Red Sox manager Alex Cora as frustrated as ever after team's 17th one-run loss of season
Red Sox manager Alex Cora has stayed relatively cool and level-headed amid the team's struggles this season. But on Tuesday night, following yet another one-run loss, Cora vented a lot of frustration with the 2025 Boston Red Sox.
Boston's 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels in 10 innings was the team's 17th one-run defeat of the season, giving them the most in the Major Leagues. Those one-run losses account for half of the team's 34 losses this season. Boston is just 6-17 in those close affairs.
But being so close -- yet so far -- from a win over and over and over again is only part of the frustration. The Red Sox are mostly doing this to themselves with mental mistakes in the field and on the basepaths, and poor execution at the plate.
"We keep making the same mistakes, we're not getting better," Cora vented after Tuesday's loss. "At one point, it has to be on me, I guess, right? I'm the manager. I got to keep pushing them to get better. They're not getting better. They're not. We keep making the same mistakes.
"I'm being very honest about it. Very open about it," Cora continued. "You get frustrated, but at some point it's like, 'OK, what are we going to do? What's going to change?' Because we keep doing the same thing. The same thing."
The Red Sox are just 2-8 in their last 10 games. Five of those losses have been by one run. Cora would love to offer up a solution, but the skipper is at a loss himself.
"Is it effort? Preparation? Attention to detail? I have no idea, man," said Cora. "I watched that game tonight and was like, 'Wow this is real.' It's frustrating."
Three more errors by Red Sox
Boston's horrendous defense seemed to really fan the flames of Cora's fire after Tuesday's loss. The Red Sox had three more errors in the game, and now have the most in the Majors with 53 in 63 contests. Boston's defense is even worse than that of the 11-win Rockies, though Colorado has racked up its 51 errors in 61 games.
The Red Sox were fortunate that only one of Tuesday's errors proved costly. Ceddanne Rafaela is usually excellent in center, but his wild throw home on an RBI single by Zach Neto in the third inning allowed a pair of runners to move into scoring position. Both scored four pitches later to put the Angels on top 3-0.
The Sox also made back-to-back miscues in the fifth, though only one was an error. Third baseman Abraham Toro made an errant throw to first on a grounder by Neto, which was ruled an infield single. The next batter, Nolan Schanuel, hit a grounder to Kristian Campbell that should have been a double play, but the rookie couldn't spin it and both runners were safe. Boston was fortunate to escape the inning without any damage, as starter Brayan Bello got Mike Trout to ground out and struck out the last two batters.
Boston's third error came in the 10th inning when reliever Zack Kelly couldn't field a sac bunt by Schanuel to lead things off. Ghost runner Neto scored two batters later when Taylor Ward grounded into a double play, which was also a bit of a head-scratcher. Toro opted to go for the two outs instead of trying to cut down Neto at home, a curious decision given Boston's inability to manufacture runs throughout the game.
Cora did not mince words about his team's defense after the loss.
"Routine ground balls for double plays we don't turn, we throw to the wrong bases, we miss cutoff guys, PFPs (Pitcher Fielding Practice) were horrible. So there's a lot of bad right now," he said.
The Red Sox have now committed more than one error in 16 games this season.
Red Sox lack timely hitting
Defense was not the only issue for the Red Sox on Tuesday -- or this season. On a night when Boston got a solid outing from Bello, the offense once again fell asleep.
The Red Sox went just 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base. Boston is batting .234 with runners in scoring position for the season, which ranks 22nd in baseball. They've struck out a MLB-high 171 times with runners in scoring position.
Red Sox hitters strike out a ton in any situation, ranking third in the league with 582 punchouts.
Boston had its chances throughout Tuesday's loss. Toro was thrown out at home in the second. The team had two in scoring position and no outs in the third after Jarren Duran doubled in Boston's first run, but the threat ended with Ks by Rafael Devers and Romy Gonzalez and a groundout by Toro.
The Red Sox had two on and one out in the fourth, but got nothing out of it. With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Campbell led off the inning with a walk and was lifted for pinch-runner David Hamilton, who stole second. But Duran didn't sacrifice Hamilton over to third, and instead popped out to center for the first out of the inning. (Hamilton did not tag up on the play either.)
Hamilton didn't swipe third base until there were two outs in the frame, and that's where he stayed. Wilyer Abreu struck out for the inning's second out and Gonzalez grounded out to second to end the walk-off threat. Gonzalez was 0-for-4 on the night heading into the at-bat, but Cora left him in to face Kenley Jansen rather than pinch-hit rookie Marcelo Mayer.
After Los Angeles took its 4-3 lead in the 10th, Boston went 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the inning to end the game.
With all the miscues and lack of timely hitting, the Red Sox are not giving themselves a chance to win ballgames. Cora was surprised the team was even in Tuesday's game with all their self-inflicted wounds.
"Missed the cutoff guy, they score two, we hit the eighth hitter, we walk the ninth hitter, we didn't execute a bunt play, we didn't advance when we needed to. You can talk about chances. I can tell you the chances we gave the opposition," Cora said. "We were lucky to be in that game at the end, to be honest with you."
Cora does have some job security after he signed a three-year extension last July, but it's time for the manager to start finding the answers to his team's issues. The Red Sox are now five games out of a Wild Card spot and 10 games behind the Yankees in the AL East, and are in serious jeopardy of falling out of contention -- and relevancy -- for a fourth straight summer.
