Red Sox Journal: Cora threw a curveball of his own

LOS ANGELES — Alex Cora dropped something of a bombshell before he walked out of his postgame press conference late Saturday night.

The Red Sox manager announced a change in his starting rotation, moving up David Price to pitch on short rest in Sunday’s Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. Chris Sale would be held in reserve for a Game 6, if necessary, on Tuesday at Fenway Park.

Cora [...]

LOS ANGELES — Alex Cora dropped something of a bombshell before he walked out of his postgame press conference late Saturday night.

The Red Sox manager announced a change in his starting rotation, moving up David Price to pitch on short rest in Sunday’s Game 5 at Dodger Stadium. Chris Sale would be held in reserve for a Game 6, if necessary, on Tuesday at Fenway Park.

Cora delivered the news with such nonchalance that it caught the assembled media off guard. It was only when he reached the door to leave the interview room deep in the ballpark’s bowels that a question came his way, and he explained his thinking more in depth. Sunday's game was Boston’s first chance to close out a ninth championship in franchise history.

“We feel with a National League game, you never know,” Cora said. “We might have to hit for (Price) early — fifth inning or something like that. If it does happen, he’s going to be able to bounce back later in the series.

“With Chris, we’ve got one inning [on Sunday, out of the bullpen] if needed. That has to be the perfect situation. Also, if we don’t use him and it’s not the way we want it to happen today, he has extra rest for the next one.

“Knowing that, we’ve got (Nathan Eovaldi) most likely for Game 7. Him and Rick (Porcello) will be in the bullpen today. We’re more versatile this way. That was the reason. If it was a tied series, we were going with all of our starters on regular rest — Chris was today, David in Game 6 and then Game 7, if necessary.”

Price turned in six strong innings to notch a 4-2 victory in Game 2 and threw 13 pitches in a marathon Game 3. He warmed up in the bullpen in the late stages of Game 4, a 9-6 Red Sox victory. He didn’t figure to extend much beyond 90 pitches on Sunday night in what was almost certainly his final start of the season.

“David right now, he’s throwing the ball well,” Cora said. “He’s fresh as far as his arm. Actually, body-wise and arm-wise, it’s his best moment of the season.”

Sale’s numbers during the regular season were strong enough on regular rest — 2.76 earned-run average, 13.2 strikeouts per nine innings and an opposing slash line of .194/.265/.315. He pitched to a 1.82 ERA, struck out 13.8 batters per nine and held opponents to a .157/.214/.281 slash line on five days of rest. Sale’s start on Tuesday, if necessary, would come on six days rest, and his numbers there are even better — 0.56 ERA, 14.1 strikeouts per nine and a slash line of .167/.208/.219.

“It’s not that we’re trying to reinvent this,” Cora said. “We’re just being prepared. No setback.”

Kudos to Kelly

Boston tied it in the eighth and won it in the ninth on Saturday, turning a 4-3 deficit with six outs to go into a somewhat comfortable victory.

The Red Sox had their bullpen to thank for holding the fort, specifically right-hander Joe Kelly. He picked up a second Fall Classic win over Los Angeles by tossing two scoreless innings. Kelly stranded a pair in the eighth by blowing away Yasmani Grandal with a high fastball, pounding his chest while walking off the mound and roaring at his cheering teammates in the visiting dugout.

“With the momentum we had, obviously you guys saw what happened,” Kelly said. “I think that was a big part of it.”

Kelly staggered into October having allowed at least one earned run in five of his last 11 regular-season appearances. His ghastly 9.39 ERA over that span led to speculation that he would be left off the 25-man American League Division Series roster to face the Yankees. All Kelly has done since then is dominate in the playoffs, allowing just one earned run in 10 1/3 innings and striking out 10.

“It’s hard to leave 100 (mph) out of the 25-man roster in October,” Cora said, referring to Kelly’s blistering fastball. “He’s pitched in the World Series (with the Cardinals in 2013). He has the experience. And he started throwing the ball well towards the end.”

Boston relievers carried a 2.80 ERA into Sunday's game, holding opponents to just a .192 batting average through 61 innings pitched.

Sox spoiled the plan

“Keep an eye on me. I’m going to give it everything I have. Let’s go hitter to hitter, and just keep an eye on me.”

According to Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts, those were the instructions given to him by Game 4 starter Rich Hill prior to the seventh inning on Saturday. The left-hander was working on a one-hit shutout, and the Red Sox looked helpless against the Massachusetts native.

Then Hill walked Xander Bogaerts to lead off the seventh, and action began in the Los Angeles bullpen. Hill rebounded to strike out Eduardo Nunez but was lifted in favor of Scott Alexander, who was summoned to go left-on-left with Brock Holt.

“We were looking at the bullpen and we were like, ‘OK, this is the spot right here,’ ” Cora said.

Holt drew a walk, Ryan Madson came on to induce a pop to second by Jackie Bradley Jr. and the Dodgers were one out from escaping the inning. Then Madson hung a first-pitch changeup to Mitch Moreland, who crushed a three-run homer to the bleachers in right that sparked Boston to life.

“Everybody reacts differently,” Cora said. “They felt they had some matchups, Alexander walked Brock and it opened the door. If Alexander gets Brock out, nobody talks about it.

“In the end we put them in positions to be successful, and they felt that matchup was good for Holt. It didn’t happen, they didn’t execute and the game got out of hand.”

Heavy workloads also stripped Roberts of two effective relievers on Saturday. Right-hander Pedro Baez and left-hander Julio Urias were each unavailable, with Roberts forced to use Alexander, Madson, Kenley Jansen, Dylan Floro, Alex Wood and Kenta Maeda. Baez and Urias had each appeared in the first three games, allowing two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings.

“It’s not easy, especially with the usage and everything,” Cora said. “It’s Game 4. People are getting tired. I guess they had some guys down, and that’s a tough one right there.”

-- bkoch@providencejournal.com 

On Twitter: @BillKoch25