Drastic Lineup Changes Fail To Spark Red Sox Offense Vs. Tigers Ace originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
For Saturday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, Alex Cora loaded up the Boston Red Sox‘s lineup with right-handed bats against Tigers southpaw Tarik Skubal.
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Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the platoon advantage didn’t give them the edge they were looking for. Skubal dominated them, racking up 10 strikeouts over six innings of one-run ball in Detroit’s 4-1 victory at Fenway Park.
Without Masataka Yoshida, Jarren Duran, Carlos Narvaez and Marcelo Mayer in the starting lineup, Boston was unable to get anything going against the reigning AL Cy Young winner, scoring just one run for the second straight game.
Surprisingly, Cora did not use Yoshida or Duran as a pinch-hitter after Skubal left the game, opting to leave them on the bench instead.
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Meanwhile, Brayan Bello‘s early-season struggles continued. He lasted just four innings, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
The Red Sox’s bullpen was excellent in relief with five scoreless innings, but it was already too late. One run was enough for Boston to win on Friday, but that wasn’t the case on Saturday.
The Red Sox will face another lefty on Sunday in Framber Valdez, so it will be interesting to see what adjustments Cora makes. They’ll also have their own elite southpaw on the bump in Garrett Crochet, who’s looking to bounce back from a historically bad outing against the Minnesota Twins.
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