OAKLAND -- It wasn't so much a philosophy as it was a mantra. If Alex Cora said the phrase once in his introductory press conference at Fenway Park last November, he said it a half-dozen times.
"We're going to hunt strikes,'' vowed Cora.
It sounded like the rookie manager was taking his new charges on a safari. But really, he was providing them with a blueprint for offensive success in 2018.
As a bench coach, Cora saw firsthand in Houston the value of zeroing in early in the count last season. The world champion Astros hit 55 first-pitch homers last season, easily the most in the major leagues. By contrast, the Red Sox managed just 17 of the same variety, ranking them dead last among the 30 big-league clubs.
So Cora stressed the need for the Sox to change how they approached hitting. He mentioned it often in the interview process with Red Sox management and he harped on it when he reached out to players over the winter. Enough with the passivity; if the Sox saw something early in the count that looked hittable and inviting, he urged them to swing away.
And so they have.
Case in point: the sixth inning Friday night at Oakland Coliseum.
Having already extricated themselves from the 3-0 ditch that Drew Pomeranz had steered them into with a marathon-like first inning, the Sox were looking to take the lead against the A's for the first time. The bases were loaded, righthander Emilio Pagan was in from the Oakland bullpen and Mitch Moreland was in the batter's box.
Why wait? Moreland saw an elevated slider on the first pitch of the at-bat and drilled it into the seats in right for yet another grand slam, the fifth in the last 12 games for the Red Sox.
FIFTH grand slam of the season. Is that good? pic.twitter.com/9f2KFkrSdB
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 21, 2018