Happy and they know it Barnes leaves ’em
Cora encourages more emotion
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
The Red Sox yesterday were still enjoying the dayafter glow of Mookie Betts’ 13-pitch at-bat grand slam.
Besides the lift the blast obviously provided the Red Sox, the unabashed joy and excitement Betts displayed was something manager Alex Cora appreciated.
He also would like to see more of it.
“The emotion was good,” said Cora. “I told them in the offseason, some of them — they’re very humble kids — they’re good players. Sometimes you have to walk around the field and, ‘you are that good.’ Not in a cocky way but ‘you’re good.’ It was a big moment, we know where we’re at in the standings, we know where we are as far as winning games. He showed emotion. Wow. There’s nothing wrong with that. I heard it was party time somewhere. Which was cool.”
The Red Sox and their MLB-best 66-29 record going into last night have more excuses to smile and laugh than any other squad.
“We joke around before games sometimes, I tell them, ‘Hey man, we’ve got ‘X’ amount of wins, act like it,’” said Cora. “Then (first base coach Tom) Goodwin will say, ‘We still can lose 100 games.’ Not anymore, I guess.”
Cora did not even try to pretend that the team is ignorant of what’s going on in the standings. Heading into last night, the Red Sox had four more wins than the next closest team, the defending world champion Astros, and a 31⁄2-game lead on the Yankees in the AL East.
All this is common knowledge to Cora.
“We better pay attention because we know that’s a good team,” said Cora. “It is a race. We know that and every day counts. When I went over there (to the Bronx on the last road trip) I joked with (Yankees manager Aaron Boone) and said, ‘Hey man, when are you going to lose five in a row?’ and he’s like, ‘I’m waiting for the same thing from you guys.’ It’s cool. I think it’s good for baseball. I mean, you know where we’re at. They know where we’re at. I’m a baseball fan anyways so I know where everybody’s at. But I think it’s good. We pay attention.”
Benny bereavement
Andrew Benintendi’s grandfather died recently, and the left fielder went on the bereavement list yesterday and will miss the rest of this weekend’s games. Sam Travis replaced him on the roster and started last night at DH, with J.D. Martinez playing left field.
Travis is making his second appearance with the ballclub this season. In his last eight games with Pawtucket, he was batting .346 (9-for-26) with two home runs.
On the season in Triple A, Travis is hitting just .224 with six homers, so he might have turned a corner at the plate.
“Swinging at strikes, he’s not chasing, he’s not as pull happy as he was early — that’s a good sign,” Cora said about what the difference has been with Travis of late. “In spring training, he was driving the ball to right-center, he was very disciplined. So he got away from it and now the last few weeks, he’s been back to doing that.”
Steve Pearce would have started last night but he got hit by a pitch in the shin Thursday. Travis, who hit .381 (16-for-42) against major league lefties last season, hit seventh in the lineup against Toronto southpaw Ryan Borucki.
Cora said Pearce would be available but the team would try to stay away from him.
“Why push it?” said Cora. “We’ve got three more days in this first part so we’ve got to make sure he’s close to 100 percent. But he’s available. We know the kind of hitter he is. If we use him, it’s going to be in a perfect spot and we go from there.”
Swihart swingin’
Blake Swihart was on the bench last night, but he had a double Thursday night and has a hit in his last four games.
“I think he’s already turned the page about trying to impress us and trying to get four hits in every at-bat — now he’s actually fighting every pitch,” said Cora. “(Thursday), he did a good job with his timing, the night before he put some good swings on it. Little by little he’s more relaxed, you can tell.” …
Brian Johnson will start tomorrow, opposed by Marcus Stroman in the final game before the AllStar break. Matt Barnes allowed one run on a season-high three hits Thursday, but he’s still got a 2.43 ERA and none of the 11 baserunners he’s inherited this season have come around to score.
“It’s a guy that little by little, he’s growing into one of the best relievers in the league,” said Cora. “Though he ‘struggled’ (Thursday), he still got the job done.
“That breaking ball is a good one. He throws it for a strike up in the zone. It’s not a hanger actually. It’s actually above the strike zone and it lands on top of the strike zone. It’s tough as a hitter. You see it way up there, you give up and all of a sudden, it’s a strike.”