This is not the way I wanted to start the week, the column I had for you all was upbeat – optimistic – I WAS PLEASANT DAMMIT. But like New England Weather, that was fifteen minutes ago. And here we are after yet another Pepto-Abysmal effort by the Boston Red Sox. At least I’m not alone in my gamma-induced outrage as Manager Alex Cora got a little green himself after Saturday’s 10-1 loss to the Rangers.
“Embarrassing is the word,” Cora said. “And it starts from me. Five errors, we didn’t run the bases well, we didn’t put good at-bats. We didn’t pitch. In this thing, it’s a team effort, it starts with us, it starts with the coaches to keep coaching. We’ve been playing sloppy ball for a while and they keep doing it. So at one point, we’ve got to be accountable, too.
After Boston’s fourth loss in five Cora wasn’t finished
“I hated the way we played tonight, I hated it.” More from an angry #RedSox manager Alex Cora on his team’s 10-1 loss at the hands of the Texas Rangers Saturday night. @wbz pic.twitter.com/qXg7D58q1N — Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) August 22, 2021
“That was embarrassing today. It’s not acceptable. For a team that’s fighting for the playoffs to show up like that and play like that, it’s not acceptable. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose the game, it’s how you win or lose the game and that’s not acceptable.”
Shared Embarrassment
Red Sox's Alex Cora asked about Eduardo Rodriguez: “There’s not much to talk about him. You saw what happened. Wasn’t able to put people away. And he didn’t give us enough innings for us to win the game.” — Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) August 22, 2021
Red Sox pitchers gave up seventeen hits while giving three free passes to Rangers in the game. Eduardo Rodriguez couldn’t make it to the fourth, giving up five earned in just 3 ⅔ of an innings. And fell to (9-7) on the season.
The Sox “sluggers” had just five hits of their own, a single extra-base hit, and three walks. The real embarrassment? The five errors the Red Sox committed. Keki Hernandez turned a Brock Holt infield single into a triple. Xander Bogearts forgot how to throw to first, allowing a run to score from second just two plays later. And I’m not even counting Christian Vazquez missing a tag at home or the awful baserunning that led to two outs.
Even with the lack of quality moves made by Chaim Bloom and the front office at the deadline, I had yet to see a game the Sox played where I thought they had quit. Until Saturday’s contest against a team that’s so bad, they probably wished they were the Baltimore Orioles.
Boston Red Sox GM Bloom dumps one mistake for another
As always you can follow/give me grief on Twitter @Tmurph207
Featured Image via Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald