Red Sox Notes: Alex Cora Details ‘One Of Worst Days’ With Boston

BOSTON — The Red Sox didn’t exactly have a banner day Saturday.

In fact, Boston’s loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park — plus everything that came with it — marked a new low for Red Sox manager Alex Cora during his tenure with the franchise.

The on-field result was a tough one, as Reese McGuire’s colossal baserunning miscue foiled what looked like a solid run at a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning. The off-field situation involving Alex Verdugo, however, clearly stung, as it prompted Cora to call Saturday one of the worst days he’s had as a member of the Red Sox organization.

“I’m very disappointed,” Cora said postgame. “This is probably one of my worst days here in this organization. You know, because from Day 1 — everyone has been available from Day 1. We’ve had our issues, whatever, but we have taken care of our things and today we took a step back.

“I feel responsible, because I’m the leader of this team. It’s hard. It’s hard. We’ll show up tomorrow and we’re going to grind again, we’re going to go for it but tonight is not going to be a good night.”

The situation involving Verdugo is somehow straight forward and ambiguous at the same time. The 27-year-old was scratched from Boston’s lineup with about an hour to go before first pitch. There was no reason given for the change, however, with Cora and Verdugo choosing not to address the reason directly following the game.

The normally joyful Cora was enraged when pressed with questions about the situation. In taking Boston’s continued slide down the American League Wild Card standings into account, it’s easy to see why Saturday was one the 47-year-old will want to forget.

“This is probably one of my worst days here in this organization. … I feel responsible, because I’m the leader of this team.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora

Here are more notes from Saturday afternoon’s Red Sox-Blue Jays game:

— Nick Pivetta came on to relieve opener John Schreiber in the second inning. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he expected Chris Murphy (a left-handed pitcher) to pitch in the bulk role prior to the game, but hinted that Pivetta (a right-hander) could become the choice when it came down to making that decision.

In the end, Boston went with the veteran, which yielded Pivetta’s worst relief appearance of the season.

— Cora didn’t name a starter for Sunday, but it is expected that Murphy will pitch the bulk of the innings for Boston.

— Let’s go golfing! Rafael Devers’ fourth-inning home run was hit only 0.90 feet off the ground. In travelling 430 feet, it’s the second longest home run hit less than a foot off the ground since Statcast was introduced in 2015, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com.

— Masataka Yoshida recorded his 1,000th hit between Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball with a fourth-inning single.

— The Red Sox and Blue Jays will wrap up their three-game set at Fenway Park on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.