For much of the season, the Red Sox seemed to be on autopilot, cruising to more wins than all but six teams in the history of the sport.
The bats always came around. The arms always straightened out. The 108-win team never lost more than three games in a row.
In Monday’s 16-1 win over the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS, Boston’s rookie manager served a reminder of how much he has had to do with his team’s historic season.
With the Red Sox just two losses from becoming an all-time failure, Alex Cora made four changes to his starting lineup, and jump-started his offense to the second-most postseason runs in franchise history, highlighted by Brock Holt becoming the first player ever to hit for a cycle in the playoffs after he spent the first two games on the bench.
“I guess he’s got the crystal ball, or something, huh?” J.D. Martinez said of his manager. “He’s been doing it all year. He mixes it up. He has faith in everyone here.
“Everyone wants to talk about the main guys on the team, and the star players, but when you look, it’s guys like that [who] make the difference in the game.”
With right-hander Luis Severino starting, Cora inserted the left-handed hitting Holt at second base over Ian Kinsler, and used the same rationale for starting Rafael Devers at third base over Eduardo Nunez, even though the numbers told him not to.
Devers was hitless in 12 career at-bats against Severino. Holt was 1-for-15.
“A.C. sent me a text [Sunday night] and said I’m playing,” Holt recalled. “I said, ‘Are you sure?’ ”
Cora’s instincts soon morphed into brilliance.
Devers opened the second with a single and stolen base, then scored the game’s first run on an infield single by catcher Christian Vazquez, who started in place of Sandy Leon. In the third, Devers gave the Red Sox a 3-0 lead with an RBI groundout.
The rout was on following a seven-run fourth inning, started with singles by Holt and Vazquez. Steve Pearce — who started at first base in place of the injured Mitch Moreland — added an RBI single, and then Holt capped the frame with a two-run triple, putting Boston up 10-0.
The outcome was stripped of all mystery, but history was put in play when Holt hit a ground-rule double in the eighth inning, leaving him a homer shy of his second-career cycle.
“I told everyone, ‘Get me up,’ ” Holt said. “I was going to try to hit a home run. That’s probably the first time I’ve ever tried to do that. … I figured I’d ground out to first.
“You get a little antsy when a position player is on the mound.”
With catcher Austin Romine pitching in the blowout, Holt set off a team celebration with a two-run homer to right, finishing 4-for-6 with five RBIs.
“It’s a really special night,” Holt said. “I don’t think it’s sunk in. Whenever you say the first player ever to do something, that’s crazy to even think about.”
