The Red Sox have often tested the stress levels of manager Alex Cora with their tendency to come back from deficits this season, but he’s not complaining.
“I love the fact that we always fight,” Cora said before Tuesday’s game.
As long as they turn into wins, Cora is fine with it. As they approach the halfway point of the season, the Red Sox’ resiliency has been one of their greatest strengths and a big reason why they hold a slim lead in the American League East.
It was again the theme Tuesday night. For a second consecutive night, their starter did them no favors with a shaky outing, but they found a way. Nick Pivetta lost three separate leads in one of his worst starts of the season, but the Red Sox rallied to take a 7-6 victory over the Royals at Fenway Park, their league-leading 27th come-from-behind win of the season.
J.D. Martinez’s go-ahead two-run double to the right field corner in the sixth was ultimately the difference in a game that seemed to hang in the balance on another boiling hot night at Fenway, and the bullpen was once again spotless as Yacksel Rios, Darwinzon Hernandez, Adam Ottavino and Matt Barnes’ 18th save of the season completed their fifth consecutive victory and put the Sox (49-31) two games up on the Rays for the division lead.
“We’ve been using them a lot,” Cora said of Ottavino and Barnes. “Maybe they’ll be out tomorrow. Maybe it rains tomorrow. We were aggressive with them, we finished the game, and now we move on to tomorrow.”
A night after they fell into an early 5-1 hole before storming back, it once again didn’t look promising for the Red Sox. Pivetta allowed three home runs, including a two-run shot by Ryan O’Hearn that ended his night after 4 1/3 innings and gave the visitors a 6-5 lead.
But as bad as Pivetta was, Cora knows the Red Sox are rarely out of a game because of their potent offense. The Red Sox worked five walks and recorded 10 hits off Royals starter Brad Keller, but they never seemed to break the game like they should have. They loaded the bases twice, once with one out in the third and once with no outs in the fourth, but failed to do serious damage as they scored just once in each situation. Martinez’s sac fly in the fourth gave them a 4-3 lead.
“To be able to score and keep the line moving and put the pressure on them, it seemed like we didn’t get the big hit until J.D. hit that double, but we kept putting pressure on them,” Cora said.
After Pivetta lost the lead for a third time with the two-run homer to O’Hearn, they did just enough. Bobby Dalbec led off the sixth with a single before he was removed for pinch-runner Michael Chavis. Verdugo followed with a walk before Martinez drove the first pitch he saw from reliever Jake Brentz to the opposite field to score Chavis and Verdugo, who slid home to beat the relay throw.
Martinez, who had a scorching hot start to the year, hasn’t been firing on all cylinders lately as he saw his average drop below .300 on Monday for the first time this season. But always a creature of his craft, he’s working through it. In addition to his double and sac fly, he drew two walks in Tuesday’s win, which Cora has been wanting him to do more of.
“When he controls the strike zone, he’s still J.D. Martinez,” Cora said. “They’re not giving him too many pitches to hit regardless of who’s behind. If he’s patient enough and works the count, it’s going to work to his advantage. …
“When he starts using the other side of the field, goes the other way, good things are about to happen. Same for Raffy. The way he’s controlling the strike zone now, walking, Alex too, those three guys. They’re seeing the ball well. Hopefully they all get hot together and they can carry this team for a while.”
Martinez is certainly capable, and Tuesday was another step forward even if he’s not all the way there yet.
“Just kind of grinding right now,” Martinez said. “Some days I feel good, some days I don’t type deal. I feel like I haven’t been really consistent as of lately, so it’s just something that kind of goes. That’s how baseball is. You get hot, you get cold and it’s what you do in between that kind of decides your season.”
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Red Sox fight back, overcome Royals in another come-from-behind win - Boston Herald
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