Sunday’s win against the Arizona Diamondbacks was monumental for the Boston Red Sox.
Boston had to claw back from a 3-1 deficit, then break a 4-4 tie to avoid a three-game sweep in Arizona. They got some help from a Jordan Lawlar error, then picked up the go-ahead two-run single from pinch-hitter Nick Sogard.
Fittingly, manager Alex Cora’s decision to insert Sogard for catcher Connor Wong got him to a major milestone: his 600th win as a big-league skipper.
Cora came out of the gates roaring with a 108-win season in his debut with the Red Sox in 2018, capped off by a World Series victory. There have certainly been setbacks since (one-year suspension in 2020, back-to-back last place finishes in 2022 and 2023), but Boston is still glad to have Cora on its side.
With win No. 600, Cora joined Hall of Famer Joe Cronin (1,071 wins) and two-time World Series champion Terry Francona (744) as the only skippers to cross that threshold in Red Sox history.
“It takes a lot of people to win games at this level,” said Cora, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “To win 600 games as a group since that first swing Mookie (Betts) took in Tropicana Field (on Opening Day of 2018) all the way until the last pitch by Chappy today, it takes a lot of effort, not only for the people in the clubhouse, but the trainers and the front office, and, more importantly, my family.”
Cora signed a three-year extension last July that ties him to the Red Sox through the end of the 2027 season, which would be the year he’d almost certainly pass Francona for second if neither he nor the club decides to break off the relationship prematurely.
The skipper has earned himself a reputation among players as a players’ manager, and reliever Garrett Whitlock reiterated that as he celebrated Cora’s accomplishment.
“It’s special,” Whitlock said, per Browne. “I think I speak for everyone here when I say he’s a people’s manager. We all love him, and we’ll go to war for him. So I couldn’t be happier for him.”
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