Morning sports update: Frustrated Alex Cora used extra innings loss to summarize disappointing Red Sox season
"It’s been like that the whole season."
The Red Sox lost to the Giants in the early hours of Wednesday morning 7-6 in 15 innings. Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski was there to see his grandson hit a home run for San Francisco.
Alex Cora cites loss against Giants as a microcosm for the season: The challenges of repeating as World Series champion have been thoroughly demonstrated by the 2019 Red Sox. The team never find its stride after a tough start, and suffered another close and tough loss in the early hours of Wednesday after 15 innings against the Giants produced a 7-6 defeat.
Boston manager Alex Cora used his postgame press conference to vent about problems he’s seen all season. Cora cited specific circumstances from the game as a wider explanation for the team’s underachievement.
“If you can [summarize] our season in six hours, it was right there, honestly,” said Cora. “Close games, we didn’t hit with men in scoring position, we didn’t pitch well in the beginning but then we pitched well. We played good defense but then we didn’t. Honestly, if you want to put everything in six hours, it’s right there. I was watching, I was like, long game, extra-inning games, using the bullpen knowing we have a bullpen day maybe tomorrow, it’s been like that the whole season. That’s how I felt.”
Boston is already eliminated from contention in the American League East, and is likely to be formally eliminated from wild card contention by the end of the week (currently trailing the Rays by nine games).
Trivia: Heading into Sunday’s clash with the Jets, the Patriots are 23-point favorites due to New England’s dominance and also New York’s injury problems at the quarterback position. According to Pro Football Reference, the last time the Patriots were favored by at least 20 points was in a 2011 game against the 0-11 Colts. Who started that game at quarterback for Indianapolis?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He’s now an ESPN analyst, and also played for the 0-16 Lions in 2008.
More from Boston.com:
- 5 things to know from Sports Illustrated’s piece on Antonio Brown
- NFL interviews Antonio Brown accuser for 10 hours as investigation into allegations continues
- Should the Patriots trade for Jalen Ramsey?
- Here’s an update on the changes coming to TD Garden
- Home run, Yastrzemski; Carl’s grandson Mike goes deep for Giants in Fenway debut
- This has a chance to be one of the best Patriots teams ever
- Celtics sign former Heat forward Yante Maten
- Enes Kanter met with Hilary and Bill Clinton to discuss human rights violations in Turkey
- Patriots sign Caleb Benenoch to reinforce offensive line
ESPN host Mike Greenberg, a noted Jets fan, briefly lost his mind talking about his 0-2 team
:
.@Espngreeny SNAPPED 😅
and @mspears96 is havin’ too much fun. pic.twitter.com/KyqRRmPrQb
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) September 17, 2019
What a talented backfield Patriots running back Sony Michel was in at Georgia:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2hTjFhAekB/?igshid=53syoge3wkdk
Two recognizable names are Revolution trialists:
High-profile trialists at @NERevolution training today: @JackRodwell & @AlexButtner_28 ex- #ManUnited & #ManchesterCity
— Frank Dell’Apa (@frankdellapa) September 18, 2019
On this day: In 1996, Roger Clemens tied his own Major League record with 20 strikeouts in a game. The 4-0 win over the Tigers would be one of Clemens’s final starts during his long career in Boston. After the season end in disappointment for the Red Sox, the team didn’t pursue Clemens in free agency as heavily as American League rivals. Eventually, the right-hander signed with the Blue Jays and promptly won back-to-back Cy Young Awards.
Daily highlight: Just another day at the office for the extraordinary Jackie Bradley Jr.
What goes up…
Must come down in Jackie’s glove. pic.twitter.com/mKmAIvWEf8
— Red Sox (@RedSox) September 18, 2019
Trivia answer: Dan Orlovsky
