Rafael Devers hasn’t had the greatest start to the 2019 Major League Baseball season at his position.
The Boston Red Sox third baseman already has committed a team-high nine errors through 32 games, many of them coming on what should have been a routine ground ball.
Such was the case Thursday night when a slow roller went in and out of his glove to allow Jose Rondon to reach in the ninth inning, which paved the way for the Chicago White Sox to walk off with the win, handing the Red Sox a 6-4 loss at Guaranteed Rate Field.
After the game, Cora addressed the error.
“That’s a routine play,” Cora said on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “And he missed it. We’ve been talking about it. We gotta get better. That one, I gotta take a look at the video but it seems like he was a little bit out of control … we’ll talk about it tomorrow and go from there.”
Devers has the second-most errors in the league, only behind Seattle Mariners shortstop Tim Beckham, who has 11 (in 30 more defensive chances). While the infielder is young and still learning all the ropes of third base, nine errors certainly is worrisome. Now especially with one proving costly for his team.
Here are some other notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-White Sox game:
— J.D. Martinez reached base five times Thursday night.
The slugger went 3-for-4 with one walk. He drove in a run but did not cross the plate himself.
— Mookie Betts continued to heat up at the dish, going 3-for-5 with two runs.
He has raised his batting average 103 points since April 17, and now is batting .303.
— Despite not getting a hit, Devers drove in two of Boston’s four runs with a sacrifice fly and a groundout.
— David Price was strong in his outing, striking out five and walking two batters over six innings of work. He surrendered three earned runs on seven hits.
“He did a good job,” Cora said. “Tough conditions out there for him to go six and give us a chance to win … and that’s what he did. … He gave us a chance to win the game.”
— Brandon Workman threw a clean, 1-2-3 seventh inning as he continues to prove his worth to the Red Sox’s bullpen.
The right-hander has given up three earned runs in 14 2/3 innings pitched. All three runs came in the same game.
— Andrew Benintendi got the scoring started for Boston with an opposite-field solo home run in the first.
