Red Sox
Cora called the Red Sox’ three errors, along with another key mistake, “momentum changers.”
The Red Sox’ fielding woes hit a new low in the early part of the season in Friday’s 7-0 loss to the Angels.
Boston committed three errors — all in the first three innings — of Friday’s loss, turning routine plays into costly mistakes. Shortstop David Hamilton hurt the Red Sox’ chances of getting out of a first-inning jam when his throw to second base to try and get a double play went wide. Triston Casas dropped a pop-up in foul territory in the second inning Following a Brandon Drury single in the third, Ceddanne Rafaela’s throw from center field to the cutoff man, Casas, ricocheted away and allowed a run to score.
In total, the Red Sox’ errors resulted in three runs for the Angels on Friday. But Red Sox manager Alex Cora also lamented over another missed double play opportunity in the first inning as well, in which they were only able to get one out.
“We got two ground balls that we should have turned into double plays,” Cora told reporters following Friday’s game. “We didn’t do it and they scored three. It put us in a bad spot.
“We get a ground ball double play, we don’t turn it, then stuff like that is going to happen,” Cora added. “Double plays are game-changers. Momentum changers. You turn them, the momentum shifts to you. If you don’t turn them, the momentum stays with them. And that’s what happened.”
Casas’s second-inning error didn’t cost the Red Sox any runs, but Cora seemed to place the blame on the first baseman for the error on Rafaela’s throw in the third inning.
“Triston has to be a little bit quicker to the middle of the diamond,” Cora said of the third-inning error. “There’s no play at the plate, so we have to knock it down. That ball can’t go by.”
Cora emphasized those sorts of fielding mistakes are the most frustrating as they’ve committed an MLB-high 16 errors through the first two weeks of the season.
“Those are the ones that really bother me,” Cora continued on the Red Sox’ error in the third inning. “The physical ones, they’re part of it; we will make mistakes. I know how it works. It’s part of it. But the [mental] mistakes we have to eliminate.”
All those errors came with Tanner Houck on the mound Friday. The righty gave up four earned runs (seven total) on 12 hits, two strikeouts, and no walks. As Houck went 5 2/3 innings though on the mound, Cora believed the team failed its starting pitcher, saying it made it “hard to pitch.”
“I think [Houck] did a good job of giving us 5 2/3,” Cora said. “… He gave us enough innings for us to be in a better place for tomorrow and the upcoming days.”
Now, Cora’s focus is on making sure the defense doesn’t make those some mental mistakes on the field moving forward.
“We work so hard to get it right,” Cora said. “We’re still going to work hard to get it right. We’re not going to stop. At the end of the day, we have to do it at 7:05, that’s the most important thing.”
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