As Red Sox players straggled into their clubhouse to prepare the afternoon’s game, the atmosphere was both triumphant and, by their manager’s own admission, feeling the after-effects of Friday night’s clinch celebrations.
Boston can cement themselves as the No. 2 Wild Card with a win on Saturday, but it won’t be easy. With their postseason hopes hanging on by a thread, the visiting Detroit Tigers have significantly more motivation to figure things out.
“They’re hungover,” Alex Cora said of his team. “That’s the reality of it, but we’ll show up today and we will try to kick their (expletive).”
Moments later, he noted, “I think their mindset is already on Tuesday, to be honest with you.”
In the hours since his team punched their first October ticket since 2021, Cora has shown more emotion than usual. By his own admission, it’s something he does not like to do, especially when there is more work to be done.
“The one time that I showed emotion after winning the series was against Tampa (in ’21), and I hated it. I hated it,” he said emphatically. “And it was for the right reasons. (My daughter) Camila was there, (I was) coming from the suspension, and that whole year it seems like Tampa was kind of like, the topic around here. Like, they’re still better than us. We were trying to beat them and to be able to beat them, it felt really, really good. And Camila was there, and I just exploded, right? And I hated it, because the job is to win four games in the last series of the season. That’s what it’s all about.”
Yet the feeling that the Red Sox proved everyone wrong prompted him to revel, too.
“Yesterday, it was just business as usual,” Cora continued. “Because I know that there’s a game on Tuesday and we got to win that series. But to talk to (the players) and let them know how we felt in February, with everything that we went through this year– because, let’s be honest, nobody thought we were going to make it to October. Whoever says that, ‘Yeah, we were a playoff team,’ that’s (expletive expletive), to be honest with you.
“Nobody thought we were going to make it to October. It was New York. It was Baltimore. It was Toronto. And we believed we were going to play in October. We set our standards every single day, and we hit our standards. Up and down, trades, injuries, we kept going. And you have to let them know, because over 162, to do that is not easy, and they accomplished that. So we have to celebrate that.”
Asked to clarify who felt this way and when, Cora said, “I think, you know, honestly people thought we had a good team, but in the division nobody thought that we were gonna be this good, to be honest with you. That’s how I felt (going back to spring training).”
The Herald’s Red Sox beat, it should be noted, predicted they would win at least 90 games and take the AL East crown. The 59 voters on MLB.com’s staff picked the Red Sox to win the division and the AL pennant. 28 MLB-related ESPN staffers also tabbed Boston for the division – or at least one of the three Wild Cards – and the pennant; one voter even picked them to win it all. The Athletic’s MLB staff gave the Red Sox the second-highest likelihood of winning the World Series.
MLB Predictions: Should Red Sox be considered the favorites in wide-open AL?
Extra innings
Lucas Giolito won’t pitch Sunday now that the Red Sox have clinched… Dustin May (right elbow neuritis) flew into Boston from the team’s spring training complex in Fort Myers, Fla. on Friday night. “We’ll see where we’re at, we’ll see how he feels,” Cora said. “But I think it’s more based on roster and who we play.” … The Red Sox will “most likely” choose between Nate Eaton and David Hamilton when it comes to the playoff roster, Cora said. … Brennan Bernardino (lat strain) is throwing a bullpen on Sunday.