Alex Cora Acknowledges Red Sox Bullpen ‘Hasn’t Been Great’ After Loss Vs. Yankees

The Boston Red Sox entered Tuesday on a three-game winning streak, but a rough outing from the bullpen saw it end.

The Red Sox on Tuesday gave up a lead to the New York Yankees, falling 5-3, in Game 1 of a doubleheader as four different pitchers tried to hold the Yankees after Tanner Houck exited a 2-2 game in the fourth inning.

The bullpen blew this one, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora acknowledged that’s been a common theme in recent losses.

“It hasn’t been great,” Cora said of the bullpen after the game over Zoom. “But we still have good stuff. We’ve got to make sure we get ahead of guys and put them away. I think that’s very important for us.

“There were some good things that happened afterwards. (Hansel) Robles and (Austin Davis) did a good job, but as a unit we’ve got to be a little bit more better. We’ve got to attack guys and put them away.”

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Before Tuesday, Boston’s last loss came Thursday when Houck imploded in the sixth inning and the bullpen couldn’t recover. A 1-1 game became an 8-1 loss, with the bullpen responsible for four runs against the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was a similar story one week ago, when the Red Sox were in place to take the series opener against the Rays before the bullpen — and a surprisingly unsteady Matt Barnes — combined to give up six runs behind Eduardo Rodriguez.

Entering Tuesday, Red Sox relievers had a 6.52 ERA in the month of August, which ranks fourth-worst in Major League Baseball, via Fangraphs. That’s not necessarily what you want to see from a team that made three moves at the trade deadline — two of which were to bolster the bullpen.

The group will look to get back on track in Game 2 of the doubleheader on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. ET.