Alex Cora Gives Massive Praise To Red Sox Bullpen After Win Over Nationals

The Boston Red Sox bullpen was on full display in a narrow 5-4 road win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Five Red Sox relievers combined for an impressive showing, holding onto a one-run lead over 4 2/3 innings by not surrendering a single run. They only gave up one hit, too.

One after the next had tremendous success with Brennan Bernardino and John Schreiber getting it started before Chris Martin, Josh Winckowski and Kenley Jansen locked down the final three frames. Jansen only needed five pitches to retire the side in order in the ninth.

The group showcasing its depth and talent earned some much-deserved praise from Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who said he hasn’t had this collection of weapons out of the bullpen since taking the helm with Boston.

“I believe so,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “Except in the playoffs in (2018). But as far as in the regular season, I do believe so.”

In that run to a World Series title, Cora turned to starters to make relief appearances to secure wins. He wasn’t doing that against the Nationals with the Red Sox trying to keep pace with the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League wild-card race and hold onto their playoff hopes.

Bernardino, who wasn’t with the Red Sox to begin the season, surprisingly has blossomed into Boston’s top left-handed option out of the ‘pen while Schreiber has allowed only one hit and no runs over his last five outings.

Martin has been the unsung hero of the Red Sox this season due to his steadiness in high-leverage situations and Winckowski, who struggled last season as a starter, has become a late-inning asset. And Jansen has been as advertised as Boston’s closer.

Even with those arms available, Cora has another top-notch option at his disposal with Garrett Whitlock back in the multi-inning reliever role he starred in during the 2021 season. Whitlock pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in his first appearance off the injured list over the weekend.

The bullpen coming together and reaching full health is what Cora envisioned all along.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a while,” Cora said. “Try to get healthy and we are getting healthier. We’re missing one more guy, or two. Hopefully we can keep grinding until everybody’s back then we’ll see where we’re at and keep going.”