BOSTON — There was some confusion in the season’s opening months when Red Sox manager Alex Cora used the pronoun “we.”

His recent dugout reference points came from his lone season as the bench coach of the Astros in 2017. Cora worked under manager A.J. Hinch and was a direct liaison to the players, several of whom became personal favorites. When it came to baseball philosophy or certain game situations, there was usually a Houston example that would be offered as a parallel of something happening in Boston.

Altuve. George. Carlos. Dallas. Bregman. This remains a common theme of Cora’s media briefings. He’s engaging and generally warm. Familiarity and respect for certain opposing players, managers and front office members around the league come through clearly, particularly for his former club.

So it seems somewhat fitting that Cora and his Red Sox are about to square off against some recognizable faces. Boston and the Astros are arguably the two best teams in baseball, and they just so happen to both compete in the American League. The road to the World Series is four wins away starting Saturday night at Fenway Park, with the defending champions visiting for Game 1 of the best-of-7 matchup.

“Hopefully I learned something from them that is going to make a difference in one of the four games that we want to win,” Cora said. “If that happens, being familiar with them really helped. But it doesn’t guarantee anything.”

Well, maybe one thing — Cora is cutting off all communication with certain folks until the final out between the Red Sox and Houston is recorded. There will be no text messages from Hinch and no outside conversations with Astros first base coach Alex Cintron, who Cora described as “my best friend.” Cora had a similar arrangement with Yankees manager Aaron Boone during the four games of the AL Division Series, not speaking to his former ESPN colleague until after Boston closed out a 3-1 victory on Tuesday night in New York.

“A.J. Hinch, he was amazing with me last year,” Cora said. “I learned a lot from him. I appreciate the guy. We’ve been staying in touch. We talk about our families and the important things in life. But on Saturday he has a job to do and I have a job to do, and it should be fun.

“At the end, honestly, A.J. is not throwing a ball and I’m not throwing a ball. It’s all about talent on the field. They’re going to decide what’s going on.”

There’s not much to dislike about the Astros when it comes to building a baseball team. Houston was the only club to finish above Boston this season in terms of Wins Above Replacement and run differential. Several of its stars are homegrown and quite accomplished despite their relative youth, including second baseman Jose Altuve, outfielder George Springer, shortstop Carlos Correa, starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel and third baseman Alex Bregman.

“The Astros are no joke,” Boston setup man Matt Barnes said Tuesday, his uniform drenched from celebratory champagne in the visiting clubhouse in the Bronx. “They’re the defending world champions, and we all know that. It’s going to be a tough test, it really is.

“They can pitch it, they can hit it, they can defend. It’s going to be a great series.”

Dustin Pedroia won’t take part in this series or any other due to his balky left knee, but his spirit animal will be manning the hot corner for the Astros. Bregman is the swaggering heartbeat of Houston’s roster, an undersized power hitter who oozes confidence. His pair of homers in last year’s ALDS helped put the Red Sox to the sword in four games, and his list of postseason victims in terms of round trippers includes glamour names like Boston ace Chris Sale (twice), Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen, Cleveland ace Corey Kluber and Indians right-hander Trevor Bauer.

“He’s Dustin,” Cora said. “He’s Pedroia in ’07 (a year in which Boston won a championship). He’ll use anything. He turns it around and uses it as motivation. Last year he was huge for that team. You start looking at his playoff track record and it’s homers off Kershaw and Jansen and Sale and Kluber — that’s impressive.

“The thing about Alex is he really cares. And you know what I mean — like Pedroia. He was hitting .150 and he kept saying, ‘I’m going to hit. I’m going to dominate. I’m the Laser Show.’ And I still remember me and Mike (Lowell) were like, ‘Good luck, bro. That isn’t going to happen.’ And it did happen.”

Cora’s tone made it clear how proud he was of Bregman’s rise as a player. It’s no different than the way he’s come to speak about Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts or Rick Porcello at certain points this season. Cora has described Betts as the best player in baseball, seen potential for development and growth that has been realized by Bogaerts and lauded Porcello for his professionalism and his grit.

After all, they’re the ones on his side now.