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'Horrible night': Alex Cora sounds off after Red Sox make 5 errors in 11-1 loss to White Sox

Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald on

Published in Baseball

The White Sox put the hurt on the Red Sox on Friday night, winning 11-1.

Most of the damage, however, was self-inflicted.

Visiting a team that entered the series 2-10, on an eight-game losing streak and ranked last in the majors in runs, hits, and OPS, and with the worst batting average in the American League, the Red Sox managed to look like the less complete team.

Boston made five errors, adding to their MLB-leading total and helping the White Sox, who only scored double-digit runs twice all last season, put double digits on the scoreboard for the first time this year.

“We gotta clean that up,” manager Alex Cora told reporters postgame. “This was a bad night defensively. A bad night overall. We didn’t hit, we didn’t play defense, we didn’t pitch.”

“It’s a horrible night, we know it,” Cora said moments later. “It’s a horrible night in every aspect of the game.”

Hampered by defensive miscues, Sean Newcomb’s start lasted only four innings. The Red Sox left-hander, 31, gave up six runs on six hits, two walks, and struck out six on 94 pitches, 60 for strikes. Only two of his runs were earned. Overall, Red Sox pitchers — Josh Winckowski and Brennan Bernardino pitched the rest of the way — were only charged with five earned runs.

Friday night unraveled in the fourth when Triston Casas bobbled what should have been an inning-ending double play ball. With his error, the inning continued. Newcomb responded with a strikeout looking to Jacob Amaya, then gave up three consecutive hits and four runs to balloon Chicago’s lead to 6-0.

 

The Boston bats had their chances before and after the game got out of hand. In fact, they’ve had more chances than nearly every club this season, entering the contest with an American League-leading 187 plate appearances with runners in scoring position (second to the Chicago Cubs) and MLB-leading 159 at-bats.

Yet on Friday night they continued wasting opportunities, going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and leaving nine men on base; they already ranked third-worst in the latter metric. They made White Sox starter Davis Martin look like Cy Young; he only needed 89 pitches to go six innings and hold Boston to one earned run (Blake Sabol’s sacrifice fly) on six hits, one walk and six strikeouts. The Red Sox, who arrived in Chicago with the most strikeouts in the majors, punched out 11 times.

After the chaos of the fourth inning, the Red Sox deflated. They went in order in the fifth and sixth. Alex Bregman ground out with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Adding insult to injury was Chase Meidroth, one of the prospects the Red Sox sent to Chicago in the Garrett Crochet trade. Making his big league debut on Friday night, he showed his former organization exactly what they were missing, turning a key double play and reaching base four times. According to Stats Perform, Meidroth is the first player to collect a hit and three walks in his debut since Larry Walker of the Montreal Expos on Aug. 16, 1989.

The Red Sox are 7-8. They’ve made 19 errors, their most in the first 15 games of a season since 1996.

They have time to right the ship. But they need to do so quickly.

“It’s execution now,” Cora said. “It’s not about potential and this and that, we have to execute.”


©2025 The Boston Herald. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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