BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- The Red Sox have lost six of eight--the last three to the Rays by a combined 24-5. Alex Cora, what happened?
"Just a bad weekend, that's it," the Sox manager said. "They're playing great baseball, they play great here. They've done this to some good teams. Just one of those, it was a bad weekend here in Tampa, we'll go get 'em on Tuesday."
Sox were off last night. They'll host the Marlins tonight for the first of two before heading right back on the road for seven. Boston leads New York by six-and-a-half games for the best record in baseball. Miami's fifth-worst in the bigs with losses in 18 of 25, but the Fish have won five of eight.
It might help the Red Sox to return to Fenway, where they're 46-18.
Brian Johnson's allowed at least three runs each of his last four starts, but he's finished on the winning side in all of them, and he'll hope to be again in this one.
The lefty's first start of the season came in South Florida. Johnson allowed just one run over six innings. He's 4-1 with a 3.63 ERA in 10 starts this year.
Marlins will counter with Jose Urena. The recently suspended righty's 4-12 with a 4.50 mark, but he's coming off a complete game, 12-1 win in Washington. He also let up only one run over seven versus Boston in April.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) reports