Manager makes right calls to win tight games

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Red Sox spent all weekend waiting for their heavy hitters to show up. Their rotation depth was depleted, their bullpen had blown a lead in the season opener, and it seemed only a matter of time before their improved lineup took the lead and carried them to an easy win.

They’re still waiting for that day.

In the meantime, they’ve used everything else to string together three straight one-run wins after yesterday’s 2-1 finale against the Rays. If this is Red Sox baseball in the Alex Cora Era, it comes with unflinching confidence in the most nerve-wracking situations.

“It’s a good start, but we’ve been playing well for a while now,” Cora said. “I’m happy. The thing that really gets my attention is the defense. We’re catching the ball, and there was a point in spring training that I was worried about our defense, but not anymore.”

Cora doesn’t seem to be worried about much. If he is, it hasn’t shown. There’s a plan in place, and he’s stuck to it, so much so that his defining decision in yesterday’s series finale was the one that blew up in his face in Thursday’s season opener.

Joe Kelly has an electric fastball, but inconsistency has kept him from establishing much of an identity in the big leagues. Cora saw that first hand when he walked three in a ruinous eighth inning in Game 1.

Without Craig Kimbrel to close out Game 4, though, Cora went back to Kelly, who pitched his way out of trouble with a gameending strikeout that left the tying and winning runs stranded at the corners. His last pitch was a 3-2 changeup in the dirt — after five straight fastballs — and Denard Span swung over it.

It was Kelly’s first big league save.

If Cora had a full head of hair when that inning began, he surely would have been bald by the end of it, but it worked. And he’s already grown used to digging deep like that.

In this opening series, two of his starting pitchers threw fewer than 80 pitches, and none threw as many as 95. Only two everyday