Alex Cora explained after a Game 1 loss Thursday why he was not stressing about Boston's offense -- the Red Sox put together good at-bats, even if those at-bats did not lead to runs in the opener of the American League Division Series.
One day later, the Red Sox offense scored 14 runs on 20 hits (!!) and proved Cora was correct for thinking that way.
"I mean, we hit the ball hard yesterday," Cora reminded, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage, after Boston earned a 14-6 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. "Offensively, I think we're getting to (who) we are."
The Red Sox recorded a franchise-best five home runs in one postseason game with five players compiling three or more hits.
Kiké Hernández (5-for-6, three runs, three RBIs), J.D. Martinez (4-for-5, three RBIs, one run), Xander Bogaerts (3-for-5, two RBIs, two runs), Alex Verdugo (3-for-5, two RBIs, two runs) and Rafael Devers (1-for-4, two runs, two RBIs, two walks) all hit home runs for Boston. And then there was Christian Vázquez who reached base three times on three hits, Hunter Renfroe recording one hit and Kyle Schwarber earning a base on balls.
Of note, only Christian Arroyo did not get on base among the Boston starters.
"They did an amazing job the whole night," Cora said.
Here are some other notes from Red Sox-Rays:
-- Tanner Houck was crucial in Boston's win given the fact he gave the offense the time -- and perhaps the confidence -- to mount a comeback. Houck allowed just two hits with five strikeouts and did not give up a base on balls while he threw 44 of his 61 total pitches for strikes.
"Yeah, what happened, I think, was Tanner Houck," Rays manager Kevin Cash responded when asked what happened to Tampa Bay's offense after the first inning, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "He was really tough. He had all of his stuff working. He looked like he had a great breaking ball, just kept us off balance. … He came in and did a tremendous job for them."
-- Boston's win certainly makes it easier to overlook some things, but there's no denying it was a very low performance for Chris Sale.
The Red Sox left-hander was pulled after one inning for the shortest start in his career. He needed 30 pitches to get through the first and allowed five runs, including a grand slam by Tampa Bay first baseman Jordan Luplow.
Cora noted how Sale's command both Friday, as well as during Sunday's regular-season finale against the Washington Nationals, was what plagued him. However, it doesn't mean Boston is going to get away from him.
"We're counting on this guy," Cora said. "We'll get him right. We'll get him right."
-- The Red Sox expressed Thursday that they wanted to split the pair of games against the American League East champion Rays at Tropicana Field. They did that and now head back to Boston with Games 3 and 4 to be held at Fenway Park.
"For us, it wasn't win or go home, but that was sort of the mentality," Hernández said on the FOX broadcast after the game. "We came in with a sense of urgency and we needed to win this game in order for us to have a chance to win this series. We stole one here in Tampa and now we're going back to Fenway in a best-of-three series with home field advantage. I like it."
-- Game 3 is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on Sunday at Fenway, but make sure to tune into pregame coverage on NESN starting at 3 p.m.
