It’s not very often a manager admits he was wrong, especially in a postseason game.
But Alex Cora did just that after his team’s thrilling 9-6 win Saturday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the World Series. Specifically, Cora opened up about his decision to stick with Eduardo Rodriguez in the sixth inning, despite the left-hander showing noticeable fatigue.
The southpaw was cruising through five innings until he ran into some trouble at Dodger Stadium. He hit David Freese to lead off the sixth before striking out Max Muncy. But instead of taking Rodriguez out of the game after that, Cora elected to leave him in. Rodriguez then gave up a double to Justin Turner double and intentionally walked Manny Machado to load the bases.
An L.A. run scored on a wild play before Yasiel Puig smashed a three-run home run to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead, spelling the end of Rodriguez’s night.
After all was said and done, it was one move Cora wished he could take back.
“I pushed him too hard,” he said as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He did his job and I left him in there too long. … I was kicking myself for a few innings.”
Fortunately, the Red Sox had a wild comeback has them a win away from winning a World Series championship.
