The Boston Red Sox saw noteworthy struggles from their offense during Thursday’s 6-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays — failing to capitalize on multiple opportunities in high-leverage situations.
Prior to Friday’s weekend series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park, manager Alex Cora acknowledged Boston’s lack of power.
“Yes,” Cora said, as transcribed by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. “We expected more homers from our lineup.”
Entering Friday’s matchup against the Rays, the Red Sox rank 19th in all of Major League Baseball and ninth in the American League with 116 total home runs hit this season. Out of all teams in the AL East division, the Red Sox are second to last in that category — trailing the division-leading New York Yankees by 83 home runs — only ahead of the Rays by five.
Last season, the Red Sox finished with 219 total homers which ranked them 10th in all of baseball and sixth among teams in the AL.
Second baseman Trevor Story, who is currently rehabbing in Double-A Portland and has missed all of August, is currently second (15) in the Red Sox home run lead. Having last played on July 12, Story is also second in RBIs (58) — trailing third baseman Rafael Devers in both categories.
