Red Sox Notes: Eduardo Rodriguez’s Third Loss Ends Streak For Pitcher

After starting the season with five wins, Eduardo Rodriguez has picked up losses in each of his previous three outings.

And as Boston fell 6-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, the Red Sox ace now is 5-3 with a 5.06 ERA — the highest of the rotation.

Rodriguez went four full innings in the matinee before manager Alex Cora pulled him with no outs in the fifth. He struck out six batters to that point, but gave up four earned runs off five hits and three walks, throwing 103 pitches with just 61 going for strikes.

But the trouble started in the first, where two hits (including a home run) and a walk turned into an early 2-0 deficit.

“In the first inning I missed bad right there,” Rodriguez admitted in his postgame media availability. “That was with two outs, that’s what I feel bad about, because with two outs you need to keep being aggressive and get the third out. Overall I feel like I was a little out of control with most of my pitches. I have a couple days to work with it, have a couple days off, work on it and get back to the next game.”

Rodriguez pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the second, and the third and fourth looked better for him as well.

But it was the first in 15 games where a Red Sox starter failed to finish five innings, and the first occasion in 36 outings that the lefty was done before recording three outs in the fifth frame.

Cora, however, isn’t worried that the starter is hitting a wall after missing all of last season.

“I really feel confident,” the manager said of Rodriguez. “You know, what I saw in the third and fourth inning, that was a lot better than the last four starts combined. It was good rhythm, good arm action, good pitches, so like I said, I’ll take that. Obviously we don’t like the results, but I like the fact that those two innings he was very aggressive. He was very sharp. Even Christian (Vazquez) tole me that his stuff was a lot better in those two innings compared to the first two. So we’ll build up from there and he’ll be ready for the next one.”

Here are some other notes from the loss.

Watch Franchy Cordero Blast Hardest Hit Home Run Of Year For Red Sox

May 23, 2021

— The division is getting tight.

With the loss, the Red Sox lose sole possession of first place in the American League East standings.

Thanks to 10 straight wins, the Tampa Bay Rays have caught up to Boston, and the New York Yankees are just a 1/2 game behind.

— Rafael Devers crushed a home run in the ninth inning, his 13th of the year, pulling ahead of J.D. Martinez for the most on the team. He also leads the team with 39 RBIs.

— Franchy Cordero hit an absolute rocket to lead off the eighth inning and put Boston on the board.

Cordero’s home run, with an exit velocity of 118.6 mph, was the hardest-hit ball in Major League Baseball thus far in the 2021 season, and the second-longest by the Red Sox in the Statcast era.

It traveled 474 feet to center, but Cora thinks that’s being a little conservative, and called it one of the longest home runs the manager had ever seen.

“They’re lying to us,” Cora joked. “More than that, that’s like (500). That’s way out. That was impressive.”

— Up next, the Red Sox go back to Boston for an off day before they host the Atlanta Braves for a two-game set. First pitch Tuesday is at 7:10 p.m.