Red Sox Notes: Alex Cora Reaches Significant Boston Milestone

Alex Cora reached a significant Red Sox milestone Saturday, but there wasn’t much time to celebrate it.

Cora became the fifth Boston manager to reach 1,000 career games with the franchise. That came in the first game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians, and he probably would have liked a stronger start at Progressive Field.

“My main goal is to be ready when I’m supposed to be ready at 1:05, 7:05, 4:05. I take a lot of pride in that,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s pregame coverage. “Had some great days, some bad days and horrible days, but I show up every day. I’m very genuine with you guys, very transparent , tell you guys like it is. And I think that’s what people like, and the players like that, too. One thousand is a lot. I never dreamed of being in the big leagues for ‘so long.’ I wasn’t dreaming of being at the big-league level for a long time, but I’ve been enjoying every moment. It’s been fun. To do it with this organization, it means a lot.”

The Red Sox started hot in the first inning of the first game, but Tanner Houck’s early-season struggles continued, and the Guardians maintained control to win 5-4.

“He was good after the first inning,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “They put the ball in play in the first inning. They made some adjustments, game-planning-wise. They got three or four hits on the split, their lefties, and they scored four.”

The Red Sox started off hot, going up to a 3-0 lead after the top of the first inning after Wilyer Abreu hit a three-run home run. That was Boston’s 10th three-run home run of the season, extending its run of the most in MLB. However, Houck gave up the lead in the first inning before settling in and tossing four scoreless innings.

“Not really, he was good after the first inning. He was really good,” Cora said. “He used the fastball well, adjusted after the first. Obviously, not what we wanted — the four runs in the first — but there were positives.”

Houck noted that he worked with pitching coach Andrew Bailey and the staff after the first inning to game plan against Cleveland’s “passive” offense. The right-hander threw six strikeouts, but his 7.58 ERA remains concerning as Houck tries to balance his fastball/off-speed pitch mix.

Here are more notes from the first game of the Red Sox-Guardians doubleheader

— Rafael Devers broke out of his slump when he hit a solo home run in the third inning to even up the ballgame. The designated hitter’s dinger reached a 110.9 mph exit velocity, the highest of the season. It also was Devers’ first road home run of the season.

“I mean, getting to the fastball is important. Like I’ve been saying all along, he’s working hard to get to that position and start hitting the ball out in front.”

— Trevor Story’s hitting slump continued, as he went 0-for-5 in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, including the final out of the matchup. The shortstop is 0-for-17 in his slump, but Cora noted it was part of the 162-game grind and believes the veteran will find his stride.

— Saturday afternoon’s loss moved the Red Sox to 3-9 against teams with a winning record. The 5-4 defeat also marked the 10th game this season decided by one run.

— The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader is scheduled at 6:10 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN starting with pregame at 5 p.m.