Roman Anthony: Red Sox’s start ‘unacceptable’ for fans, team

The Boston Red Sox fell to a major league-worst 2-7 record on Sunday, matching the lowest nine-game start in the franchise’s long history.

Some “sell the team” chants could be heard at Fenway Park during the ninth inning of their last loss, an 8-6 setback to the San Diego Padres.

Young slugger Roman Anthony said afterward that fans had every right to be upset.

“It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable for the fans,” Anthony told reporters. “This is unacceptable by the standards we have set for ourselves.”

Boston’s offseason additions have particularly struggled to get going.

Offensively, Willson Contreras, Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio and Isiah Kiner-Falefa combined to go 8-for-70 at the plate (.114) with a .171 slugging percentage (a total of one home run) and 20 strikeouts.

The pitch wasn’t much better.

Ranger Suarez, who signed a five-year, $130 million contract in free agency following Alex Bregman’s trade to the Cubs, couldn’t make it out of the fifth inning Sunday, falling to 0-2 with an 8.64 ERA in his first two starts with his new team. He was spotted with a 4-0 lead through three innings, but quickly gave most of it away, with San Diego’s rally spurred by a Manny Machado takedown attempt.

“He will be the first to say there is no excuse,” manager Alex Cora told reporters of Suarez. “He was making good pitches. … They made adjustments, started swinging on the first pitch, got their hits and then it happened.”

Anthony said no one was responsible for the early season woes.

“I think as a team we need to be better,” he said. “I need to be better. Everyone in this room understands they need to be better. And it’s as simple as that. There’s still a lot of season left.”

It won’t get any easier. NL Central leader Milwaukee (7-2) arrives in Boston for the start of a three-game series Monday.

“The record is the record,” Cora said, according to the Boston Globe. “We just have to show up [Monday]. We have another tough team coming in, one of the best teams in baseball. We have to play better.”