Stunningly, the Red Sox raised the white flag against the Astros

The Red Sox had a one-run lead against the team they are chasing in the American League wild card race through five innings on Monday night.

Then they gave up.

How else can you put it? Journeyman righthander Kyle Barraclough was left in the game to allow 11 runs over 4⅓ innings in what ended as an embarrassing 13-5 loss against the Houston Astros.

In what is Chaim Bloom’s fourth season as chief baseball officer, the Red Sox entered an important game without any lefthanded relievers in the bullpen and at least four righthanders who were deemed unavailable.

That left manager Alex Cora with little choice but to wear out a pitcher who was called up from Triple A Worcester before the game and will surely be sent back on Tuesday, if not released.

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“We had a lot of guys down,” Cora said in a low voice. “This is where we were. It just didn’t happen with [Barraclough] today.”

That the Red Sox did not even attempt to cobble together 12 outs was stunning. Barraclough walked the first two batters in the sixth inning on 10 pitches and nobody stirred in the bullpen.

Houston went on to send 12 batters to the plate and score six runs and nobody warmed up. Barraclough threw 94 pitches, 48 more than he had thrown in any of his previous 290 major league games.

He walked five, hit three, and allowed 11 hits.

“As bad as I’ve ever thrown the ball in my life,” said Barraclough, who offered no excuses.

Once the Astros took a 9-4 lead, Barraclough was left with the task of finishing the game. Houston took full advantage, pounding out hit after hit.

First career cycle for Jose Altuve. pic.twitter.com/cZqWw3ykxZ

It was so bad that Cora offered to have a position player pitch the ninth inning but Barraclough said he would finish the game.

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“You saw my face. It was all over TV. It’s uncomfortable,” Cora said.

Cora said the Sox had Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen available. Josh Winckowski had thrown only 20 pitches over the previous four days, those coming on Saturday. But he was not cleared to pitch by the medical staff.

“This is where we were,” Cora said again, a phrase he repeated several times.

Where they are is a product of the rotation having thrown the second-fewest innings in the American League. Only Oakland, which gave up on its season before it started, has fewer.

Bloom’s decision to add only one starting pitcher to the roster in the offseason, 37-year-old Corey Kluber, has proven disastrous.

Kluber was hit hard on Opening Day and had a 6.26 ERA over nine starts before being demoted to the bullpen. He has been on the injured list since June 21.

Injury-prone Chris Sale, who allowed three runs over 4⅔ innings Monday, has a 4.75 ERA in 15 starts. James Paxton, who appeared in only six games from 2020-22, pitched well for much of the season but has predictably worn down in recent weeks.

Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, and Garrett Whitlock have had good moments but all three had been swingmen in their careers. Only Brayan Bello has been in the rotation since April.

Sale was angry afterward, beating himself up as he often does.

“My teammates deserved better,” he said. “They needed someone to step up big tonight. We were obviously gassed out in the bullpen … That’s embarrassing; that’s unacceptable.”

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But given all his injuries since 2020, that Sale has had an uneven season was to be expected. The Sox should have been better prepared coming into the season.

But they weren’t. This is where they are.

When Jose Altuve homered in the eighth inning to complete the cycle, a large group of Houston fans cheered loudly as Red Sox fans filed out of Fenway Park, their team now 13½ games out of first place and 5½ games behind in the wild card.

Every team runs into bad days over 162 games. But conceding an important late-season game? That is not something you’d expect from the Red Sox.

How much longer is the fan base expected to accept that?

Peter Abraham can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @PeteAbe.