BOSTON -- Matt Barnes' struggles Sunday night at Yankee Stadium highlighted an ongoing issue for Boston's righty reliever.
His outings are much more likely to go awry if he pitches on the road.
Barnes threw 21 pitches, walked two and surrendered a run that was, at the time, the go-ahead run for the Yankees in the eighth inning Sunday night. Of course, Rafael Devers' ninth-inning heroics helped Boston rally to win 3-2, making up for Boston's bullpen mishaps.
But Barnes, who Red Sox manager John Farrell said won't pitch Monday at Fenway Park against the Cleveland Indians, hasn't pitched well away from home all year.
He has allowed 16 runs in 27 2/3 innings (5.20 ERA) in away games, walking 18 batters while striking out 25. Barnes owns a 1.65 ERA at home this season, striking out 38 batters in 29 innings while walking just eight -- a sizable difference.
All three of the homers Barnes has allowed this season came away from Fenway Park as well.
Farrell said Boston's coaching staff has addressed Barnes about his road/home splits.
"That's something we continue to talk with Matt about," Farrell said. "Clearly, that says he's comfortable on the home mound here at Fenway."
Farrell said part of Barnes' road struggles relate to his inconsistency landing first-pitch curveballs to batters, something Farrell believes Barnes is more comfortable doing at Fenway Park.
"That goes a long way to a guy coming out and, particularly in his case, landing a first-pitch curveball," Farrell said. "That's part of his attack plan. As we've seen on the road, that can set the tone for the bats unfolding."
Barnes replaced Chris Sale prior to the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday night and fell behind in the count to four of the five batters he faced. The fifth, Aaron Judge, laced a 95-mph first-pitch fastball for a single.
Both of his walks (at-bats with Aaron Hicks and Gary Sanchez) began with first-pitch curveballs that missed the strike zone. Barnes also began the inning by missing the zone with a pair of curveballs to Brett Gardner, who later grounded out on a 2-1 fastball.
Only eight of Barnes' 21 pitches went for strikes.
"His importance to the bullpen and his role that he's been in all year, more consistent strike throwing on the road is the biggest thing," Farrell said.
Farrell has continued to use Barnes as one of his trusted eighth inning relievers this season. And while Barnes hasn't been perfect in "high-leverage" situations -- According to Fangraphs, opponents are hitting .375 against Barnes and he's walked nine batters in 11 2/3 such innings -- he's still in the midst of the best season of his young career.
Barnes' splits this season don't jive with his career outputs, either. His ERA at Fenway Park for his career is higher than his road mark (4.47 vs. 3.81) and he's given up nine career homers compared to 10 on the road.
It's not like opponents are sitting on Barnes' curveball, either. According to Baseball Savant, Barnes has thrown 289 curveballs this year and opponents have hit 10 of them (.175 average) while swinging and missing 32 of them.
The Red Sox hope he Locates them more consistently in the strike zone, especially early in the counts, the next time they turn to Barnes on the road.