One of the most unfortunate things about being an American sports fan is you’re relentlessly inundated with erectile dysfunction advertisements. Are you unable to perform like you used to? Having trouble getting it up? Not making enough hard contact?

The saving grace is these inquiries are generally quarantined to the commercial breaks. But lately, and especially tonight, the bottom half of every inning at Fenway Park is resembling one of these uncomfortable questionnaires.

The Red Sox didn’t just get shutout tonight. They were held to a mere two hits over 6.1 innings against Luis Gil, who entered the game with a 7.00 ERA and has stuff so underwhelming, even this lineup walked more times (three) than they struck out (twice). Not a single pitch thrown by a Yankee arm tonight registered higher than 96mph, and the Red Sox couldn’t do anything in the box. These are the games you’re supposed to post crooked numbers! If the Sox are getting shutout and frankly not coming close to scoring runs against this competition, what are they possibly going to look like when they start facing some real flamethrowers?

Accompanying this latest listless performance was an 0-7 effort with runners in scoring position, which now leaves Boston with a .159 batting average with runners in scoring position on this homestand.

Needless to say given the score, the bats once against failed to go deep, which means they’ve now hit just five home runs in their last 16 games. During this stretch, they’re more likely to score two runs or less in the game (seven times) than they are to hit a home run at any point in the game (five times).

The at bats were so terrible and widespread in this one, it’s not even worth dissecting any key moments because there weren’t any that stood out. It was just one never-ending conveyor belt of uninspiring and boring at bats. They were so bad they didn’t even create a key spot in the game to fail in.

On the mound, Connelly Early was mostly solid until the sixth inning when he lost command of the zone and walked three guys. The overall outing was a mixed bag, but with a normal offense, this would have been enough to make it a competitive game that likely would have been decided in a nail biter in the ninth.

Unfortunately, the impotency of this lineup is anything buy normal. Ask your front office if a power hitter is right for you.

Studs

No player is going in this category tonight, but we can give it to …

The Pitch Timer: Not only did it get this disaster class game over with in a reasonable amount of time, but it also provided a couple of the most interesting exchanges of the night (both involving Jose Caballero).

In the sixth inning, when Jack Anderson came in to relieve Connelly Early, Caballero successfully baited Anderson into a violation twice by waiting until the eight second mark (when you have to be ready and address the pitcher) to address Anderson. As a result, Anderson was early both times and got called for it.

But then, Anderson showed us a little something and came back to to strike out Caballero, including on a perfect pitch down and in on 3-2.

Then in the eighth, Caballero got the tables turned on him and ended up getting rung up on a pitch timer violation of his own.

Not only has the pitch timer improved the game by tightening it back to where it was for the majority of last century, but it also provides some drama as teams push the edge.

Three Duds

It really should be the entire offense, but we’ll specifically give it to the three guys who never got on base.

Wilyer Abreu: 0-4 tonight, and his OPS has fallen from 1.101 to .796 over his last nine games.

Masataka Yoshida: 0-4, easily his worst day at the dish so far this season.

Strikeouts: 0-3 with two strikeouts. The only reason he wasn’t 0-4 like the others is because the lineup was so bad it didn’t get around to him again. He’s now hitting .155 with a .475 OPS on the season.

Play of the game:

There was this really sweet highlight reel catch from Ceddanne Rafaela tonight. It’s just too bad it happened late in this complete nothing game instead of to keep the score tied in the eighth or something like that.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, this offense gets to face Max Fried. I’ve been told it’s not possible to score negative runs in a baseball game, but if it is, these guys are going to find it soon.

Nolan McLean was outstanding again on Tuesday night. 

After being handed an early 3-0 lead on a Francisco Lindor homer, the young right-hander was doing everything he could to make sure he brought the Mets’ 11-game losing streak to an end. 

McLean absolutely cruised his way through the Twins’ lineup in the early-going, retiring the first 15 batters he faced and picking up eight strikeouts along the way over the first five innings. 

Matt Wallner immediately brought both the perfect game and no-hit bids to an end, though, leading off the top of the sixth with a clean single. 

The righty retired the next two hitters easily, but then fell behind Byron Buxton 3-1 before he lifted an up-and-away cutter for a towering two-run homer down the left-field line. 

McLean gave up another hit but was able to escape without any further damage. 

Even with the youngster starting to show some signs of fatigue, Carlos Mendoza elected to stick with him to start the seventh, and Minnesota was quickly able to break through again. 

Back-to-back knocks from Kody Clemons and Luke Keaschall completely flipped the script, evening things up at three apiece and chasing McLean from the game. 

“He’s our guy,” the skipper said afterwards. “With the way he was throwing on a day when we had a couple of our guys down, we knew we were going to push him, so we felt good with where he was at and he gave us a chance."

"I’d like to go a bit longer," McLean admitted. "But Bux made a good swing and things snowballed from there."

The 24-year-old finished giving up just three runs on five hits while matching his career-high with 10 strikeouts.

McLean was outstanding the first two times through the order once again, but this isn’t the first time that he’s been hit a bit harder that elusive third time around. 

As pointed out by Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com, opponents have just a .075 average against him over the first five innings, compared to a .360 mark in the sixth and beyond. 

It’s something McLean knows he has to work on moving forward. 

“These guys are getting paid to play baseball, too,” he said. “At the end of the day, I just have to execute a little bit better, maybe do a little bit more homework on how guys are adjusting, but I just have to execute better at the end of the day.”

The Mets are in the midst of a lengthy losing streak that has seen some of the best hitters in the league go cold, and starters and relievers implode in various ways.

On Tuesday night, it was Devin Williams' turn. After blowing his first save as a Met on Sunday, Williams was called upon to keep the team's series-opener against the Twins tied at three in the ninth. Williams, however, just could not control his signature changeup and allowed two runs on a hit and three walks in the team's 5-3 loss at Citi Field.

"Felt a little out of sync, mechanically," Williams said of his outing after the game. "Couldn’t really land my changeup for strikes. It was tough to beat guys with just the fastball." 

“Today, the command. Getting behind hitters, not able to execute," manager Carlos Mendoza said of his closer. "Once you start walking people, you’re in dangerous territory there. He’s gotta come back in the zone, and when he’s getting behind, good hitters are going to make him pay. Overall, the walks kinda hurt him there."

Williams has thrown his changeup 48 percent of the time this season, but he just couldn't rely on it on Tuesday. Of the 21 pitches he threw, Williams only tossed eight to the five Twins hitters he faced; only one was thrown for a strike.

For a two-pitch pitcher, their job is much harder when one of those pitches is taken away from them. But is it the reason for Williams' recent struggles? After allowing four runs in 0.1 innings against the Dodgers on April 15, Williams allowed a run in the aforementioned blown save in Chicago before Tuesday's performance. 

Those seven earned runs have ballooned his ERA to 9.95.

But Williams and Mendoza said today's outing was the result of bad command. Williams, who inked a three-year, $51 million deal with the Mets this offseason, was asked if the team's now 12-game losing streak is adding more pressure on him to perform. The right-hander, who is in his eighth season, didn't agree but can't pinpoint anything specific for his recent tough stretch.

"Obviously, you want to do well," Williams said of pitching during the losing streak. "We’re in a tough stretch here. It’s the same as any other game."

He added, "All three outings were something different. Today, I didn’t have command. Couldn’t throw my changeup for a strike. It’s tough to be one-dimensional."

Although he doesn't place blame on the added pressures of the Mets' losing streak for his recent performances, he acknowledges that it hasn't been easy.

"It’s tough, man. I’ve never been a part of something like this," he said of the streak. "I think we just need to get the one win out of the way and I think everything else will take care of itself. It’s proving pretty difficult right now... Every day is a new day. We have a chance to win a new game every day. Everyone knows the situation; it’s just stacking on top of each other." 

The Orioles coughed up two different leads on Tuesday night as starter Shane Baz was, yet again, inconsistent, and the team’s bullpen had a rare stumble. All of it led to a frustrating 6-5 loss to the Royals, evening up the series at one game apiece.

The Orioles’ half of the second inning felt like a game-changer in the moment. They made Royals starter Kris Bubic throw a ton of pitches. Jeremiah Jackson saw five pitches before singling, Weston Wilson walked after nine pitches, and Leody Taveras lined out on the seventh pitch of his at-bat.

That all happened before Coby Mayo gave the O’s an early lead with his first home run of the season, a 114-mph bomb that went 439 feet down the left field line. Swings like that are why the organization continues to believe in Mayo.

Normally, when someone throws 38 pitches in one inning, they aren’t in for a long night at the office. Bubic would prove otherwise. The southpaw rebounded from the nightmarish second frame and then delivered four consecutive scoreless innings to protect the Royals bullpen for as long as possible. That is both an indictment of the Orioles’ offensive showing for much of this game, but also an impressive bit of veteran moxie from the 28-year-old Bubic.

Orioles starter Shane Baz had himself yet another uneven outing in the black and orange. Over 6.1 innings, the righty allowed four runs on eight hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.

Kansas City’s first run of the day came in the bottom of the second. Carter Jensen doubled with one out, moved to third base on a wild pitch, and then trotted home on a Michael Massey sac fly to right field. That made it a 3-1 Orioles advantage.

Baz worked out of trouble in both the third and fourth inning. The third saw him get a big groundout of Vinnie Pasquantino with two outs and two runners in scoring position. In the fourth, he again stranded runners at second and third by getting a strikeout followed by a pop out.

That luck would run out in the fifth inning, when the Royals would tie the score up at 3-3. Kyle Isbel opened the frame with a double, and then moseyed home on a single by Maikel Garcia. The speedy Garcia then scooted to second base on a ground out before stealing third base. That then put him in position to cross the plate on a Pasquantino sac fly to knot things back up.

It seemed like O’s manager Craig Albernaz was testing Baz from there. The righty worked a shutout sixth inning, which included two big strikeouts on what felt like a finale to his day. But he had only thrown 85 pitches, and the bullpen was thin after going to extra innings on Monday. So, Albernaz brought the starter back for the seventh. That would prove to be a poor decision.

Isbel doubled yet again to begin the inning. This came right after he had taken a pitch that was called ball two but should have been strike three. The Orioles had a challenge to use, but Rutschman decided against it. After the double, Isbel advanced to third on a wild pitch and was then joined on base by a Garcia walk. Albernaz followed that with a visit to the mound, where it seemed like he was prepared to yank Baz from the game. Instead, they had a quick chat, and he stuck with him for one more batter. That batter was Bobby Witt Jr. It worked out fine, relatively. Witt did drive in Isbel with a sac fly, and Baz was then removed. But Grant Wolfram came in and limited the damage from there, leaving his one inherited runner stranded and keep the game at 4-3 after seven innings.

The Orioles would go back ahead in the eighth inning. Gunnar Henderson led off with a double down the left field line. Then Adley Rutschman, fresh off of his brief IL stint, came up clutch with a two-run homer to left field off of reliever Matt Strahm.

Despite a really rough patch in the game’s middle innings, somhow the Orioles found themselves ahead 5-4 going into the late frames. Considering how good their bullpen has been to this point, it felt like a win was incoming.

Think again.

Rico Garcia was called on for the eighth inning. Prior to today’s game, the righty had basically been perfect this season. He had yet to allow a hit or run on the year. That streak ended with the first batter he faced on Tuesday. Michael Massey led off the eighth inning with a solo homer to give us yet another deadlock, this one at 5-5. Garcia did look really good outside of that at-bat, but the damage had been done.

The Orioles failed to score in their half of the ninth inning, and then they brought on closer Ryan Helsley for the bottom of the frame. He had not control in this one, as he issued walks to both Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. to begin the inning. A strikeout of Pasquantino didn’t help much because it came on a pitch in the dirt that allowed the two runners to advance anyway. Then, with Salvador Perez at the plate, Helsley spiked another pitch in the dirt. Rutschman blocked it, but it bounced too far away from him in front of the plate, leaving plenty of time for Garcia to sprint home from third as the winning run.

This was one of the rare Orioles losses that can mostly be pinned on the bullpen. That’s not to say that Baz was great, because he wasn’t. But he provided 6.1 innings. And that’s not to say the offense had some incredible performance, because they didn’t. But they scored five runs and produced a lead late. The Orioles need to count of the duo of Garcia and Helsley to lock down those wins. It didn’t happen tonight.

There was good news buried within the loss.

Rutschman’s return was a welcome one. He instantly adds depth and credibility to the lineup. It also freed up Samuel Basallo to be a pinch-hit option late in the game. It turns out that when your best players are healthy, your team is more dangerous. Very interesting discovery, that is.

Mayo’s homer was awesome too. The young slugger still has some runway here while Jackson Holliday is out to figure things out at the plate. Could that dong be the first step? We sure have to hope so. The Orioles, as a team, need to be hitting more home runs. Mayo should be a reliable source of them.

Outside of that, it was just a tough loss to the take. Can’t dwell on it. Just go get the series win tomorow.

Speaking of which, he Orioles will wrap up this series, this roadtrip, and the 13-day run without a day off on Wednesday afternoon in Kansas City. Chris Bassitt (0-2, 6.19 ERA) will be on the bump to face Michael Wacha (2-0, 1.00 ERA). First pitch is set for 2:10 from Kauffman Stadium.