Major League Baseball

Alex Cora: Boston Red Sox 'took a step back' vs. Blue Jays

Published Aug. 5, 2023 9:51 p.m. ET

In the eyes of manager Alex Cora, the Boston Red Sox regressed as a ball club in their Saturday afternoon loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Down 5-4 with one out and a runner on second base in the bottom of the ninth inning, Boston catcher Connor Wong hit a shot to the left-center field wall, which was ultimately caught by center fielder Kevin Kiermaier. However, Reese McGuire, who was the runner on second, kept running all the way around the third base bag after the ball was caught and was doubled-off to end the game.

Another storyline going into the game was Red Sox right fielder Alex Verdugo not being in the lineup with right-hander Jose Berrios on the mound for the Blue Jays.

Cora referenced McGuire's baserunning as a "bad baseball play," though he also expressed how everyone "missed" it, while digging deeper into Verdugo and Boston's current state.

"I decided not to play him [Verdugo]. I think today we took a step back as a team," Cora said. "We have to make sure everybody is available every single day here for us to get to where we want to go, and that wasn't the case. As a manager, I gotta take charge of this, and I decided he wasn't going to play."

Cora reiterated multiple times that he decided Verdugo "wasn't going to play" and that the outfielder wasn't "available."

On the season, Verdugo has totaled eight home runs and 41 RBIs while boasting a .270/.343/.424 slash line and 12 DRS.

The Red Sox have lost six of their last seven games, falling to last place in the AL East at 57-53, a half-game behind the New York Yankees for fourth place and four games behind the Blue Jays for the No. 3 AL wild-card seed.

Boston will attempt to salvage the final game of its three-game set against Toronto Sunday, followed by a four-game series at home against the Kansas City Royals and a three-game series at home against the Detroit Tigers.

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