BOSTON -- Kutter Crawford retired the first 16 batters he faced for the Boston Red Sox in Tuesday night's 9-4 win over the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park.
That should have bought the right-hander some leeway when things began to unravel in the top of the sixth inning. The Rangers finally solved Crawford by that point, pushing a run across with three straight hits and loading the bases with one out after Corey Seager walked.
But Cora didn't wait to see if Crawford could get himself out of the jam. He sprung into the action, lifting Crawford after just 67 pitches and putting the game in the hands of the bullpen.
It's a move usually reserved for the postseason. But Cora won't apologize for pulling Crawford, nor should he, with the Red Sox fighting game in and game out for a playoff spot.
"We're going to be aggressive. We're going to use everybody and we're going to try to get 27 outs however we can to win games," Cora said. "We're in the middle of a playoff chase or whatever you want to call it, if I feel like that's the moment of the game, that's the moment of the game. Sometimes it's going to work, sometimes it's not going to work. It's not going to be for lack of aggressiveness."
Cora's mentality caught the attention of the Red Sox clubhouse, especially those who reside in the bullpen.
Cam Booser didn't answer the call as he walked in two runs but the rest of Boston's bullpen held Texas to no runs and just two hits over the final 3 2/3 innings.
"Situation like that, you got to be quick. So, us in the bullpen got to do a better job holding the lead there," Kenley Jansen said. "Like I said, it's a tough team and it's not going to be easy for us. But at the end of the day, yes for sure, AC's going to be more aggressive and come quicker to us and we just got to do a great job of helping our team win ball games."
Cora used five pitchers in the win and lifted starting shortstop David Hamilton in the sixth inning for pinch hitter Romy Gonzalez.
Expect Cora to continue to make a plethora of moves throughout games in the future as he uses the diamond like a chess board. And as Lucas Sims noted, every member of the Red Sox just needs to be ready to do their part.
"You go out there and try to get as many outs as you're asked to get. Give everything you got, lay it all on the line and just try to help the team win a ball game. That's what it's all about," Sims said. "We're all pulling on the same side of rope with the end goal being a World Series. Do whatever it takes, bear down and pull for each other."
Here are more notes from Tuesday's Red Sox-Rangers game:
-- Sims might as well have been a custodian Tuesday night since he cleaned up a big-time mess in the top of the sixth inning with the Red Sox clinging to a 6-4 lead. After Booser walked in two runs and the bases still loaded with one out, the right-hander got Josh Jung to line out before striking out Wyatt Langford to end the threat with the game hanging in the balance.
"That was obviously a big moment," Sims said. "As a reliever, those are the kind of moments you live for."
-- Rangers manager Bruce Bochy wasn't a fan of home plate umpire Erich Bacchus. Bochy's emotions boiled over after Langford struck out on a borderline pitch to end the sixth. The 69-year-old came out of the dugout and vehemently argued the call and was tossed before he even reached Bacchus.
-- Jansen put it on his shoulders before the ninth inning to close out the win as the veteran right-hander recorded a four-out save. It's the fourth time this season Jansen has worked more than one inning to pick up a save.
"They called down in the eighth when we sent Horn, and he's like, 'I'm ready for four,' and I'm like, 'Ok, thank you,'" Cora said of the in-game message he got from Jansen.
-- Rafael Devers is doing something right if his name is next to Ted Williams in the Red Sox record book. Devers' RBI single in the bottom of the first tied him with Williams for the second-most runs driven in (627) by a Red Sox player in franchise history before turning 28.
-- Standings Watch: The Red Sox gained a game on the Kansas City Royals, who got thumped by the Minnesota Twins, in the American League East wild-card race. The Red Sox and Royals are tied in the loss column with Kansas City holding a one-game lead for the final playoff spot.
-- The Red Sox will send Tanner Houck to the mound Wednesday looking to sweep the Rangers. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
