There was a lot of outside noise surrounding the Red Sox after an ugly April left them at the bottom of the American League East standings.
But a turn of the calendar (and maybe manager Alex Cora shaving his beard) seemingly has helped Boston find its groove, particularly when it comes to offense.
The Red Sox won their sixth straight game and eighth of their last 10 on Tuesday night with a 16-3 thumping of the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. They racked up 19 hits with everyone up and down the lineup contributing to the victory.
Cora credited his players after the game but knows the Red Sox aren't quite where they want to be just yet.
"Obviously we had a lot of work to do to get to the point we're at right now," Cora told reporters after the game, per The Boston Globe's Alex Speier. "(The players) did an amazing job canceling the noise, because it was loud. It was very loud. We understand the process. We understand that it's 162 (games), and that we have a good baseball team. We're working very hard to get to the next step. We're almost there, almost reset the season. We still believe we have a good team and we can compete with the big boys in this division and obviously the league. Just little steps -- keep winning series, keep doing that, and the rest will take care of itself."
It's certainly hard to count a team out after just six weeks of a 162-game season, but things were looking grim for the Red Sox for a while.
Boston looks to make it seven straight wins Wednesday night in its middle game against Chicago. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action beginning at 7 p.m. on NESN.
