Red Sox lose on walk-off to White Sox as Richard Fitts leaves with injury

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Apr 12, 2025

Published in Baseball

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This is shaping up to be a nightmare of a weekend for the Boston Red Sox.

Following Friday’s embarrassing loss, the Red Sox dropped their second straight to the Chicago White Sox in crushing fashion on Saturday, losing 3-2 on a walk-off single by Brooks Baldwin.

The loss ensures the Red Sox will lose the three-game series to a team that entered the weekend mired in an eight-game losing streak, but that might not be the worst part for Boston.

Rookie right-hander Richard Fitts was cruising through his outing before he abruptly left the game with an injury in the bottom of the sixth. With no outs and a 1-2 count on Michael Vargas, the right-hander threw a sweeper out wide and immediately summoned manager Alex Cora from the dugout.

He walked off the mound appearing to hold his right pectoral muscle, and the Red Sox announced shortly afterwards Fitts was dealing with right shoulder pain.

At the time of the injury Fitts had thrown five-plus shutout innings with two hits, one walk and five strikeouts. The rookie now boasts a 2.39 ERA in seven career MLB starts dating back to last September, but even with Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito expected back from the injured list within the next week or two, losing Fitts will be a blow to the Red Sox pitching staff.

At the time of Fitts’ departure the Red Sox led 2-0 thanks to an RBI triple by Ceddanne Rafaela and an RBI single by Romy Gonzalez, both of which came in the top of the fifth. But the White Sox quickly took advantage once Fitts was gone, with Luis Robert Jr. tagging Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly for a two-run home run to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth.

Boston couldn’t do anything against White Sox reliever Mike Vasil, a BC High graduate from Wellesley who recently made his MLB debut. Facing his childhood team for the first time, Vasil held the Red Sox scoreless for two innings, stranding runners in scoring position in each frame he appeared despite allowing two walks and a hit.

The Red Sox also went quietly against White Sox relievers Jordan Leisure and Tyler Gilbert in the eighth and ninth innings, and while Justin Wilson and Justin Slaten were able to keep Chicago off the board, closer Aroldis Chapman couldn’t send the game to extras. Chapman issued a leadoff walk to Robert, who stole a base to get into scoring position and then came home to score the winning run on Baldwin’s base hit.

Now the Red Sox will look to avoid a three-game sweep.