Red Sox Notebook: Losing streak reaches five but Alex Cora unconcerned

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. --- Apparently, the Red Sox have already reached the Dog Days of spring training.

The Sox were thumped 8-1 by the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday. They didn't manage a run until the seventh when Aneury Tavarez doubled and came around to score on two straight infield outs, eliciting a mock cheer from run-starved Red Sox fans at Charlotte Sports Park.

The Sox have now dropped five straight and have been outscored 40-7. They've been out-hit (70-23) in those games.

"We've got different stages in spring training,'' shrugged Alex Cora. "We'll go back to hitting the fundamentals Tuesday and Wednesday on the back fields and we'll go through a progression. Obviously, you pay attention to effort and there's been a few plays that you don't like to see baserunning-wise. Sandy (Leon) almost got picked off in Sarasota (Friday), (Andrew Benintendi) got caught (in between) when they stopped the runner at third base (Saturday) and (Eduardo Nunez) got picked off (Sunday). We can control those.

"The results, I don't care as long as they're going through the progression. But baserunning stuff, the effort we can control. I think the effort's been good, but pay attention to details and start playing better.''

This stretch is not unlike a bad run the Sox endured last spring. Although they finished with the best record in Florida and won 14 of their last 15 games last March, the Sox went 1-6-1 in an eight-game period between March 3-11.

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Rick Porcello made his game debut and though he allowed two solo homers in three innings of work, came away satisfied.

"I was definitely excited to finally see some live hitters and test my stuff out there,'' said Porcello, who, like the other veteran starters, was held out of games for the first two weeks. "It was fun to be back on the bump for sure. (I was interested in) getting comfortable with my delivery, feel the things I want to feel with that and execute pitches. That was the goal today and I feel like I did a pretty good job of that.

"They hit the two home runs and a couple of other balls were hit hard, but the location on those pitches were halfway decent. I'll look at that and go from there, but overall, it was good.''

"Good stuff, around the plate, had some close pitches that he didn't get, but overall, it was a good performance,'' concluded Cora.

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It's still pretty crowded in the Red Sox clubhouse, with 59 players in camp and Opening Day just over two and a half weeks away.

Following Monday's off-day, expect the Sox to make significant cutdowns, perhaps as soon as Tuesday. Now that the team's principal starting pitchers are beginning to appear in Grapefruit League games, there will be fewer innings available for some of the younger pitchers.

That development, along with the start of minor league games on Wednesday will mean an exodus of arms -- and position players -- from big league camp.

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Sunday's 2 p.m. deadline for obtaining release waivers on players with non-guaranteed deals came and went with no action taken by the Red Sox.

There had been some speculation that reliever Tyler Thornburg could be a candidate for a buyout. Thornburg has not been sharp. In four games, he's allowed 10 hits (including two homers) and seven earned runs in just four innings of work, and the Sox could have saved about $1.45 million by buying him out Sunday.

The Sox haven't glossed over his struggles, but are trying to give him additional time. Last year, Thornburg returned from thoracic outlet surgery and was highly inconsistent. He was shut down for the remainder of the season in mid-September.

Thornburg has been happy with his velocity -- which has hit 95-96 mph -- and the renewed life on his fastball, but the results have been lacking.

"It gets to the point that we've got to start seeing results,'' acknowledged Cora. "I think from the next one on, it's go-time.''

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Dustin Pedroia again came through his game action without incident. Pedroia made his second appearance of the spring Saturday, getting an at-bat while playing two innings in the field.

The plan calls for him to have two days of recovery (Sunday and a scheduled off-day Monday) before returning to the lineup Tuesday against the Tigers.

"There's a pretty good chance we'll ramp from two to four (innings),'' said Cora. "We'll see how he feels.''

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Brock Holt was originally in the lineup but was left back in Fort Myers when he experienced back spasms...Ryan Brasier, whose spring has been slowed by an infected toe, will throw another bullpen soon, followed by a live batting practice session, and ultimately, a game appearance, tentatively scheduled for next weekend...Heath Hembree is also close to making his first appearance in a Grapefruit League games...Hector Velazquez, who took over in relief of Porcello, appeared to strain his back as he reached for a comeback chopper over the mound, but after consulting with Cora and the training staff, stayed in the game...Third baseman Bobby Dalbec, getting some time across the diamond at first base, turned in an impressive 3-6 double play in the seventh, snaring a tough hop and stepping on the bag before making a rocket throw to second to cut down the lead baserunner.