Red Sox's Alex Cora Says He Wasn't Accusing Orioles of Sign-Stealing vs. Chris Sale

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Tuesday that he was not accusing the Baltimore Orioles of sign-stealing Monday when he pointed out how few swings-and-misses the team had against ace Chris Sale.

Cora's comments come after Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said he felt the Red Sox manager was "disrespectful" toward his hitters.

Cora said Tuesday, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN):

"It wasn't about pointing the finger at them. If he took it that way, I'll talk to him right now, but that's not the case. I was the guy suspended for what happened in 2017, so I'm the last guy that can accuse somebody of doing something wrong if that's what he thought I was saying."

For the first healthy start of his career, Sale did not record a strikeout. Boston lost 5-4 to the Orioles at Camden Yards. The Baltimore hitters also made contact on 40 of their 42 swings against the seven-time All-Star.

Sale allowed five runs on nine hits in five innings, but it is not out of the ordinary at this stage in his career.

The 34-year-old has been subpar since helping Boston capture the 2018 World Series title. He didn't play the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and missed much of the 2021 and 2022 campaigns because of injury.

In five starts this season, Sale is 1-2 with a 8.22 ERA, 1.74 WHIP and 30 strikeouts in 23 innings.

According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox feel Sale has "lost some of the athleticism in his delivery" but that it can be addressed before Sunday's start" against the Cleveland Guardians.

"I think mechanically there's something that we might adjust, you know, we've got to get him to be more athletic on the mound," Cora said Tuesday, per MLB.com's Ian Browne. "That's something we noticed. He's a little bit too stiff. Kind of like robotic if you want to call it that."

The Red Sox desperately need Sale to figure it out, as the remainder of the rotation—Corey Kluber, Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta and Garrett Whitlock—isn't strong. Boston's starters have a combined ERA of 6.71 (second-worst in MLB).

The Red Sox entered Tuesday's game against Baltimore last in the AL East with a 12-12 record.