Red Sox' Losing Streak Reaches Five Games, As Starting Rotation Is Struggling
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's no coincidence that the Red Sox' longest losing streak of the season coincides with a dismal stretch from the starting rotation.
The most recent offering came Tuesday night in Detroit, when Garrett Richards lasted just four innings, allowing three runs in the process. That marked the second straight start from Richards in which he pitched just four innings.
He's not alone. Nick Pivetta has lasted just 4.2 in each of his last two starts, Martin Perez lasted just four innings in his last time out, and Eduardo Rodriguez made it just 3.1 innings in his last start, which came after he exited his previous start due to a migraine after just one inning. Nathan Eovaldi, the team's most reliable starter all year, did last 5.1 innings in his last start, but he allowed six runs in the process.
Richards only gets charged with 3 earned runs in four innings, but ... Red Sox rotation now has an 8.47 ERA over its last eight games while averaging 4.25 innings per outing. Sox starters have pitched fewer than five innings in 7 of the team's last 8 games.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) August 4, 2021
The issue is a trend that certainly is causing some problems and leading to losses.
"For us to keep going and to keep grinding, we need more than -- we need our starters to go deeper. They know that," Cora said after Tuesday's 4-2 loss. "I'm not saying they have to go seven, but I think they did an amazing job early in the season going five, or six. And it was a relay race. I think bullpen-wise, we're in a better spot than 10 days ago."
While the starting pitching certainly has been an issue, Cora made sure to spotlight the Red Sox' offensive woes as well.
"I mean, at the end of the day, [the Tigers] scored four runs, and offensively, we believe we can score more," Cora said. "So this is more about the offense right now than the pitching. [The Rays] scored three on Saturday, we didn't find a way to win it offensively. And they scored four today. Four runs against us, we do believe that we should win those ballgames."
Cora also said: "Offensively, we didn't do much. We struck out 10 times against a team that actually doesn't strike too many people out. So we need to figure it out offensively."
In terms of starting pitching, Chris Sale remains on track to rejoin the Red Sox soon -- as soon as next week. But the rest of the rotation will still need to find its collective footing if the team hopes to remain in the race in the AL East.
"We still believe in these guys," Cora said. "We do believe that they can go five, six innings for us, just like they did early in the season, and put us in a good spot to win."