Red Sox manager Alex Cora still roots for Chris Sale, but wasn't Friday at Fenway

Boston Globe

16-05-2025

If they had won, the job would've gone to
David Price
and Cora would've brought Sale out of the bullpen.
The Sox came from behind, thanks to a five-run rally in the
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Price gave the Sox seven innings of one-run ball in Game 5 then handed a 5-1 lead to
Joe Kelly
, who threw a scoreless eighth. Then it was up to Sale.
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'I still remember how loud it was in Dodger Stadium when those gates opened,' Cora said. 'That guy coming in, it was like, 'OK, this is what it's all about.' '
Sale threw a perfect ninth to seal the series for the Sox. The championship season forged a bond that was strong Friday — when Sale returned to Fenway Park for the first time since being traded to the Atlanta Braves in 2023 — as it was seven years ago.
'I root for him,' Cora said.
It helps that Sale and the Atlanta Braves play in the National League, Cora joked. But Sale spent six seasons in Boston, made 115 starts and won 46 games
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'As a person, we went through a lot,' Cora said. Of course, '18 towards the end, he posted. I don't know how he did it, but he posted.'
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Sale has thrived since leaving Boston. He had the best season of his career in 2024, his first season with the Braves, going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and winning the NL Cy Young Award. From afar, Cora was still proud, not only because Sale took home pitching's highest honor, but because he won a Gold Glove at the same time.
'It was amazing,' Cora said. 'And the Gold Glove, that's the one that I really love because whenever he made a play, he would point at his glove. I was like, 'No freaking way, bruh. You got that one.' '
Parting ways with Sale was a difficult decision, Cora said, especially because Sale connected with the city.
'Just a relentless guy that cares,' Cora said. 'He cares about this place. He was here during the winter. He went to see the Patriots, he went to see the Celtics. He's still got his place here. They love it here. Just happened that, at that point, we needed to do what we needed to do.'
Sale got a chance to face his former team last year in Atlanta and he buzzed through the Sox lineup, piling up 10 strikeouts in six innings in a 5-0 win.
Cora braced for the same thing this time around.
'I know he's ready for this one,' Cora said.
Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock had anothr rough outing Tuesday, giving up three runs in one inning of work in the loss to the Tigers in Detroit.
Paul Sancya/Associated Press
Some Whitlock perspective
Cora said he hadn't seen any of the videos circulating social media suggesting that Sox reliever
Garrett Whitlock
might be tipping his pitches with his glove, but grinned and said, 'We'll check it out.'
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Whitlock gave up three runs Tuesday in the sixth inning of the Sox's 10-9 loss to the Tigers. He's allowed multiple runs in four of his 15 outings this season.
Cora said he needed to have some perspective when it came to evaluating the righthander.
'One of the things that we forget is that he had surgery last year, right?' Cora said, reminding himself of Whitlock's UCL operation in May 2024. 'Yeah, his recovery was amazing and he's posting, but even me, I forget about that part.'
Whitlock has given the Sox at least two innings in eight of his appearances. Cora said, as a manager, he has to stick to the plan they've laid out for Whitlock's recovery between starts. Cora called on him in back-to-back games on May 8 at home against Texas then May 9 on the road against Kansas City. Before that, Whitlock hadn't thrown on consecutive days since September 2023.
'Honestly, what we need to do is stay disciplined,' Cora said. 'I think we pushed the envelope two weeks ago, he went back-to-back outings and that's a no-no.
'Obviously you're in the business of winning games, and at that moment we needed him to do that. But I think getting back to being disciplined. If he goes one, he goes one day off, two, two days off. I think he's gonna benefit from that.'
Positive news for Houck
After going on the injured list Wednesday with a strained right forearm flexor,
Tanner Houck
underwent an MRI Thursday that revealed no no structural damage. Cora said he's getting treatment to deal with the inflammation.
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Houck gave up 11 runs on 9 hits in 2⅓ innings Monday against the Tigers. Cora said he let the team know immediately that he felt discomfort beyond the normal post-outing recovery.
In nine starts this season, Houck is 0-3 with an 8.04 ERA, and Cora said beyond the injury there are issues to work out on the mound.
'Just go to the lab and take a look at it and see what's going on as far as the delivery and the action of his pitches and all that,' Cora said. 'Hopefully when he comes back from IL, he's ready to go.'
Working their way back
Richard Fitts
, on the injured list since April 13 with a right pectoral strain, went home to Alabama to tend to a family situation. Cora said Fitts will continue to throw there and could begin a rehab assignment when he returns next week …
Kutter Crawford
(patellar tendinopathy) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list and threw a live BP Friday.
Julian Benbow can be reached at