After losing the first game against the Astros by 8-1, ESPN’s Paul Hembekides offered a reality check about how the Red Sox’s offense would haunt the team this season. Now, after losing the second game in the same fashion, it seems like Hembekides’ prediction was spot on. However, in the 9-2 loss, it was not only the offense, but Boston’s defense and misplays also cost heavily, as Roman Anthony acknowledged their shortfalls.

“Things aren’t necessarily going our way right now, but we just have to be better as a whole. I have to be better,” said Anthony. “That can’t happen. Not seeing it completely well right now, as it is pretty obvious. But just got to be aggressive there, got to set the tone — somehow, some way.”

Anthony was hitting .300 in the spring, but took a nosedive in the regular season. In the last five games, he had only four hits and one run from 21 at-bats at .190. So, surely Anthony knows he has to be better. Even in the second game against the Astros, Anthony couldn’t manage a single hit from his 4 at-bats.

Apart from Anthony, the entire Red Sox lineup is faltering. In the last two games against the Astros, Boston has been outscored 17-3. That shows how both their defense and offense went south.

The Red Sox’s defense was worse than in their first game against the Astros. In the first game, Ranger Suarez and Johan Oviedo allowed 4 runs each. In the second game, Brayan Bello gave up six runs while striking out just two. “It didn’t go the way I expected,” Bello said after the game. What made his innings worse was two fielding errors.

In the fifth inning, Bello allowed consecutive swing-and-misses from Cam Smith to begin the at-bat, allowing the Astros to load the bases. In the next pitch, Red Sox catcher Connor Wong’s throw short-hopped second baseman Marcelo Mayer and went overhead, allowing Christian Walker to scoot home. And when Mayer threw home to try to tag Walker, Bello tried to cut it off but deflected the ball toward the first-base dugout. Loperfido ended up in third.

Result? 1 run added to the Astros. “Just a bad baseball play,” manager Alex Cora said about the play. And the night that saw the worst of the Red Sox’s offense and defense, the umpire’s crucial mistake took the game away entirely from Boston.

Another day, another umpiring blunder with the Red Sox

In the last series against the Reds, the Red Sox faced botched calls, including a check swing that caused Cora’s ejection and Trevor Story‘s out. This time, the umpiring blunder was weird, and the Red Sox’s lack of game awareness was also to blame.

In the fifth inning, the Astros were two outs, and Cam Smith was at home plate. Bello threw three consecutive swinging strikes, which should end the Astros’ inning. But umpire Mark Wegner miscalculated. He believed there was a 1-2 count on Smith after the third pitch of the at-bat. So, on what should have been a strikeout for Smith, Wegner let the play continue, and six pitches later, Smith drew a walk. Thus, letting another runner in at first base.

So, it was just another addition to the umpiring blunders this season, but what’s more surprising is that no one from the Red Sox dugout complained. “No one on the field said a word,” Wegner said after the game. So, we wonder how the entire Red Sox dugout had no idea about the pitching counts.

“If I let them put the ball in play or any other outcome, things might’ve been different,” Bello remarked. Well, maybe or maybe not, but the night would be remembered for witnessing the worst of the Red Sox. And at the beginning of the season, nothing gets scarier than this for the fans.