Red Sox Manager Alex Cora Explains Second Straight Ejection

It’s been a rough few days for the Boston Red Sox, who suffered their third straight loss on Monday. They dropped their series opener against the Los Angeles Angels, 9-5, in a sloppy performance filled with errors and baserunning mistakes.

One of those gaffes led to Alex Cora getting ejected for the second straight game.

The play occurred with Jarren Duran on second base and the Red Sox trailing 5-4 with nobody out in the top of the fifth. Abraham Toro grounded to shortstop, resulting in Duran getting caught in a rundown and tagged out. Toro tried to take second base and was also thrown out for an unusual double play.

The umpires briefly discussed the ruling at second before confirming the call, prompting Alex Cora to come out of the dugout. He apparently did not like the explanation, as he was ejected from the game and launched into an animated argument with second base umpire Alan Porter.

After the game, Cora explained his side of the disagreement.

“Our point of view was that he was blocking the bag at second,” Cora said, referring to Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo. “Guess the rule is, like, if he’s gonna be out easy, you know, they can do that.”

Cora added that Boston experienced a similar situation with the same umpire crew in a game against the Minnesota Twins last year. In that case, however, he said Porter overturned the call on the field after Twins manager Rocco Baldelli disputed it.

Unfortunately for Cora, he had no such luck pleading his case, resulting in his fourth ejection of the season and 21st of his managing career.

Cora was also tossed (along with Duran) from Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. Duran was called out on a close play at second even though replay review showed he clearly beat the tag.

The Red Sox and Cora will look to end their respective streaks on Tuesday night behind Garrett Crochet, who will try to stay undefeated in June and push Boston back over .500.