Ron Roenicke knows things aren’t going very well for the Red Sox this season.
Boston’s manager doesn’t need to regularly look at the standings to be reminded of this.
The Red Sox on Sunday reached an unfortunate benchmark, as they became the first team in Major League Baseball with 20 losses in 2020. Boston’s latest defeat came at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles, who secured a four-game series split with the Red Sox via a 5-4 win at Camden Yards.
After the game, Roenicke explained why Boston’s record isn’t at the forefront of his mind.
“It’s tough when you expect to win and you don’t and you start off poorly, which we did,” Roenicke told reporters, as seen on NESN’s Red Sox postgame coverage. “We’re trying to get some things going. …It’s hard when you look at what the losses are and you look at your record. It doesn’t help anybody. So, I don’t really look at it that much. I know we’re not playing well. I’ve told the guys I’m really concerned with how we play and if we play well, I think we’re going to win a lot of ballgames.”
Boston will attempt to turn the tides starting Tuesday when it opens up a three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo.
Here are some more notes from Sunday’s Red Sox-Orioles game:
— The series finale was a grind for Boston starter Zack Godley, who labored through 2 2/3 innings. The right-hander, whose outing began with a 32-pitch first inning, issued five walks while allowing three runs on two hits.
Godley after the game explained what went wrong in his latest start.
“Today, I made some good pitches early on and got some foul balls,” Godley said. “They forced me to throw some pitches that I wouldn’t normally throw and they just took some really good at-bats early on. Lot of foul balls, just some really good at-bats by them. I just couldn’t get guys put away. I walked a couple and gave up a couple hits and I had to battle my way through every inning.”
— Alex Verdugo’s 13-game hitting streak remains intact. Verdugo, who started the game on the bench, pinch hit for Michael Chavis in the ninth inning and drew a walk.
— Orioles starter Wade LeBlanc only faced four batters Sunday. LeBlanc, who allowed a lead-off home run to Kevin Pillar, exited the game with one out in the first inning due to left elbow discomfort.
— The Red Sox will spend their off day Monday in Baltimore rather than Toronto. Roenicke explained why after the game.
“Just with the restrictions that are put on us in Buffalo, I didn’t want guys to basically be locked up in their rooms for the whole day off,” Roenicke said. “We’re going to stay here and fly out tomorrow.
“You can’t leave the hotel in Buffalo. Here, it’s not like it’s just a free-for-all, but we have certain places they can go to here. They can get out of the hotel, walk around if they want to. In Buffalo, you can’t do that. It’s hotel to ballpark and back.”
