McAdam: In winning ugly Sunday, Red Sox realize a long sought-after, short-term goal

When the Red Sox were last in Baltimore, back in early May, they finally managed to escape from the rubble of the first five weeks of the season and reach the .500 mark at 19-19.

It was shocking that it took the defending world champions 38 games to merely reach the break-even point, but given that they had buried themselves with a 2-8 start and later, 6-13, there was the feeling that this would be their launch pad, that they would build from that modest achievement and climb back to the top of the division.

Having reached sea level, Alex Cora set the next short-term goal: to get to five games over .500. Not at the end of the season, of course. But as the next stopping-off point.

That, too, seemed modest. Surely, that would happen soon.



No one -- not Cora, not the rest of the Red Sox -- could have imagined that it would take another 34 games to get there.

Finally -- and not without great difficulty or a scare or two in the final inning - the Red Sox got there Sunday, holding off the Baltimore Orioles 8-6 in 10 innings.

Five weeks later, the Sox got to check that box.

Save the champagne, please.  It's a small, short-term goal that was reached. But it's a step -- or perhaps more accurately -- a stop in the right direction.

"Feels good,'' a chuckling Cora told reporters in Baltimore. "It took us a while.''

Indeed, it did. And for a while Sunday, it didn't seem like they would get there at Camden Yards. Red Sox pitchers walked a tightrope all afternoon long. Over 10 innings, Boston pitchers retired the side in order just once. Seven times in 10 innings -- including each of the final four -- they put the leadoff man on base.

Fortunately for the Red Sox, these were the Orioles and not a reasonable facsimile of a major league team. The O's were a woeful 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and stranded an even dozen baserunners.

There was sloppiness on the part of the Red Sox, too. They made two errors, tossed four wild pitches, issued five walks and saw their catcher, Christian Vazquez, experience a brain freeze when he leisurely lobbed the ball back to the mound, giving O's second baseman Jonathan Villar the invitation to steal third, from where he soon scored the tying run. Baltimore then surged ahead two batters later.

So instead of sweeping the Orioles in nine innings, the Sox had to rally in the ninth just to forge a tie, then tacked on five more in the 10th, all of which they needed when Josh Smith showed signs of giving all of them back in the bottom of the inning.

Again, no huzzahs for the Sox for doing what they should do -- beating a God-awful team three straight.

But it beats the alternative.

"Like I've been saying all along,'' said Cora, "we know where we're at. We know where we are in the standings. To get (five games over .500) was good.

The Sox continue to hang within shouting distance of the front-running Yankees and Rays, sitting 5.5 games back with three and a half months still to go. There's still time. The rest is up to them.

"It's very important (to achieve short-term goals),'' said Cora. "I'm not going to lie. It seems like we're searching for a lot of stuff. To get that win (Wednesday) night against Texas and come here and still play good baseball and swing the bats the way we did....it feels, overall, there's a good vibe.''

Sunday's win may have been the very essence of ugly win -- needing extra innings to beat the worst team in the American League -- but the Sox can't afford to be choosy anymore. They need wins, lots of them, and they'll take them without regard to style points.

"We're in the middle of the season and we didn't come out of the blocks the way we wanted,'' conceded Cora. "But it's still a long race. We're still in the hunt. We have a pretty good idea where we're at and what we're doing as a team and we know we have to get better. But it's a good feeling.''

Asked what the next short-term goal was, Cora wasn't ready to say.

"I'll talk to (the players) first and let you kn0w,'' he said.

If the Red Sox mean business, the next one won't take as long as this one did.