The story of the Boston Red Sox’s loss on Tuesday night was Connelly Early. The rookie left-hander delivered another outstanding performance, fanning seven Athletics hitters in 5 1/3 innings of work. The problem for most Red Sox fans was that Early didn’t stay in the game long enough, but that wasn’t his fault.

Then again, whose fault was it, exactly? After Greg Weissert lost the Red Sox lead in relief of Early, Boston fans exploded in united outcry over the decision to pull Early after 80 pitches, a call that manager Alex Cora defended postgame .

Cora asserted that Weissert was brought in to face the right-handed slugger Brent Rooker, whom Weissert retired.

It was Weissert’s performance against subsequent Athletics hitters that had Red Sox fans criticizing Cora, but wait a second, di

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