Alex Cora knows his starting pitchers did not execute to the best of their abilities in the Boston Red Sox’s opening series against the Seattle Mariners. Still, he’s not worried about it.
Boston dropped its finale to the Mariners 10-8 on Sunday at T-Mobile Park. Starter Rick Porcello was tagged for nine runs (four earned), and became the fourth starter to allow at least six runs in their outing. But the Sox manager isn’t the slightest bit worried, telling reporters after the game it’s a long season and he took the same approach with his starters this year in spring training as he did last year.
“Whoever is doubting us, check what happened last year,” he said, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “We did the same thing. It’s easy to second guess now. It’s a program. You have to be disciplined. So that’s the way I see it. If people think they didn’t start too many games or they went too many innings, they should go back to what we did last year in spring training. We played until October 28.”
The Red Sox’s starters ERA through the first four games sits at a sky-high 13.20, but with 158 games left in the schedule, it makes sense the skipper isn’t putting too much stock into what he’s seen in the opening series.
Although the starters essentially have been the talk of the last four games, Cora praised his bullpen, saying despite going 1-3 in Seattle, they were a positive.
“The only positive out of the whole weekend was the bullpen,” he said. “They did an outstanding job.”
David Price looks to right the ship and get things rolling for Boston when he makes his 2019 debut Monday night against the Oakland Athletics.
Here are some other notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Mariners game:
— J.D. Martinez’s first-inning RBI marked the fourth straight game he drove in a run, something that hasn’t been done by the Red Sox to open the season since 2003.
Most recent Red Sox with an RBI in each of the team’s first 4 games:
J.D. Martinez (2019)
Shea Hillenbrand (2003)
Jose Canseco (1995)
Carl Yastrzemski (1973)— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) March 31, 2019
The outfielder had a solid night at the plate, going 2-for-4, with a three-run home run and four RBIs. The round-tripper also marked the 1,000th hit of the 30-year-old’s career.
— Porcello’s four walks given up in the third inning ties the most free passes he’s surrendered while with Boston. He wasn’t making any excuses for himself after the game.
“Not good enough. Absolutely. No excuses,” he said after the game on NESN’s postgame coverage. “Got to pick it up, turn the page, get after it in the next one.”
— Mookie Betts hit his first home run of the season in the sixth inning.
— The Red Sox surrendered a whopping 29 runs in four games against the Mariners.
— After the game, it was reported shortstop Xander Bogaerts was finalizing a seven-year extension with the Red Sox.
