5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE RED SOX

1 The wall inside Alex Cora’s office at Fenway Park has become a visual tribute to the 108-win Red Sox. During the first series of the season, the rookie manager began requesting a photo from each win that defined the game. He now has 108 unframed, 8-by-12 photos hanging on his wall, a daily reminder of the journey that led the Red Sox to a franchise record in wins. 2 The Red Sox bullpen has been falling apart, but one of the bright spots is a guy who spent last October finishing up a season in Japan. Ryan Brasier was pitching for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball League before coming back stateside and reaching out to MLB teams. The only one to offer him a minor league contract — with no invite to big-league camp — was the Red Sox. Brasier got called up in July and has posted a 1.60 ERA over 33 2/3 innings. 3 While Mookie Betts has put together an AL MVP-caliber season, he is still in search of playing in his first World Series — on the baseball field, that is. The Red Sox right fielder is also a professional bowler and threw a perfect game in the PBA World Series of Bowling last November. In his full-time job, Betts led all of MLB this season in batting average (.346), slugging percentage (.640) and WAR (10.9). 4 The Red Sox did damage with the bases loaded this season, crushing 10 grand slams — a franchise-record four of them coming against the Yankees — after not hitting a single one in 2017. This year’s team hit .327 with 157 RBIs and a .962 OPS in 196 plate appearances with the bases juiced. Last year’s squad hit .288 but drove in only 102 runs with a .686 OPS in 156 plate appearances. Six of their grand slams this season came in April. 5 For as solid as the Red Sox’s starting rotation was during the regular season, the postseason has been a collective house of horrors. Their three big arms — Chris Sale, David Price and Rick Porcello (right) — combined for a 3.39 ERA and 45 wins this season. But in their past postseason appearances, they have a combined ERA of 5.45 with a 2-13 record. The only two wins belong to David Price, and both came in relief appearances.