As quiet as the Boston Red Sox's bats were during their recent slump, the offense since has responded.
Following a series dropped to the New York Yankees, who hadn't beat Boston once this season to that point, the Red Sox responded Monday with a 13-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Manager Alex Cora switched up the lineup between series, and the new batting order made him look really good. But was there a little more for the Red Sox to rally behind?
It appears catcher Christian Vázquez said something after a second straight loss to the Yankees.
"Christian made a comment yesterday after the game that, it's not that we didn't play with with an edge in New York, it's just that we got beat two out of three," Cora said Monday night after the win, explaining what could have inspired more Boston production. "But I read the quote and we talk a little bit about that."
Whatever Vázquez said wasn't expanded on by Cora, as part of a throw-away line during postgame. But Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers on Tuesday elaborated a bit.
"I think Christian just stepped out and had a statement to remind his teammates of who we are," Hyers told reporters before Boston's second game against Toronto was postponed due to weather in Buffalo.
"We are in first place, and we're a good team. I think sometimes that day-to-day battle and you take your ups and downs as a team or an individual player, sometimes you lose that perspective. He called it out, and he said 'hey, we’ve got to start acting like it and have a little swagger and go out there and compete and know that there’s a lot of teams shooting for us, and we’ve earned this position.' We've got to maintain and keep playing well to stay in this position, but so far we've earned it and it was a good statement to wake some of our guys up and remind our players and the team of who they are."
Perspective is good.
