3 Boston Red Sox most to blame for sweep at hands of Houston Astros

Red Sox to blame: What was Alex Cora thinking?

Alex Cora is one of the best managers in all of baseball at his best. There's a reason the Red Sox brought him back after the sign-stealing scandal tarnished his name. However, Cora was working against Boston this series. The former Houston assistant coach failed miserably, starting with inserting Barraclough in the first game of the series.

"It's awful, I feel bad," Cora said. "It happened to [the Astros] last week when they brought up a guy who threw 100 pitches and saved their bullpen when we beat them. [Barraclough] wanted to go out in the ninth and we were thinking about sending a position player. You saw me. My face was probably all over TV. It was uncomfortable."

While we're glad he feels bad, Cora essentially destroyed Barraclough's confidence moving forward, taking a potentially-important relief pitcher out of the Boston bullpen. Cora knew how important this series was for the Red Sox, and getting swept is an utter failure on his end. This is a team that relies heavily on bullpen management. Cora struggled all series long in that regard.