The Red Sox have won five in a row with their 9-3 win over the Twins in Minnesota in the series opener. To go along with the win, Alex Cora reached the 400-win milestone as Sox skipper.
He is the ninth to reach 400 wins in franchise history. Following the game, Cora reflected on his journey as Sox manager.
“I’ve gotta thank my family,” Cora said, postgame to reporters. “They’ve grinded with me since Day 1. I put them in a bad situation a few years ago and the fact that they’re here means a lot.
“I told the guys, ‘It’s been a lot of players, a lot of coaches, different front offices but the same ownership.’ The fact that they trusted me in November of 2017 and then after the suspension, they trusted me again. Here we are. It took a while, 300 was (in Minnesota) and now 400 was here — it took a lot longer than expected but I tip my hat to everyone who has been a part of this.”
Cora is now 11 wins away from tying Don Zimmer for eighth all-time and 14 wins away from tying Jimy Williams with 414 wins.
With the win, Cora now ranks third in winning percentage (.555) among the managers to win 400 games in Sox history.
Sox Still Looking for Starter for Thursday
The Red Sox haven’t decided who will start in the series finale on Thursday in Minnesota. Cora did narrow down some decisions on who it could be, while also ruling out the club is unlikely to go outside the organization or add someone not on the 40-man roster.
Prior to the series opener, Cora told reporters he expects the starter will come from their 26-man or 40-man roster. Whoever starts will replace Tanner Houck who was placed on the injured list with a facial fracture.
One candidate is WooSox left-hander Brandon Walter who had one of his better outings this past Saturday on the road against the Norfolk Tides. The WooSox played in a doubleheader, Walter tossed 4 1/3 innings giving up three hits, two earned runs, with no walks while striking out six batters. It was the first start this season where Walter didn’t give up a walk to a batter.
Boston could look to Kaleb Ort again in an opener role similar to his first career start on Sunday afternoon. Ort tossed 2 1/3 innings with his only issue being a two-run homer he surrendered to Gleyber Torres in the first. The Sox bullpen took care of the rest and shut down the Yankees' offense.
Nick Pivetta could be a candidate. The righty has been excellent over his last 16 1/3 innings posting a 2.20 ERA. Even though Pivetta has been pitching better of late, it’s unlikely the club will give him the start. Cora has remained adamant he likes the righty out of the bullpen.
Corey Kluber is the least likely to start in the finale. He does have decent numbers against the Twins, he is 10-8 with a 3.62 ERA (65 ER/161.2 IP) in 25 career starts. He also owns a 3.39 ERA in 10 starts at Target Field.
If Boston changes their stance and looks to go outside the 26-man and 40-man roster, Shane Drohan, Rio Game and Jake Faria are internal options.
Sox add depth to the WooSox
Earlier on Monday afternoon, the Red Sox signed journeyman right-handed pitcher Kyle Barraclough to a minor-league deal, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
Barraclough is a veteran of seven big league seasons, spending time with the Marlins, Twins, Giants, Angels and Nationals. The righty owns a career 18-15 record with a 3.61 ERA, 11 saves and 346 strikeouts over 288 games.
The veteran righty saw the bulk of his success with the Marlins, he was initially acquired by Miami in a trade for Falmouth native Steve Cishek. While with the Marlins, he finished 15-12 with a 3.21 ERA over 218 2/3 innings pitched.
The new Sox minor leaguer most recently pitched for High Point Rockers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He last saw time in the majors with the Angels in 2022, he posted a 3.00 ERA, 1.22 WHIP in nine innings.
Barraclough offers a three-pitch mix, a four-seam fastball (92.9 mph), slider (78.3 mph) and cutter (88.8 mph).
It’s expected that he will report to Triple-A Worcester, presumably filling the void on the roster left by Matt Dermody, who the Sox released last week.