SWINGING TO SUCCESS
Cora credits his team’s ‘humble approach’ for historic pair of grand slams
When you jump all over a team for eight runs in two innings — including a historic pair of grand slams — the natural instinct might be to think the offensive explosion came as a result of an aggressive approach.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora says it actually is the opposite in his team’s case.
“I think when we have this humble approach that we’re not trying to do too much, then big things happen,” Cora said after his team’s 9-5 win Saturday that evened the American League Championship Series at a game apiece.
Cora’s team certainly made big things happen, with J.D. Martinez hitting a first-inning grand slam and Rafael Devers hitting another slam in the second, making the Red Sox the first team in Major League Baseball history to hit two grand slams in a postseason game. A team has hit two grand slams in the first two innings of a regular season game just five times.
Martinez got his four RBIs with the help of his teammates being patient against Astros starter Luis Garcia, who struggled with his command, throwing just 14 of his 33 pitches for strikes before leaving the game in the second inning with a knee injury.
Before getting the hook, Garcia gave up a leadoff double to Kyle Schwarber, needed a diving catch by center fielder Chas McCormick to rob Kike Hernandez of a hit and walked Rafael Devers despite having him down in the count 0-2. After striking out Xander Bogaerts, Garcia walked Alex Verdugo, setting the stage for the former Astros slugger.
“It’s a tough spot for (Garcia) with the bases loaded,” Martinez said. “Credit to the guys before me who grinded out some really tough at bats and drew walks there to give me the chance. In that situation, the pressure is on him, not me with the bases loaded. I was just waiting for him to come to me and put a barrel on it.”
The righthanded Martinez — who said he’d never been in a game with two grand slams in the first two innings, not even in Little League — went with the 1-0 pitch, lifting a ball 363 feet over the right-field wall for a 4-0 lead.
“For J.D., that was great to see him going the other way,” Cora said.
The Red Sox took the same approach in the second inning as Garcia walked the leadoff batter on four pitches before being removed with the knee issue. Jake Odorizzi replaced Garcia and gave up a pair of singles, sandwiched around a strikeout, before Devers took him 357 feet down the rightfield line for another grand slam.
“Rafi, not trying to do too much and hitting the grand slam; it’s a very good approach right now,” Cora said. “We’re not getting greedy.”
Since Garcia was removed because of an injury, Odorizzi, who was making just the fifth relief appearance of his 10-year big league career, got as much time as he needed to get loose. After a 14minute warmup, Odorizzi said he was pretty worn out near the end of his 30-pitch first inning, which is when Devers got to him.
“That first inning when I came in, I was, I don’t know, throwing about 70 pitches between warmups and the inning there,” Odorizzi said. “I don’t know if I’ve been asked to do that or am capable of really doing it. I was getting tired toward the end of that inning. It’s unfortunate that, you know, Devers kept that ball fair. I thought it was a well-located cutter in, and he did a nice job on it.”
Odorizzi’s extended warmup benefited Red Sox hitters, according to Cora, who said it gave his players plenty of time to study the scouting report on the new pitcher. Devers said it helped him lock in.
“I just stayed focused,” the Red Sox three-hole hitter said. “Obviously, it was a long delay, but at the end of the day, I was going up there and trying to give 100 percent and trying to look for the pitches that I wanted to hit. And, thankfully, I was able to do that.”
While Odorizzi entered in a tough situation, the early power surge made life easy for Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi, who was able to comfortably pitch into the sixth inning with a big lead.
“For our guys to open it up the way they did, it takes a lot of the pressure off my back, so I don’t have to be so fine out there,” the Alvin native said. “I felt good physically. We scored four in the first and then another four in the second. And usually I’m trying to go as deep as I can in a ballgame like that, but at the same time I’m walking a tight line with their offense.”