Sean McAdam: Red Sox' Alex Cora bares his frustration, but runs out of answers - Yahoo Sports

Published 3 days ago• 4 minute read

BOSTON — On the surface, this one was achingly familiar.

Another night in which the Red Sox didn’t take advantage (1-for-13 with runners in scoring position) of their opportunities. Another night in which they were sloppy in the field, committing three errors and what should have been a fourth. Another night in which the fundamentals (an errant cutoff throw) were again missing.

And, of course, another one-run loss.

In those ways, this 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Los Angeles Angels was almost indistinguishable from a handful of others in the last week, from a dozen or so throughout the season.

Ho-hum.

But there was something different about this one, too, because of what it did to Alex Cora.

The Red Sox managed fumed as he answered questions postgame, his patience shot, his frustration boiling over.

“We keep making the same mistakes,” said Cora. “We’re not getting better. At one point, it has to be on me, I guess, right? I’m the manager. I’ve got to keep pushing them to get better. (But) they’re not getting better. They’re not.

“We keep making the same mistakes.”

Indeed, the last few weeks have seemed like a baseball version of Groundhog Day. All that’s missing is “I Got You Babe” replacing “Sweet Caroline” in the middle of the eighth.

The Red Sox are reliving the same existence, day after day, and Tuesday night, it appeared as though they had pushed their manager to the brink.

Ironically, hours before first pitch, Cora had bristled at a TV reporter’s suggestion that the team wasn’t paying enough attention to the details.

Cora curtly countered that the Sox were frequently on the field at 1 p.m. most afternoons, going through drills and working to clean up their game.

The manager was defensive, and making it known that whatever else was happening on the field, it wasn’t the result of a lack of effort.

But hours later, Cora had a chanced perspective. This one was alternately angry and helpless. One minute he was Howard Beale in Network, insisting that he “was mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

The next, however, he was out of ideas or solutions.

“You get frustrated,” he said, “but at at one point, OK, what are going to do? What’s going to change? We keep doing the same thing, the same thing. We can’t keep talking about one-run losses.”

Still, what’s the solution? A trade to shake up the clubhouse and the roster? Doubtful. A change to the coaching staff? Possible, but not likely to result in an impact on the play on the field?

The hard truth is this: in the first week of June, before they have even played their chief rivals, the Red Sox are in danger of falling out of contention for the season.

The season that began with promise, with an infusion of talent and money, with the looming potential of several uber-talented rookies, now seems perilously close to crashing and burning.

Worse, the manager is trying to get everyone’s attention by smashing the panic button, and at the same time, making clear he’s not at all sure that it will make the slightest difference.

He appeared to be in a contrarian mood. When it was noted that the team had squandered opportunities at the plate, he quickly trained his sights on the team’s performance in the field, noting that at various points, the Sox were guilty of 1) hitting the eighth inning in the Angels lineup and walking the ninth; and 2) failed to properly execute a bunt play.

To be sure, there was plenty from which to pick and choose. The Angels aren’t very good, but they’ve already won a road series at Fenway, with the chance for a sweep Wednesday afternoon.

If Cora’s intention was to create some urgency in the clubhouse, his bid seemed to fall on deaf ears in the clubhouse.

Ceddanne Rafaela, who contributed three hits including a two-run homer but also air-mailed a throw home that seemed headed for Jamaica Plain, maintained that every little thing was going to be alright.

“It’s a long season,’' he said. ”We have until September and I think we’re still in the battle....We’ll come back tomorrow and we’re going to start a new streak."

As inspirational speeches go, this one sailed as far off the mark as Rafaela’s ill-advised throw to the plate in the Angels’ three-run third.

“I watched that game and I was like, ‘Wow — this is real," said Cora.

Real, and not at all spectacular. Real, and all too familiar.

Read the original article on MassLive.

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