The story of the Boston Red Sox’s loss on Tuesday night was Connelly Early. The rookie left-hander delivered another outstanding performance, fanning seven Athletics hitters in 5 1/3 innings of work. The problem for most Red Sox fans was that Early didn’t stay in the game long enough, but that wasn’t his fault.
Then again, whose fault was it, exactly? After Greg Weissert lost the Red Sox lead in relief of Early, Boston fans exploded in united outcry over the decision to pull Early after 80 pitches, a call that manager Alex Cora defended postgame.
Cora on pulling Early at 80 pitches with Brent Rooker coming up:"It’s about the guy that is hitting."— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) September 17, 2025
Cora asserted that Weissert was brought in to face the right-handed slugger Brent Rooker, whom Weissert retired.
It was Weissert’s performance against subsequent Athletics hitters that had Red Sox fans criticizing Cora, but wait a second, did Cora actually make the decision to remove Early in the first place?
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Amid the fan outrage, NESN analyst Lou Merloni took to X to suggest that Cora wasn’t the guy who pushed the button on removing Early.
The assumption here is that Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey, not Cora, decided it was best for Early to be pulled after 80 pitches; or rather, that it was best for Weissert to be brought in to face Rooker.
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If that did happen, it would be Cora’s duty as manager during the postgame to defend Bailey’s decision and take responsibility for that decision as the head of the club’s entire coaching staff. It can also be surmised that Bailey’s decision to insert Weissert for the Rooker at-bat was a decision supported by Cora in the moment; otherwise, Cora would have used his veto power as manager to override the call.
So, who is ultimately most responsible for the blown lead? Cora, Bailey, or Weissert?
That’s an interesting question for Red Sox fans to torture themselves over for a few more hours.
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