Red Sox Notes: Alex Cora Sums Up First Half As Boston Ends On High Note

The Boston Red Sox capped the unofficial first half of the season with a 5-4 victory against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park on Sunday afternoon.

Boston, which enters the MLB All-Star break a season-high 11 games above .500, currently possesses the final wild-card spot in the American League. The Red Sox are just 4 1/2 games back of the American League East-leading Baltimore Orioles and 3 1/2 games back of the New York Yankees. Boston was 14 games behind New York on June 14.

While speaking to reporters prior to Boston's series-clinching win, Red Sox manager Alex Cora offered his big-picture takeaway from the first half.

"I think nobody thought that would be possible," Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN. "There's a bunch of people in that clubhouse -- well, everybody in that clubhouse believes we can pull this off and we can win the division. That's why I keep saying, 'You got to aim high. You got to keep going out there.'

"We’ve played really well throughout the last month and a half. Even when we struggle, we play .500 baseball, which is very important. ... We got a lot of games left with a lot of good teams, but I think people can say we have a good team. We’re in the conversation and there's going to meaningful games played here in September."

Cora's sentiments are echoed throughout the clubhouse, especially given the Red Sox are entering the break after winning 10 of their last 13 games. Boston is an MLB-best 9-3 in July and now are 31-18 in their 49 games since May 19, the league's best record in that span.

"We're just going to keep grinding," Jarren Duran told NESN's Tom Caron after the game. "We're a good team, we're scrappy and we're doing really good right now. We're just trying to have some fun."

Here are more takeaways after the Red Sox-Royals series finale:

-- Despite making 94 consecutive starts, the second-most by any Red Sox player since 1994, Duran showed early on he has plenty left in the tank. Duran (4-for-5, run) recorded four hits in his first four at-bats including a lead-off double in which the speedster flew out of the batter's box.

"It tells you we were ready to play today," Cora said of Duran's instincts. "When you got a guy like that setting the tone, it's always good."

-- Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers gave the Red Sox a 2-1 lead in the first inning with an early home run that broke a seat in right field.

-- Devers and Duran each have 45-plus extra-base hits, only the fifth time two Red Sox teammates have accomplished the feat entering the break, per J.P. Long.

-- Kenley Jansen told Cora and company he was available for two innings Sunday, and that's exactly what the veteran reliever delivered. It marked the first six-out regular-season save of Jansen's career, per MLB.com's Ian Browne.

"I think it was a great day to pick all my guys up today," Jansen told reporters, as seen on NESN.

-- The Red Sox enter the break having tallied a 3.58 ERA among starting pitchers (95 games). Boston's bullpen has compiled a 3.67 ERA, both numbers which are improvements from last year at this time. The Red Sox also have a team average of .254 with a plus-43 run differential, as seen on NESN.

-- Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke with NESN's Dave O'Brien and Kevin Youkilis during the second inning of Sunday's contest. Breslow seemingly hinted the Red Sox could be buyers before the MLB trade deadline July 30.

"We need to be thinking about opportunities for us to improve the club," Breslow said, as seen on NESN.

-- The Red Sox are 15-1 this season when they play on Sunday.

-- The Red Sox return from the MLB All-Star break and travel for a six-game road trip. Boston opens the second half against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 10:10 p.m. ET.