Red Sox

In the primary inning of Sunday afternoon's game against the Twins, Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn't hold back as he told the umpires exactly what he considered a call.

With one out, Red Sox starter Nick Pivetta threw to second base to field Byron Buxton. Second baseman Vaughn Grissom attempted to quickly tag the ball and fell to the infield ground along with his right knee.

Second base umpire Dan Merzel, who had been watching the sport closely, initially declared Buxton protected.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli argued that Grissom had pressed his knee to the bottom. The umpires deliberated and ruled that Buxton should move to 3rd base because of interference.

I've never seen Alex Cora so offended. He was ejected but shall be back for the second game. Standing ovation from the fans behind the Sox dugout as he left the sphere.

— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) 22 September 2024

Cora got here out of the dugout and went straight to umpire Alan Porter to make his case. Porter was not convinced. Then Cora's anger escalated as he challenged Merzel, sprinting to second base, pointing at his eyes and gesturing toward the bottom.

“He hasn't been this good all year,” said NESN spokesman Dave O'Brien.

Announcer Lou Merloni believed Cora was arguing that the second base umpire mustn’t have allowed others to influence his decision. Once the choice was made, it should stand.

Cora charged at Merzel, so Porter held him back. It's protected to say he was thrown out.

Perhaps his message got across, since the Red Sox built up a convincing 6-0 lead in three innings.

This was his third ejection of the season. He is eligible to referee Game 2 on Sunday.

Red Sox

Marcelo Mayer has all of the tools to develop into a future franchise shortstop for the Red Sox.

However, Boston's top talent is increasingly developing a fame for being stricken by bad luck with injuries.

Mayer- is taken into account the number 5 young baseball talent by MLB Pipeline and No. 2 prospect by Keith Law of The Athletic – is “likely” out for the 2024 season because of a lingering lower back strain.

The talented infielder was called as much as Triple-A Worcester earlier this month together with other top talents similar to Kyle Teel and Roman Anthony, but didn’t make a single batting appearance there because of his injury.

His last appearance in a game with Portland was on July 30. He finished the 2024 season with a batting average of .307/.370/.480, 28 doubles, eight home runs and 38 RBI in 77 games in Double-A.

Mayer's strong numbers with Portland were encouraging this summer, but that is the second consecutive yr that the fourth overall pick within the 2021 draft has seen his season ended prematurely because of injuries.

Mayer's 2023 season was shortened because of a lingering shoulder issue that he continued to cope with despite playing. As a result, Mayer only played in 78 total games in 2023 – including a lackluster 43-game series in Portland wherein he posted only a .189 batting average with six home runs and 20 RBIs.

Although Mayer has great potential as a flexible player in the key leagues, his repeated injuries which have ended his season are a cause for concern – Alex Cora admitted this on Monday.

“I mean, obviously not ideal,” Cora said of Mayer's recent injury. in accordance with Ian Browne of MLB. “He had a good season, did a good job. But honestly, I didn't know. I'll talk to (player development) and see what happens. But getting him right is the most important thing.”

“There's a lot of potential there. There are things we need to work on. Honestly, the injuries on my part are obviously a concern. We just need to make sure we can keep him healthy.”

The Red Sox have several other promising talents who could make it to Fenway Park next season, including Teel, Anthony and Kristian Campbell.

However, Mayer's potential rise to the MLB could possibly be hampered if he continues to spend prolonged periods on the injured list each summer.

Even though Mayer’s consecutive seasons have now ended prematurely, Brian Abraham, the Red Sox’s director of player development, emphasized within the NESN podcast “310 to Left” on Tuesday that the organization will not be concerned about recurring injury problems amongst its top talent.

“With Marcelo, the initial feeling was that it was day to day,” Abraham told Tom Caron and Alex Speier on the podcast. “He had a slight lumbar issue, but I had a feeling he was going to be OK. I think given how he was feeling and how much work was involved, we got to a point where he really wasn't progressing anymore and we had to dig a little deeper. I did an MRI and that's where we learned more about the lumbar strain.

“It's actually unlucky for Marcelo, but the excellent news is that we all know what the issue is. We know why he wasn't feeling well, whether it was running the bases, doing more aggressive batting practice or fielding. He's now in Fort Myers. He'll proceed his treatment there.

“We expect a full recovery. It's just going to take a little time now that the season is over. It's certainly frustrating for him and for us. But at the end of the day, we're glad we know what the problem is. We have a great team in Fort Myers taking care of him and I know he's really excited to work on getting through this and being ready for the offseason and next year.”

Red Sox

The Red Sox lost their third straight game on Saturday, allowing the Minnesota Twins to win their twelfth straight game.

All three losses were winnable games for Boston (3-1, 5-2, 3-1). His pitching continued to be hitless in 34 games; Meanwhile, his batsmen are still yet to seek out consistency on the sphere.

Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Twins was no different. The Red Sox handed out five relievers (Brennan Bernardino, Greg Weissert, Cam Booser, Justin Slaten and Chase Anderson) of their final bullpen game as injuries decimated their starting rotation. However, their replacements largely kept Minnesota's red-hot lineup in check, something that might have been unimaginable for Boston in a bullpen game last season.

Manager Alex Cora praised the Red Sox bullpen for limiting the damage despite the loss.

“They did a good job. They did,” Cora said after the game. “Overall, that’s why I’m doing well. We will pitch. If we continue like this, we know the offense will wake up and we will score runs. It just so happens that we lost the first two.”

Although these five hurlers only allowed two earned runs (three total), Boston's lineup didn’t rating runs despite collecting eight hits and three walks. The team's only run was scored on a single in the primary inning by Wilyer Abreu. After that, there was radio silence from Boston's hitters.

“We didn’t do much offensively all night,” Cora said. “We were brought to the point. Something we need to make adjustments to. … We showed some good shots, sometimes we applied pressure, but not enough. We had chances.”

Of the eight Red Sox runners still on base in Saturday's contest, three of them were stranded by Rafael Devers in the underside of the seventh inning. A bases-loaded single likely would have tied the sport at three runs apiece, as Boston trailed 3-1 on the time. Instead, a hitless day for Devers essentially cemented a Red Sox defeat.

During the Red Sox's three-game losing streak, they left 19 runners on base while also collecting 16 hits and nine walks. As Cora said, the offense will “wake up” sooner or later. But can it stay up and find consistency despite countless injuries?

At some point, Boston's pitching has to return. Their team ERA of two.62 stays the bottom in all of MLB. The Red Sox hitters must make the most of the run prevention unit behind them while they’ll because there's no guarantee it can last 162 games.