Alex Cora is riding a heater.
Every recent decision the Red Sox manager has made is paying off, and he's as big a reason as any that the Red Sox have ripped off five straight wins at exactly the moment when their season appeared to be teetering on the edge of oblivion.
One week ago, Cora made a series of changes to his starting lineup to prioritize defense. That meant moving one of his favorite players, Kiké Hernández, off shortstop. It meant benching rookie slugger Triston Casas at first base in favor of veteran Justin Turner. It meant giving everyday at-bats to the unheralded Pablo Reyes, a glove-first defender up the middle.
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The results speak for themselves. The Red Sox have made only three errors during the winning streak, compared to 16 in the 16 games that preceded it. Not only are they playing cleaner, they're making some game-saving plays, too, like Jarren Duran's running catch in the triangle to rob New York's Anthony Rizzo during a recent sweep of the Yankees, or a leaping snare up the middle by Reyes the same day.
If that's all Cora had done, the Red Sox would be benefiting, but there's more. He was criticized for sitting Rafael Devers the day after Devers broke out of a long slump with a two-homer game vs. the Rockies. The Red Sox won the series finale without him and haven't lost since. Meanwhile, Devers received two days off to recharge.
Since the return of slugging center fielder Adam Duvall, Cora has continued to find at-bats for Duran, an explosive youngster who had just started to cool. Duran is 6 for his last 10 despite no longer starting every day, including three hustle doubles in Monday's 9-3 victory over the Twins.
In previous years, the Red Sox might have sent Duran back to Triple A to get consistent at-bats. The 26-year-old is well past that point, though, and Cora recognized it. Finding at-bats for his three center fielders -- Duvall, Duran, and Hernández -- isn't easy, but Cora is keeping everyone active. Duran benefits because he remains engaged on a daily basis. It's a good problem to have.
Meanwhile, Cora's moves at first base have ignited both Casas and Turner. The former has quietly been on a tear all month, culminating in Monday's long insurance homer, but he also has settled down with the glove since booting a ball vs. the Rockies that cost the Red Sox a game in extra innings and prompted Cora's realignment. Turner has started twice at first base and recently delivered a two-homer, six-RBI game vs. the Yankees. He's not showing his age (38) in the least.
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Then there's the rotation. After Tanner Houck was hit in the face by a line drive, Cora knew the starting staff was about to get dicey. So he looked into the future and decided to give Kaleb Ort the ball for a bullpen game against the meager Yankees lineup when he had the option of starting veteran James Paxton on regular rest.
Ort surrendered a two-run homer in the first inning and then settled down before Nick Pivetta delivered three perfect innings in a come-from-behind 6-2 victory. That allowed Paxton, returning from a litany of injuries, to rest for a week between starts before beating the Twins on Monday. It also means that promising youngsters Kutter Crawford and Garrett Whitlock can start the next two games in Minnesota before Cora must make a decision on Thursday's starter.
One option would be Pivetta, except he has pitched so well in relief since being demoted, that he's probably better off staying put. There was no guarantee the proud veteran would take to a relief role, but Cora has masterfully finessed the transition, and Pivetta feels more essential to the club's success now than he did as a starter.
Any one of these decisions opened Cora to the type of easy second-guessing that would've been automatic had they not worked. We tend not to talk about the moves that pay off, so in the spirt of giving credit where it's due: Cora has been on fire.