Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox aren’t going to let their postgame emotions get too high or low, regardless of the outcome.
The Red Sox capped off their surprisingly underwhelming 11-game road trip Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Boston was in jeopardy of heading back to Fenway Park with a 2-9 record but now has a bit of momentum going into Tuesday’s home opener.
Despite being less than 7 percent into the season, the series finale against the D-Backs — to the common fan — had somewhat of a must-win feel for the Red Sox, who haven’t looked all that impressive to start the season. But Cora didn’t view it that way, and he plans to remain even-keeled as the campaign progresses.
“We love winning. (But) we’re not going to get caught up on, if you win it’s a relief and if you lose, it’s life and death. We don’t play that here in this clubhouse,” Cora said, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “We know where we’re going. We know how good we are. We know that we have to get better. … We learned a lot on this road trip but now that it’s over, hopefully when we talk a few months from now, we’ll say, you know what? It was a learning experience. It made us better.”
Cora’s probably right. Coming off a season in which seemingly everything went their way, it probably was in the Red Sox’s best interest to get punched in the mouth right from the get-go. While they likely were fully aware heading into the 2019 campaign, it’s now been made abundantly clear to Boston that it will get the opposition’s best every night, as every club will be looking to make a statement against the reigning World Series champions.
Fortunately for the Red Sox, they’ll be able to enjoy a little home cooking as they aim to string some wins together. Boston is set to embark on a six-game homestand before hitting the road again.
