If the Red Sox win tonight, we probably won’t remember Alex Cora pulling Brayan Bello so quickly in yesterday’s Game 2 loss to the Yankees. But if the Sox lose — and if they do so in large part thanks to a tired bullpen — it’ll be something we’ll talk about forever. But no one in the Sox clubhouse was surprised at Cora’s aggression last night, that’s just who he is in the postseason. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
Of course, the aggression didn’t pay off, as Garrett Whitlock couldn’t hold the lead
while throwing more pitches out of the bullpen than he has all season. Whitlock admits he was tiring by the end of his outing. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
Given the state of the bullpen, which will be missing one of it’s most potent weapons in Whitlock, the Sox really need a good showing from rookie Connelly Early tonight. His teammates certainly think he has it in him, with Jarren Duran saying Early reminds him of Roman Anthony in the way he stays calm and confident. (Tara Sullivan, Boston Globe)
Unfortunately, Duran didn’t look so calm and confident in left field last night, as he booted a routine line drive and allowed the Yankees to take the lead. He didn’t duck responsibility for it in the clubhouse last night, saying the loss was “100%” on him. (Sean McAdam, MassLive)
But Duran was hardly the only goat in last night’s game. Ceddanne Rafaela failed to execute a sacrifice bunt in a big spot while Nate Eaton failed to score as Jazz Chisholm and Ben Rice were struggling to make a difficult play in the infield. It was a poorly timed reminder that the Red Sox have been a sloppy team all season long. (Steve Buckley, The Athletic)
And now if they want to keep their season alive, they’ll have to do it against Cam Schlittler, a Walpole native with a very unfortunate name who, unlike that traitor Ben Rice, grew up a Sox fan. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Early-Schlittler is a shocking matchup that no one would’ve predicted at the beginning of the season. It’s also a historic one. Early will become the fifth pitcher in history to make a postseason start within his first five MLB appearances, while the matchup between the two of them will be the third-youngest pitching matchup in a do-or-die game in MLB history. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
And don’t forget: Red Sox-Yankees is a match-up that has plenty of history behind it. (Chad Thornburg, MLB.com)
