BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora had been proclaiming recently that he didn’t think his team was far from putting good baseball together following a dismal stretch of games.

Those days of optimism appear to be dwindling after Boston’s latest setback.

The Red Sox lost their 17th one-run game of the season on Tuesday, this time falling 4-3 to the Los Angeles Angels in 10 innings filled with missed opportunities, poor defensive execution and another inconsistent night from the bullpen. It was Boston’s eighth loss in 10 games. The Red Sox are now 9-10-1 in series play, including 4-5-1 at Fenway Park.

“We keep making the same mistakes. We’re not getting better,” Cora said after the game. “At one point, it has to be on me, I guess. I’m the manager. I’ve got to keep pushing them to be better. They’re not getting better. They’re not. We keep making the same mistakes. I’ll be honest about it and very open about it.”

Tuesday’s defeat came a night after Boston also lost by a run to an Angels team that had dropped seven of eight games and three consecutive series.

But the contest started out with some promise.

Starter Brayan Bello pitched a scoreless first to snap a four-game streak of Boston pitchers allowing at least one run in the opening inning.

But the Angels took a 3-0 lead in the third inning via an RBI single by Zach Neto and a two-run single by Nolan Schanuel.

Boston got one run back during its half of the inning but failed to further close the gap despite having runners on second and third base with no outs.

The Red Sox outhit the Angels for the second straight game but also committed three fielding errors.

“You get frustrated, but at one point, OK, what are you going to do? What’s going to change? We keep doing the same thing,” Cora said.

PITTSBURGH — Lance McCullers Jr. finally got some peace of mind Tuesday night.

The Astros right-hander pitched six scoreless innings to get his first win since Sept. 21, 2022, as Houston beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. McCullers sat out the 2023 and 2024 seasons because of injuries and had not won in five starts this year since being activated from the injured list on May 4.

McCullers (1-1) struck out seven and walked one while outdueling Pirates ace Paul Skenes, who gave up one run — on a solo homer by Christian Walker in the seventh — in eight innings.

“It took a while, but we got there,” McCullers said of getting the win. “I’m just happy that I’m kind of back in the mix with the guys, and I’m able to give them legitimate opportunities to win.”

McCullers was also happy to have a difficult off-field situation behind him.

An intoxicated bettor who made online death threats aimed at McCullers’ family lives overseas and told Houston police he was sorry for what he had done, a department spokesperson said Monday.

McCullers received the threats on social media directed at his children after a poor start against the Cincinnati Reds on May 10 in which he gave up seven runs while recording only one out.

The Astros said Houston police and MLB security were notified. McCullers and his wife, Kara, have two young daughters. Astros owner Jim Crane hired 24-hour security for them.

Police public information officer Erika Ramirez said the man who made the threats was identified during an investigation. Because no charges have been filed, police are not disclosing his identity or where he lives.

“I don’t want to keep on about it, but a lot of thanks go to the Astros, the Astros security, Jim Crane, MLB security, my teammates, the HPD,” McCullers said. “Having resolution is nice. Not being close to Houston is nice. The fans are super supportive, too, and I appreciate that. It’s good that it’s behind us and our family feels safe again.”

The man told police that he would like to apologize to McCullers for the threats. McCullers said he would accept.

“As a follower of Christ and called to love our neighbor and forgive, I would be open to that,” he said.

Shawn Dubin, Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader worked an inning apiece to complete a four-hitter. Hader has converted all 16 of his save opportunities this season.

Houston won the opener of a three-game series for its seventh victory in nine games.

The Astros pitched their sixth shutout of the season. The Pirates have been blanked 10 times in 61 games.

MIAMI — The woeful Colorado Rockies have ended their ignominious, record-setting MLB streak of 22 consecutive series losses, which dated to last season.

A nervy 3-2 victory at Miami on Tuesday night, highlighted by Hunter Goodman‘s third home run in two games, gave Colorado two straight victories over the Marlins to ensure the Rockies would leave town with their first series victory since taking two of three games from Arizona in Denver in mid-September.

“That was big time for the boys to get that first series win,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Who would’ve known it wouldn’t come until June. But the time is now. I’m happy for them.”

Colorado, a major league-worst 11-50, won consecutive games for only the second time this year after beating Atlanta on April 30 and San Francisco the next day. They go for a series sweep against the Marlins on Wednesday.

Goodman’s teammates seemed unsurprised by his pivotal role in securing the Rockies’ first series win of the season.

“He’s just raking, and when he’s hot, he’s one of the best hitters in the game,” center fielder Brenton Doyle told Rockies.tv. “I hope he keeps it up. He’s one of my good buddies and that was awesome.”

Rockies reliever Seth Halvorsen earned his third save, but only after Heriberto Hernandez drove his 1-1 pitch about 400 feet to left-center, where Doyle made a running catch at the wall to end the game.

“I’m not going to lie; off the bat, I thought that was a homer,” Schaeffer said. “But it wasn’t, so it’s all good. It’s the best having [Doyle] in center field.”

Excluding one-game series, the Rockies are the fourth team since MLB expansion in 1961 to go 18 series before recording their first series win in a season. The 1987 Padres, 1969 Montreal Expos and 1962 Washington Senators all won their first series of those seasons in their 19th series.

Before the Rockies arrived in Miami, they’d gone 3-28 on the road — the worst road mark at that point of season in more than a century — and had not won back-to-back road games since last Sept. 5-6.

“It’s nice to get a couple wins. It’s good to get that first series win,” Schaffer said. “Now we just move forward.”