The Boston Red Sox dropped their third straight game Monday night, but if you thought the scoreboard told the whole story, think again. This one had drama, controversy, ejections—you name it. And right at the center of the storm? None other than manager Alex Cora, who once again found himself walking off the field early, not by choice.
Red Sox Chaos on the Basepaths
Top of the fifth inning. Red Sox at bat. Things get weird—like, did-that-really-just-happen weird. Jarren Duran gets caught in a rundown between second and third, and Abraham Toro-Hernandez, trying to take advantage of the chaos, ends up getting tagged out at second. Boom. Just like that, two outs in a blink. But this wasn’t just a miscommunication on the bases—it was the kind of play that had “umpire controversy” written all over it.
Cora believed Toro-Hernandez was illegally blocked from reaching second. That’s obstruction territory, and in a perfect world, that’s the kind of thing that gets reviewed. But not this time. This particular play? Not reviewable. And that was the match that lit the fuse.
The Ejection Heard’ Round Anaheim
Cora wasted no time getting his message across to the umpire crew—and apparently, it was just a little too loud and a little too pointed. Just like that, he was tossed for the second straight game. That’s right. Two nights. Two ejections. And this wasn’t some “tip your cap and head for the tunnel” moment. This was a full-on, in-your-face, old-school blowup. You could almost hear the echoes back in Boston.
The tension was thick. And with no chance to challenge the play, Cora’s patience finally snapped. Whether he was defending his player or just letting out two weeks’ worth of pent-up pressure, the result was the same—he was gone, and the Red Sox were left to fend for themselves in the late innings.
.500 Baseball and Mounting Frustration
When the dust finally settled, Boston had dropped the game 9-5 to the Angels. That puts them squarely at 40-40 on the season. It’s a perfectly symmetrical record, yet also a frustrating one. Halfway through the year, the Red Sox are dancing on the edge of irrelevance, with flashes of brilliance buried under waves of inconsistency.
And if Cora’s boiling point is any indicator, the stress of staying afloat in a tough division is starting to wear thin. This team is capable of more—but the question is whether they can harness that fire before it consumes them. Because right now, the only thing heating up faster than the summer sun is the temperature of Boston’s manager.
And when the manager’s getting ejected two nights in a row? That’s not a statistic anyone wants to keep track of.
