#alex-cora

#alex-cora

For however much I hate the Yankees, I always have to give them this: their fans are great losers. I don't mean this in the traditional sense of a gracious loser, someone who says "aww shucks, we'll get 'em next time" and offers to shake your hand - no, that's milquetoast and boring and I have no time for it. I mean that - generally speaking - they don't make excuses and, instead, go all in on eviscerating their own team with a fervor even we struggle to match (see, e.g., Mike Francesa's famous post-mortem after the 2004 ALCS).

PHOENIX (AP) - Pinch-hitter Nick Sogard lined a late tiebreaking, two-run double, Aroldis Chapman extended his hitless streak to 17 appearances by striking out four in the ninth inning and Alex Cora got his 600th win as Boston manager when the Red Sox rallied to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-4 on Sunday. Boston put two on in the ninth against Taylor Rashi (0-1) and Sogard followed with a double off Andrew Saalfrank. Carlos Narváez added a run-scoring single.

"I told him to envision the ALCS first at bat, that's what I told him."

"We keep making the same mistakes, we're not getting better. At one point, it has to be on me, I guess, right? I'm the manager, so, I gotta keep pushing them to be better."

"Disconnect him today. Maybe tomorrow. And keep working. It's not a lack of working. It's been a lot. And maybe just kind like back up and just watch the game from a different perspective."

"The crowd is loving it... You ever see so much excitement? And nothing has even happened. That's what's so funny about it."