Cora still has confidence
CLEVELAND — Channeling the character from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” who insisted he was “not dead yet,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said yesterday that his team, 10 games behind in the AL wild card race (and 16 games behind the Yankees in the AL East), still has more than a pulse.
They’ve still got a shot at reaching the wild card.
“We know what we have to do the rest of the season —we can do it, we can do it but it starts here in Cleveland,” Cora said before last night’s opener of a threegame series. “It seems like they turned the season around when they went to Boston, so why not turn our season around here in Cleveland. It starts with us.”
Cora referenced the Indians’ late May visit to Fenway Park, where they took 2-of-3 games and then began a midseason run — 17-9 in June, 18-6 in July — that brought them back into contention with the Twins for the AL Central Division title.
Another team, one far less heralded than the Indians, seems to have inspired Cora: the New York Mets.
“You look around the league and what’s happening, at CitiField, you win 14 out of 15, it happens,” Cora said.
Cashner to ’pen
The Red Sox made an irreproachable decision by removing Andrew Cashner from the rotation and placing him in the bullpen.
To be charitable, Cashner has flopped since arriving in a mid-July trade that was designed to bolster the fifth spot in the Red Sox rotation. The spot remained wobbly, with Cashner posting an 8.01 ERA after six starts in which opposing batters were hitting .339 against him.
“It was an easy conversation — he understands why and he understands what he can do,” Cora said. “For me, it was just a regular conversation.”
Regular is another way of saying understandable.
“His command was off, he wasn’t pitching good,” Cora said. “I think we can put him out there, use his stuff in a different way, let him be more aggressive in the zone with fastballs up in the zone or throw that changeup the way he was doing it. I do feel his fastball is going to play a little more higher coming out of the bullpen, that’s why.”
Cashner, who started Sunday’s loss to the Angels at Fenway, will be available beginning tonight. He will not be used as a long reliever.
Chavis placed on IL
The Red Sox placed rookie Michael Chavis on the injured list with an AC joint sprain in his left shoulder. The injury occurred when Chavis made a diving catch in the outfield during the recent Royals series at Fenway.
“It sucks,” Chavis said. “At least the way it happened, at least I made the catch. If I missed the catch it would be worse. This is never something that you’re happy or excited about. The whole reason it’s been delayed for a few days is I wanted to play through it and be out there and help the team. But it was kind of in a position where it wasn’t benefiting me, wasn’t really benefiting the team, so it was probably the smarter thing to do.”
Chavis scuffled in the four games against the Angels after the Kansas City visit, going 0-for-12. Perhaps the down time will help come out of his offensive doldrums.
The Sox called up Marco Hernandez to take Chavis’ spot. They also optioned right-hander Ryan Weber to Pawtucket and called up right-hander Travis Lakins.