drove in a run. Ryan (8-3) allowed three hits and no walks.

Seattle managed only three singles. Cal Raleigh, who leads the big leagues with 32 home runs, finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Mariners right-hander George Kirby (1-4) limited Twins hitters to one run on three hits in six innings.

Cubs 8, Cardinals 0

Ian Happ hit a homer and drove in three runs as visiting Chicago rolled past St. Louis.

Reese McGuire hit a two-run homer and Kyle Tucker added a solo shot for the Cubs, who won for the second time in their past seven games. Michael Busch (2-for-5, two runs, RBI) and Dansby Swanson (2-for-5, two runs) also had productive games for Chicago.

Cubs starter Matthew Boyd (7-3) blanked St. Louis on three hits over six innings. Cardinals starter Erick Fedde (3-7) allowed seven runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Dodgers 8, Rockies 1

Max Muncy hit a grand slam and drove in six runs as Los Angeles earned a rain-delayed win over Colorado in Denver.

Michael Conforto and Muncy each had a homer and a single for Los Angeles, which has won nine straight against Colorado. The Dodgers have a three-game overall winning. Starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-6) tossed five shutout innings, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out six.

Tyler Freeman singled twice to extend his hitting streak to 12 games for the Rockies, who are 1-4 on their six-game homestand. Chase Dollander (2-8) was charged with three runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Christian Yelich homered twice and the Milwaukee Brewers breezed past the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5 in a game interrupted by rain Thursday night.

Yelich hit a three-run drive against rookie Mike Burrows (0-1) in the first inning and a solo shot off reliever Isaac Mattson in the sixth for the 11th multi-homer game of his career. Joey Ortiz added his second home run this season for the Brewers. Sal Frelick provided some breathing room with a late two-run single.

Carlos Rodriguez (1-0) struck out Bryan Reynolds with two on and two out in the sixth following a rain delay of 1 hour, 50 minutes, to earn his first major league victory. Trevor Megill came on with two on and no outs in the ninth to secure his eighth save.

Milwaukee’s Aaron Civale gave up two runs and four hits over four innings in his first start since going to the injured list in late March with a strained hamstring.

Spencer Horwitz had two hits for the Pirates, including a solo shot to right-center leading off the fourth for his first home run since being acquired by Pittsburgh in the offseason. Horwitz added an RBI groundout in the ninth to help the Pirates avoid making a bit of unwanted history.

Pittsburgh had gone 26 games without scoring at least five runs, tying the team with four others for the longest such streak of futility in MLB history.

Burrows, called up Wednesday after Pittsburgh sent struggling Carmen Mlodzinski to Triple-A Indianapolis, had some early jitters. The 25-year-old right-hander gave up four runs during his first trip through the Brewers’ order before retiring nine of the final 11 batters he faced.

Key moment

Rodriguez surprisingly stayed on the hill after the long delay. He promptly fanned Reynolds at the end of a seven-pitch at-bat to end Pittsburgh’s last legitimate threat.

Key stat

April 23 — the previous time Pittsburgh scored at least five runs in a game. The Pirates went 8-18 during their run of futility at the plate.

Up next

The series continues Friday when Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes (3-5, 2.44 ERA) — who won’t be traded anytime soon — faces Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta (5-3, 2.59).

Pay no mind to the numbers popping up on the scoreboard when Logan Henderson pitches. Look, Sal Frelick says, to the swings emanating from the batter’s box.

In the first at-bat of the game May 20, Jackson Holliday swung through low-90s fastballs in the strike zone before flailing at a changeup for strike three. Adley Rutschman did the same moments later as Henderson racked up eight empty swings in the first inning alone.

Heston Kjerstad sauntered back to the dugout the following inning, another victim of a fastball right down the middle that proved deadly.

Ramon Laureano and Cedric Mullins later on against heaters? Might as well take a seat, too.

The feedback from opponents’ hacks, frequently uncomfortable and equally often leading to nothing but air, across Henderson’s first three starts is that the Milwaukee Brewers might have a viable rotation arm for the rest of this season and beyond – even if he’s operating with just two pitches predominantly.

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“It might not flash on the scoreboard, but that’s why he’s here – because it’s hard to hit,” Frelick said. “There’s something he does that’s special. Whether a guy’s throwing 88 or 100, when you’re int he box and you’re facing him, it’s a tough at-bat. He’s got really good stuff and he’s showing it.”

BOX SCORE:Brewers 5, Orioles 2

Henderson showcased it over five shutout innings that, along with three home runs from a power-starved offense, led the Brewers to a third straight win with a 5-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on May 20 at American Family Field.

Brice Turang, Frelick and Rhys Hoskins changed things up for the offense by going deep – something the Brewers hadn’t done in six days – while on the mound Henderson did more of the same.

The right-hander struck out seven, making him only the ninth pitcher since 1901 in Major League Baseball to punch out seven or more batters in each of his first three career outings.

“No question about it, this kid, he’s been great every time out,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Not just good – great. Every time out.”

Rare air for Logan Henderson

That isn’t the only history Henderson made, either; he also became the first pitcher in franchise history to be the winning pitcher in each of his first three career appearances. Henderson’s 23 total strikeouts through three games are also the second-most in Brewers history behind only Freddy Peralta’s 25 in 2018.

Henderson dominated with his two primary pitches, a four-seam fastball and changeup, but perhaps the most encouraging sign from his showing was a third pitch, his cutter. Seventeen of the 23-year-old’s career-high 20 whiffs came via fastballs and changeups, but he sprinkled in three swings and misses on only nine cutters thrown. Through his first two starts, Henderson had only thrown eight cutters to the tune of no whiffs.

“William called it a few times in the fourth or fifth there and got some swings on it,” Henderson said. “I feel really good about it. It was the right time to throw them, backdoor to lefties. For me to be able to execute a pitch I don’t throw all that often was nice.”

Initially called up for a spot start April 20 against the Athletics, Henderson in his last time out a week ago earned another chance to take the mound against the Orioles. Now he’s extending his stay in Milwaukee even further.

“There’s been so much to soak in, Henderson said. “I’ve learned a lot from watching the game from the dugout, picking these guys’ brains. You try to remember that hitting is hard and if you go out and attack the strike zone, yo uhave a good opportunity to do well.”

Rhys Hoskins adds an insurance run

Rhys Hoskins, the most consistent Brewers batter this year by far, was at it again to provide some insurance.

The Brewers first baseman padded the lead with a solo home run leading off the bottom of the eighth against Orioles closer Felix Bautista, turning the lead from one to two. It was the third homer of the night for the Brewers and sixth of the season for Hoskins, who also doubled earlier to push his average to .297 and OPS to .885.

The lead pushed to 5-2 later in the inning when Orioles second baseman threw high to first on a Joey Ortiz grounder, allowing Frelick to score from second as the ball ricocheted off the Brewers dugout. The play was marked a single for Ortiz, his first hit in six days, and throwing error on Holliday.

Bullpen move in the seventh backfires

With two outs and a runner on third in the seventh, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was faced with a decision: Bring in the right-hander Joel Payamps for the righty Ramon Urias, or stick with the southpaw Tyler Alexander knowing the Orioles had a barrage of left-handers coming up.

Murphy went with the former, calling for Payamps even though the tying run was on deck – and a lefty, Jackson Holliday. It backfired, as Urias singled to score a run and then came across when Holliday tripled off the fence in left-center to make it a 3-2 lead for Milwaukee.

Payamps responded by getting Adley Rutschman to fly out to center and end the inning.

Sal Frelick makes it a three-run lead

There was no helmet spike as there was last week when he did it, but Sal Frelick went deep to back Logan Henderson for a second straight game.

With one out in the fourth, Frelick lofted a two-run blast to the right-field bleachers to tie his career high with his third home run of the year. The homer was the Brewers’ second of the game after going four games without one and pushed the lead to 3-0.

Frelick credited the batters before him in the inning for putting him a position to create damage. Hoskins opened the frame with a hustle double on a play where Baltimore right fielder Ramon Laureano injured his knee, then moved to third on an Isaac Collins ground ball.

With the infield drawn in, Frelick had myriad ways to attack Baltimore right-hander Chayce McDermott.

“Feel like I’m swinging it good,” Frelick said. “The home run swing was just how that whole inning transpired, just the guys before me. Rhys busting out of the box on a pop-up that he gets to second on. Isaac getting him over, which allows me to go up there and not cheat but really look up in the zone and try to hit a fly ball where other at-bats that’s never my intent.

“Just credit to the other guys in the lineup.”

Brice Turang leaves the park

A gnarly illness early in May hampered Brice Turang for a couple of weeks, but the Brewers second baseman is beginning to smack the baseball around just like he did early in the season again. With one out in the third, Turang drove a solo home run 409 feet at 107 mph off the bat to left-center. It was Turang’s first long ball in more than a month, with his last one coming April 8 at Colorado.

What time is the Brewers game tonight?

Time: 6:40 p.m.

What channel is the Brewers game on tonight?

TV channel: FanDuel Sports Wisconsin

Orioles lineup

Jackson Holliday 2B

Adley Rutschman C

Gunnar Henderson

Ramon Laureano RF

Ryan O’Hearn DH

Ryan Mountcastle 1B

Cedric Mullins CF

Heston Kjerstad LF

Ramon Urias 3B

Brewers lineup

Brice Turang 2B

Jackson Chourio CF

William Contreras C

Christian Yelich DH

Rhys Hoskins 1B

Isaac Collins LF

Sal Frelick RF

Caleb Durbin 3B

Joey Ortiz SS

Brewers schedule

Brewers vs. Orioles, 12:10 p.m. May 21. Milwaukee RHP Chad Patrick (2-4, 3.35) vs. Baltimore RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, 3.08). TV – FanDuel Sports Wisconsin. Radio – AM-620 WTMJ.