Shortly before gametime Sunday, the Red Sox learned that, in addition to having two starters already voted to the American League All-Star team, they would be adding three more extras to the roster for the July 13 game in Denver.
After delivering the news to leading vote-getters Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts Thursday night over the PA system of the team's flight from Boston to the West Coast, Cora got to tell pitchers Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Barnes along with DH J.D. Martinez in person that they, too, were named to the A.L. team.
That gives the Red Sox five All-Stars -- more than any other team in the game. And if that seems strange, it shouldn't. The Red Sox have the best record in the American League and the third-best record in the game, mere percentage points behind the Giants and Dodgers.
And just as Bogaerts and Devers were obvious selections earlier in the week, so too was the trio chosen Sunday as part of the roster reserves.
In case anyone doubted their worthiness, two of the three newest All-Stars played big roles in the Sox' tense 1-0 victory over the Oakland A's.
Martinez, who has put everything about the 2020 season behind him, singled Alex Verdugo to thirt in the third inning, from where he scored on the back end of a double play, accounting for the only run for either team. Martinez has reclaimed his status as one of the game's most dependable run producers.
He ranks among the Top 10 in a ton of offensive categories in the American League -- average, slugging percentage, OPS, runs, hits, RBI, doubles, extra-base hits and total bases. It only took the game's most compelling figure, Shohei Ohtani, to beat him out as the A.L. DH starter, an honor to which Martinez conceded last week, even before the votes were counted.
As good as Martinez has been, Ohtani is the sport's No. 1 star.
Making sure that Martinez's run-scoring single stood up in the ninth inning was Barnes, who picked up his 19th save in 23 chances by wiggling out of a first-and-third mess of his own making to preserve the Sox' ninth win in the last 10 games.
Barnes was hardly a sure thing only a few months ago. But newcomer Adam Ottavino advised Alex Cora to go with Barnes as the team's closer, in part because Barnes was the longest-tenured pitcher in the bullpen, and also, as Ottavino noted, Barnes desperately wanted the role.
That motivation has helped Barnes, but so too has a more aggressive approach on the mound. Barnes has worked faster, trusted his fastball in the zone more and, most of all, been far more consistent in throwing first-pitch strikes. It's all clicked for him this season, as reflected in his absurdly high strikeout totals. Before his appearance Sunday, Barnes had struck out 45.5 percent of the batters he's faced this season.
For a pitcher who was too often guilty of poorly-timed walks in the past, this newfound ability to throw strikes on a far more consistent basis has resulted in, among other things, his first All-Star selection.
So it was fitting that Barnes ended the nail-biter by fanning Seth Brown for the last out, marking his 500th career strikeout.
Speaking with reporters before the game, Barnes was notably ecstatic with his selection, recounting calls to his wife, parents and brother, all of whom were soon scrambling to make travel plans to Colorado in a week's time.
It doesn't hurt that Barnes is enjoying his best season in a year in which he's headed for free agency.
Finally, there's Eovaldi, who like Barnes, was chosen for the first time in his career. Eovaldi didn't contribute to Sunday's win, but in his last outing, he provided exactly what Nick Pivetta did Sunday -- seven shutout innings.
Eovaldi's has weathered multiple injuries in his career and pitched for five teams, and only now, in his third year since signing a lucrative extension with the Sox weeks after helping them win a World Series as mid-season acquisition, is finally making good on his potential.
Other than one or two outings, Eovaldi has been remarkably consistent for the rotation, inarguably the best starter on the staff this season. It's also a given that there may be no more admired or well-liked player on the team, a status that likely begsan when Eovaldi gave the Sox six innings in relief of Game 3 -- having appeared in each of the first two games back in Boston.
That snow of competitiveness endeared the Sox to Eovaldi and led, in part, to his contract extension. This year, Eovaldi, healthy at last, is making good on that deal.