If you’re surprised by the Red Sox’s dismal 2-7 start to the 2026 season, you’re not alone.

“We didn’t expect to lose this many games,” Roman Anthony said as he stood in the Red Sox clubhouse on Sunday evening, minutes after the team lost its home-opener series to the San Diego Padres. “Obviously it’s not how you draw it up.”

The Red Sox haven’t begun a season with such a poor record since 2019. But they were the reigning World Series champions then, coming off a franchise-record 108 regular-season wins and a fourth trophy in fifteen years.

The precedent and stakes are different this time. These Red Sox are also coming off a winning record and playoff run in 2025, two things they hadn’t done since 2021. But they were also a first-round exit at the hands of their rival New York Yankees. And once again, the Red Sox front office spent an offseason publicly stating a roster need, which was a big bat, without a clear follow-through.

As of 7:30 p.m. ET Sunday, the Red Sox pitching staff’s 4.71 ERA was tied for sixth-worst in the majors. Their starting rotation, projected to be among the best in the game, has given up more hits (48) and runs (28) than any other in the American League.

“I think just as a team, we need to be better,” Anthony said. “I need to be better. Everyone in this room understands that they need to be better. And it’s as simple as that.”

“Just continue to show up every day and work your (expletive) off, and get in the video room and be as prepared as you possibly can,” the 21-year-old outfielder continued. “And I don’t think that we’re not doing that. Again, it’s just a tough stretch, and we need to find a way to just bring more energy and just be better.

“This is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable to the fans. It’s unacceptable to the standard that we set for ourselves.”

“It seems dark right now, which it may be,” Anthony admitted, “but there’s a lot of baseball left.”

Machado vs. Boston

Manny Machado’s role in Sunday’s loss added another layer to the sting of the series-costing game.

The first-base umpire ruled the Padres third baseman’s fourth-inning ball deflection unintentional, and charged catcher Carlos Narváez with the second Red Sox error of the game.

Machado maintained his innocence to reporters postgame, but his history with the Red Sox did him no favors. Though far from germane to Boston, his lengthy track record of controversy on the diamond is perhaps most defined by his spikes-up slide into second baseman Dustin Pedroia during a 2017 Red Sox-Orioles game. The incident sent Pedroia’s decorated career into an injury-fueled tailspin and premature retirement, and the Red Sox have struggled to stabilize the position ever since.

The Red Sox exacted a modicum of revenge the following year, when Machado swung so hard at a Chris Sale slider that he ended up down on one knee watching the Red Sox celebrate winning the 2018 World Series. The moment came one round after a Dodgers-Brewers NLCS in which Machado dominated the headlines for telling on-field reporter Ken Rosenthal, “I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ and run down the line and slide to first base,” for a pair of hard slides into Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia, and for stepping on the ankle of first baseman Jesús Aguilar as he ran to first on a groundout. The Aguilar incident prompted Brewers star Christian Yelich to tell reporters, “Dirty play by a dirty player,” in a scrum peppered with expletives aimed at Machado.

But no trophy could change the fact that Pedroia played just three games in 2018 and six more in 2019. He underwent six knee surgeries before he officially announced his retirement in February 2021, months before the final season of an eight-year contract extension of which he barely got to play half.

“I think about it all the time,” Pedroia said of the Machado incident, in a 2018 conversation with WEEI’s Rob Bradford.

Thus, Machado was booed relentlessly throughout the weekend and as he rounded the bases after hitting his go-ahead homer in the fifth inning Sunday.

SUNdefeated

Ceddanne Rafaela has developed a reputation for making the most impossible catches in center field.

The downside of such reliability is that even the smallest miscue seems shocking by comparison.

Such as the Fernando Tatis Jr. two-out double that sailed over Rafaela’s head with two outs in the top of the ninth and the game tied 2-2 on Saturday. The San Diego Padres ultimately triumphed, 3-2, thanks to a Ramón Laureano RBI single.

Rafaela also lost an otherwise surefire catch in the blinding afternoon sunlight during Friday’s home opener.

But manager Alex Cora took a brighter view, literally.

“You cannot beat the sun,” Cora said Sunday morning. “I mean, the sun is like 10 million wins, no losses, right? It’s been there forever.”

“I think he’s the best defender in center field,” he added. “I’ll take my chances every time he’s out there.”

Red Sox injury updates

Left-hander Patrick Sandoval (elbow) will make his first rehab start Wednesday in Triple-A Worcester, after his original Sunday game with Double-A Portland was postponed due to rain.

Right-hander Kutter Crawford (wrist) threw an up-and-down on the field at Fenway on Sunday morning. He is slated to begin a rehab assignment in the next week.