Even as they snapped their longest losing streak of the season and posted a win for the first time in a week, the Red Sox' problems did not suddenly disappear.
Some baseballs did, however, disappear at Comerica Park, and for one night at least, that was enough to buy them a much-needed win.
In the Sox' 4-1 defeat of the Detroit Tigers, all four of the runs came as the result of home runs. J.D. Martinez, who had looked completely lost at the plate since the start of the road trip, used an inside-out swing to drive the ball into the first row of seats in right-center to lead off the second inning.
Then, in the fifth, with two outs, two swings in the span of a few pitches produced two more homers and three more runs. First, Kike Hernandez swatted a two-run shot to left on an 0-for-2 pitch. Then, Jarren Duran went the other way for a solo shot, his second homer since being called up.
And that was that. And that was enough.
The win was a welcome one for a team that has tumbled out of first place and was in danger of falling two games back in the American League East.
But it didn't erase all of their concerns.
As they've been doing for some time now, the Red Sox performed abysmally in big spots. They were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven.
Poor situational hitting was everywhere. In each of the first six innings, the Red Sox put the leadoff man on base. But the only time they scores was in the second, when Martinez's on-base experience lasted just long enough to trot around them, having hit the ball out of the ballpark.
Otherwise, they took themselves out of scoring chances again and again. In the first, a first-and-third opportunity with one out was squandered with an inning-ending double play. In the third, Christian Vazquez singled to start things and thought it would be a good idea to steal second. Detroit starter Casey Mize also thought this would be a good idea, as he calmly stepped off the rubber and threw to second to erase Vazquez.
On and on it went. A leadoff double from Xander Bogaerts and a groundout put Bogaerts at third with just one out. A flyball would have scored him, but alas, the Sox got an infield lineout and then a flyball when it was too late, marking the third out.
Not even some strikingly poor defense from the Tigers could help the Sox. In the sixth, Rafael Devers singled off Miguel Cabrera's glove, and one out later, Robbie Grossman had a flyball on the warning track clang off his glove, resulting in a gift double for Alex Verdugo. Once again, the Sox needed either a flyball, yet once again, they couldn't achieve that, with the next two hitters failing to so much as put the ball in play with two strikeouts.
Even after the Sox took a 4-0 lead from the homers, they tripped on with a golden chance to pad the lead. Hernandez drove a ball to the roomy right-center gap, resulting in a one-out triple. But Hernandez never moved off third as the Tigers' bullpen navigated its way through the mess.
"We didn't do much with men in scoring position, right?'' said Cora. "But at least it was the beginning of something we've been talking about. The goal for tomorrow is the same thing -- come out and grind, put up good at-bats and keep getting better. Baby steps, I guess. It was a good...OK offensive game. Hopefully, we have a bigger one tomorrow.
"We've been talking about chasing pitches, but at the same time, when we get our pitches, we don't want to miss them. We've been in-between sometimes. One thing we have to do is, when we swing in the strike zone, we have to do damage.''
There was damage Wednesday, but it was of the quick-strike variety with three balls rocketing out of the ballpark. That's not an approach teams can rely on game after game.
It would have been more encouraging had the Sox strung together some big innings, producing with men in scoring position and extending rallies. That didn't happen.
The Sox got a win, which they were in no position to refuse. But even in victory, there was the sneaking suspicion Wednesday night that their problems at the plate haven't all been solved -- just covered up.