Red Sox

Despite scoring just 3 runs in the last 2 games, Alex Cora has no plans to change the Red Sox lineup

The Red Sox recorded just three hits in Game 5 and are 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position in their last two games.

By Conor Roche

October 21, 2021

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The Red Sox bats have gone cold at the worst time possible.

A day after scoring just two runs in a 9-2 loss to the Astros, the Red Sox mustered up just one run in their 9-1 loss in Wednesday’s Game 5 of the ALCS. More specifically, they’ve scored just one run in the last seven innings and all three of their runs have come through the longball.

Even moreover, Rafael Devers was responsible for two of the team’s three hits in Game 5, with his solo home run being one of them.

So, with the Red Sox having just a three-hit performance on Wednesday and going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position over the last two games, will we see any lineup changes with their season on the line?

“No,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora bluntly responded when asked the question.

The Red Sox were cold from the jump in Game 5. Astros starter Framber Valdez pitched four perfect innings to start. Rafael Devers broke Valdez’s perfection with a leadoff single in the fifth. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Valdez hit J.D. Martinez to put runners at first and second with no outs.

As they trailed just 1-0 at the time, the Red Sox likely just need a hit to tie the game up. But after Martinez was hit by a pitch, Hunter Renfroe grounded into a double play that killed any momentum the Red Sox started to generate.

The power-hitting righty has had a tough ALCS so far. Renfroe’s hitting just 1-for-14 (.071) at the plate and through 10 postseason games, Renfroe hasn’t hit a home run after hitting 31 in the regular season.

Cora admitted that he wasn’t a fan of Renfroe’s at-bat in the fifth though he thinks he’ll right the ship soon.

“I think tonight 2-0 count he tried to do too much on that pitch, right? We had two runners on, and just the fastball — actually, it was a good pitch to hit; it was up in the zone, one of the few. He flew open, and hit the ball on the ground, and rolled over,” Cora said.

“It’s one of those that obviously we didn’t like it, but this is a guy that throughout the season he has done an amazing job, and he has played great defense for us. He has been good offensively.”

The Red Sox will get a day off Thursday after their slump over the last two days at the plate. In their last game in Houston, the Red Sox scored nine runs with Luis Garcia starting. It’s likely that Garcia will start Game 6 and the Red Sox will likely have their starter from Game 2, Nathan Eovaldi, start Game 6.

With Boston throwing its top pitcher this season on the mound on Friday, Cora’s not hitting the panic button, even if his team’s just one loss away from the end of the season.

“We’ll keep rolling them out there, and tomorrow is a good day to reset,” Cora said. “Talk about what’s going on, what they’ve done the last few days, and make adjustments. We’ve got the right guy on the mound for Game 6. This is a guy that he has been amazing for all of us.

“And we know we can hit. Two bad games doesn’t mean that all of a sudden we’re not a good offensive team. It’s just a matter of regroup, make some adjustments, and attack from the first pitch on.”