Red Sox cap tough trip on winning note

PHOENIX -- Last week, Red Sox assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett dropped a nugget of wisdom, albeit in a sarcastic tone, that best described the defending World Series champions’ current state.

“Last year was Disney World,” Barkett told Boston manager Alex Cora. “This year is real baseball.”

It would be goofy to disagree.

The Red Sox wrapped up their 11-game road trip on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 win against the D-backs at Chase Field, thanks to a solo home run by Mitch Moreland in the seventh. They’ll return home to Boston with a 3-8 record.

“It’s true if you think about it,” Cora said of Barkett’s quip. “It was such a perfect season and we didn’t go through this. It doesn’t mean we can’t bounce back, because there were periods last year when we went through struggles. … People forget we were in second place at one point of the season.”

The Red Sox have previously started the season 3-8 five times -- 1932, '45, '58, '66 and '84. It’s worth noting that the 1925 Pirates, '77 Yankees and 2002 Angels are the only teams to win the World Series after starting the season with that record.

Boston has never started the season with a 3-8 record and made the playoffs.

“It’s always nice to win that last one headed home, a happy flight, but it was definitely a tough road trip for us and a tough way to open the season,” Moreland said. “It’s going to be nice to get back home and get in front of our fans and get rolling.”

The trip through Seattle, Oakland and Phoenix was an eye-opening, if not humbling, experience for the defending World Series champs. The Red Sox didn’t pitch, hit or defend particularly well the entire trip, and they lost all three series.

“We learned a lot from this road trip. That’s for sure,” Cora said. “We never take things for granted. We know we are good team and we never took anything for granted last year, not during Spring Training and not this week, but there are a few [things] that we need to get better at to play at the level we know we can play. We need to clean a few things up.”

Cora said opponents are attacking his hitters and pitchers differently than last year, and although he didn’t get into specifics, he did say his club will have to refine their approach and move forward.

Here’s what we know: Boston's staff led MLB last year by throwing 38.1 percent of their fastballs in the top third of the zone and above, and they were at 31.9 percent for this season entering Sunday’s finale. Opponents hit just .183 on those pitches, tied for the lowest mark in MLB. Opponent were hitting .260 and had hit four home runs off high fastballs through the first 10 games. It’s worth noting, especially when you consider opponents combined to hit 29 during the entire 2018 season.

And while their opponents’ swing rates against those high fastballs are similar -- 50.3 percent in 2018 and 45.5 percent this season, their swinging strike rate is also close at 15.5 percent in '18 and 13.1 percent this season. Opposing hitters seem better prepared and are getting better results.

“It seems like people are understanding how teams are attacking, and they are doing a better job of not swinging at that pitch,” Cora said. “It seems like teams are establishing their limits in certain parts of the zones and we have to adjust.”

A better approach by opponents and inconsistent performances by Red Sox pitching are the primary reasons Boston has allowed 72 runs and has only scored 46 times.

The road trip did have few highlights. Reliever Brandon Workman has retired 15 of the 16 batters he has faced to lead a bullpen that ranks among league leaders in strikeouts and walks per nine innings. J.D. Martinez has reached base safely in every game, including a 10-game hitting streak to start the season (snapped on Sunday), and Blake Swihart continues to impress at the plate.

The players remain confident they’ll get back on track soon, and they have preached accountability and patience. The club could also get a boost if and when it activates Dustin Pedroia (left knee), who is traveling to Boston on Monday to be evaluated after his rehab assignment with Class A Greenville.

“We learned a lot. I learned a lot from this one,” Cora said. “We will be better. It’s just a matter of recognizing a few things and making a few adjustments. When that happens, we can look back and instead of seeing the [road trip] as a negative, we can see it as a positive and say, ‘You know what? It was good what they did to us early.’”