Red Sox Notes: Bullpen Struggles Continue In Blowout Loss Vs. Mets

It was a tough night for the Boston Red Sox’s bullpen and offense.

The bats were quieted by Mets ace Noah Syndergaard, and the relievers gave up a combined six runs on as many hits in Boston’s 8-0 loss to New York at Fenway Park on Friday night.

While Syndergaard was dominant Friday, the story for the Red Sox once again was their ineffective bullpen.

The Red Sox bullpen came into the game with the Mets up 1-0 and proceeded to implode. Robby Scott gave up two runs, while Brian Johnson surrendered one and Tyler Thornburg got rocked for three.

“It was more about location than anything else,” Cora said when asked what went wrong for Thornburg, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Blake (Swihart) felt that the fastball had some life, but location-wise it wasn’t his best night.”

As for Johnson, Cora liked what he saw from the left-hander who gave up one run on two hits while striking out four in 4 2/3 innings.

“He threw the ball better,” Cora said. “When he came in with the bases loaded, one thing that was different than the last one, I was like ‘hey man slow down’ … and he did a good job … the breaking ball got better throughout the outing and it was a positive.”

The same cannot be said of Scott, who had a rough outing after relieving Cuevas in the third. The left-hander lasted just 1/3 of an inning, giving up two runs on one hit (a three-run home run) while walking two and hitting two batters.

“He’s been inconsistent throughout the season, even spring training,” Cora said. “Hopefully we can figure something out and he can finish the season strong.”

Here are some other notes from Friday’s Red Sox-Mets game:

— Thor was spectacular for the Mets, tossing seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts. And Cora took notice.

“His stuff was there, obviously,” Cora said. “Good changeup, good slider … Stuff-wise, he’s one of the best in the big leagues. … Today he made a conscious effort of slowing us down and he did a good job.”

— With Boston’s loss and a New York Yankees win, the Red Sox now are 9 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees for first place in the American League East. Their magic number to clinch the division remains at six.

— The eighth inning continues to be the Achilles’ heel for the Red Sox and that showed once again Friday night when the Mets put three on the board.