A bases-loaded situation. A 93 mph sinker. A grand slam that cost the Red Sox the game. Greg Weissert threw the pitch that ruined a 2-2 tie on Thursday, but interim manager Chad Tracy is taking the blame for the 10-2 loss. Tracy put the reliever into a close game to stop the Braves.

Instead, Weissert walked in a run and gave up a grand slam to Ronald Acuña Jr. He allowed five runs in a single inning, turning a tight game into a blowout. Fans and sports talk hosts were furious at Tracy’s decision.

“I feel like you’re just listening to the analytics now, and it’s gonna ruin your job… You had a nice cushy job there, now you’re up with the big boys, and you’re getting the analytics to go with Weissert… I can’t buy that Chad Tracy made that decision. I can’t do it. It had to have come from above… Why did you put him in a game with a bases-loaded situation against Ronald Acuna? It’s stupid. It literally is stupid. It is the dumbest, stupidest decision. It’s stupid,” 98.5 The SportsHub’s Joe Murray had a meltdown.

Before that sixth inning, both teams were playing well. Payton Tolle started the game well for the Red Sox, allowing only 2 ERs from his 4.2 innings with 7 SOs. Tracy placed Weissert on the mound, who started the inning by walking in a run. Suddenly, the Braves covered all the bases, and Acuna was on the plate. Entering Thursday, Acuna had only 2 homers this season, which may have made Tracy believe more in Weissert.

However, a grand slam off a 93 mph sinker from Weissert altered the game equation.

And the most surprising part was that Weissert has allowed 12 of his 21 inherited runners to score this season, as per The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey. Still, Tracy went ahead with him. Reason? The analytics say Weissert hadn’t allowed a single earned run in his last six outings. After Thursday, Weissert is standing with a 4.43 ERA and 21 SOs.

“I will say he was going pretty good here for a little bit, even with some inherited runner spots. What he came into today, that is not easy,” Tracy said on his Weissert decision.

This bad inning highlights a bigger problem for a struggling Red Sox team. After Alex Cora was fired earlier this season, Tracy stepped in as interim manager to try to save the year. But the team is still stuck with a losing record, and bad bullpen choices are only making things worse.

We wonder if Tracy was the only one who made the decision to send Weissert to the mound or if it came from the Red Sox’s upper management. The 31-year-old allowed only six home runs last year in his 72 appearances. Nothing came in handy, though, at the very moment, and Murray thinks such decisions could only blow up Tracy’s job as the Red Sox’s manager.

“Just can’t miss there….just bad execution,” Weisssert acknowledges his error, but the Red Sox fans seem no more willing to bear with him.

The Red Sox fans are left unimpressed

The Red Sox fans wonder how long the team will keep Weissert on the roster.

“Greg Weissert isn’t a major league option right now,” one fan said. “How much longer do I have to watch Greg Weissert on this baseball team? This guy wouldn’t even have made the team in Bull Durham,” another added.

The Red Sox still have the chance to demote Weissert. He still has one minor league option remaining on his contract, which gives the Red Sox the flexibility to send him to Triple-A Worcester without having to pass him through waivers. More importantly, the Red Sox have Zack Kelly and Tommy Kahnle down in Triple-A. So, they could be given a chance in place of Weissert.

Still, the fans wonder if the Red Sox front office would ever like to demote Weissert.

“Looking to guarantee a loss in a winnable game? Dial 1-800- WEISSERT,” one user took a sarcastic dig. “This is why you don’t bring in Greg Weissert with the bases loaded and no outs,” another added.

This is not the first time that the Red Sox pitcher blew up a steady game. Early this month, against the Rays, he entered a 3-3 tie game in the top of the 6th inning, completely unraveled by allowing a single, a walk, and a second single to hand the Rays a multi-run lead. He also surrendered three hits and four runs in just over an inning of work against the Tigers.

Surprisingly, the Red Sox are still playing him in the high-leverage situations. “Every day is a new layer of hell,” one fan perfectly summed up the Red Sox’s current situation.

On Thursday only, apart from Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Caleb Durbin, no one could add any runs. Then, in the first game against the Braves, Ranger Suarez gave up 5 ERs.

So, it’s a new pain each day for the Red Sox this year. Alex Cora is gone, but the struggle remained, and no one knows the way out.