Mazz: Cora’s message to E-Rod? Shut up and pitch (with video)
Another night, another slam dance, another reason to believe that the 2021 Red Sox are very much a threat to win the World Series.
But the real story last night: hard visual evidence of Alex Cora’s influence on the team.
Lest anyone forget, the Red Sox and Astros were tied at 3 in Game 1 of the ALCS when Carlos Correa homered against Hansel Robles to give the Astros a 4-3 lead. Correa promptly pointed to his watch as if to say it’s winning time, a gesture the Red Sox seemingly noted as if Correa were pulling a Randy Arozarena and eating popcorn in the dugout of Tampa’s Game 1 win over the Red Sox in the American League Division Series.
So last night, after starter Eduardo Rodriguez retired Correa on a grounder to second to end the Houston sixth in the Red Sox’ 12-3 blowout win, Rodriguez returned the favor to Correa and caught the wrath of his manager.
After the game, Cora was asked about his message to his Rodriguez and answered directly.
“Don’t do that.”
Why?
“Because we don’t act that way. We just show up, we play, and we move on, and he knows. I let him know. We don’t have to do that. If we’re looking for motivation outside of what we’re trying to accomplish, we’re in the wrong business. The only motivation we have is to win four games against them and move on to the next round.”
Continued the manager, who has twin toddlers, after praising Rodriguez’ performance: “It’s not that I’m mad at him. It’s like one of the twins. Don’t do that. We don’t have to do that, so he knows. He understands, but we’re not that way. We talk about humble approach and humble players, and that’s who we are. We like to grind, and we like to play, but we don’t do that.”
You can hear Tony Massarotti weekdays from 2-6 p.m. EST on the Felger & Massarotti program. Follow him on Twitter @TonyMassarotti.
