On Tuesday night at Fenway Park, the Red Sox (82-69) opened a three-game series with the Athletics (71-80) - their second three-game set with Oakland in as many weeks.

Last week in Sacramento, Boston’s bats exploded in both game one and game two of the series, getting the Red Sox a much-needed series win as the team continues to try and lock down its first playoff appearance since 2021.

And in game two of that series, rookie Connelly Early (1-0, 0.87 ERA) made history in his major league debut, tying a Red Sox team record with 11 strikeouts in his first game as a pro.

Early got the ball again against the A’s on Tuesday, and pitched another gem.

But unfortunately for the rookie, his team and manager let him down.

Boston lost 2-1, creating must-win situations for themselves for the remainder of what was supposed to be their easiest remaining series of the season.

Here’s nine takeaways from Tuesday night at Fenway Park:

1. The kid might be special.

Before we get to a weak decision by Cora, we have to once again give Early his flowers.

In his first career start at Fenway Park, Early once again looked like an old pro on the mound.

With the ability to throw five different pitches so soon into his major league career (four-seamer, changeup, sinker, sweeper, curveball), Early is looking like the guy that Boston needs at the backend of their starting rotation to help bridge them to potential postseason baseball.

Pitching his way into the sixth, here was Early’s line on the day after 80 pitches of work:

5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 0 HR

But after that 80th pitch, Cora decided to pull the 6-foot-3 lefty (more on that in a moment).

I feel like I need to channel my inner Bart Simpson and write “I will not overreact to Connelly Early” over and over again until I believe. He’s been excellent, but both games have come against an A’s team that’s no great shakes.

I’m cautiously optimistic for who this player can be, both the rest of this season as well as years to come.

It’s just too bad they’re in a position where they have to put so much on the shoulders of a player with so much inexperience at the moment. But that’s the reality of the situation right now.

2. Cora doesn’t follow through on his promise from Friday

Before we go into further detail on Cora pulling Early at 80 pitches, I want you to read this full exchange from the Red Sox manager from Friday’s pregame press conference:

Question: “Down the stretch here, these are all playoff games, to some degree. How do you balance winning every game with managing workloads, pitches, down the stretch of the season?”

Alex Cora: “You gotta be careful. One bad step can put you in a bad spot, you know? And I’m not talking standing wise, I’m talking about health. So just a lot of conversation with trainers, a lot of conversation with the players, and then we go from there. I think we are deeper pitching wise than obviously the last three years. We're in a good spot. We got our starters rolling this weekend, right? [Lucas Giolito], [Brayan] Bello and [Garrett] Crochet. Hopefully they go deep into the game, and then we can mix and match with them.”

Q: “Do you start treating these more like playoff games in September with how you manage guys?”

AC: “I think we've been - we try to win games, you know? That's the way to put it. And the game will dictate what we do. I think so far, the group has done an amazing job putting ourselves in this situation.”

While balancing workload management versus managing to win games, you heard it from the horse’s mouth.

“We try to win games.”

Four days later, when presented with a situation to back these words up, Cora did not live up to his end of the bargain.

At 80 pitches, he opted for Greg Weissert (6-5, 3.06 ERA). And in typical Weissert fashion, he was unable to take care of business after taking the mound with runners on base:

- Against the second batter he faced, Weissert allowed an RBI double to a pinch-hitting Tyler Sonderstrom, tying up the ballgame at 1-1

- After walking the next batter, Brett Harris got Weissert for an RBI single to make it a 2-1 ballgame

Weissert blows the save, giving him an AL-leading ninth in that department.

With Early throwing 90 pitches in his debut 6 days ago, this decision is all the more baffling. 

And NESN’s Lenny DiNardo made the key point postgame - Early was still punching the zone. He was showing no signs of slowing down. Sure he was about to face the A’s lineup for a third time, but so what?

If you say you’re going to prioritize winning over workload management, you don’t worry about that analytical crap.

The situation was over-managed, and it cost the Red Sox a crucial win during the stretch run of their regular season.

3. Story’s stays perfect stealing bags

Yes, Cora made an awful decision taking Early out early (sorry, had to do it).

And sure, the Red Sox offense was nowhere to be found (we’ll get to that).

But let’s celebrate the continued success of shortstop Trevor Story, shall we? Let’s mix in a little positivity before we go negative!

During Tuesday night’s loss, the shortstop stole his 30th bag of the season, setting a new career high as well as tying an American League record for consecutive bases stolen without being caught to start a season.

Story’s mark from Tuesday ties a mark set by Carl Crawford in 2009, when he went 30 for 30 to start the season while still playing good baseball for the Rays (73-77). That high level of play ceased to exist as soon as Crawford arrived in Boston in 2011, but that's a different story for a different day.

With 11 games remaining in the regular season, Story has plenty of time to surpass the four-time All-Star.

I said it my debut column for Roundtable and I’ll say it again here:

I refuse to take what Trevor Story is doing offensively for granted.

We know how injured he’s been since arriving in Boston, and we know how bad he was to start the season. Heck, I had a colleague at WEEI ranking Story’s contract as one of the most regrettable deals in all of Boston sports since the start of the 2020s.

But with how well Story has looked across the board this season, this team needs their 32-year-old shortstop to continue channeling the player he once was on a consistent basis for the Rockies throughout the first six years of his career.

If not for the season Jacob deGrom (12-7, 2.82) was having for the Rangers (79-72) as he returns from his second career Tommy John surgery, Story would be the shoo-in to win the AL Comeback Player of the Year.

In 2024, Story suffered a season-ending left shoulder injury on April 5 after a diving play, which involved a dislocated shoulder, torn labrum, and a fractured glenoid rim. He underwent surgery to repair the injury and was placed on the 60-day injured list. He returned from the injured list on September 7, playing in only 26 games to close out a lost year.

deGrom, on the other hand, is returning from his second career Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in June of 2023 after making only six starts in his first season with Texas. Before the surgery, he had experienced other injuries, including a UCL tear in 2021 and a shoulder stress reaction in 2022, which shortened his final seasons with the Mets (77-73). It took him until September of last year to return to the mound.

This year, he’s looked like the deGrom of old, so much so that he was selected to his fifth career All-Star game in his 12th season in the bigs. At last check, he’s currently a -950 favorite to win the award.

Those odds tell you Story has no shot. But it doesn’t mean he’s not deserving.

4. “Tremendously locked in” hitting streak ends at 14 games

Red Sox infielder Romy Gonzalez’s major league-leading hit streak ended at 14 games on Tuesday, as he went 0 for 5 with no walks on the night.

Coming into Tuesday, the 29-year-old was batting .434 with a .954 OPS and 10 RBI over the course of his streak. Those numbers will go down after his poor performance on Tuesday.

For most of this season, Gonzalez primarily served as a specialist against left-handers. But a combination of injuries and slumping teammates has thrust Gonzalez into a more regular role. And with these added opportunities batting against both arms, to use Gonzalez’s oft-quoted words from July 7, the man has been “tremendously locked in.”

While 14 games is an impressive mark, he still had a long way to go before making history.

As we all know, the major league record for consecutive games with a hit is 56, a record owned by Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio set way back in 1941. No one is ever sniffing that number.

But oddly enough, the Red Sox franchise record is also owned by DiMaggio.

And by DiMaggio, I mean his younger brother Dom.

The seven-time All-Star center fielder had a 34-game hit streak of his own, a mark that only Bradley’s 29 ever came close to touching. The younger DiMaggio’s streak surpassed the previous record held by Hall of Fame center fielder Tris Speaker, who had a 30-game hit streak in 1912.

Here’s a list of some of the longest hit streaks in Red Sox history:

• 34 Games - Dom DiMaggio in 1949

• 30 Games - Tris Speaker in 1912

• 30 Games - Nomar Garciaparra in 1997

• 29 Games - Johnny Damon in 2005

• 29 Games - Jackie Bradley Jr. in 2016

• 28 Games - Wade Boggs in 1985

• 27 Games - David Ortiz in 2012-13

• 27 Games - Manny Ramirez in 2006

• 26 Games - Johnny Pesky in 1947

After a slash line of .266/.306/.417 in his first season with the team in 2024, expectations for Gonzalez heading into this season were basically nonexistent. For Boston to have gotten what they’ve gotten out of Gonzalez is a testament to both his hard work as well as the organization for finding the niche that has unlocked him at the plate.

5. A check in on hitting with RISP

Speaking of hitting, the Red Sox continued the awful trend of not doing so with runners in scoring position during Tuesday night’s loss.

0 for 7 with RISP is basically impossible to overcome, no matter how good your pitching is.

Shoutout to my guy Gordo for putting this together on his X account:

Red Sox Batting with RISP:

• Tuesday 9/9 - 2 for 11

• Wednesday 9/10 - 2 for 16

• Friday 9/12 - 0 for 8

• Saturday 9/13 - 1 for 7

• 1st Inning on Sunday 9/14 - 3 for 4

• Rest of Sunday - 0 for 5

• Tuesday 9/16 - 0 for 7

There’s really nothing else to say here. I’ve beaten this point to a pulp.

When they came away from the second inning with no runs after loading the bases with no outs, I knew the were losing this game. Should've live bet it in the moment with every dime in my sports betting account.

This baseball team might miss the postseason if this trend continues.

6. Jarren Duran batting 8th

This was the first time this season last year’s All-Star Game MVP has batted lower than sixth in the order.

And at least for a night, it appeared to be a good spot for him

Duran was 1 for 3 with a walk. Nothing explosive. Nothing all that stand-out about it.

But for a player who has struggled to hit consistently all season, maybe this modest performance can help jump start this guy down the home stretch.

Because Lord knows this offense can use all the help it can get right now.

There's also a chance Duran's placement in the order tonight could be indicative of a possible return for Wilyer Abreu this week.

Here's MassLive's Chris Cotillo:

7. He might not be hitting, but Rafaela continues flashing the leather

Let’s not focus on the massive slump at the plate for the moment. I think we’ve already reached our negativity quota for the evening.

I just want to highlight how good Rafaela continues to be in center field.

In the top of the fourth, the 24-year-old hauled in a long, long drive from A’s infielder Darell Hernaiz, almost running all the way to the Green Monster to end the inning and save what would likely have been two runs scored for Oakland.

The 23-year-old on the mound owes his stud center fielder a beverage of his choice for that one. Had those runs come across, Cora probably would have pulled Early even sooner.

At this point, we get, like, one of these catches a game.

Stop the fight. Give this man the Gold Glove. Call it a day.

…now can we get this guy hitting again?

8. Hogdale in the booth!

For the uninitiated, I’ll let Google Gemini explain who Hogdale is, and why it was awesome to hear him in the WEEI booth tonight:

“Hogdale, whose real name is Grant Huckvale, is a prominent Red Sox fan known for his passionate support, especially on Red Sox Twitter, and for being a co-host of the baseball podcast “Pod By the River.” He is recognized for his enthusiastic home run calls, a distinctive personality within the Red Sox fan community, and his "King of Iowa" persona. You can find him on X (@Hogdale_) and Twitch (Hogdale33).”

Will Flemming invited Hog into the booth on Tuesday, and it ruled.

Like my friend Rob Bradford would say, “Baseball isn’t boring.” Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

9. On tap for Wednesday:

Game two of the Red Sox series with the Athletics gets underway at 6:45 p.m. ET.

Boston will throw Lucas Giolito (10-4, 3.31 ERA), with the Athletics tossing righty Mason Barnett (1-1, 8.53 ERA).

Peep that ERA for Barnett.

Sox must capitalize to keep pace with everything else going on at the top of the American League.

Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.