BOSTON — It was only this past Sunday morning that Red Sox manager Alex Cora, unprompted, went out of his way to praise the standout defensive play of first baseman Dominic Smith. As if to illustrate the manager’s point, Smith went out that afternoon and, in consecutive innings, dug two low throws out of the dirt to record outs at first.
On Tuesday, however, he wasn’t nearly as smooth and it proved costly.
