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How Alex Cora Reacted To Connelly Early's Start In Red Sox Loss originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Connelly Early shouldn't shoulder much of the blame for Sunday's Boston Red Sox loss.
Early quickly rewarded the Red Sox for including him in their Opening Day starting rotation. The rookie southpaw handed the bullpen a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning at Great American Ball Park.
Alex Cora pulled Early with one out and one runner on base in the sixth. However, Greg Weissert served up a three-run homer to Eugenio Suarez in a 3-2 loss.
The Red Sox manager commended Early's performance after the game, via NESN on X.
"He did a good job," Cora said.
Cora may have surprised some onlookers by sending Early back to the mound for the sixth inning. Early threw a career-high 96 pitches in his sixth career major league start, including an abbreviated postseason outing.
It's not common to stretch out a rookie in his season-opening start, but Cora used six relief pitchers in Saturday's 11-inning loss.
"Pitching-wise, we needed that," Cora said. "We don't usually extend guys this early in the season, but he felt strong. He was strong all spring ... He did enough to give us a chance to win."
Early looked sharp on Sunday, tallying six strikeouts despite registering just seven swinging strikes. He maintained a reasonable pitch count by attacking the plate early with a first-pitch strike to 15 of his 21 batters faced.
Although Early didn't notch his second career win, the 23-year-old showed why he's in Boston's rotation. He should draw another start at home against the San Diego Padres next Saturday.
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