The Boston Red Sox have been defeated for the first time since April 4.
The Red Sox ended their nine-game win streak Thursday with a 4-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Boston certainly made it interesting, though, as Alex Verdugo remained hot and tied the game with a three-run double in the eighth inning.
While it certainly would have been nice to end a road trip with a 10-game winning streak before heading back home to Fenway Park, manager Alex Cora still believes the Red Sox “did everything possible to win.”
“I don’t think it was a tough game at all,” he said. “We came back. We were down 3-0 and we did everything possible to win that game. … We ended up losing the game on a jam shot to center field, that’s not bad.”
The 9-4 Red Sox still sit atop the American League East standings, swept the reigning AL champions and nearly did the same with the AL Central champs, something Cora sees as optimistic.
“We just beat the American League Central champions three out of four,” he said. “We’ve been playing good baseball. We were down 3-0, we put good at-bats, we tie the game. … We didn’t play great overall, but we did everything possible to win the game, and that’s what we take out of this one.”
Here are some other notes from Thursday’s Red Sox-Twins game:
— Verdugo drove in the tying runs with a double in the eighth.
The outfielder had a solid day during Wednesday’s doubleheader, making the game-winning catch in Game 1 and going 3-for-4 with three RBIs in Game 2.
“He’s a good player,” Cora said. “He’s a complete player. He can hit lefties, righties.”
— Cora was ejected on a call that certainly was worth arguing over. The home plate umpire ruled a foul ball when there clearly was no contact.
Yes, this was called a foul ball.
“I don’t want to make a scene early on,” Cora said. “You guys asked me all that stuff, and there’s some people that thought that I wasn’t into this. Well, you saw it. I’m into it.”
— Garrett Richards went five innings for the Red Sox and gave up four hits and two walks. He has yet to pick up a win in a Sox uniform, but Cora isn’t worried about the right-hander.
“He threw the ball well,” he said. “He gave us a chance. We don’t make a play at second base. But besides that, a lot of weak contact. This guy, he’s gonna give us a chance to win. Two (unearned) runs, five innings. … His last two (outings) have been solid.”
Bobby Dalbec made the error Cora referenced. But Richards isn’t blaming the infielder for making the throw.
“I’m good with it to be honest with you,” Richards said. “I want my guys behind me to be aggressive and play to win. I don’t want anybody behind me playing scared. I should have done a better job making pitches after that happened.”
— The Red Sox return home for a 10-game homestand that begins with the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
