What Alex Cora said about the Red Sox’s woes in Friday’s loss to the Angels

In total, the Red Sox errors resulted in three runs for the Angels on Friday. But Red Sox manager Alex Cora also lamented another missed double play opportunity in the first inning, in which they were only able to get one out.

“We got two ground balls that we should have turned into double plays,” Cora told reporters after Friday’s game. “We didn’t do it and they scored three. This put us in a bad situation.

“We’re getting a double ground ball play, we’re not running it, so things like that are going to happen,” Cora added. “Double plays are a game changer. Momentum changers. You turn them, the momentum passes to you. If you don’t spin them, the momentum stays with them. And that’s what happened.

Casas’ error in the second inning cost the Red Sox no runs, but Cora appeared to blame the first baseman for the error on Rafaela’s throw in the third inning.

“Triston needs to be a little quicker in the middle of the diamond,” Cora said of the third-run mistake. “There’s no play at the plate, so we have to knock it down. This ball cannot pass.

Cora pointed out that these kinds of errors on the field are the most frustrating, as they have committed an MLB-high 16 errors in the first two weeks of the season.

“Those are the ones that really bother me,” Cora continued of the Red Sox’ third-inning error. “The physical ones are part of it; we will make mistakes. I know how it works. That’s part of it. But we have to eliminate (mental) errors.”

All of these errors came with Tanner Houck on the mound Friday. The right-hander allowed four earned runs (seven total) on 12 hits, two strikeouts and no walks. As Houck went 5 2/3 innings on the mound, Cora thought the team had failed its starting pitcher, saying it made it “hard to pitch.”

“I think (Houck) did a good job giving us 5 2/3,” Cora said. “…He gave us enough innings that we’ll be in a better place for tomorrow and the days to come.

Now, Cora’s goal is to make sure the defense doesn’t make those mental errors on the field in the future.

“We are working very hard to achieve this,” Cora said. “We will still work hard to achieve this. We’re not going to stop. Ultimately we have to do it at 7:05, that’s the most important thing.