Cora thrown out after brutal call
Alex Cora doesn’t often show emotion, but he had no choice late in the Red Sox’ loss to the Twins on Thursday.
The Red Sox had just tied the game on Alex Verdugo’s three-run double, and Matt Andriese was trying to escape a jam in the eighth when he clearly struck out Ryan Jeffers swinging for a crucial second out.
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But home-plate umpire Jordan Baker completely blew the call, ruling that Jeffers foul-tipped the pitch. Replays showed that Jeffers didn’t come close to touching the ball, but the play was not reviewable. Baker was heard through television cameras, saying, “No way anyone’s going to overrule that,” and after huddling up with his umpiring crew, the call stood.
Cora was justifiably incensed as he came out to argue the call and was thrown out for his fourth career ejection.
“It’s just part of the game,” Cora said. “You saw the runner, he took off to first base. In ‘19 I didn’t want to get thrown out, I didn’t want to make a scene early on. You guys asked me all that stuff and there are some people that thought I wasn’t into this. Well, you saw it. I’m into it.”
The call didn’t ultimately affect the outcome of the game, as Andriese struck Jeffers out swinging on the next pitch.
Richards likes ‘confident group’
Despite falling short of a 10-game winning streak, Garrett Richards’ confidence in his new team wasn’t shaken. The veteran pitcher believes there’s something different about these Red Sox that he hasn’t experienced much in his bigleague career.
“I told you guys earlier in the year that this was a sneaky good team, and we’re going to do our thing on a daily basis and at the end of the year, we’ll be where we are,” Richards said. “Everybody shows up every single day ready to win, not just here to play a baseball game. We’re here to win a game every single day. It’s a different vibe, it’s a different feel when you come to the field and everybody has the same collective thought. I’ve only been on a couple teams like that and it’s something that you recognize early on and it’s really exciting. …
“I’ve only been on a couple teams that I’ve had that process where it’s, we got beat tonight but we’re going to win tomorrow. It doesn’t matter. It’s just fun to be a part of.
“We’re a confident group and we believe in our abilities and we’re going to go out and try to win every single game.”
Cora wants better
As baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on Thursday, the anniversary when players and umpires wear the No. 42 to honor when Robinson made his major-league debut and broke the color barrier, the Red Sox didn’t have any African-American players on their roster. Cora admitted it isn’t ideal, but said he still has a diverse roster and the game is improving in that area.
“I mean, obviously it’s not a great look, right, in the eyes of people but at the end, roster-wise, it’s not about white, Asian, Puerto Rican, Dominican,” Cora said. “This is the roster we have. …
“We are very multicultural. I’m very proud of that. Obviously, I don’t want to say as an organization but as an industry, we have to do better, of course, to be more multiracial if you want to call it that. We know that. We’ve seen it. That’s why the guys got together and
they have the (players) alliance. They want to talk about it. They want to get baseball to the inner cities. We want to do a better job. I think we are on the right path. It’s not going to happen just like that, but I think with time, this is going to be better.”
Martinez ‘on a mission’ to start ’21
With an upcoming 10game homestand that’s scheduled to begin Friday, Cora opted to give J.D. Martinez and Marwin Gonzalez a rest on Thursday. It may have been a welcomed break for Martinez, who’s in an 0-for-10 skid after his torrid start to the season.
Red Sox hitting coach Tim Hyers was expecting a bounceback season for Martinez after his uncharacteristically poor 2020, but he wasn’t expecting what Martinez did over his first eight games, when he produced seven doubles, five homers and 16 RBI.
“We know he’s capable of doing this. But this soon, it’s probably a little surprising,” Hyers said. “He’s definitely on a mission. The way he is focused. The way he comes to the park every day. He’s out to get things done. Obviously
it’s a big boost for our offense when he’s rolling. It’s a big part of what we do and it really helps turn that order over.
“For J.D., he’s got to continue to do what he’s doing but also not get ahead of himself with trying to repeat those three-homer games. Just one day at a time. For J.D., it’s something where he has a great passion to succeed and when he doesn’t succeed it wears on him. I know for me, we have to keep managing. There are going to be some ups and downs, but it’s one step at a time and not get ahead of yourself.”