Mastrodonato: Why Alex Cora thinks Red Sox have one more hot streak left in them

There’s only one way for the Red Sox to turn their last six weeks of mediocrity into something meaningful.

“We haven’t had our hot stretch yet,” manager Alex Cora said before the series opener against the Mariners on Monday night. “We got hot for a little bit, but we’ve been a .500 team for a while. But we still have one more run in us. Hopefully it starts here in Seattle.”

Those are words we’ll look back on in a month: “We still have one more run in us.”

If the Red Sox can handle the Mariners and win the series, they’ll shove the M’s down far enough into the standings that they shouldn’t be a concern anymore. It’s the Yankees and Blue Jays the Red Sox have to worry about.

The Yankees won early on Monday afternoon, jumping within a half-game from the Jays and Sox for a three-way tie for the two American League Wild Card spots.

Asked if he was scoreboard-watching, Cora joked, “What do you think, I don’t know who plays who? I almost sent a text to (Rays manager Kevin Cash) today, ‘let’s go! C’mon, do your thing kid.’”

The Rays began a series with the Blue Jays on Monday.

“I know what’s going on,” Cora said. “I know who plays who. I know who we play. At the end of the day we take care of business then you look around. That’s the fun part of it, to see who is where and who is playing who. We know for sure there are a lot of teams that are around us that are going to be banging heads in the upcoming weeks. We still have some big series with some of them, starting here.”

Cora usually has a pretty good read on his clubhouse, and equally as good a read on his players’ engagement level.

It’s not rare for Cora to look into his crystal ball before game day and predict a big game from one of his guys who has been in a slump. He’ll see a guy hitting .200 for two weeks, but notice some good at-bats and a few walks, then predict a breakout.

Usually, he’s right.

To envision that the Red Sox have one more hot streak left in them might be a matter of pandering, or simply just trying to give his guys some confidence.

There’s a chance, though, that Cora sees something.

He was expecting two big names back in the middle of the order on Monday: J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts.

Bogaerts just got off the COVID-19 related injury list on Friday but only played twice in the White Sox series before needing Sunday off. Martinez has been out for three games with back spasms after spending most of the last few weeks in the outfield.

Without either of them, Cora thinks Rafael Devers has been pressing at the plate, trying to do too much to fill the void.

“I mean, Craig Kimbrel wanted no part of Raffy in that situation Sunday,” Cora said. “And it was just a matter of him being really disciplined and don’t swing the bat and take your walk. But I think sometimes in those spots, he gets his pitch and he fouls it straight back. He’s been missing it.

“The way they’re attacking now, I guarantee you before the series they’re like, ‘this guy is not going to beat me in certain situations,’ and they’re going to tease him around the zone, and he’s going to swing. There were a few times during that series, he kept getting his fastball and he kept missing it.”

If Martinez and Bogaerts get back to swinging the way they were in April, the Sox are in business.

They haven’t had a real hot streak since June, when they were two games back of the Rays entering a long road trip, just about the time MLB announced the ban on foreign substances. The Sox went to Atlanta, Kansas City and Tampa, going 4-4 on the trip.

Afterwards, Cora said his guys were about to break out. They took a tough loss in Tampa, but Cora saw something he liked.

When the Sox got back to Boston for a seven-game homestand with the Royals and Yankees, they won all seven games.

The hot streak has to start in Seattle. A series loss would really open up the gates for anybody to steal the Sox’ Wild Card spot.

One final streak before the season ends is just what the Red Sox need.

“I think if we get healthy, that’d be great,” Cora said. “Play better defense. We know that. When we play good defense we become a really good team. And do the little things.”