BOSTON — Thousands of Scottish fans in Boston for the World Cup descended on Fenway Park on Sunday. They came in kilts, with bagpipes in tow and armed with a slew of rhythmic chants that they sang all game, but none of them could save the Boston Red Sox from slipping backward once again.The first two wins of the weekend series against the Texas Rangers, in a way, marked an improvement: The Red Sox finally won another series at home, something they hadn’t done since the home-opening series against Milwaukee the first weekend in April.But given a chance for their first sweep at Fenway Park since August, the Red Sox wilted in a 6-4 loss.
Scotland's Tartan Army has taken over Fenway Park in Boston 🏴 pic.twitter.com/ZJyKewy94Y
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) June 15, 2026Starter Connelly Early, who began the year with a 3.12 ERA through his first eight starts, has struggled of late. In his last three outings, he’s lasted 14 2/3 innings, allowing 12 earned runs for a 7.36 ERA.“Not good,” Early assessed. “Thought the offense came out pretty well today for us, so after (picking up) two wins, it’s a tough one.”On Sunday, Early gave up a career-high six runs, including two homers — one a first-pitch solo shot to Wyatt Langford and the other a three-run dagger in the second to Kyle Higashioka that landed in the Monster seats in the hands of a young fan wearing a Scotland jersey. A Brandon Nimmo two-run double in the fourth sealed Early’s fate. He gave up six runs on 11 hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.“He’s a very mentally tough kid, and I think everybody knows, even a kid like him knows, you’re not going to just cruise through the big leagues without running into some struggles,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “The key is get ready for the next one, make your adjustments between starts.”Pitching coach Andrew Bailey identified falling behind in counts and failing to throw strikes as two of Early’s biggest struggles of late.The early deficit made it hard for the Red Sox to battle back, despite Willson Contreras’ best efforts. The first baseman hit a solo homer in the second to make it a 4-1 game. In the sixth, he added another solo shot to pull the Red Sox within 6-3. Two innings later, Wilyer Abreu made it 6-4 with an RBI single, but that’s as close as they’d get.“When you’re chasing that many (runs), it’s like everything kind of has to go right,” Tracy said, crediting the bullpen for 4 1/3 scoreless innings to give the Red Sox a chance.The energetic Scottish-skewed crowd did its best to will the Red Sox to a comeback, as the team had managed the previous two nights. Scotland was coming off its own thrilling 1-0 World Cup win on Saturday, the country’s first in 36 years. Their fans arrived at Fenway (on Scottish Heritage Night), marching down Lansdowne Street with bagpipes blaring.The night provided one of the best regular-season crowds in recent memory, as fans sang “No Scotland, No Party” all night. But it also offered something of an awkward dichotomy. The festive atmosphere served as a backdrop for a Red Sox club scuffling so mightily it couldn’t benefit from the crowd boost.“It was crazy,” Tracy said. “Felt like a soccer game with the chanting and all that. It was pretty loud.”Added Early: “Really good atmosphere and fun game in general. That’s a fun game to pitch in. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to throw it as well as I wished.”That the raucous crowd of 32,006 wasn’t even a sellout despite the influx of World Cup tourists added further proof of how rough the Red Sox have played this season.After the game, the Red Sox tried to focus on their two wins this weekend, in which they scored 16 runs. But Sunday’s loss left a sour taste, marring the series at a time when the Red Sox know they need more wins or the selloff will start sooner than they’d like.Jun 15, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
