Red Sox manager Alex Cora ejected after another shaky start by Walker Buehler in loss to Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Alex Cora is 0 for 2 in arguing obstruction calls with umpire Alan Porter after the Boston Red Sox manager was ejected Monday night in the fifth inning of a 9-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, the second straight game in which Cora was tossed.

Boston was trailing 5-4 when Jarren Duran doubled to lead off the fifth. Abraham Toro grounded to shortstop, but Duran hesitated before breaking for third and was tagged out in a rundown by Angels second baseman Christian Moore.

Moore then spun and threw to second base, where Angels third baseman Luis Rengifo was covering, to nail Toro trying to advance. Cora argued that Rengifo blocked the bag with his knee and was ejected after a long argument with Porter, who made the out call.

Porter ejected Cora for arguing a similar play in a game against Minnesota last Sept. 22 after Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta threw to second baseman Vaughn Grissom in an attempt to pick off Byron Buxton.

Buxton was safe, but the Twins argued that Grissom blocked Buxton’s path to the bag with his knee. The umpires ultimately agreed, and Buxton was awarded third base.

“Our point of view was that he was blocking the bag,” Cora said, referring to Monday night’s play. “I guess the rule is if he’s going to be out easy, they can do that. But we had a similar situation last year with the same (umpiring) crew … and Alan reversed the call.

“That was the whole point
I was trying to make — it happened six months ago, the same situation, and it was reversed. Maybe he’s right, you know, if he was going to be safe, but I wanted to make sure.”

Major League Baseball Rule 6.00(h) awards the base to the runner when the fielder is ruled to have impeded the runner’s progress while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball.

Porter, however, told a pool reporter there was an extenuating circumstance — mainly, that Moore’s throw arrived well before Toro, who was out by several feet, essentially making an obstruction call moot.

“Did the fielder obstruct, or was the runner just out?” Porter said. “We felt that the runner, no matter what the fielder had done in that situation, was out. He was out by a lot. And that’s part of also not calling the obstruction.

“And the other side of it is that it’s a very quick developing play there. So we’re able to give them a little bit of leeway when they don’t have time to set up because it was the rundown, and (Rengifo) is running back (toward second base).”

Cora wasn’t around to see the Angels score four runs in the eighth to snap a 5-all tie, but he saw enough of Walker Buehler’s shaky start to acknowledge the veteran right-hander might be losing his grip on a rotation spot.

Handed a 3-0 lead before he took the mound, Buehler walked four and hit two batters during a five-run first inning in which he threw 39 pitches. He finished with a career-high seven walks in four innings.

The Red Sox rallied to tie the score in the sixth, taking Buehler off the hook for a loss, but he is 5-5 with a 6.29 ERA in 13 starts. In his previous outing, he gave up eight runs and eight hits over 3 1/3 innings in a loss at Seattle last week.

“You can’t walk seven guys in a major league baseball game and expect to be successful,” Buehler said. “I think we keep trying different things and looking at different stuff, this (pitch) mix or that mix, but at the end of the day, if you don’t execute and throw strikes, you really don’t have a chance.

“I feel like a broken record. It’s embarrassing. It’s not who I want to be as a baseball player, obviously. I’d rather get whacked around than do that.”

Buehler struggled in his return from a second Tommy John surgery last season, going 1-6 with a 5.95 ERA in 16 starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he recovered in October to play an integral part in the team’s run to a World Series title. He even came out of the bullpen to get the final three outs of the series-clinching win over the New York Yankees.

Asked if he was sure Buehler is healthy, Cora said: “One hundred percent.” When Buehler was asked if he's pitching through anything right now, he said, “I don’t want to talk about that.”

Buehler recovered from his brutal first inning to blank the Angels on one hit over his final three frames, perhaps earning a longer leash in the team’s rotation.

“The second, third and fourth innings were really good,” Cora said. “The velocity was up and the movement on his pitches were great. There’s a few things mechanically that he feels he needs to do better, but he’ll be ready for the next one.”

Buehler was a postseason star for the Dodgers as they won three National League pennants and a World Series crown from 2017-20. But is he worried about his spot in the Boston rotation?

“Yeah, I think you have to be,” Buehler said. “At some point, there’s 26 guys that are going to help this team hopefully make the playoffs and if you’re not one of them, I don’t really think it matters what you’ve done in years past.

“At some point, I’ve got to put some results out there for myself, but also for this organization. … It just sucks, man. I want to contribute to this team so badly. I’ve enjoyed playing here so much outside of my own performance, so it’s just really frustrating.”

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