Where to put your finger on what's troubling the Red Sox, off to their worst start than even Bobby Valentine's crew in 2012 (they were 4-5 after nine games, not 2-7)?
A World Series hangover? Alex Cora isn't buying it.
“I don’t believe in hangovers,” Cora told reporters, including MassLive.com's Christoper Smith, after the latest loss, 15-8 to the Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Friday night. "The only hangover is when you go out drinking and the next day you’ve got a headache. We’ve all been there.”
So, while some look for the team's leaders to step up, one thing that would help is not necessarily leaders, but a LEAD.
NESN'S Tom Caron points out that the 2019 Red Sox have held a lead in exactly six innings out of 81.
Though shut out in back-to-back games in Oakland earlier this week, the offense hasn't been the biggest issue. For the second time in nine games, the Sox scored eight runs Friday and lost.
He got Alex Avila to swing and miss at his curveball before allowing Avila's home run that capped the Dbacks' scoring.
Rick Porcello's second clunker this season made it 0-7 with a 9.60 ERA for Sox starters with a whopping 16 home runs allowed.
"This one's on me," said Porcello, whose own ERA ballooned to 13.50 after allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits in 4 2/3. "I take full responsibility for the first two starts. I'm not throwing the ball the way I need to."
This is essentially the same team that started 17-2 last season on its way to a franchise record 108 wins and a World Series title. Now, off to the worst start for a defending champ since the 1998 Marlins (with Dave Dombrowski as their GM) went 1-8. Cora insists, "I'm going to be the same guy."
Boston Red Sox
“I’m not going to change,” he told reporters, including the Boston Globe's Peter Abraham, after the game. “I’m going to be the same guy. For how great it was last year, I understand what a big league season is. You’re going to have ups and downs. You’ve got to stay calm. The same way we did things last year, we’re going to do it again.
"At one point we’re going to get hot and we’re going to start playing good baseball.”
It's David Price's turn tonight in Arizona.
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