BOSTON -- For the past three weeks, Red Sox manager Alex Cora has been straddling a fine line, with considerable success. When there are early signs of trouble, Cora has been going aggressively to his bullpen, managing like it is the playoffs.
The reason Cora was able to do this? A favorable schedule that saw his team have six days off in a span of 19 days.
Then came this week, with seven straight home games against the Twins and Yankees.
In a nutshell, that’s why Cora tried to squeeze an extra out or two from Rick Porcello on Tuesday night in a 6-5 loss to the Twins. It backfired, but Cora didn’t feel he was left with much of a choice.
Nelson Cruz started the fifth by smashing a homer to center field. Luis Arraez followed with a single to right-center. Last week, Porcello would have been out of the game right then and there. This time, he stayed in, and Miguel Sano hit a mammoth two-run homer to center that pinned the Sox in a 6-0 hole.
“It's very tough, because we know where we're going this week and how many off days we don't have,” said Cora. “We pushed those guys very hard on the road trip. We were actually one hit away from going to [Josh Taylor]. You've got to trust Rick against Sano and Cruz. We've got to get outs. It just didn't happen.”
The fact that the Red Sox nearly came back and won the game -- they had the tying run on second and the winning run at the plate in the ninth -- almost made it more torturous for Porcello, who has a 5.63 ERA this season.
“Yeah, I sucked,” said Porcello. “That’s the bottom line. Six runs in four innings -- not going to get it done. We need to win every game right now, and that’s the part that hurts the most … going out and giving it up like that.”
After Porcello exited, the relievers did what they’ve generally done of late and turned in a marvelous performance. Taylor, Brian Johnson, Marcus Walden, Darwinzon Hernandez, Andrew Cashner and Brandon Workman combined on five hitless and scoreless innings. Boston’s relievers, maligned for the first half of the season, have a 3.33 ERA since July 24, the best in the American League.
As upset as Porcello was by his own performance, he wanted to make sure the work of his relievers isn’t going unnoticed.
“I have to say, hats off to our bullpen,” Porcello said. “What they’ve been doing, not only the last couple of weeks, but the entire year, it’s really difficult and they’ve been absolutely incredible. And I’m a big reason, putting them into tough spots.
With 24 games left in the season, the Sox are hanging by a thread in their quest to make the postseason, trailing the Indians by 5 1/2 games for the second American League Wild Card spot. The Rays, who split a doubleheader vs. Baltimore on Tuesday, are in possession of the top Wild Card berth and lead Boston by 6 1/2 games (but five in the loss column).
You can only wonder how different things would be if the Sox could get more innings from their starting rotation, which was supposed to be the team’s strength going into the season but has instead been the biggest weakness.
Ace Chris Sale had an inconsistent season that is now over because of an ailing left elbow. David Price will spend the final weeks of the season building his pitch count back up in the middle of a pennant race as he returns from a left wrist injury that had him out for a month. Nathan Eovaldi is also building back up after surgery – and then a three-week stint as a reliever.
Porcello is healthy and fully stretched out but hasn’t been effective enough to pitch deep into games. Eduardo Rodriguez has been strong and starts Wednesday in the second game of the series vs. Minnesota. But the 16-game winner can’t do it by himself. The fifth spot has turned into a bullpen day.
The Red Sox are walking a tightrope that could collapse if things don’t change soon -- as in immediately -- with the rotation.
“I ran into a number the other day, I think runners in scoring position, the OPS is if not the worst, it’s one of the worst in the big leagues against our starters,” Cora said. “Keeping the ball in the ballpark, limiting traffic, that’s the most important thing to avoiding the big inning that’s been going on from the get-go.”
The offense, thunderous by the overall numbers, has had a hard time coming all the way back to win close games. Rafael Devers provided hope in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run jack down the line in right. Andrew Benintendi provided more hope when he lofted one over the Monster to make it a 6-5 game in the eighth. But the ever-dangerous Devers struck out to end the game.
The Sox slipped to 3-51 in games they trail after six innings. They are 34-33 at Fenway Park and 23-38 in games against teams that are above .500.
How do the defending World Series champs view these final 24 games?
“Yeah, same as we’ve been looking at them,” Porcello said. “Keep pressing and keep going hard. That’s it. That’s all you can do.”