Alex Cora Not Buying Into 2018 Red Sox Having ‘Magic Carpet Ride Season’

A lot can change in year, just ask the Boston Red Sox.

Boston was 94-44 at this time last year and was in control of the American League East. Of course, the Red Sox went on to beat the New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers over the course of a dominant playoff run en route to a World Series title.

But 365 days later, the Red Sox sit at 74-63, good for third place in the AL East. They’re five games back of the Cleveland Indians for the second wild-card spot with a month left in the regular season.

Manager Alex Cora has preached all year how his team needs to play better, and how Boston has been “consistent at being inconsistent.” But he isn’t buying into last year being a “magic carpet ride.”

“There’s challenges every season,” Cora said, per The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham. “I laugh when people say it was a magic carpet ride last year. There’s no Aladdin here. There was no magic dust. It was a good team that played good baseball.

“They had challenges and they showed up every day. “We were very consistent at being consistent. This year the topic has been we’re consistent at being inconsistent.”

The Red Sox finished off their west-coast road trip with a 6-2 record and have been playing better baseball of late. Now the final challenge of the regular season awaits as they look to make it back to the postseason.