{"id":665453,"date":"2026-04-05T23:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/665453\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T23:39:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T23:39:19","slug":"red-sox-poor-start-may-force-manager-alex-coras-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/665453\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox\u2019 poor start may force manager Alex Cora\u2019s hand"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">The Brewers, one of the best teams in baseball the last few years, arrive at Fenway Park on Monday for a three-game series. Then the Sox leave on a six-game road trip to Baltimore and Toronto.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Another week of this for the Sox and it\u2019s not a slow start. It\u2019ll be who they are until proven otherwise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cIt\u2019s not the way we wanted to start, of course,\u201d said Wilyer Abreu, one of the few players whose head was not buried in his phone after the game. \u201cBut I still think we have a really good team that will win a lot of games. I trust my guys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Get Starting Point<\/p>\n<p>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img-4X6NMRFRT5GAF2L3Q575VHEGQM-image\" alt=\"The Padres' Jackson Merrill celebrates his go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.\" class=\"height_a width_full invisible width_full--mobile width_full--tablet-only\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4X6NMRFRT5GAF2L3Q575VHEGQM.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\"\/>The Padres&#8217; Jackson Merrill celebrates his go-ahead home run in the eighth inning.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">So does manager Alex Cora. But it\u2019s clear he\u2019s getting frustrated with the slow start.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cThe record is the record,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just got so show up [Monday]. We have another tough team coming in, one of the best teams in baseball. We\u2019ve got to play better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">I asked if it was time to change the look of the lineup. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/sports\/mlb\/boxscore\/?gameid=460405102\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/sports\/mlb\/boxscore\/?gameid=460405102\">No. 2 hitter Trevor Story snapped an 0-for-16 streak<\/a> with an infield single in the seventh inning. But he has a .333 OPS through nine games and hasn\u2019t drawn a walk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Cleanup hitter Willson Conteras, who declined comment after going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, has two RBIs and one extra-base hit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cWe\u2019ll make adjustments,\u201d Cora said. \u201cI think there were some signs [Sunday] that were positive, others that just stayed the same. You have to stay the course and that\u2019s how it works. You cannot overreact.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Does he still like Story batting second?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cI still like Trevor Story as a player,\u201d Cora responded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Abreu did his part Sunday, going 3 for 4 with a double, a triple, and his seventh RBI. His triple into the right-field corner in the third inning gave the Sox a 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Remember when the Sox lost Alex Bregman to the Cubs then crowed about making a quick pivot to signing Ranger Suarez for five years and $140 million and building a team around a dominant rotation? That pivot has led to a dead end so far. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Suarez was hit hard again, giving up four runs in four innings. That forced the Sox to get five innings from a worn-down bullpen and the math didn\u2019t add up as four relievers allowed four more runs.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"img-CWDIKGY5S3QVYDRHVWMHDEYL2Y-image\" alt=\"Manny Machado (left) celebrates his three-run home run with Fernando Tatis in the fifth inning.\" class=\"height_a width_full invisible width_full--mobile width_full--tablet-only\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CWDIKGY5S3QVYDRHVWMHDEYL2Y.jpg\"  loading=\"lazy\"\/>Manny Machado (left) celebrates his three-run home run with Fernando Tatis in the fifth inning.Matthew J. Lee\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Three of those runs came on a two-out home run by Manny Machado in the fifth inning off Greg Weissert. A Padres fan seated in the Monster Seats caught the ball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Since joining the Red Sox, Suarez has started seven games, counting spring training, the World Baseball Classic, and the regular season. He has allowed 25 earned runs on 33 hits over 22 innings. Either something is going on physically with Suarez, which everybody denies, or the lefthander just wasn\u2019t ready for his first season in Boston.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">With the Sox down, 6-4, Masataka Yoshida doubled in two runs in the seventh inning. He was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Tyler Uberstine, in his major league debut, had pitched two scoreless innings to that point. With Garrett Whitlock on his final day of paternity leave and Justin Slaten not available after pitching two days in a row, Cora stayed with Uberstine for the eighth inning and Jackson Merrill led off with a home run to left field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cWhere we were today, it was him,\u201d Cora said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">The alternative was Zack Kelly, who gave up a run in the ninth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">Yoshida is now in his fourth season with the Sox, which makes him one of the veterans. What does he see with this team?<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cWe have some young guys on this team who are off to a slow start right now,\u201d he said via a translator. \u201cThat\u2019s leading them to rushing through some at-bats. I think it\u2019s a matter of time until they get hot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph | gutter_20_0\">\u201cIt\u2019s part of the game. You never know what will happen when you open the box to the season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boston Red Sox Opening Day at Fenway Park<\/p>\n<p>The Red Sox returned to Boston for the first game of the season at Fenway Park. Amid red, white, and green, fans flocked to celebrate the return of baseball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagline | font_primary inline_block  margin_top_32\">Peter Abraham can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2026\/04\/05\/sports\/red-sox-poor-start-alex-cora\/mailto:peter.abraham@globe.com\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-size:inherit;letter-spacing:.5px\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">peter.abraham@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social\u202c.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brewers, one of the best teams in baseball the last few years, arrive at Fenway Park on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,4,89,2543],"class_list":{"0":"post-665453","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-red-sox","11":"tag-bostonredsox","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-red-sox","14":"tag-redsox"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116354742873941023","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}