Rick Porcello did his best to set the tone for the Red Sox starting rotation on Monday, but Andrew Cashner could not keep things rolling on Tuesday. The mid-season acquisition got tattooed for six runs in 5 ⅓ innings on two walks and seven hits, three of which were home runs.
Tuesday’s outing marks back-to-back performances in which Cashner has given up six or more earned runs since joining the Red Sox. In his 17 starts with the Orioles this year, Cashner gave up the same amount of runs twice.
“I just think I just made too many mistakes and they’ve hammered here, when I’ve made them,” Cashner said. “But I think its — I’ve pitched up here (at the big league level) for a long time. This has probably been one of the toughest stretches of my career. I just got to get back to what I do well and get back to that and get them on Sunday.
“I think over the course of my career I’ve been good at limiting damage. I haven’t done a good job of that since I’ve been here. Mistakes are too up in the zone. Haven’t really done a lot of things well. But we still have a month and a half left.”
Alex Cora also emphasized Cashner isn’t “executing his pitches” — a phrase that never gets old.
Look, missed locations happen. But if that’s the point of emphasis with Cashner, and it’s not a flaw in Boston’s strategy, then it’s fair to think there’s some mechanical issue. It could be something minor that’s only popping up frequently enough where it’s a problem a few times per game. Either way, something different has gone on with Cashner since he left Baltimore.
When asked if the issue was mechanical or something along those lines, Cashner simply said, “I don’t really know.”
Cora said the Red Sox will look into whether or not there’s a mechanical issue, so someone’s on top of the situation.