The Boston Red Sox are about to face a challenging June, with series against the Braves, Phillies, and Yankees on the horizon. Yet, manager Alex Cora isn’t looking that far ahead. Instead, he’s channelling his inner Bill Belichick, focusing solely on the upcoming four-game set against the Detroit Tigers.
“I’m going to sound like Bill here: onto the Tigers,” Cora said after Boston’s loss to the Orioles. “We have to play well against the Tigers. That’s where we’re at. We cannot look ahead. We know we have guys coming back in a few weeks or a month. We have to grind with the people we have here.”
Cora’s focus is warranted. The Red Sox, with a 28-28 record, sit third in the AL East and need every win they can get. The series opener pits Nick Pivetta against Tigers’ Jack Flaherty, whose 1-4 record and 3.84 ERA don’t fully capture his prowess. With 81 strikeouts in 61 innings, Flaherty boasts the second-best strikeout-per-nine ratio in baseball.
The Red Sox will be missing one of their top sluggers, now on the 10-day injured list, making Cora’s call for focus and effort even more critical. There’s also a personal twist for Cora in this series: his older brother, Joey, is the Tigers’ third-base coach.
“We have to stay in the hunt because we will pitch,” Cora said. “Some kids are making strides. Vaughn (Grissom) is putting good at-bats together. (Ceddanne) Rafaela is getting better. Just keep grinding. We got a big series with the Tigers for bragging rights. Let’s win the series and be happy in the household.”
The first game of the Red Sox-Tigers series is set for 7:10 p.m. ET, with NESN providing an hour of pregame coverage. Red Sox fans will hope Cora’s Belichickian focus pays off.
