Minutes after the Red Sox had lost their road trip finale in the most agonizing way imaginable -- a swinging strike, wild pitch walk-off defeat -- Alex Cora scurried to put it all in perspective.
"I thought it was a great baseball game,'' Cora began, summing up a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay. "We did a lot of good things. We did a lot of bad things....I think the way we played against these guys tonight shows how good we are. We have a lot of work to do. We know that. We belong in the conversation. We're really good. It's going to be a fun summer in Boston.''
Well, lots to consider there, wouldn't you say? You could sprain your neck following Cora's verbal gymnastics. But everything he said is true.
We did a lot of good things. We did a lot of bad things.
Both things can be true.
There's a lot to like about the 2021 Sox. But let's not pretend there aren't issues, including some that have been made obvious in the last week and a half.
Let's unpack, shall we?
THE GOOD
Even with the loss, the Red Sox return home from a demanding road swing with a .500 trip (4-4). They're just a half-game out of first as they come back to host the Yankees at Fenway this season, and there's an excitement that again surrounds the team.
The Sox play hard every night, and can't be counted out of most games. They've demonstrated that again and again, especially on this trip. One of their four wins came in extra-innings, another came in their final at-bat, and Thursday's loss was a 1-0 walk-off setback. They don't quit.
By now, they've demonstrated that, at the very least, they can play with the Rays (4-2) and Yankees (3-0), something that most assuredly couldn't be said of them last year. Maybe the Red Sox don't win the East. Maybe they don't even make the playoffs. But they've ceased to be division doormats, which is what they resembled in a forgettable 2020 season.
The team's bullpen -- even after the loss was tagged to Matt Barnes Thursday night -- is also vastly improved, and is seemingly getting better. Josh Taylor, a non-factor last year and horrid in the first few weeks of this season, has now gone two months without allowing a run and has emerged as a go-to weapon in the late innings. Adam Ottavino refuses to buckle in big jams and has become a shutdown option in the eighth, undaunted by traffic.
The lineup, though it has holes at the top and bottom, remains powerful and formidable -- especially in the 2-6 slots. The Sox can outslug you and mash with anyone.
And there are signs that some of the rotation woes that struck a few weeks ago are getting cleaned up. Eduardo Rodriguez was better the other night. And Nick Pivetta's dominant effort Thursday -- 6.2 no-hit innings -- slammed the brakes on a troubling streak and erased any doubt that Pivetta was, like teammate Garrett Richards, suffering from traumatic foreign substance disorder.
But...
THE BAD
Any honest examination of the team's play in the last eight games reveals some brutal truths.
The Red Sox are too often guilty of sloppy defense and baserunning.
The Sox somehow managed to allow 10 unearned runs over the eight games. If it's true that fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, then the same can be said about giving the opponent an average of more than a free run per game. There's too much parity in the game to be handing out gifts like that. With so many closely matched clubs battling it out, the margin of victory can sometimes be very thin indeed.
It might be hard to assign blame for Thursday's defeat. It could be that it was just one of those nights when the events conspire to go the wrong way. But fundamentally sound teams don't commit a throwing error and a wild pitch in a scoreless game in the ninth. That's not tempting fate -- it's holding the door wide open for it.
And the two flubs weren't the only missteps. Christian Vazquez, who somehow leads the team in stolen bases thanks to some smartly aggressive baserunning, was way too aggressive with his secondary lead and got himself carelessly picked off second base in the seventh inning. That, too, can't happen.
In general, too many balls in play are not being turned into outs. And surely, it's a sign that the team is being too daring on the bases that it has run into a dozen outs at the plate, the second-most in the American League.
Finally, there's the approach at the plate -- all aggression, no patience.
The Sox came into Thursday ranked 14th in walks, and yet, continue to strike out way too much. Michael Wacha, who had fanned a total of six hitters in his last 15 innings, somehow struck out seven Red Sox in five innings. The lineup needs to find a way to put the ball in play more regularly -- both with runners in scoring position, but also, in general.
The Sox are long past the fluke stage and deserve credit for being just percentage points out of first heading into the final weekend of June. Few expected that much.
But now that they've gained entrance into the race, they have some work to do if they want to make the most of their arrival.