The Boston Red Sox fell to 1-5 on Wednesday, extending their worst start in years as early-season struggles continue to mount. It’s the Red Soxâ worst start since 2019 and second-worst since opening the season with six straight losses in 2011, and the team’s ardent fan base, known as Red Sox Nation, is not happy about it.
“I mean, like we’re the idiots for watching, I guess,” declared online Red Sox live streamer Grant Huckvale, better known as “Hogdale,” of Barstool Sports. “Thank God an off day tomorrow. See you Friday for more of the (expletive) House of Fun Bullies.”
With Fridayâs home opener at Fenway approaching, the Red Sox face mounting pressure to stop the slide before early-season questions intensify.
The Red Sox won their game against the Cincinnati Reds on Opening Day, but have not won since, as Wednesday’s day game defeat to the Houston Astros completed a three-game sweep at Daikin Park.
Boston now heads back to Fenway Park for the home opener on Friday, when they will take on the San Diego Padres, another struggling team. The Padres opened their season at 1-4 heading into Wednesday’s matchup at home with the San Francisco Giants.
But Barstool founder Dave Portnoy had a suggestion for fans at the home opener.
“Red Sox fans should all wear bags over their head that say sell the team for opening day,” Portnoy wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account, over a posted image of Red Sox principal owner John Henry.
Ace Garrett Crochet Calls Team ‘Embarrassing’
Wednesday’s loss was especially painful for Red Sox fans, because it came with their ace Garrett Crochet, last year’s Cy Young Award runner-up, on the mound. But though the 6-foot-6, 245-pound lefty struck out seven in five innings with no walks â though he hit one batter â the Astros reached him for five runs, and with the floundering Red Sox offense scoring only four, that was enough.
“It’s embarrassing,” Crochet told the Red Sox broadcast outlet NESN after the game. “Typically in the past, I’ve played that stopper role and today I just let the guys down.”
Manager Alex Cora was also at a loss to explain the early-season swoon. In Cora’s eight-year tenure, the Red Sox have posted a winning record through the first five games only twice, first in 2018, his rookie year as Red Sox manager.
The Red Sox started 4-1 that season and went on to win 108 games and the World Series. Since then, the Cora-led Red Sox have won more than two of the opening five games only in 2024, when the team went 3-2, but ended the season at 81-81 and out of the postseason picture.
“Not good,” Cora told NESN after Wednesday’s game. “We talk about cleaning a lot of stuff. Putting the ball in play, play good defense, run the bases better, and overall this whole week wasn’t great.”
More Unhappy Fans Express Red Sox Frustration
Of course, the Red Sox could quickly turn their fortunes, and fan emotions, in a more positive direction by winning at home, where they play their next six games. But for now, fans are in a depressed state.
“I got nothin for ya,” wrote Nat Gordon of the Play Tessie podcast. “Hard to imagine worse vibes heading into a home opener. Reminds me of 2019 in a way.”
“2018 mightâve been the only season in my lifetime that the Red Sox didnât start off like complete a**,” wrote Red Sox superfan and media personality Jared Carrabis. “Every year, we wait all winter to watch this team start the season with a daily dose of depression.”
The Red Sox home opener is scheduled for Friday, April 3, at 2:10 p.m. Eastern Time at Fenway Park in Boston. The Red Sox will send offseason trade acquisition Sonny Gray to the mound for his second start of the season. The Padres are scheduled to start Michael King, also making his second start.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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