Despite the upgrades Boston made to its roster, defensive miscues and offensive woes have still plagued the team — the Red Sox’ 588 strikeouts rank second in the American League. They also lead MLB with 53 errors and have the most one-run losses with 17.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora has been proclaiming recently that he didn’t think his team was far from putting good baseball together following a dismal stretch of games. Those days of optimism appear to be dwindling after Boston’s latest setback.

Cora’s comments drew attention from fans, and also analysts. In the NESN postgame show, longtime host Tom Caron and former third baseman Will Middlebrooks were both stunned. “