The Boston Red Sox have come from behind 26 times to win games this season, which leads Major League Baseball.
The most recent comeback victory came Monday night against the Kansas City Royals when Boston found itself down 5-1 heading into the bottom of the second. But a pair of home runs from Hunter Renfroe helped lift the Red Sox the W.
It’s been a combination of factors that have allowed the Red Sox to come back so many times, but manager Alex Cora really pointed to one specific thing.
“I think it starts with the pitching, right? It feels like we haven’t been out of games that often,” Cora told reporters over Zoom on Tuesday. “… If you start remembering how many games you were out of it, it means that it hasn’t been too many games we’ve been out of. The pithing has done an amazing job for five or six innings of starters. It gives the offense a chance to do what they do.
“Everybody knew coming into the season that eventually we were going to be good. Getting contributions from other players now is helping everything out. We got Hunter now, (Monday) (Bobby) Dalbec and Michael (Chavis) swinging the bat. Christian (Vázquez) very quietly has been more consistent the last few weeks. I think at the end of the day the pitching staff, which was the biggest concern from the people outside our clubhouse, have done an amazing job. The bullpen, whenever we have the lead, they’ve done what they’ve done since Day 1. And I think that’s key.”
Cora certainly makes a point considering Josh Taylor has 23 straight scoreless innings for Boston, Matt Barnes has 17 saves and Adam Ottavino has turned things around since the beginning of the season.
Still, 26 comeback wins could do a lot of damage to ones heart. So does Cora wish the Red Sox could wrap games up in smoother fashion for the sake of his?
“For my heart and for our bullpen, too,” he said.
While no one wants to tax their bullpen, it certainly is reassuring the Red Sox have reliable pitchers to get the job done.
