How Alex Cora Felt About Matt Barnes Relief Appearance Vs. Tigers

Red Sox relief pitcher Matt Barnes made his first appearance of the young season Monday in Boston’s eventual 3-1 defeat to the Detroit Tigers.

Barnes, who had been sidelined to start the season due to back soreness, pitched a scoreless sixth inning and made the most of his opportunity. Barnes threw eight of his 10 pitches for strikes with one strikeout and one hit allowed.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora was pleased with the debut effort.

“There was a fastball there at 95 (mph), which is good,” Cora said after the game, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “The breaking ball played. Good pitches on (Jonathan Schoop). (Miguel Cabrera) didn’t hit the ball hard. So I was joking that he hasn’t seen the sixth inning since the All-Star game, right? For him to go out there and pitch, it was a good sign.”

Barnes, who recorded the inning-ending strikeout with Cabrera representing the leading run on second base, threw a combination of pitches including his knuckle curveball, four-seam fastball and changeup.

The Red Sox ultimately fell to 1-3 on the season and now will get ready for their second game against the Tigers on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live on NESN following an hour or pregame coverage.