After a 10-game winning streak heading into the All-Star break ignited hopes for the Red Sox, vaulting them into the A.L. playoff chase and opening a path to the East division crown, a two-game losing streak to open the second half in Chicago against the Cubs took a bit of wind out of Boston’s sails.
On Sunday, in the final game of the series at Wrigley Field, Red Sox manager Alex Cora decided to shake up the team in both the field and the batting order, a presumed effort to shake the team from the slump, which saw them score just one run in two games.
The changes were many. Cora moved Ceddanne Rafaela to No. 3 in the order for the first time in his career, which made some sense because he is batting .298 with 12 homers in his last 65 games. He also started Rafaela at second base, for just the second time this season.
Cora also had Masataka Yoshida batting cleanup, and in a true rarity, had him playing the outfield–he started in left field for the first time since 2023 as he has come back from shoulder surgery last October. The reason behind that change was that Roman Anthony was feeling under the weather, Cora said.
Cora gave Alex Bregman a planned day off as well–though that did not hold in the end.
Red Sox Come From Behind for Late Win
Cora has said he does not want to DH Anthony, though it is going to prove difficult not to use him in that role, too. It could help Boston to showcase the fact that Yoshida can still play the outfield as the trade deadline nears, though the notion of trading Yoshida and his overwrought contract is still an unlikely one.
“We’ve got a lot of outfielders but he can play left field,” Cora said. “We know that. … He’ll play out there. We’ll keep moving guys around. But most of the time he’s going to DH.”
It’s difficult to say the Red Sox changes had much of an impact, however. Boston won the game, 6-1, but it was a bigger struggle than the final score indicates. The Red Sox trailed, 1-0, entering the seventh inning, and finally put up two runs on a Wilyer Abreu homer.
It was Bregman, pinch-hitting for Yoshida (0-for-3, one strikeout), who broke the game open with a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Rafaela was 0-for-4 on the afternoon, ending a 13-game hitting streak.
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