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Boston Red Sox supervisor Alex Cora clarified his remarks following Boston’s loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. He insisted he wasn’t implicating the Orioles of taking indications.
Coming off an 11-strikeout gem versus the Twins in his last start, veteran Red Sox lefty Chris Sale had a hard time severely versus Baltimore, as he permitted 5 operate on 9 hits in 5 innings of work, and for simply the 2nd time in his profession, he stopped working to start out a batter in a start.
“Sliders down and in and they hit it. Fastballs up and away, they hit it. Changeups — at one point there, there were no swing-and-misses. Tough pitches,” Cora stated of Sale after the 5-4 loss. “You’ve got to give credit to them, I guess.”
“We’ve got to take a look at it and see if we find something,” Cora continued, “I’m not saying — got to give credit to them, but command was off today.”
When notified of Cora’s remarks, Orioles supervisor Brandon Hyde took exception. “I’m not sure what he was getting at,” Hyde stated. “Honestly, pretty disappointed in hearing that. I thought it was disrespectful to our hitters, to be honest with you. I thought we had a great game plan. I thought we had major league hitters take really good at-bats.”
Prior to the 2nd video game of the series on Tuesday, Cora clarified his remarks (by means of the Associated Press):
“It wasn’t about pointing the finger at them. If he took it that way, I’ll talk to him right now, but that’s not the case. I was the guy suspended for what happened in 2017, so I’m the last guy that can accuse somebody of doing something wrong if that’s what he thought I was saying.”
Cora’s preliminary remarks can be parsed as his being worried about Sale perhaps tipping pitches rather than a suspicion that the Orioles were taking indications, however provided Cora’s history — he was suspended for his function in the Astros sign-stealing scandal and saw his preliminary period as Red Sox supervisor gave an end — an alternative analysis is reasonable. Presumably, Cora’s follow-up remarks will put an end to the debate.
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