Red Sox Notes: Alex Cora Praises J.D. Martinez’s Plate Patience Amid Tough June

J.D. Martinez isn’t having the best month of June, but he played a big role for the Red Sox on Tuesday night.

The designated hitter went 2-for-2 with a run and four RBIs in Boston’s 7-6 win over the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. Martinez also drew two walks in the game.

Prior to Tuesday’s game, Martinez was batting just .234 with eight RBIs and three home runs in the month of June — something that’s out of character for him.

Still, he was a key factor for the Red Sox, and manager Alex Cora praised the DH for his plate patience despite not “feeling great” at the dish.

“I love the fact that he can talk about mechanics and work on a lot of things, and then he goes out there and competes,” Cora said over Zoom after the game. “He’s not feeling great at the plate. … When he controls the strike zone, he’s still J.D. Martinez, thats the thing. They’re not giving him too many pitches to hit regardless of who he has behind. If he’s patient enough and works the count, it’s going to work to his advantage. For him to walk a few times, that’s good. It started with Cole on Sunday. … Good things are about to happen. Same with (Rafael Devers,), the way he’s controlling the strike zone now, walking. Alex (Verdugo) too. Three guys, they’re seeing the ball well. Hopefully they all get hot together and they can carry the team for a while.”

If the above named trio indeed all get hot at the same time, that only will spell bad news for opponents.

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Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Royals game:

— Bobby Dalbec, on his 26th birthday, was removed from the game due to right hamstring tightness. Cora said the first baseman was feeling OK, but likely will stay away from him in Wednesday’s bout against the Royals.

— Nick Pivetta struck out five, but lasted just 4 1/3 innings and gave up six earned runs on nine hits. The hot and humid weather could have played a factor during his outing, but he knows at the end of the day he needs to go deeper into games.

“I’m definitely not satisfied with it,” Pivetta said. “I think I really gotta bounce back from this one. I needed to go deeper in the ballgame, I needed more innings so I could give the bullpen more of a rest there. But at the end of the day, the bullpen picked me up, the hitters picked me up all game, and we came out with the win. And I think that’s really important.

“… The weather’s a factor but everybody has to go through it,” he added. “I think there’s really no room to make excuses because their team’s going through it just a much as we are, right? So it’s an even playing field. I just gotta be better, gotta go out there and do a better job next time, and that’s what I look forward to doing.”

This is the sixth consecutive start Pivetta has not recorded a win.

— After Pivetta was pulled in the fifth, the bullpen held it down and did not allow the Royals to score for the remainder of the game. They amassed six strikeouts, with three of those coming from Matt Barnes to retire the side in order to end the game.

— Alex Verdugo made a nice play in left field after bobbling the ball to still get the out on a nice throw to third base.

— The game featured six lead changes, and the Red Sox did not hit a home run while allowing Kansas City to hit three.

— The Red Sox continue their series with the Royals on Wednesday night at 7:10 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action on NESN beginning at 6 p.m.