McAdam: History on back burner for Alex Cora as Red Sox enter home stretch

All season, Alex Cora has been fond of saying that he isn't interested in "chasing wins'' -- that is, putting too much emphasis on winning a game, at the expense of what might be good for the team in the long run.

So it probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the rookie manager isn't about to start chasing history, either.

After their remarkable 9-8 comeback Wednesday in their road trip finale, the Red Sox have 21 games remaining, 16 of them at home. With just three more wins, the 2018 team will become the first Red Sox club in 72 years to win 100 or more games. That will represent a significant accomplishment for a team most predicted would finish second in the American League East.

Beyond the 100-win plateau, there will be the opportunity to set a franchise record for most wins in a season, a mark (105 victories) set more than a century ago, in 1912. But that sort of thing doesn't excite Cora.

"It doesn't mean anything to me, to be honest with you,'' he said this week. "If it happens, it happens. We're not going to push for anything. We're going to push to win the series. If we do that, everything else will take care of itself. When I signed here in November, I had my own goals and '105' -- I didn't even think about 105.

"I think the most important thing here is to be ready to do what we're supposed to do in September, make it to October and it's 11 games in October. Instead of winning 12 (which would mean they would win a wild-card game to advance), we want to win 11. That's the goal right now. If it happens, I know it's great. We keep playing good baseball and we can win the series ... eventually, it's going to happen. But it's nothing we're shooting for.''

The goal of avoiding the wild-card round is increasingly within reach. With the Red Sox win and Yankees loss Wednesday night in Oakland, the Red Sox' magic is down to 13.  (The magic number to clinch a playoff spot, meanwhile, is four).

The arrival of the defending world champion Houston Astros -- and, not incidentally, Cora's former employers -- arrive Friday for a weekend series that clearly has Cora invested. There are bragging rights on the line, but underneath, there's a point to be made if the Red Sox can win the series this weekend, and thus, win the season series from the game's standard-bearers.

After that, two non-contenders -- the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets -- arrive to finish out the homestand. Neither of those opponents will be playing for anything other than pride, so it's likely those lineups could reflect the lessened stakes, with some bench players getting playing opportunities while other regulars rest. Cora already revealed that Rick Porcello, for one, will be given some additional time off following his next start on Sunday.

From there, they'll play it by ear. The nice thing is, the Sox need just nine wins in their final 21 games to set a new franchise record. They should achieve that without expending extra effort. But it won't drive them. They know full well that regular season accomplishments don't always translate to the post-season, and if they've forgotten, they can re-acquaint themselves with the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who won 116 games during the regular season, only to be steamrolled by the New York Yankees in five games in the ALCS.

"We're getting close to one of the goal - to clinch a spot in the playoffs,'' said Cora. "But there are other team goals that we have to accomplish. We've got to keep playing and see where we're at. And then, after that, we can do what we set out to do in spring training. Then, we'll sit down with players and see what they want to do.

"I respect all the individual accomplishments and we'll talk about it, too. But I think in the end, as a group they understand that rest is very important. But at the same time, we'll take care of their individual accomplishments, too.''