How Alex Cora Responded To Red Sox’s Post-Break Road Trip

The Boston Red Sox are heading back to Fenway Park after a challenging start to the second half.

Boston sprinted into the All-Star break with 10 straight victories, but a grueling schedule waited on the other side of the intermission. The Red Sox went 2-4 in road games against the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies, avoiding a sweep in a 9-8 comeback win over Philadelphia.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora reacted to their recent performance following Wednesday’s dramatic extra-innings victory, via NESN’s post-game coverage.

“It was good,” Cora told reporters. “We’re gonna fight. We’re gonna play good, we’re gonna struggle, but we have a good baseball team. And that’s a great baseball team over there. It was a tough trip. We stole two games, and now we go home.”

Cora felt the Red Sox demonstrated their resiliency “in every aspect” by erasing a 5-0 deficit on Wednesday. Seven relief pitchers combined to allow two runs in seven innings behind starter Lucas Giolito.

“We made some plays,” Cora said. “We put up some good at-bats, we put bad at-bats. We made some good pitches, bad pitches. It was just a baseball game, and we ended up winning.”

The gutsy road win made for great theater, but Cora wouldn’t make too much of a July victory. The veteran skipper said he didn’t learn anything new about his squad on Wednesday.

“Nothing. I’ve known a lot about this team since Day 1, so it was just another road trip,” Cora said. “Now we go home, and we play the Dodgers.”

However, Cora acknowledged the significance of sidestepping a sweep and maintaining ground in a tight American League playoff race. The Red Sox will host the defending World Series champions for three games starting Friday night.

“We needed this game,” Cora said. “We won. Now we go home.”