Red Sox Giving Fans Painful 2012 Flashbacks Despite Royals Win

The Boston Red Sox got back into the win column on Monday night, but it doesn't fully mask the ongoing issue with the club's offense.

Boston took down the Kansas City Royals, 3-1, thanks to great pitching from Sonny Gray and a homer from Willson Contreras. The offense had just enough to win, but it still isn't fully clicking. In fact, Ian Browne of MLB.com shared on X that Monday night's contest was the ninth straight in which the Red Sox scored three runs or fewer.

"The last time the Red Sox have gone nine straight games scoring three games or less? The last nine games of Bobby V's 2012 season. The difference is that they are trying now," Browne wrote on X.

Any time the 2012 season is brought up, it's certainly not for a good reason. That year, the Red Sox went 69-93 and it was a dumpster fire from the beginning. Fortunately, the Red Sox were able to turn things around the next year under John Farrell and win 97 games and the World Series. The 2012 season is a perfect example of what you don't want to do.

The Red Sox Need More Offense

May 18, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Masataka Yoshida (7) at bat against the Kansas City Royals during the eighth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The thing that is interesting about the 2026 Red Sox is that the pitching is so good that they just need a few runs to win games. Boston is 18-8 when it scores three or more runs in a game this season. Boston has played 47 games so far this season and has scored three or more runs just 26 times. That's a lot of low-scoring games. But, again, the pitching has been so good that when the Red Sox get to three runs, they have a very good chance of winning. Boston has the ninth-best record in baseball when scoring three or more runs in a game. The Atlanta Braves are in first place at 31-5. The St. Louis Cardinals are just ahead of the Red Sox are 25-7.

The 2026 Red Sox can still be good. If the pitching holds like this, they can turn things around. But it may take some difficult choices. Boston third baseman Caleb Durbin hasn't played the last two games, for example, with Nick Sogard getting the looks over at third base. Sogard has done well over at the hot corner as well with base hits in each of the last two games. Durbin, on the other hand, is hitting .165 on the season.

It was a good night for the Red Sox on Monday, but the offensive struggles aren't going away.

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